Differences in the appearance between types
of the Russian Borzoi according to Sabaneev and other writers
cited in his book: (See Page 110.)
PP. 142-147
The character of the Borzoi varies, depending
on its strain and training. The Kurland Borzoi was most the
aggressive and sulky; the Goostopsovaya Borzoi usually also
had a rough and very aggressive character, especially towards
unfamiliar dogs who did not belong to a sighthound breed.
If raised inside, Borzois become friendlier and more obedient
and affectionate to people, even unfamiliar people. Borzois
can be taught not to attack other dogs. With their thick coats,
even short- hair Borzois adapt poorly to life inside. Without
proper care, their hair can easily become matted. Spoiled
purebred Borzois become very choosy eaters; they can be whimsical,
and may become hesitant at field trials depending on their
mood. In other words they can lose some major qualities of
the Borzoi, such as energy and eagerness to hunt.
Although the Borzoi must be aggressive in
the field because of its purpose and nature, not every Borzoi
is aggressive at home. It is important to distinguish aggressiveness
towards wolves from aggression towards humans or to other
dogs. In this case, "good" aggressiveness is the innate or
instinctive drive against the wolf. Such dogs can be quite
affectionate to people and in rare cases they are also not
aggressive to other dogs. Telyatnikov ("Priroda I Okhota",
1888, IX, In Russ. "Nature and Hunting") tells us about "Sokrushai"
of Soshalsky and about his "Vedma". "Vedma" was timid and
never fought other dogs. Both dogs jumped into a horse cart
with a dead wolf in it and started biting him; when they tired
of shaking the wolf, they closed their eyes and remained motionless
for some time, while holding the wolf firmly. Then, they resumed
shaking the corpse! "Vedma" treated wolf skins the same way..
Some particularly aggressive Borzois even sunk their teeth
into a frozen wolf's corpse. In this case the term aggressiveness
stands for that blind, innate aggressive drive, the same instinct
that forces a dachshund to take a firm hold on a badger skin
or a trained Laika to shake a bear's skin.
The Kurland Psovaya Borzoi was particularly
aggressive. The Goostopsovaya Borzoi followed him, and this
was the reason why he was called The Wolfhound. The majority
of old Psovaya Borzois also caught wolves, but mainly only
yearlings. Among modern Borzois, dogs that will not catch
a young wolf are rare. There are many Borzois which can catch
wolves more than one year old. However, a mature wolf can
be caught and killed only by a pack of a few Psovaya Borzois
or by a pair of the strongest Psovaya Borzois, because the
wolf is much stronger then any single Borzoi. Cases where
a single Borzoi caught a mature wolf with an empty stomach
[engorged wolves are easier to catch, because they are slower-V.
B.] became legends long ago. Examples of such famous Wolfhounds
were "Zver" of Prince Baryatinsky, "Kosmach" of Karakozov
and a few other dogs.
Generally, all adult wolves caught by Borzois
in modern time are either females, males up to three years
old, senile wolves, weak sick individuals, or wolves engorged
with carrion. This is understandable, because a mature wolf
is very fast and very strong. The dog must catch up with him
first and then overpower him. Unfortunately, Borzois rarely
combine aggressiveness with speed. Very fast Borzois are poor
at catching wolves. They sense the wolf's strength, and only
nip at his thighs. Many dogs who have proven themselves at
catching young wolves slow down when approaching a mature
or even a year- old wolf. A mature wolf is an experienced
fighter and understands what is happening very well. He may
allow a hare hunting dogs to nip him. "However, now, three
proven catching wolf males are released. The wolf looks at
them and sees how decisively they run towards him. His entire
look changes. His head lowers, his neck stretches forward,
the hair on the shoulder raises like a hump, and his powerful
legs begin to work at a higher frequency." (Zhomini).
A mature wolf is very fast, but he is not
sprinter- fast ["prutkost"- V.B.]. Only a sprinter- fast Borzoi
can catch up with the wolf under normal circumstances. A.
