Ruski hrt, Borzoi, Russian wolfhound, RUSSKAYA PSOVAYA BORZAYA

Borzoi Neck and Forequarters






Some of the points in Borzoi body and running gear are almost
generic in sighthounds, as all of the sighthound breeds were
designed to run at high speed, and most of them to hunt game
of some sort. Differences in size and pelage among sighthound
are heavily predicated on the size and strength of the game,
and the climate in which they originated.

In this segment, we will move past the head into the details
of body structure. Since we've explored topline in depth, it
will be mentioned only as is pertinent to the rest of the body.

Figure 13.
The Borzoi neck is "clean, free from throatiness,"
meaning no dewlap and "slightly arched" meaning just
behind the occiput, which is more noticeable in males than in
bitches. It is "very powerful" meaning strong and muscular,
to strike and hold a dangerous animal larger than itself.

"Well set on" means blending into the shoulder smoothly
(Figure1, Figure
2, Figure 13) not at an abrupt angle to the withers. A neck
not "well set on" is jarring to the eye and hand and
goes with poorer shoulders.

Length of neck is also not specified. In the Standard it used
to say "shorter than that of the Greyhound", but references
to other breeds were taken out of the Standard in 1972. The Borzoi
does not stoop to its work, so it does not need a very long neck
to reach its classic prey, the wolf. A very short neck is unsightly
and may be caused by bad shoulder placement, but beware of the
optical illusion, as a heavy ruff, particularly on males, makes
the neck appear shorter. The "buffalo hump" over the
shoulders, that cannot be groomed out of all colors, makes the
neck look short as well. A "well set on" neck appears
longer because of the smooth transition to the shoulders and
topline. (Figure 13. red dog)

Shoulders are to be "sloping", which describes the
angulation both from the side view and from the front, in that
the scapula should slope inwards toward the spine making them
"fine at the withers". Coarse shoulders have blades
that sit wide apart and feel rough when you run your hand down
the neck and into the topline. The highest point of the scapula
is level with or very slightly above the vertebrae in an excellent
dog.

Shoulder placement is critical to many things. Shoulders set
far forward on the ribcage, which is an increasingly common problem
in nearly all breeds, throw the dog out of balance, effectively
lengthening the body, shortening the neck, causing the dog to
be cut up in the front and straightening out the whole front
assembly.

The upper arm is a straighter bone in sighthounds than in
other breeds and should be long in keeping with the scapula.
LENGTH of upper arm is far more important to reach at the trot
and the gallop than is shoulder angulation. A short upper arm
fails to bring the elbow back in proper alignment with the withers,
affecting the dog's center of gravity.

Since 60% of a dog's standing weight is over the front, and
many times over its body weight is transmitted through the shoulder
on each landing step of the double suspension gallop, shoulder
construction should be a high priority in breeding and judging.

The chest is described as "rather
narrow" a somewhat misleading description as it means rather
narrow as compared to the working and herding type dogs of the
day when the original Russian standard was written. Rather narrow
connotes sighthound build in general as a family, and does not
mean two legs coming out of the same hole. You should be able
to get a flat hand on the brisket, between the front legs. The
dog to the left has proper width to his chest for an adult male.
Too wide is a judgment call made by weighing dog's height against
his width and muscle attachment of upper arm and elbows.

"Great depth of brisket" again is a sighthound family
trait. The lowest part of the chest should reach nearly to the
point of elbow from the side, and the depth must extend back
a bit before curving smoothly into a tucked up loin. (Figure
1) The tucked up loin is another sighthound trait and one
that the breed is losing. The chest should always be deeper in
a mature animal, but well constructed puppies will show signs
of it as well.

The ribs should curve smoothly and gradually upward. When
they don't, but angle sharply up from the lowest part of the
chest, like a fish's belly to the tail, you have the condition
called "herring gut". This is usually caused by a deformity
in dogs called a fused xyphoid process, where the ribs bunch
together in a point at the junction where the longer ribs come
together and start their transition to the shorter
and unattached ribs preceding the lumbar (loin) vertebrae. On
a thin dog, you can actually hook your hand around this point.

