Genomic studies have pointed to the Afghan Hound as one of the oldest of dog breeds.The breed has a reputation among dog trainers of having a relatively slow 'obedience intelligence;' Stanley Coren, in his book The Intelligence of Dogs, ranked the breed last among 138 breeds mentioned in ability to understand and obey commands, requiring more than 80 repetitions to understand a new command and obeying on the first command less than 25% of the time. In Pashto the word bakhmull means 'velvet', applied in reference to the dog's silky coat, which is rather abundant and long on the whole body, except the 'saddle' (middle to lower back), front parts of all four legs, and the muzzle. Its color is always fawn, ivory, or white, with a darker 'saddle', thus it produces an impression of a (yellowish) dog whose coat color matches the khaki sandstone and limestone of the Hindu Kush mountain landscape and deserts.