The Twentieth Century Dog - Borzoi Section

by Herbert Compton
published in 1904, Grant Richards, London. "Compiled from the contributions of over five hundred experts."

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The Borzoi Club, of which the Duke and Duchess of Newcastle are joint Presidents and the Marquis of Bath Vice-President, is one of the three institutions whose secretarial duties Mr. Hood-Wright so admirably conducts. The membership is over fifty, the annual subscription a guinea, and it possesses two twenty-five and two fifteen-guinea challenge cups. The following is the description of the hound given in the Club's publication: -

STANDARD OF POINTS OF THE BORZOI

HEAD. - Long and lean. The skull flat and narrow; stop not perceptible, and muzzle long and tapering. The head from the forehead to the tip of the nose should be so fine that the shape and direction of the bones and principal veins can be clearly seen, and, in profile, should appear rather Roman-nosed. Bitches should be even narrower in the head that the dogs. Eyes dark, expressive, almond-shaped, and not too far apart. Ears like those of a greyhound - small, thin, and placed well back on the head, with the tips, when thrown back, almost touching behind the occiput.

NECK. - The head should be carried somewhat low, with the neck continuing the line of the back.

SHOULDERS. - Clean and sloping well back.

CHEST. - Deep, and somewhat narrow.

BACK. - rather boney, and free from any cavity in the spinal column, the arch in the back being more marked in the dog than in the bitch.

LOINS. - Broad and very powerful, with plenty of muscular development.

THIGHS. - Long and well-developed, with good second thigh.

RIBS. - Slightly spring at the angle of the ribs - deep, reaching to the elbow, and even lower.

FORE LEGS. - Lean and straight. Seen from the front they should be narrow from side to side, broad at the shoulders and narrowing gradually down to the foot, the bone appearing flat, and not round, as in the foxhound.

HIND LEGS. - The least thing under the body when standing still, not straight, and the stifle slightly bent.

MUSCLES. - Well distributed and highly developed.

PASTERNS. - Strong.

FEET. - Like those of the deerhound - rather long. The toes close together and well arched.

COAT. - Long, silky (not woolly); either flat, wavy, or curly. On the head, ears, and front legs it should be short and smooth. On the neck the frill should be profuse and rather curly. On the chest and rest of body, the tail and hidnquarters, it should be long. The fore legs should be well feathered.

TAIL. - Long, well-feathered, and not gaily carried.

HEIGHT. - At shoulder of dogs, from 28 inches upwards; of bitches, from 26 inches upwards.

FAULTS. - Head short or thick; too much stop; parti-coloured nose; eyes too wide apart; heavy ears; heavy shoulders; wide chest; "barrel" ribbed; dew claws; elbows turned out; wide behind.

The hounds considered most typical in the breed include Champions Velsk, Tsaritsa, Kieff, Statesman, Zeneitra, Volno, Vikhra, and Selwood Olga, and I have selected the first-named for illustration.

Ch. Velsk was bred and is owned by H.G. the Duchess of Newcastle. His sire was Korotai, and his dam Ch. Vikhra, and he was whelped in December 1895. He stands 31 inches high, weighs 114 lbs., and is white in colour with silver-grey markings. He has very dark eyes, well carried ears and stern, and is the heaviest coated dog on the show-bench; also the strongest boned. He is absolutely perfect in expression. The photograph is a first-rate one, and shows the dog in his best coat; "but," writes his owner, "as nothing in the world is perfect, I should like to see Ch. Velsk a shade shorted in the back, and with a trifle more arch; otherwise I can find no fault." Velsk is the winner of eleven championships and seventy-six first prizes, and has sired an immense number of winning progeny, amongst them being Champions Tatiana, Velsk, Votrio, Knois, and Theodora; and he was the sire of the four borzois exhibited with great success by H.M. the Queen in 1903.