As the dog grows, the underline smoothes out slightly as muscle
and fat pad the area and soon will be disguised by hair. What
this deformity does, is leave an area of the internal organs
unsupported and unprotected, as opposed to a normal ribcage.
This is not as uncommon as you may think and is easily seen on
Whippets, Greyhounds and Smooth Dachshunds. I most recently found
it on a Beagle. On Dachshunds, it can be the cause of short keel.

A Borzoi's ribs are to be "slightly sprung". The
spring occurs at the top of the rib as it arches away laterally
from the spine. The slight spring is important to allow capacity
for lung expansion and heart room, items critical to the athlete.
Far too many Borzoi have slab sides, the "angelfish"
look. As you might guess, this often occurs on very tall, narrow
dogs. While ribs are to be "very deep", there is a
functional limit, and a chest below the elbow (seldom seen) would
be very detrimental to turning ability. However, chests that
don't come anywhere near the elbow are very common and are frequently
hidden by coat.

The forelegs, from the front,
should have straight bones; the bone being bladed, with the narrower
edge foreword, not round bone. In reality, the actual bone is
fairly round in all dogs, but the large vein that runs up and
crosses over the front of the foreleg combined with thin, fine
skin and silky, smooth coat gives it the bladed look. What we
do not want to see is coarse, common or padded front legs.

Though the "elbows have free play" meaning not tied
in or restricted, a more common problem is out at the elbows.
Borzoi frequently carry a lot of hair on their elbows, particularly
males, so look carefully to make certain you don't penalize a
dog unfairly, being deceived by coat.

More Running Gear...






Beyond shoulders to other
running gear.

Figure 14. Pasternsa. slightly sloping, correct; b. uprightpastern; c. down in pastern
"Pasterns strong" can be confusing to some people.
Strong does not mean short or straight. Correct pasterns must
be slightly sloping to go with the sloping shoulder, as when
the elbow and withers are in the correct perpendicular line with
each other, the pastern bend brings weight-bearing heel pad of
the foot under the center of gravity for the shoulder assembly.
Upright pasterns go with upright shoulders and short upper arms,
and are prone to the very serious fault of "knuckling over"
with age. Pasterns flatten to the ground on the Borzoi while
running, and spring back to provide
power to the stride as well as cushioning. Short, upright pasterns
lack that resiliency. Wolves, who are also great runners, have
very bent pasterns that flatten out in the same way when running.

Hindquarters are to be "long, very muscular and powerful"
with well-bent stifles. "Well-bent means rear angulation
is desirable. Hocks are to be "clean and well let down."
Clean means a well-delineated broad hock joint. A broad hock
joint geometrically goes with a well-bent stifle. Well let down
means a short metatarsus; a short hock. This is an endurance
item. Sprint dogs can have long hocks in relationship to their
upper and lower thigh, but the distance runner needs leg length
in the femur and the tibia, the muscle bearing bones. See how
the two right hand dogs in Figure 15 have high and narrow hocks
that go with lack of rear angulation. Then notice how the well
angulated dog has the nice broad hock joint.

Figure 15. Rear angulation and hock length
Different combinations of the proportions of the leg bones
completely change the look and structure of the rear. Rear angulation
is not a totally static assembly and it tends to increase with
age. 3/4 of the Standard is written defining structure that makes
a Borzoi a good moving dog as well as a gracefully curving sighthound,
so the well bent stifle and the look of the rear is a point of
TYPE as well as a point of sound structure.

The hindquarters are somewhat wider than the forequarters.
This means through the pelvis and hips and only makes sense in
a running dog, as in the double suspension gallop the hind legs
PASS the shoulders during the contraction
phase. That DOES NOT mean that the Borzoi should TROT wider
in the rear, as the center of gravity is the same for both ends
of any long-legged dog. Standing the legs are "parallel
when viewed from the rear", as opposed to cowhocked or barrel
hocked.

