Afador Information & Dog Breed Facts

The Afador dog originates from Alaska, and the breed is a perfect balance between the Labrador Retriever and the Afghan Hound. The Afador has become quite popular in the last decade, despite the fact that it is still considered a rare breed. They can be a fantastic companion for anyone, with the Labrador’s intelligence and enthusiasm and the Afghan Hound’s beauty and elegance.

The Afador is a medium-sized dog with a slender build, long legs, and athletic appearance. The breed is strong, with a large round head, long, tapered muzzle, brown or black nose, dark, almond-shaped eyes, curious expression, and dropped folded ears. However, these traits can vary depending on the mix of Afghan Hound and Labrador Retriever. Their coat is medium to long in length, silky, and straight. The Afador can also come in any color, including white, grey, red, brown, black, tan, and mixtures of any of these. The breed weighs between 60 and 75 pounds and is about 25-30 inches tall. The Afador is a solid and thicker dog than their Afghan Hound parent but leaner and more elegant than the Labrador Retriever. Moreover, when the Afador first appeared, it was always a cross of Labrador Retriever and Afghan Hound, but currently many breeders are using second generation Afadors to produce new Afadors. Due to the multibreed mixing, there is no way of knowing which characteristics these Afador puppies will have. It depends on the amount of each original breed that was in the first generation and which genetics are the most dominant. Breeders are now trying to stabilize the Afador breed by determining what amounts of each type of dog are most desired.

However, to know more about the breed’s history, we have to examine the parents’ histories. It is hard to tell when exactly the Afghan Hound first appeared, as its presence predates written history, but one of the first published descriptions of the breed appeared in a drawing by an English soldier called Thomas Duer Broughton when he was in India in 1809. According to experts, it is one of the oldest dog breeds that is believed to have been around during the pre-Christian era. The breed can be traced back to different places in Afghanistan, with different coats and color variants depending on where they originate. Afghan Hounds from mountainous areas have thick and dark coats, while those from the desert have lighter colored, lower-volume coats. For centuries, they have been used as hunting companions, and they are known for their speed, quick and independent thinking, and panoramic vision, which are all features shared by all sighthounds. Today the Afghan Hounds are primarily the result of breeding efforts made by the English in the 1920s. The breed has become a mainstay of British soldiers and noblemen in the early 1900s but almost went extinct during World War I, when resources shifted and it became difficult to breed and care for companion animals. In the mid-1920s, British military officers began bringing Afghan hounds to the West, and in 1927 the breed was registered by the American Kennel Club. By the 1980s, Afghan Hounds had become a cornerstone of the show-dogs and obedience circuits in America.

On the other hand, the Labrador Retriever is the traditional waterdog of Newfoundland, long employed as a duck retriever and fisherman’s friend. The breed became popular in the early 1800s when Labs were spotted by English nobles who were visiting Canada. These sporting lords returned to England with fine specimens of ‘Labrador dogs’. Exactly how these dogs of Newfoundland became associated with Labrador is unclear, but the name stuck. During the second half of the 19^th century, British breeders refined and standardized the breed. The physical and temperamental breed traits recall the Labrador Retriever’s original purpose. A short, dense, weather-resistant coat was preferred because during a Canadian winter longhaired retrievers would be encrusted with ice when coming out of the water. In its ancestral homeland, the breed would be assigned to a fishing boat to retrieve the fish that came off the trawl. Moreover, the breed’s thick, tapering tail serves as a powerful rudder, constantly moving back and forth as the dog swims and aids the dog in turning. When it comes to characteristics, the breed is described as one of a kindly, outgoing, tractable nature, eager to please, and nonaggressive toward man or animal. The Kennel Club of England recognized the breed in 1903, and the AKC registered its first dog of the breed in 1917. The Labrador Retriever topped AKC registrations for the first time in 1991 and has reigned as America’s favorite breed ever since.

Overall, now we can see why the mixture of these two breeds make such an intelligent, friendly nature, and hardworking dog, such as the Afador. The Afador can make a great family dog in general, because of their playful and affectionate personality. However, because the breed is considered a hybrid or designer dog, and is therefore restricted from joining the elite American Kennel Club roster of purebreds.