General Appearance - Gives the impression of strength and dignity, combining speed and power. Head held proudly

Characteristics - Eastern or Oriental expression is typical of breed. The Afghan looks at and through one.

Temperament - Dignified and aloof, with a certain keen fierceness.

Head and Skull - Skull long, not too narrow, with prominent occiput. Foreface long with punishing jaws and slight stop. Skull well balanced and mounted by a long ‘top-knot’. Nose preferably black, liver permissible in light-coloured dogs.

Eyes - Dark for preference, but golden colour not debarred. Nearly triangular, slanting slightly upwards from inner corner to outer corner.

Ears - Set low and well back, carried close to head. Covered with long silky hair.

Mouth - Jaws strong, with a perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Level bite tolerated.

Neck - Long, strong, with proud carriage of head.

Forequarters - Shoulders long and sloping, set well back, well muscled and strong without being loaded. Upper arm long and sloping. In profile this brings the elbow vertically below the wither. Forelegs straight and well boned, elbows close to ribcage, turning neither in nor out.

Body - Back level, moderate length, well muscled, back falling slightly away to stern. Loin straight, broad and rather short. Hipbones rather prominent and wide apart.A fair spring of ribs and good depth of chest.

Hindquarters - Powerful, well bent and well turned stifles. Great length between hip and hock, with comparatively short distance between hock and foot. Dewclaws may be removed.

Feet - Forefeet strong and very large both in length and breadth, and covered with long, thick hair; toes arched. Pasterns long and springy, pads well down on ground. Hindfeet long, but not quite as broad as forefeet; covered with long thick hair.

Tail - Not too short. Set on low with ring at end. Raised when in action. Sparsely feathered.

Gait/Movement - Smooth and springy with a style of high order.

Coat - Long and very fine texture on the ribs, fore and hindquarters and flanks. In mature dogs, from the shoulder backwards and along the saddle, hair short and close. Hair long from the forehead backwards, with a distinct silky ‘topknot’. On the foreface hair short, ears and legs well coated. Pasterns can be bare. Coat must develop naturally. Any evidence of clipping or scissoring should be penalised.

Colour - All colours acceptable.

Size - Ideal height: dogs: 68-74 cms (27-29 ins); bitches: 63-69 cms (25-27 ins).

Faults - Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

Note - Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.