Feet are hare shaped, meaning the feet are long and the two
center toes are longer than the others, but they still must have
well arched knuckles. Long toes provide additional spring to
the stride, and grip the earth better while running. Short toes
seem to be more injury prone in the field. Borzoi seldom have
foot injuries lure coursing; the cat footed Greyhounds and Whippets
aren't so lucky. On the other hand, flat, unknuckled chicken
feet are a severe fault in any running hound.


Figure 16.

Borzoi Tails and
Details






Figure 17. Normal tail set and standing carriage
On to tails...

The Standard describes the tail as "long", but it
does not say how long. Consider the absolute minimum
to be to the point of hock but most are much longer. It is set
on low, a continuation of the also unspecified pelvic angle and
is an extension of the descending curve of the topline. It is
carried low, hanging between the legs like a
horse while standing, slightly out behind while walking and carried
in a graceful low curve when trotting.

In spite of the common comparison the tail is NOT a rudder.
A rudder is a mechanism that causes a change of direction. The
tail does not do that. A tail IS used for balance. In running,
it switches left for right turns, switches right for left turns,
comes up when dog is slowing, and drops down on acceleration.
It spins in circles when the hound is at an easy lope, and is
a mood indicator.

Figure 18.a. gay tail; b.curled tail; c. ring tail
Common tail faults are a ring in the end of the tail, which
reduces the visible length, a gay tail that is carried higher
than the topline, and a curly tail, which spoils the graceful
flow of the outline. Tail faults are hard to breed out. The long
sweeping tail is a point of beauty and breed type more than pure
function.

Borzoi Coat and Color






Figure 21.Nice coat for a bitch. More or less can still be correct.
The Standard allows for a huge range of coat types, with no
preference given as long as it is "long and silky - not
woolly". It may be flat.... wavy....or rather curly. Most
coats are some combination of all three. Puppies tend to have
curly coats, and often keep their curls until the first big coat
blow at 9 - 12 months. Curly coats in adults are not nearly as
common today as they once were.

Bitches are not expected to carry
big coats, and they usually have a lot less feather than a male.
They tend to drop some or a great deal of coat after every season.
Many bitches have a thick, dense coat that stands out all over
the body very evenly, as if it has been trimmed, with thick,
full britches and tail. This is a very typical "plush"
bitch coat that DOESN'T require any trimming to enhance the body.
It is not "out of coat."

The range of climate in this country means there is great
variation in undercoat. Lots of undercoat can make a good dog
look coarse, and very little undercoat can make a Southern dog
look very spare. Within the very wide range of standard allowed
coat types, your main concern in judging should be, "Is
it soft and silky?" "Is it healthy skin?" Beyond
those two items, tread carefully. Nowhere in the Standard does
it say the longer the better.

Remember, coat
comes and goes…… structure is forever!

The Borzoi can be any color, from
black to white, and everything in between. There are many interesting
patterns and combinations of colors within the breed. Liver may
exist but true liver would be prohibited by "nose black"
and to the best of my knowledge there is no blue merle, although
there are now several other kinds of blue.

Be careful of the optical illusions
produced by different colors and patterns, some of which affect
the impression of body length, shoulder placement, expression,
length of neck and width of backskull. There is no such thing
as a mismark. While you may personally find some colors more
attractive than others, as a judge, you do not have the luxury
of ANY color prejudice and certainly do NOT practice affirmative
action for any color!

Borzoi Size and Gait






How big are Borzoi? It depends on your perspective! The Standard
sets the minimum for males at 28" and the minimum height
for bitches is 26". Whereas Borzoi below these heights are
to be severely penalized, you are unlikely EVER to see one too
small.

Figure 20. 32" dog and 28" bitch
These minimums are 2" shorter than Scottish Deerhounds
and 4" shorter than Irish Wolfhound minimum height, breeds
that one seldom encounters at the low end of their standards.
That makes the Borzoi, on average, only the third tallest dog
in the Hound Group.

