MOST RECENT
OCTOBER 2004 TO NOVEMBER 2006
We are back! And so much has happened in the past two years we cannot possibly list it all here. Suffice it to say that the Zanzara crew is thriving and the last breeding which brought the boys Turiq, Samir, Misha, Yussuf, Karac and the girlie Zuleika into the World was a great success. Our respect and love goes out to three amazing people: Bob Guerrette, Tannis Tindall and Tonya W.!
Bob and Tannis have taken HRB Misha [CanCh. Zanzara's Al Majid] to so many shows and done so well that we are so pleased we are speechless. Way to go gang! Misha earned his championship very quickly and was, at the recent AHCC Specialty held in Winnipeg, given the Award of Merit under the judge Mr. Richard Souza [Coastwind Afghans]!!! You could have knocked us over with a feather when Bob and Tannis gave us the news! And as if that wasn't enough, Misha is proving to be an excellent coursing hound as well! We shall be adding pictures and updates regarding the exploits of Misha in very short order so don't forget to come back soon!
The wonderful and irrepressible Tonya W., of Chicago took in Karac and Zuleika and has provided the two afghan hounds with the most perfect home! We salute dear Tonya! We keep in regular contact and will be adding photos and news items regarding the activities of Tonya, Karac and Zuleika on their very own page within this site. Stay tuned.
Of course, with all this winning and stuff going on by the puppies we are under extreme pressure to get back into the show ring with the sire Quigly. This we have done and our Mr. Q will eventually receive his Canadian championship [just a few points to go but no more shows until Spring 2007]. We shall also attend the AHCC Specialty for 2007: we will show Quigly and the three sons we kept, Turiq, Samir and Yussuf! That is going to be quite the handful but a lot of fun!
NOT SO VERY LONG AGO
OCTOBER 2 2004
Everyone must be wondering what happened! No updates for the longest time...and NO comics too! Well, let us just say that when one lives in the country, one must accept certain things: like lightning bolts striking the hydro-lines not two hundred feet from the house! Mother Nature fried all three of our computers [logic boards, hard-disks, CRT's, surge suppressors (they were totally useless) et cetera]. Now, when we learn an electrical storm is coming our way, we run to disconnect EVERYTHING! All systems are go now so we can get about dealing with uploading the latest pics and news concerning our latest litter of little devils, er, Afghan Hound puppies. Oddly enough, just as the smoke was clearing in the house due to the lightning strike, who should arrive with new comics in-hand but Philiberte! He is still laughing to this very day. Just to let everyone know, we are keeping the two brindle boys Samir and Yussuf. The lone whiter than white girl, Amira, is now in control of two wonderful humans living in Brossard, Quebec. A cream boy, Hassan [now Misha, short for, Zanzara Al-Majid] is tearing up the house and lawn and clothing of Bob and Tannis in Winnipeg, Manitoba [tee hee]. And yet another cream boy, Rudiki, is being overcome with coddling, presents and tons-of-attention near Chicago, Illinois, USA. We wish all of the new human slaves the best of luck and happiness with their new masters and mistresses: may you all thrive and prosper! Meanwhile, at home in St. Eugene, the puppy-tumult causes Tommy [the saved Afghan Couch-Potato par excellence] to bark/growl and stretch his toes from his sofa roost. The little ones just, simply and completely, ignore him.
JULY 5 2004
My, my, my but it has come true! Fanny, our lovely Brindle girl from Billie and Buddy, has just given birth to [so far: more to come possibly] two Creams [one boy and one girl], one brindle boy and one Black and Tan boy! We are very, very excited by this and are very proud of Fanny! She is already proving to be quite the little mom! As the day goes by we shall be uploading fresh pics and whatnot onto the site...right now you can visit the Pedigrees Page and view the Ped of this latest litter. Um, sorry about the comics page updates but Philiberte has been remiss as of late. He 'says' that he has something for us but we shall continue the pestering.
JUNE 13 2004
We are going to keep the BIG NEWS to ourselves until we are darned sure that we are not mistaken [again]. Have just spent the better part of today dealing with the publishing on our site of a very interesting article on the effects of Inbreeding...just go to ITEM 7 in the Afghan Files and read through it. Alot of what you have already thought or surmised is shown in the study by Dr. S. C. H. Barrett and Dr. D. Charlesworth. The article from NATURE is titled Effects of a change in the level of inbreeding on the genetic load. Food for serious thought it is. More NEWS to come shortly along with two new comics by Philiberte [so sorry for the long period between uploads with fresh stuff, but you know what artists are like!].
JUNE 11 2004
Big, really big news coming tomorrow or, perhaps, Sunday on this website. Stay tuned if you are keen! Also, apart from the really BIG news, Philiberte has finally supplied us with two new cartoons [you have been yelling and so have we---but somewhat less so since we would hate to lose his artistry]. Please stay tuned for the BIG NEWS for ZANZARA! All of you who have been waiting patiently might be finally pleased!
APRIL 12 2004
Added a new link to a very interesting Dutch site. Wiebe Hovinga is an interesting character and has alot to say about what is going on in Europe concerning the Afghan Hound and Coursing Check it out on our links page.
DECEMBER 1999
The entire crew of Zanzara moved from the confines of suburban Montreal to a 53 acre spread located in St. Eugene, Ontario. A lovely, pristine and exceptionally well-appointed refuge for the entire family. We absolutely adore the place, the nearby hamlet of St. Eugene and the region as a whole. We still, after over three years here, must pinch ourselves just to prove that this is not a dream.
