CHANDHARA Afghan Hounds

How it all began


     People often ask me why I chose the Afghan Hound, and the answer is that the Afghan Hound chose me! Call it "Fate" or whatever you will, but a Sunday drive in the English countryside led to the unexpected - a sign saying "Puppies for sale" at the gate leading to a country house  which was the home of an Afghan Hound kennel - and an 11 year old girl went home carrying a cream colored Afghan Hound puppy.

    Since then my journey has crossed continents and my first pet led to a lifetime in the company of my Afghan Hounds, as breeder, exhibitor and dog show judge. Please join me in this journey, and I hope that those of you that have not yet become a devotee of the breed will understand why the Afghan Hound is known as The King of Dogs


     The story began with the fortunate acquisition of a bitch with an impeccable temperament and who taught me a lot about the breed. It was Soraya that taught me that many of the myths that one hears repeated are simply not true. She was 5 years old when she came to me and had already been trained, so I never knew what I could not do! I took her for long country walks - off leash. Nobody had told me that I could not! She was calm and gracious with people and had the ability to levitate on to the garden wall, where she would watch the world go by.

   Soraya had a very valuable pedigree for the time, out of old Chaman and Carloway breeding, and had already produced one champion daughter. She was bred to a male from the Horningsea kennel, and produced a healthy litter of nine. He too had an excellent temperament, and all of the puppies took after their parents. I was still blissfully unaware that there were dogs and bitches with temperament problems, so I never learned to make excuses or to accept them.


     My first litter from Soraya (Chandhara Barfour Soraya), was by Horningsea Khanabad Azreefa, later sent to the USA where he became a champion. There were 9 puppies, 6 male and 3 female. I kept 3 puppies, Abdul, Shara and Yasmin. Abdul was my first show dog. but I showed all three. I bred Shara to UK Ch Rifka’s Tarquin of Carloway this produced Int.Fr.Lux. Ch Chandhara Tarifka Khel and Aust Ch Chandhara Tarkhun Khan. Shara was also dam of Aust Ch Chandhara Wazhir Shah, by UK Ch Wazir of Desertaire (imp USA). Yasmin was also bred to Tarquin, then to American import Ajman Branwen Kandahar producing Aust Ch Chandhara Hashim Yakoub. The third sister, Sheba, had a litter for Major and Mrs Wallace H. Pede. A puppy went to Finland, Int Ch Cleopatra of Scheherezade, and 1 to USA. Chita Khan, the dam of Am.Ch. Mandi of Scheherazade..


     It was at this point that I knew I wanted something more.  I have often been asked which dogs or bitches most influenced me in those early years. I have to say that it was a painting that I had seen featured in magazines of Kosalas Khan el Kabul, and this is what lead me to the importation of Chandhara Branwen Sheen Kamri from Cynthia Madigan of the Branwen kennel, (USA and Spain). He was descended from the legendary Am.Ch. Turkuman Nisim’ Laurel whose litter sister was the dam of Kosalas Khan.  He had a unique concentration of old Turkuman and Grandeur bloodlines, and was nothing like anything in England at the time. He had the darkest brown triangular eyes, a long neck and a strong level top line. I then purchased a bitch out of strong Carloway lines specifically to breed to him. This proved to be an important litter for me, and around the world. Aust Ch Chandhara Shimalsingh gained his title in Australia, but it was the three bitches that were to become influential. Chandhara Shinti-Yan went to Lois Boardman of the Akaba kennel in the USA. Shirazada went to Australia where she was a multi champion producer, and Shira-Kara stayed at home. She is now behind all the dogs I have today.

     The next step was the acquisition of an outstanding male from the USA, Chandhara Ghalands Talisman of Camri. He was everything I asked and hoped for in structure, movement, and had the most fantastic temperament. He was arrogant, proud, and totally secure in himself, a true King of dogs. I bred him to Shirakara and that produced S.A.Ch Chandhara Taramati and Chandhara Tahilraman, he stayed at home.


     Then Dawn Brown (Gray Dawn) moved to the UK taking her dogs with her, so I was able to use her Am.Ch. Scaramouch of Gray Dawn and acquired his litter sister Little Bijou. They were by the famed Ch Shirkhan of Grandeur. This gave me a good foundation for the future. Rama (Tahilraman) was bred to Bijou, producing Chandhara’s Cassia Tree that went to Sweden, and my Chandhara’s Camel Grass (Cindy).


     Tal was also bred to a grand-daughter of Soraya, from Tarquin and Yasmin., and a male pippy, Talukdar went to Australia. Kara then had litters by Ch Scaramouche of Gray Dawn, going back to the Grandeur/Turkuman side and to Ch Bondor Azim Khan with the classic Carloway lines. This gave me what I needed for a breeding programme going forward.


     This was coming up to the end of my time in the UK, Cindy had been bred to Bondor Moon Mist and a lovely black masked red/gold puppy sailed for Australia. Aust.Ch. Chandhara’s Moonflower (Daisy) became a multi-BIS winner and multi-champion producer, I did not know at the time that she was to be my link to the future. Another to leave for foreign shores was a b/t male puppy that went to Mexico and became Int.Mex.Vel.Col Ch Chandhara’s Demon Rum and also became my link to the future.


     Over the following years  I supplemented my foundation by using dogs such as Ch Bondor Azim Khan, Ch Shemsuki Deva Raya (which produced Can. Ch. Chandhara Bethsura) and Ch Khanabad Blue Pasha. Several puppies went overseas to breeders and exhibitors and became champions there. I was also involved in the introduction of the American Cocker Spaniel to the United Kingdom along with the first importer, Yvonne Knapper. I was the editor of the Southern Afghan Club newsletter and was a breed note writer for the weekly Dog World. I also wrote for other breed magazines. I started judging at Open and Limited shows and finally gained approval to awards CCs by the Kennel Club. This also qualified my to judge at two shows in the USA, one specialty, the Afghan Hound Club of SW Ohio,  and the breed classes at an all breed show in California. It also enabled me to judge at a specialty show in Australia and one in New Zealand after I had emigrated to the USA, Yes, lIfe had taken a turn and l left the UK to live in America. I did not intend a complete break from the dogs at that point, but people that I trusted did not keep their promises or fulfill their obligations.

After I moved to the US I kept in touch with the dog show world but was not actively breeding. I judged at two shows in the US based on my UK qualifications, one regional specialty in Ohio and at an all-breed show in California. A couple of years later I flew to Australia and New Zealand to judge specialty shows there.  I was living in California at the time and a job transfer took me to Canada where I was joined by a grand-daughter of Moonflower that I had exported to Australia from the UK, this was  Ch. Shaaltarah Hot Pants, and she arrived in whelp to Aust Ch. Shaaltarah Chinuk. There were two puppies, and I kept both. Can.Mex.Ch. Chandharas Chinghiz Khan and Can. Ch. Chandharas Chindwara.
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