Me Testing a WiMAX Network in Luxor, Egypt
My name is Brian Reiter. I have a house in Washington, DC with my wife, two young daughters and Azawakh hounds. We are currently living in Harare, Zimbabwe, after living in Accra, Ghana for two years for my wife’s work on malaria prevention and treatment. We lived in the Sahel region of West Africa for two years in the late 1990s. We adopted a senji-type Sahel dog and brought her back to the States with us when we returned. She lived 11 years and died suddently in the summer of 2007, which was very truamatic for everyone. She was very intense and very special.
In college, I studied enough Biology – Biochem and Evolutionary Biology – and English Literature to earn degrees in both. I was also fascinated with Anthropology. Perhaps it’s the way of the world that I use none of that professionally. I’m a software engineer and co-owner for a small software development firm. My work has, given me a chance to travel to a few interesting places including yet more months logged in the West African Sahel. Maybe this blog will be an outlet for all that pent-up liberal arts and sciences education that I’ve been supressing all these years.
Azelouan is an Azawakh
I’m an ameteur photographer in the orginal French “lover of” sense. My images have found there way into marketing and business publications from time to time. A series of images that I shot of Senator Tom Harkin back in 1996 is buried somewhere in the Smithsonian collection and I was recently published in JPG magazine.
Beast of Burden (JPG issue 13)
Aidi wan n'Eezel: the loyal azawakh 
March 3, 2009 at 11:42 pm
Hi Brian,
You make beautiful photographs. What camera do you have?
Best,
Barb
March 4, 2009 at 1:24 am
Thanks! I’m glad you enjoyed my photographs.
Most of the photographs are on my flickr photo stream and have technical data on them in the form of tags or exif exposure data. I used to have a couple of Minolta SLR film cameras, but these days I have Nikon SLR film and digital cameras.
The details of the hardware is less important than learning about how light and lenses work and how to see an image. The key thing is to have a camera that allows you to easilycontrol the aperture and exposure. Secondarily it is nice to have a selection of lenses to control focal length. I’m still having fun learning how to make better pictures.
April 1, 2009 at 9:27 am
Hi Brian,
Came across your page, while looking for solutions to treat swollen digits (Forelimbs)of My Golden Retriever.
I am from India, envy the facilities you have. Lovely,informative writeup and photographs. I faced the same problem controlling my dalmatian when it broke a femur at two and half month’s age
Tushar
May 26, 2009 at 3:54 pm
I work on the program Dogs 101, a series for Animal Planet. We are currently researching stories on the Azawakh breed and I thought you might be able to help. Specifically, we’re interested in folks who have an Azawakh with some interesting, unique, or even wacky story about them. Has a couple met because of their Azawakh? Does someone bring their Azawakh to their place of work?
I’m wondering whether you might have an interesting story about your pet. Please let me know if you think of anything as we have a deadline approaching on this particular breed.
For your reference, here is some information about our program:
DOGS 101 is the television encyclopedia of dog breeds. Each episode explores the history, purpose, temperament, amazing accomplishments, and curious facts about the most popular dog breeds in the world. A crucial theme of the series is the powerful love, the intense emotional bond that forms between dogs and their humans. Using canine experts, owners and narration, DOGS 101 focuses on the three basic elements that make each dog breed unique; history, physical characteristics and the human connection—all highlighted with a simple rating system to evaluate the dog in several clear categories. The show is full of simple clean graphics that highlight incredible facts about dogs that even seasoned owners will find amazing.
To find out more information about us, you can go to our website at:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv/dogs-101/
Thank you so much for your time!
Sincerely,
Sivan Ilamathi
September 24, 2009 at 2:06 pm
very nice photo Brian.
January 9, 2010 at 7:26 pm
Hi Brian,
I came across your website because I was looking for information on azawakhs. I live in Mali and have a dog, who was formerly a street dog, and she looks very similar to the pictures I’ve seen of them.
June 16, 2010 at 1:58 pm
The details of the hardware is less important than learning about how light and lenses work and how to see an image. The key thing is to have a camera that allows you to easilycontrol the aperture and exposure. Secondarily it is nice to have a selection of lenses to control focal length. I’m still having fun learning how to make better pictures.
+1
January 6, 2013 at 12:34 am
HI ,Do you know any breeders here in america? I have greyhounds
January 6, 2013 at 10:24 am
Hi Iva.
There are not very many breeders in the United States. Here is a list of people that may have upcoming litters planned. You can google for their details.
California
– Mimi Drake – Idi! Idi! Idi!
Georgia
– Daoud Abdullah Abduallah (David Moore): Al-Ifriqiya, Idiiyat-es-Sahel, Aidi wa n’Tafuk
– Allison Tyler – Xanadu Farms
Minnesota
– Terri Porthan – Noblewinds
Tennessee
– Norma Spivey – Sambala
Virginia
– Deb Kidwell and Ronda Mann – Kel Simoon
I can also recommend contacting these breeders in Europe:
– Gabi Meissen of Tombouktou’s Azawakh in Germany.
– Corine Lundqvist of Azawakhs de Garde-Epée in France.
– Guy Dupraz of Kel Az’Amour also in France.
– Monkia Kessler of Kel Dahoussahaq in Switzerland.
February 26, 2013 at 2:53 am
Hello there! Enjoyed your site. I just received a female Azawakh last November . She turned 1 December 1, 2012. What a difficult time it is trying to socialize her to people, situations, and the sights of our town in Ohio. Any suggestions? She has frequent meltdowns when I take her out to the pet stores and around other people. Have seen some progress at home but still having issues out of the house. Thanks!
February 26, 2013 at 12:25 pm
Hi Cheri,
It sounds like you adopted a ~11 month Azawakh and have had her for about 4 months.
I’d say first that an Azawakh is not like a beagle or Labrador. They often find meeting new people stressful. A pet store is likely to be a very stressful environment. I would recommend avoiding these kinds of situations and working up to them slowly — though the pet store may never be an enjoyable outing.
It important to develop a rapport of trust with your Azawakh so that she sees you as a confident leader that doesn’t need her intervention to resolve stressful situations. I have had good luck using a Gentle Leader halter collar with high strung dogs. It can help them feel like you are in control so they don’t have to be. I also find simple obedience exercise like sit, lie down, stay and heel are good.
At this age, your dog may be bursting with energy which enhances stress responses. You pretty much cannot exercise her too much. Running is better that walking. Azawakh make a great running partner. If you had access to another Azawakh or yours made friends with another athletic dog like a collie, vizsla, standard poodle, retired NGA greyhound or some other sighthound or the like, you could encourage high-speed chase-play, which is very good for getting the energy out.
Also, it diet can have a big effect on behavior. It is easy to feed too much overall or too much protein and give the Azawakh an excess of nervous energy. For an Azawakh, the natural diet is African millet porridge — about the consistency of grits — with a fat-rich oily sauce, yoghurt or kefir from goat or camel milk, some meat and whatever the Azawakh can catch or dig up on its own. (They are quite good at catching small mammals and also slow-moving birds sometimes.) This diet is higher in fat and lower in protein than is typical with commercial kibble. Excess protein in the diet yields high excess energy in dogs. Some kibbles can have ingredients which are inflammatory and tend exacerbate stress.
I hope these tidbits where helpful. Good luck.
Best.
//brian
May 16, 2014 at 5:58 am
Hi,
Beautiful dogs! I’ve been doing research on them for a while with the idea of getting one in the near future. Are you planning on breeding again – I live in SA, Cape Town..
Regards,
Ulendo