NOVEMBER 2000
Bitsy [CanCh. Zanzara's Ankhesenpaaten] and Quigley [Zanzara's Setekh] were born to CanCh. Sha Zahn Zanzara of Obiwan [Zara] and CanCh. Kabik Connaisseur of Aliage [Buddy].
FEBRUARY 2002
Buddy [CanCh. Kabik Connaisseur of Aliage, 1987-2002] passed away at the ripe old age of fifteen years. His demise was completely unexpected...one day he just lay down and breathed his very last. We were completely stunned. We count ourselves fortunate just having had the chance to live with such a fine and intelligent Afghan Hound. He was the personification of everything that is sought after in such a hound: gentle, fun-loving, highly intelligent, beautiful and, above all else, cunning when needed. We miss him dearly. He shall never be forgotten as long as we draw breath.
JUNE 2002
Attack of the Chicken Gang. At least three [probably more] speckled chickens, all plump and chortling, broke out of their coop [next door neighbours] early one Saturday morning and made their way into the fenced-in, two-acre, Hound Playground. No one knows for sure what their plan was but things quickly went very badly for the Chicken Gang. The Chicken Gang was hiding in the Afghan-owned Forest when Billie and her daughters, Zak and Fanny were let loose for their morning constitutionals. Two of the Chicken Gang were immediately dispatched by Billie. Zak and Fanny acted as back-up tooth-racks during this horrific scene of destruction. Eventually, their appetites appeased, Billie and assistants were brought in and a second gang of Afghans rushed out onto the Plains of Battle. It was at this time that the third and perhaps fourth Chicken Gang Members were located and summarily dealt with according to Afghan Hound Rules. For weeks after this ferocious conflict between Pullets and Afghan Hounds, we collected speckled chicken feathers aplenty: nothing else remained. Our hapless neighbours, to this very day, do not know where their chickens went.
FEBRUARY 2003
Arrival of Tommy. Afghan Hound Rescue had published an appeal for the rescue of a six-seven year old black Afghan Hound male [neutered] located some eighty kilometers north of Montreal. Without delay, arrangements were made for the transport of this poor dear to our homestead in St. Eugene. Tommy loves his new home and all of his newfound friends: he is thriving wonderfully well [a little spoilt and hard-headed, but a very nice boy when all is said and done]. We are very pleased to have been able to help and we are sure Tommy would be the very last to complain. We are still not too sure who bred the boy but this is moot since he is now very happy in his new sofa chair with pillows [which, of course, he has to share every once in a while].
DECEMBER 2003
A lovely Afghan boy, who goes by the call-name Shad [CanCh. Kalidzah Shadhiel Djarad], visited St. Eugene in order to accomplish certain nuptuals and this was done on several occasions. His new bride, Bitsy [CanCh. Zanzara's Ankhesenpaaten] is now on her way to being a new mom and we are all very proud and happy for her, this being her first experience of such a thing. Puppy Breath is expected to arrive sometime in February 2004. We expect that Bitsy will be every bit the doting mother that her mom Zara is. Enquiries are welcomed. Interested parties may contact us at postmaster@zanzaraafghans.org.
JANUARY 25, 2004
LINKS-PAGE updated allowing our visitors instant e-shuttles to THE INTERNET AFGHAN HOUND CLUB, THE AFGHAN HOUNDS OF SIRAE and THE AFGHANS OF SHA ZAHN. Three wonderful Websites dedicated to the Afghan Hound. ZANZARA PEDIGREES updated and now includes the Pedigree of the expected litter for February. BITSY is showing the 'signs' and we are very, very excited.
FEBRUARY 1, 2004
LINKS-PAGE updated with the addition of a truly excellent website dedicated to Canada's Dogs! It is with great pleasure that we introduce CANADA'S GUIDE TO DOGS. Gosh darn, but it looks like our Bitsy may not be pregnant after all! Our hopes have been dashed again. However, Afghans are crafty and she might be playing a little game with us. We shall know, definately, in the next day or so. To those that have been requesting comics, you will be pleased to see two new-old comics by Philiberte now appearing on the Zanzara Comics page. It was a struggle with minute screws, dust and lamps, but we finally repaired the scanner. Enjoy.
FEBRUARY 7 2004
Updates to our Buddy's Gallery...the very best and sweetest dog anyone could have ever met. We, even now, have tears fall when we think that he is gone. But that is Life and Death. The Comics Section has been updated with two new-old Philiberte items. Please take a peek and enjoy. Just a slight word: The Kabik people, Marguerite and Chris Terrell, have bred some of the very best Afghan Hounds in the last Century...we were very fortunate to have had one of theirs stay with us for a time...our dear Buddy. Hats off to the Terrells! They breed the very best!
FEBRUARY 21 2004
Two new devastating funnies added to the Comics Section...Philiberte has outdone himself again! Fresh pics added today to two Galleries of our Hounds: check out Billies and Zara's Galleries! Two beautiful yet very different Afghan hounds. Which of them has the most Coastwind look?
MARCH 27 2004
Once again Philiberte has a couple of neato comics for your perusal and we have managed to collect and put-up pictures of two more of our lovely gals: Fanny and Zacky. You can just visit the Galleries Page and away you go! Lovely Afghan Hounds that they are! Truly lovely!
APRIL 4 2004
Interesting article from Palmer's Fieldbook of Mammals on the Afghan Hound. To access the article just go to the AFGHAN FILES page by clicking the button below. More pictures of our hounds coming soon and Philiberte has indicated he might have a couple of funnies for us ready shortly. We cannot wait and are pestering him constantly! It seems that there are alot of you out there who like his stuff so we are after him on a daily basis.