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Azawakh breeders

The Azawakh is a tall, lean sighthound from the Sahel region of Africa.

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Advertise your Azawakh puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Azawakhs? caninebreeder.co.uk lets UK breeders list their kennel, advertise Azawakh puppies for sale and promote an Azawakh stud dog to owners searching for a suitable mate. A free basic profile shows your kennel or company name, location, website, social links and breeds, and a Premium profile adds contact details, services and prices, a photo gallery and health certificates. In a breed this rarely registered, a clear, up-to-date listing helps the few people searching for a litter reach you. See listing plans.

No breeders are listed here yet, so the first profiles get the page to themselves.

  • Free basic profile: your breeder or company name, website, social media, location, breeds and industries.
  • Litters and stud dogs advertised in their own sections, never mixed with puppies for sale.
  • Premium showcase for your services and prices, previous customers, awards, video, gallery and health certificates, with your phone and email shown to buyers.
  • Sponsored articles about your breed or industry, written and published by our team.
  • Featured placement at the top of this page, labelled as sponsored.

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Is it free to advertise here?

Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Azawakh

The Azawakh is a tall, lean sighthound from the Sahel region of Africa. It is in the Hound group of The Royal Kennel Club (RKC) and sits on the RKC Imported Breed Register, where a breed stays until the RKC judges it established enough to transfer to the main Breed Register. The RKC says the breed takes its name from the Azawakh valley in the Niger basin, where it lived with nomadic peoples of the Sahara, hunting gazelle in packs and guarding the camp. The Azawakh Association of the United Kingdom, the RKC-registered breed club, adds that the Tuareg and other Sahel peoples kept it as a guardian, hunter and companion. The first dogs went to Europe in the 1970s, the FCI recognised the breed in 1980, and the association records the first UK import in 2001.

Size and build. The RKC calls the Azawakh the most extreme of the sighthounds: very long in the leg and slender, with prominent hip bones and flat muscles under fine skin. The standard gives dogs a height of 64–74 cm and a weight of 20–25 kg, and bitches 60–70 cm and 15–20 kg. The RKC classes it as a large breed with a lifespan of over 10 years.

Coat and grooming. The hair is short and fine, and the belly may be bare. Colours run from light sand to dark mahogany, including brindle, with or without a black mask, and the standard requires some white on the feet. The RKC suggests grooming once a week, and the association stresses regular nail care and ear checks.

Exercise and home. The RKC puts its exercise needs at more than two hours a day and suggests a large house with a large garden, in town or country. The association recommends walks plus running free in a safely fenced area, and cautions that a small garden on its own may fall short.

Temperament. The RKC describes a gentle, sensitive and intensely loyal dog that needs gentle handling. The standard adds that it is attentive and reserved with strangers but affectionate with its family, and the association mentions a strong guarding instinct.

Numbers. Very few Azawakhs are registered in the UK. RKC figures show 43 registrations in total from 2016 to 2025, with four in 2025 and none in 2018 or 2024.

Azawakh health tests

The RKC does not list any breed-specific health screening schemes or DNA tests for the Azawakh. The one good-practice measure on its breed page is prioritising genetic diversity, and there is no RKC breed-specific DNA testing package for the Azawakh at present, although individual DNA tests are available.

The Azawakh Association of the UK notes that the gene pool narrowed when the breed was imported into Europe. Its health page covers several conditions found in Azawakhs: cervical spondylopathy (wobbler syndrome), masticatory muscle myositis, hypothyroidism (most often caused by autoimmune thyroiditis) and idiopathic epilepsy, which it believes is now less common. It suggests a thyroid panel before breeding and repeat thyroid testing through a dog's life. Heart and eye disease have not often been reported in the Azawakh, but because both are common in other sighthounds, the association regards heart and eye testing as a sensible step. In the UK, eye examinations can be done under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme, which is open to all dogs.

With so few Azawakhs in the UK, ask breeders about health across the whole pedigree, including imported lines, and compare the coefficient of inbreeding of a mating with the breed average.

  • RKC good practice: prioritising genetic diversity (check the COI with the RKC inbreeding coefficient calculator)
  • RKC breed-specific DNA testing package: none currently offered
  • Breed club suggestion: thyroid panel before breeding, repeated through life
  • Breed club suggestion: heart and eye examinations (BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme available in the UK)
  • Breed Watch: Category 1 (no breed-specific points of concern identified for judges)
  • Register: RKC Imported Breed Register; no additional breed-specific breeding restrictions listed

Choosing an Azawakh breeder

Finding an Azawakh breeder in the UK takes time, because only a handful of Azawakhs are registered with the RKC each year. A responsible breeder will be frank about what the breed asks of an owner: more than two hours of exercise a day, a secure place to run, reserve with strangers and sensitivity to rough handling. They should explain why they chose the pairing, give you the coefficient of inbreeding for the mating and how it compares with the breed average, and show you the parents' health results, including the thyroid, heart and eye checks the breed club suggests. You should see the puppies with their mother where they were born. Under the Azawakh Association of the UK's code of ethics, members agree not to sell to dealers, to give written feeding details and ownership guidance, and to help rehome a dog if circumstances change, which is a useful benchmark for any breeder. In England, anyone breeding three or more litters in 12 months and selling puppies, or running a dog breeding business, needs a council licence.

  • What health tests have both parents had, and when were they last done?
  • What is the COI of this litter, and how many dogs in the pedigree were imported?
  • How have the puppies been socialised with visitors, children and other dogs?
  • How do your dogs behave around cats and other small animals?
  • Will you take the dog back or help rehome it if my circumstances change?

Azawakh questions

Is the Azawakh recognised by The Royal Kennel Club?

Yes. The RKC recognises the Azawakh in the Hound group, and the breed is on the RKC Imported Breed Register, which is why the RKC lists it as Azawakh (Imp). It will stay on that register until the RKC considers it established enough to move to the main Breed Register.

How much exercise does an Azawakh need?

The RKC puts its needs at more than two hours a day and suggests a large house and garden. The Azawakh Association of the UK recommends walks plus the chance to run free in a safely fenced area, and cautions that a small garden on its own may fall short.

Are Azawakhs friendly with strangers?

The breed standard describes the Azawakh as attentive, distant and reserved with people it does not know, but affectionate and gentle with its family. The RKC notes that it is sensitive and appreciates gentle handling.

Can an Azawakh be shown or compete in the UK?

Dogs on the Imported Breed Register can compete in RKC agility, obedience, rally, flyball, heelwork to music, working trials and handling. Because the Azawakh now has a published interim breed standard, it can also enter Imported Breed Register classes, but breed classes only open to it once the breed moves to the main Breed Register.

More for Azawakh owners and breeders

Official sources