I. Novikov supposed that not even the fastest Borzoi could
catch up with a wolf starting from a distance of more than
250 meters. Besides having the speed to catch a mature wolf,
the Borzoi must be very aggressive and strong. Only the most
aggressive Borzois take a firm hold on the wolf instead of
just nipping him. They grab the wolf at the ear, behind the
head or at the throat, because this is the only way in which
the dog can avoid being bitten by the wolf. A mature wolf
is strong enough to pull two, and sometimes even three dogs
hanging onto him. Sometimes the wolf stops and one can see
how the dogs fly in different directions. Only the strongest
Borzoi can lock his jaws on the wolf, and it takes a strong
man to pull such a dog off the wolf by holding him by the
collar.
Only those Borzois who take hold of the
wolf at the neck behind its ears and hold it firmly can be
called true wolfhounds. These dogs, like the Bulldog, lock
their jaws, and so they must have powerful jaw muscles. Only
this kind of reliable and aggressive dogs will allow one to
handle a wolf over a year old or, if you are lucky, even a
mature wolf. The hold at the throat is considered the best
one, sometimes incorrectly called a "choke grip", because
it is supposed to strangle the wolf. There have been cases
when a dog strangled the wolf. However, according to the expert
A. I. Novikov, Borzois, which take a hold at the ear or at
the back of the neck and then remain motionless hold more
securely. A dog, which takes a hold at the wolf's throat,
holds firmly, but from time to time he tries to sink his teeth
deeper. Perhaps the dog feels the breathing of the wolf, and
this prompts him to try even harder to kill it. Some dogs
seem to lose their senses in the process. They keep their
grip on the wolf even when the wolf does not move. Sometimes
extraordinary methods are needed to pull the dog away from
the wolf, such as lifting it by its hind legs, blowing in
its ear, or splashing it with cold water.
Although all strong big dogs are aggressive
towards wolves, true wolfhounds with correct techniques for
catching wolves are rare. Encouragement and practice may allow
the dogs to catch young wolves or ones over a year old. Uninhibited
aggressiveness and the skills to catch and hold wolves are
inherited qualities. Males of the Nazimov strain over a year
old were taken on a hunt along with older dogs, and the youngsters
caught wolves at the neck behind their ears and held them
securely. If the wolf bit them, they grabbed the wolf even
more decisively. It is known that once bitten some young Borzois
may start fearing the wolf. Aggressiveness to the wolf may
be enhanced by practice, but it can be lost if the offspring
of aggressive dogs are hunted only on hares. Hunting and catching
young but free wolves is much better for training dogs then
chasing captive- raised wolves. Dogs are reluctant to take
captive wolves, because they stink and because such a wolf
does not run well. Such a wolf often stops and snaps at the
dog. He is difficult for the dog to take without the risk
of being bitten. The advantage of the Borzoi is in his speed.
He can hit a running wolf, knock him down, and then grab him
by the throat or take a hold on his neck behind his ears.
Some dogs knock the wolf down by hitting him with their chests.
Other dogs catch up with the wolf and make a powerful tearing
bite at its thigh, causing the wolf to tumble; then, a skillful
Borzoi will grab him at the neck behind his ears and hold
on until the end.
A major quality of the Borzoi is not his
aggressiveness, but rather his speed, which is measured by
the speed of a hare, mainly the European hare (Lepus europaeus)*.
The old Psovaya Borzoi, the Goostopsovaya Borzoi, and the
Kurland Borzoi, used for short distance chases, differed from
Khortois and eastern sighthounds mainly in their ability to
sprint. When running over long distances they would get tired
and become exhausted. Khortois and lop-eared sighthounds are
quite the opposite. They are more suitable for chasing in
large, open country, and can maintain speed for a longer time.
The Chistopsovaya and Psovaya Borzois, if they have a mixture
of eastern and English blood, have an intermediate quality.