Size is not type, and extra size for its own sake is not to
be rewarded. There have always been very large dogs, and extra
size is usually gained at the expense of angulation, loss of
symmetry, endurance and agility. Within the very wide, limits
of the standard, size is neither a fault nor a virtue. It is
value neutral, so think very hard
before using size as any kind of judging criterion. The breeders
will never let Borzoi get too small, and Mother Nature generally
keeps them from getting too big.

Gait

All this detail and structure
is building up to movement and gait. Like any working dog, (and
you should think of the Borzoi FIRST as a working sight-hound,)
a Borzoi needs a sound, non-tiring, effortless trot, conserving
energy in its efficiency, for the tremendous outpouring of energy
needed to catch game once sighted. The majority of the Standard
is devoted to describing the kind of structure that makes a
strong agile distance runner, in other words, soundness IS type
and none of that structure is the least bit at odds with a smooth,
long-striding trot.

"Front legs must reach well
out in front. Hackney motion or mincing gait is not desirable."
Good reach and strong pasterns can be seen from the front. Borzoi
have the front fault of toeing in as badly as the Working and
Sporting breeds today.

"Hind legs farther apart" refers to general structure
and should rightly apply to standing. The dog needs the broad
pelvis (remember the gallop?) to allow
the hind legs to pass the ribcage without interference. The Borzoi
should NOT move wide in the rear. It needs to bring all four
legs under the body for support at the trot, and at a fast trot
will tend to single track. You don't always see a fast trot in
the show ring; if you do, it is probably a short stepping dog
moving his legs very fast to cover ground. Don't expect single
tracking in the 25 foot cross mat of an indoor ring, but the
tendency should be there.

A flexible topline will flatten out somewhat as the dog moves
at the trot. An inflexible one will not and the dog will bounce.
Sometimes puppies will move with more arch in the topline, but
will tend to settle down with age if properly made. Very straight
rears give a stiff trot, though the animal may be sound coming
and going.

Many an otherwise nice moving animal will overreach, as Borzoi
tend, like so many breeds today, to be more angulated in rear
than in the front. We do not need Borzoi to be the Great American
Showdog, with tremendous reach and drive in the German Shepherd
style flying trot. Balanced, smooth, collected and powerful gait
with no wasted vertical motion is the ideal.

Borzoi Health and
Temperament






Health and temperament, and a few closing notes.

We have covered most of the Standard and numerous side issues
about the Borzoi. Joe has asked each of us as presenters of our
breed to discuss health problems. So here is the straight skinny…

Borzoi do not have any health
problems that are unique to the breed, but suffer from many of
the same maladies as the dog population at large. The average
life span is 10 to 12 years ( I currently have 5 in that age
range) and there have been individuals that have live until 17,
but that is extremely rare.

Being large dogs, Borzoi can have rapid growth related bone
problems such as OCD and HOD, as well as the transient panosteitis.(sic)
In spite of what you may have heard, there are dysplastic Borzoi,
but OFA certification still seems to be a low priority for too
many breeders. It is nearly impossible to breed to OFA certified
males outside of one's own kennel since so few are radiographed.

Cardiomyopathy of both kinds, dilated and hypertrophic, does
occur, and various kinds of cancers will get them in old age.
The other big dog killers, bloat and torsion, also occur, but
appear to run in families; some having a lot, others having none
for generations.

Like most breeds, Borzoi have their share of allergies and
more recently, thyroid disorders.

Back in the mid 70's there was a big scare about PRA. Most
kennels had all their dogs checked and most were clear and have
remained so. I do not think that it has completely died out,
but it is seldom heard of, even on the rumor line. Many people
do get their dogs CERF checked at some point.

Most Borzoi, however, spend their lives free of illness, and
are very hardy, low maintenance dogs.

Temperament is something I haven't touched on up until now,
but I cannot finish the week without that subject.

