FIN L-C CH CVM-08 Idan Atiq Rafiq
imp. Israel
born 26.8. 2002
Owned by Sami Suomela, Mia Salmi & Micaela Lehtonen
Bred by Tzviah Idan & Kuti Aharon, Israel

In the autumn of of -02 Svetlana Panova, a friend from Cyprus, was trying to choose a pup from an exciting desert bred litter in Israel. She sent me pictures to ask my opinion of the pups and ended up choosing a lovely grizzle pup she calls Nassim. I saved the pictures of the litter, then two months old, thinking perhaps Nassim might be a suitable mate for my Qatari import Lublub in the future.
 
I looked at the pics from time to time and particularly liked one of the males, the gorgeous Rafiq, whose name means "friend" in Arabic. I could not stop thinking about him and finally wrote to his breeder Tzviah Idan to ask whether any of the males were still available. To my great pride and joy Tzviah offered me my pick of the males still left at the kennel and of course I ended up choosing Rafiq who had so haunted my thoughts for the past two months.

I was just about to breed my Negev import Farha and was therefore unable to take another pup into my household. Fortunately at this time I was visited by a lovely couple, Mia Salmi and sami Suomela, who were interested in a Saluki puppy. We hit it off right away and our cynological ideologies were so similar I thought these were people with whom I could share ownership of this precious import. Luckily they were excited by the prospect since they had been interested in aquiring a country of origin Saluki for some time. Thanks to my valuable contacts in Israel arrangements were made in record time and we began anxiously awaiting Rafiq's arrival.

What attracted us to Rafiq was not only his lovely conformation but also his authentic desert heritage. Both his parents were bred by the Bedouin breeder Jumaa el Abeid, a passionate hunter who still lives in a tent near Rahat in the Negev desert. Rafiq's paternal grandsire was the feathered cream Johnny, a Negev legend and Jumaa's best hunter. The paternal granddam was the lovely smooth Warda, "rose", who unfortunately died at six years of age of whelping complications when giving birth to Rafiq's sire Rasas, "bullet".

Rasas was quite the shooting star. Tzviah got him from Jumaa when he was about 4 years old and soon took him to his first show in Kfar Hess, where he went BIS at the Sighthound Specialty! In Zafra Sirik's words, "It was his first show - but he entered the ring like a real king". Unfortunately Rasas was poisoned in the summer of -02 and so Rafiq and his nine siblings are Rasas' only offspring.
 
Rafiq's excitingly colored smooth dam Bauda was also aquired from Jumaa. She was named Leila in her new home with Tzviah and this was her third litter. Some of her pups have inherited her unsual color, and Rafiq's was a litter of many colors: cream, grizzle, partcolor and Leila's greyish color. Leila's parents were also smooth, as well as her maternal grandfather Riach 2, who also now lives with Tzviah.

Rafiq and his littermates grew up on Tzviah's farm in the Galilei, where she also breeds Arabians, so the pups grew up surrounded by horses, goats and other dogs. Tzviah's mentor Jumaa also visited the litter and when asked which of the then 2-month old pups he considered the best, he pointed out that that was impossible to tell because they had not yet hunted. One of the pups has since been returned to the Bedouin to carry on the traditional hunting of his distinguished family.
 
A couple of weeks before his flight to Finland Rafiq moved from the farm to Tzviah's town apartment in Tiberias to get accustomed to his new lifestyle, and fit right in, enjoying the increased attention to the fullest. Meanwhile we as the expectant "parents" were nervously awaiting his arrival until finally on the night before Valentine's day, February 13th, -03, we rushed to the airport to meet our new baby. It was a wonderful feeling seeing my lovely friend Zafra, again graciously accompanying another import, come through the gate with Rafiq in his crate.

Zafra opened the crate and clipped on Rafiq's leash, but our boy was in no hurry to come out of his little nest. Finally he emerged, a beautiful sight, and was scooped up by his new dad Sami, snuggling tightly against him. Rafiq is even more beautiful than his pictures and has without a doubt the most beautiful expression I have ever seen.
 
We thanked Zafra profusely, chatted a while, and then made our way to the parking hall. Here Rafiq had his first contact with our Finnish snow and walked nicely after us on his lead. He climbed into the back of the van, did a quick check of his surroundings and then curled up on a doggy coat, getting the first whiffs of the smells of his new pack. He was understandably bewildered but very calm, and travelled beautifully.

Meanwhile in the front seat we, his new owners, sat beaming with goofy smiles while enthusing about the beauty of our lovely little boy. I was dropped off at my house, kissed Rafiq goodbye and promised to visit him the following week, armed with several rolls of film. I confess being a teeny bit envious of Mia and Sami who will share every day with Rafiq, but it was so lovely to see how happy they were and I knew he was going to a wonderful, loving home. I know their life together will be a glorious adventure.

Like our previous desert imports, Rafiq has adapted without problems and has completely given himself over to his new mom and dad and their lively flock of a multitude of cats, dogs and poultry. I am continually awed by the stability and adaptability of these desert hounds as well as their wonderful sense of unity and co-operation. The future looks rosy...

I had a wonderful opportunity to get better aquianted with Rafiq when he stayed with me for two weeks during the Christmas of 2003. He really is a very typical desert Saluki: utterly gentle and humble with humans and calmly confident with other dogs.

In the past few years Rafiq's pack has grown with two children, a macaw, some cats, and two Salukis, Qashani Touman Hama and Qashani Sirhan Arabi.

Rafiq's best show result is an "excellent" and a class placement at the 2003 Saluki Specialty, under breeder-judge Karen Fischer (Ruweis Salukis, England). In May 2007 he became the first Finnish DB to become lure-coursing champion!

Rafiq is sire to my Qashani N-litter, born to Thurayah aka Lublub in 2005, and the Larelinan U-litter, born to the Western bred Wallaby's Umm Uzuna - the first DB x Western litter to be born in Finland.

He was TgAA-tested (neg.) in 2007, and has been heart auscultated (no murmurs). In the summer of 2009 he suffered an injury on the racing track, a fibrocartilaginous embolism. He has made amazing strdes in his recovery, but there is more to be done. Thankfully this is not considered hereditary. His spine was x-rayed and is normal.

sire:

Rasas
of Rahat (s)

dam:

Bauda (Leila)
of Rahat (s)

Rafiq's sire - Rasas of Rahat

Rafiq's dam - Bauda (Leila) of Rahat

Rafiq's grandsire - Johnny of Rahat