They can start fast and then run tirelessly for a longer time,
keeping a satisfactory speed. According to A. V. Zhikharev,
his Persian- origin sighthounds were, on the average, faster
than his Borzois. However, among Borzois, exceptionally fast
dogs occurred more often.** A noteworthy fact is that the
majority of fastest Borzois belonged to the first generation
of crossbreeding with Persian- origin sighthounds.: for example,
"Serdechnyi" of Kologrivov, "Otradka"
of Khomyakov, etc. They all combined both the sprint start
of the Borzoi with endurance of Persian sighthounds. The fastest
Borzois are as exceptional as is genius among humans.
The sprint start of the Psovaya Borzoi is
determined mainly by his running style, which differs from
that of Khortois and eastern sighthounds. The Goostopsovaya
and the regular Psovaya Borzoi, without exceptions, run with
frequent leaps. Their necks are stretched forward and almost
lay on their front legs. Stupishin writes: " They couldn¹t
run with a raised head like Khortois do, because the front
part of their body is somewhat low, and because they bring
their hind legs too far forward, so that the body assumes
an almost vertical position. If they did not stretch their
necks forward, they would tumble over their heads at each
leap! When a Goostopsovaya suddenly notices an animal and
takes off, making his first leap, the observer of this can
be startled for fear that the dog may tumble and crash."
When watching such a running dog from behind it looks like
a rolling ball; watching it from the side, it is hard to distinguish
its frequent leaps. Making long, low-frequency leaps while
running is characteristic of strong steppe sighthounds; Russian
Borzois with a mix of steppe sighthound often run using low-
frequency leaps, but they will leap more frequently when accelerating
for the last dash [Yermolov.]
Besides the sprint start, all old type Russian
Borzois (the Psovaya, the Goostopsovaya, the kurland psovaya
and the chistopsovaya) are different from all khortois and
eastern sighthounds in their last dash. "The last dash
("brosok") is the final lightning- fast accelerating
run performed by a fast dog prior to catching the animal"
[Machevarianov]. "The last dash, is the ability of a
purebred dog during last 4-7 meters from the hare to accelerate
even faster like a bullet" [Yermolov]. According to Kareev,
"The last dash ("kidok") starts when the dog
approaches as close as 4-8 meters to the chased hare, accelerates
at a lightning speed and catches it. These last two leaps
can be 16 feet long each, and in big dogs even 20 feet, which
has been determined by measuring tracks on fresh snow. Such
a leap is called "kidka".
Although the fastest final dash belongs
to the Psovaya, according to Machevarianov and Yermolov, in
dogs with an admixture of Persian sighthounds or Krymki the
last dash is even longer. Thus, for example, when the a purebred
Psovaya starts his final dash at 6-8.5 meters from the hare,
the mixed dog running in the same group starts his dash at
17-21 meters from the hare, catches the hare, and carries
it away from under his very nose of the first dog. In particularly
fast dogs the last dash can measure up to 32 meters, and,
according to Machevarianov, even 43 meters! It often happens
that when the first dog opens his mouth, ready to grab the
hare, the dog running right behind him suddenly accelerates
and grabs it first, or tumbles in front of him with the hare
in his mouth. The dog¹s speed during final last
dashes is often compared with the flight of a stone or the
stoop of a falcon. The force of the last dash can be judged
by one case when the dog hit a horse's pastern and dislodged
it, and the horse fell. [Mochevarianov]. There are cases when
the Borzoi hit a stump on his final dash and killed himself
instantly. A catch in the final dash usually ends with a tumbling
dog holding the hare in his mouth; very often the dog kills
the hare by hitting it with his chest and breaking its ribs
or hind legs. The Kurland Psovaya almost always hits hares
like a club. It is not hard to conclude that the sprint start
and running style of the Psovaya is not favorable for catching
hares, especially if they make sharp turns.