Borzoi, on average, are the quietest dogs around. Many never
bark in their lives, believe it or not, but even the ones that
are average in that department, seldom bark at anything other
than game (cat, squirrel, 'possum etc.) on the other side of
the fence. Strangers are usually greeted with a grin or a nose
shoved between the legs (such a perfect height!) but rarely with
suspicion. They are, as a breed, worthless watchdogs.

Their quiet demeanor as adults
is part of the reason that people are able and tempted to keep
several as house dogs. Most Borzoi of either sex get along together,
even with visiting dogs. Raised with cats, they learn easily
what is game and what is not.

This gentle nature with people and most animals is one of
the most valuable qualities they have, as a dog of Borzoi size,
strength and swiftness could inflict terrible damage if he WASN'T
gentle.

In judging, please do not reward a dog of poor temperament,
as it is very untypical and sets a bad example for what can be
tolerated inthe breed. A wiggly untrained puppy is different
from a stiff and leaning dog with "that look" in its
eyes. Use a gentle hand, as Borzoi, with so little body fat,
are very body sensitive. Also, do not approach them tentatively,
or with hand cupped under their nose, as the longer
headed, or slightly down faced dogs, will have to pull back to
see what is in your hand to eat. (remember sighthounds?)

Since there are various lameness causing bone ailments, if
a dog is lame in your ring EXCUSE IT from the ring. Far too many
medically unsound dogs finish, because every third judge assumes
it is minor or will go away.

If you haven't done so already, get to a lure coursing event.
You cannot understand sighthounds fully until you have seen them
doing what they are bred to do; high speed pursuit. You will
see that the elastic smooth trot that we covet in the ring from
proper shoulders, topline and angulation, translates well to
long elastic strides with speed, agility and endurance on the
field.

Dogs with wide and straight shoulders, can sprint, but can't
make the turns. Rigid, bouncy show ring trotters will wear themselves
out on the field with an energy-wasting up and down motion in
the gallop. Form definitely followed function in creating the
sighthounds, and faddish or careless changes to their form most
definitely affects their basic function.

Above all remember that last paragraph of the Standard:

The foregoing description is that of the ideal Borzoi.
Any deviation from the above described dog must be penalized
to the extent of the deviation, keeping in mind the importance
of the contribution of the various features toward the basic
original purpose of the breed.

Patti Widick Neale

Njegovo velicanstvo, BARZOJ


PHAEDRA

POSETITE OVAJ SAJT http://www.e-inu.com



Ljudi imaju predivne pse razlicitih rasa, vredi pogledati!!!Svi su vrhunski!

Pogledajte kako su samo divni......

Dosta sam vas natrpala slikama.... Uzivajte

Svaka cast Visnja!
jako lepa tema.
Ali nikad ne bih pomislio da Barzoji mogu da budu tako ostri prema drugim psima - imaju tako pitom izraz.

Dusan Rauski (citat):

Svaka cast Visnja!
jako lepa tema.
Ali nikad ne bih pomislio da Barzoji mogu da budu tako ostri prema drugim psima - imaju tako pitom izraz.

Hvala!!!

Uglavnom su muzjaci ostri! Ali uz lepu socijalizaciju postaju jako pitomi prema drugim psima! Ali sve zavisi i od samog karaktera psa. Npr. moj Pasat, koji je veoma dominantan, trebao je da prodje blagu socijalizaciju, i sada nemamo problema, prema svim psima je prijateljski raspolozen, dok Phaedra Camus(otac naseg poslednjeg lega) ima takvu urodjenu divnu narav da mu socijalizacija nije bila potrebna, jako je mio, pitom prema psima a pogotovo prema ljudima.....Kada sam ga prvi put pomazila i on i ja smo osetili neku konekciju, kao da se znamo 100 godina......

Evo clipova gde je barzoj u ringu
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_L-8Hy4l2I
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mjcq3JtI7QA
A ovde je uhvatio zeca!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRQu9Z0mRo4
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pdNOIsvGKa8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7Bx2uCelNE

Slike preuzete sa www.e-inu.com ima punooo lepih slika i drugih pasmina!

Mladunci