Does anyone have experience with this breed? It had caught my eye a few years back and I’m trying to get more educated. Potential to purchase one in 2-3 years, so I’ve got lots of time to learn.
TIA!
I have helped friend’s show them. If you are interested in them this is 100% a breed you need to meet and spend time with. They are what I call a primitive breed. They are not going to be like even your normal sighthound. I would reach out to breeders and see if you can meet their dogs.
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I just joined a boatload of facebook groups. It is not surprising to me that there is quite a lot of drama on the pages (small pool of rare dogs and their owners/breeders - like cat people lol). I’m going to sit back and observe for a bit to try and make sense of who is who, then I will reach out to see if anyone is close by. If you know if anyone in the Chicagoland area, I’d love to meet one.
You can see the primitive show through even in conformation classes. Dog is quiet and aloof, but not intimidated. That’s part of what sparked my interest.
FWIW, I have a lot of love and interest for Pharaoh and Ibizan hounds as well, so the Azawakh isn’t totally out of left field.
I have no direct experience with Azawakhs, but I bred and showed Salukis for a while. It’s a very similar breed in size, appearance, and temperament/personality, although as I understand it, the Azawakh is even more independent than the average Saluki. Go into it with the realization that you are not going to be able to train it to be particularly responsive to your wishes. 
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Came back to add a caveat about “trainability” of sighthounds. In addition to Salukis, I also had Afghan Hounds, and one of my best friends had Whippets and another one had Irish Wolfhounds. Additionally, I worked for a professional handler and we specialized in sighthounds, so I was around them A LOT in those days (spent many, many weekends at dog shows, and/or grooming those long Afghan coats).
Many sighthounds are not as “stupid” as generally thought. But all sighthounds are pretty independent and although most can be trained to a certain extent, they are really not reliable off leash. They have a strong prey drive and they WILL take off and chase something or go for a larkabout, and they will get into a gallop and be two miles away before they stop to think - “Heck, where am I?”
That said, in my experience:
- Salukis and Whippets seemed to be the “smartest” and easiest to train.
- Greyhounds and Borzoi seemed to not be the brightest bulbs in the chandelier.
- Bitches are in general far, far smarter and quicker on the uptake than the males.
- Bitches often get very bonded with their owners and tend to be more willing to please them.
- Bitches are in general easier to housebreak.
- Bitches are often much more keen than the males regarding hunting type tendencies - i.e., the desire to chase things that move.
Also, I took an Afghan Hound bitch and a Saluki bitch through obedience classes. They were both #1 in their respective classes - ahead of Standard Poodles, German Shepherd Dogs, Labrador Retrievers, etc., etc. They probably would have done very well in AKC obedience divisions, but I was too busy doing the conformation division so never tested the waters in obedience trials.
As for Azawakh’s, I would expect them to be quite similar in interior qualities (intelligence, trainability, personality/temperament, etc.) to Salukis. They are both ancient desert breeds used primarily for hunting gazelle, and the similarities are striking.
Azawakh
Saluki
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We only have females in our house, for the exact reasons you state - even the hunting dogs. Both my SO and I had that preference before even meeting each other. 
Thanks for the info!
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My recommendation is to get a puppy, so you can mold her mental development. That is pretty much true for any breed, but especially so for those that were developed/bred to work independently of a close partnership with a human (i.e, sighthounds and terriers, and also guardian breeds to a great extent).
I’ve often said that sighthounds have to be taught how to think, which is far, far easier when you start the training at a young age. The ones that we dealt with at shows that spent most of their lives living in kennels (runs, etc.) were much harder to deal with - they seemed to keep that “three second attention span” of young puppies throughout most of their adult lives unless worked with very consistently.
And as always with any breed - be firm and be consistent, but also be very kind and fair. Rough or harsh treatment doesn’t go over very well with many dogs, and the sighthounds can be quite sensitive, so always keep in mind you are trying to overcome thousands of years of genetic imprinting by training a traditionally “independent” breed to become a reliable companion (“pet)”. 
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Oh for sure! We do all of our hunting dog training (whoaing, backing, retrieving) with positive reinforcement as much as we can, though have no problem sternly correcting where absolutely necessary (as in, dog who knows whoa creeps up on a bird, gets firmly picked up and put back where command was with a firm/growling WHOA). We don’t even force break in our household of dogs - retrieving is something they do because they want to.
I wouldn’t take an adult dog - I want the early time to really imprint on the dog that I’m fun, and I’m important.
This dog would for sure be a house dog. The dogs get lots and lots of exercise and stimulation, but neither one of us could stomach having a kennel set up.
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