Tadawelt herself, I consider an exceptional courser. She has tremendous heart that drives her beyond her physical limitations.When she's in the field, she's both having fun and on her game. She usually has a burst of pure "free-for-all" when she first steps out, running in circles, leaping for joy, writhing on the ground. She is a very happy dog and she shows it! Then as I begin to work the field she is on her game, watching the people and other dogs in the field closely, moving in a circular fashion to cover the ground and not miss what anyone else might get up. She has had lots of opportunity to meet other dogs and people on her outings and I feel she presents a very balanced character. She is typically reserved and aloof, taking mild interest in new people. Way more interested in new dogs. Not acting scared of new people, and not going up to people to offer herself for petting either. Just rather blase about it all and more concerned with her interests than meeting new people. She goes for walks in the village here and is fine with all the comings and goings of town. In her home, she will certainly bark at the arrival of a visitor but will calm down and tolerate them to linger in our home. She will come over and smell them and depending she may just want to go lay down elsewhere or may lay in the room with the visitor. Usually if she can have a few times to meet someone, she will gradually relax more about having them in her home. On an outing, outside of home, she is less concerned with new people and barely notices them. She adjusts easily to new circumstances, taking her different places and around new things. She trusts her people very deeply, having absolute faith in those of us who have gotten to know her. I also feel she is very empathetic. She can see when someone may have a rough day and she comes over, very deliberately, to lay next to you and offer lovings, so as to help you feel better. Her bloodlines include Hatshepsut, a desert-bred from Tin Akoff in Burkina Faso - Hatshepsut was a daughter of Taikousou. (This African Idi can be found on both sides of the pedigree of this Arakao x Tadawelt breeding.) (Hatshepsut was an important desert-bred in David Moore/Daoud Abdullah Abdullah's breeding program) Another very prominent desert-bred in Tadawelt's pedigree is Taytok, a desert-bred from Mali. Taytok was owned by Gabriele Meissen of Tombouktou's Azawakh. Taytok was racing and conformation champion there in Germany.
http://www.tombouktous-azawakhs.de/eTaytok.html
For this litter, Tadawelt has been bred to her longtime 'boyfriend' - Arakao. (She has always been very fond of him!)He, himself is a desert-bred from Tin Akoff in Burkina Faso. He was brought back on the 2007 ABIS expedition. Not very long ago, within the last 6 months, I learned that all the dogs in that region of Tin Akoff died due to outbreak of disease. They did not have access to vaccines as we do here to keep them safe from such occurance. To me, learning that this area was essentialy wiped out meant a great loss to the Azawakh community. I feel that this breeding consolidates some of the genetics of that region, allowing them to continue and be available to the greater Azawakh community.
It is also a complete out-cross, with 0% inbreeding, bringing together new desert-bred lines that have never been combined before. Tadawelt has always been a very healthy individual, showing no incidence of any inherited diseases. She does not have epilepsy and has never shown any signs of it. She is at present 7 yrs old, turning 8 in October. Arakao, who turned 6 in Jan has also, so far been very healthy. I hope to see their combined genetics prosper and keep alive a small piece of TinAkoff as well as provide greater genetic diversity for the Azawakh breed overall. I hope these puppies will see bountiful lives in loving, generous homes.
No comments:
Post a Comment