For Australian Afghan Hound breeders, this truly marks the end of an era – a cliché perhaps, but never more applicable than now, if one considers the impact of this dog on the changing face of the Australian Afghan in the past fifteen years.

To the international Afghan fraternity, Australia is certainly "a land far away". However, over the years, regular visits by specialist and all breeds judges have given Australian Afghans a high profile world wide. The contribution that Dallas has made to that profile makes his a story worth telling. More directly, Dallas progeny and their descendants, have been exported to many parts of the world to contribute to the breeding endeavours of enthusiasts in each of these countries.

To the statistician or canine genealogist, Dallas provides a wealth of material. I am not certain that I am the most qualified person to write such a history, but having known Dallas from the whelping box to his veteran years, I can perhaps just touch on what his being here has meant to some of us. Dallas of course was not a Solo Performer!

His friend, his handler, his "press agent" and always his champion was Colleen Krause-Sydow (now Khoury) his breeder. As partners in crime, they stole the thunder of many of the established sires and breeding programs of the late 1970’s and 1980’s. They were a class act (although it was occasionally snickered that Dallas was the more "aloof and dignified" of the pair!), which brought a breath of fresh air to the Afghan world.

Many of the breeders of the period had had their interest piqued by the aesthetic qualities of such dogs as Ch Fermoy Holy Joe and Ch Quom Let Them Talk (Dallas’ sire and maternal uncle respectively). With the arrival of Dallas and his availability as a sire, these breeders were able to satisfy their aesthetic appetites and find solid direction for their breeding programs. Certainly there had been American type dogs before him, and a number of these had proven worthy show dogs and sires, however it was Dallas’ acceptance by the large proportion of Australian Afghan enthusiasts which made the tag "American Type" an acceptable one, and gave real impetus to the success of the Akaba/Coastwind "look" in our show rings.

In 1979 at Sydney Royal Show, one of Australia’s largest and most prestigious events, and with a qualified entry of some 5,000 dogs, a young Dallas was awarded breed and Group under James Edward Clark and went on to win BIS under Anne Rogers Clark. At this same event Dallas’ daughter, 13 month old Ch Rahzmundah Ms Georgia, won BOS in the breed.

Dallas first litter was from the mainly Grandeur/Akaba bred Calahorra Magnolia, the bitches from this litter Ch’s.

Ms. Georgia, Ms. Carolina, Ms Alabama, Ms. Louisana were all outstanding beauties, their brother the tall cream "ugly duckling" Ch. Rahzmundah Mr Merica went onto being a great breeding animal in his own right and was also a multi All Breeds/Specialty BIS winner. This breeding was repeated and produced the legendary Int. Nordic Ch Rahzmundah Psidium exported to Jildirim Knls Sweden. Today, Psidium is found in as many pedigrees across the globe as is Dallas.

For Colleen, Dallas was not just an important part of Australian Afghan history, he was an important part of her life. Sometimes in the world of showing, breeding and advertising, it is easy to forget the role of the dog as a companion and "character", to cloud the value of the prime function – that of a friend. With Dallas that was never an option. Whether he was playing his dignified role as

King of Dogs, or being an irrepressible and just occasionally naughty 15 year old puppy, his was a personality never to be overlooked.

Excerpts taken with kind permission from AHR Nov-Dec 1991 issue

For the statistician, Dallas produced 50 individual champions for 63 titles in 7 countries from 23 litters, 20 of whom were BIS / and or RUBIS winners.