Afghan Bay Retriever

Since the Afghan Bay Retriever is a “new” breed, there is not too much recorded history. Fortunately, there is very detailed information on the Chesapeake Bay Retriever and the Afghan Hound. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever can trace their “roots” to two dogs, rescued in 1807 from a sinking ship in Maryland. They were named Sailor (male) and Canton (female) and are believed to have been the Lesser Newfoundland breed or St. John's water dogs. They were bred with local dogs which then produced the Chesapeake Bay Retriever breed. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever was developed to hunt waterfowl even in bad weather conditions. In 1918, the Chesapeake Bay Retriever was recognized by the American Kennel Club, and there have been few changes to the breed standards since then. The Chesapeake Bay Retriever is rated by the American Kennel Club as third most popular Retriever breed. It is believed that the Afghan Hound is an ancient breed that was developed in Afghanistan, India and Pakistan. The Afghan Hound is a descendant of the Saluki, which was from Persia. Originally, their purpose was to chase prey away from the farm animals and to guard the nomadic tribe’s flocks. They were then used as coursing hounds. Coursing is a hunting technique which uses sighthounds to catch the prey by running after them. Sighthounds depend on sight, agility, quickness and stamina. The breed is no longer used for hunting, but is used in the sport of lure coursing. Lure coursing uses a mechanically operated lure instead of a live animal. An Afghan Hound won Best in Show at the 1996 World Dog Show in Budapest. An Afghan Hound also won Best of Show at the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in 1957 and then again in 1983.