On Dog Behavior

An Education Poster From The American Veterinary Society Of Animal Behavior

Someone wrote to me recently, that I should tell his dog to let go of his fear of him (the owner of the dog had made that remark). The unique trait about the Azawakh is that they are quite specific about their likes and dislikes. And their dislike of someone can often be arrogantly misinterpreted by their human as "being frightened". How to deal with an Azawakh who dislikes you? This is a tough one. They'll die sooner if cornered into such a situation where they cannot avoid you because you feed them and they have to survive. Every Azawakh caught in such a situation should be removed from it, and not be forced to compromise and to endure that contact. Last but not least, it is the height of human conceit to presume that we can tell another creature how they should or should not be feeling.That someone actually made that remark ... !

About the video below - To Touch Or Not To Touch, That Is The Question. The Azawakh does not always like to be touched (petted). We should respect that. It's an important judgment call how intrusive the human is, when handling an Azawakh - especially one that's a new arrival to the home and not yet bonded. The video below shows this is true of other breeds (even randombred dogs) as well.