Azawakh Colors

The Azawakh is a hound from the Sahelian zone of West Africa. While their body is that of a sighthound, they have the brain of a guard dog with a well developed defense drive. This is the reason I often just use the word hound, instead of sighthound, because the latter can be misleading.

In their countries of origin, the Azawakh comes in all colors and all color combinations. During the ABIS expeditions of 1996, 1997 and 2000, inventory on colors was taken on a fair sampling of Azawakh in the West African countries of Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger. The ABIS data shows the predominant color is red with white markings, constituting about 44.84% of the population observed.

Next in the color distribution is the sand colored Azawakh, representing about 33.51% of the population; then the brindle Azawakh, at about 13.92 %. The remaining 6.73%, the "minority" colors, are made up of piebalds, blues, blacks, creams and lilacs. The piebald specimens constitute about 4.5% of the population. The piebald allele, sP, carries between 20% to 80% white, and the sw allele, which carries over 80% white, is the lowest in the order of dominance in the S allele series.

Red Male Azawakh Puppy

Another Red Male Azawakh Puppy With White Markings

Sand Color Azawakh Female With Prey

Red Female Azawakh With Predominantly White Piebald Female Behind

Brindle Color Azawakh Male, Recent African Import

Older Azawakh Male, Brindle

Sand Color Male Azawakh Puppy