American Standard circa 1920

The following standard was published in James Watson's The Dog Book, published in 1920. You can view the section on Borzoi from that book here.

Descriptive Particulars

Head. - Skull slightly domed, long and narrow, with scarcely any perceptible stop, rather inclined to be Roman-nosed; jaws long, powerful and deep; teeth strong, clean and even; neither pig-jawed nor undershot; nose large and black.

Ears. - Small and fine in quality, lying back on the neck when in repose with the tips when thrown back almost touching behind the occiput; raised when at attention.

Eyes. - Set somewhat obliquely, dark in colour, intelligent, but rather soft in expression, never full nor stary, light in colour, eyelids dark.

Neck. - Clean, free from throatiness, somewhat shorter than in the greyhound, slightly arched, very powerful, and well set on.

Shoulders. - Sloping, should be fine at the withers and free from coarseness or lumber.

Chest. - Rather narrow, with great depth of brisket.

Ribs. - Only slightly sprung, but very deep, giving room for heart and lung play.

Back. - Rising a little at the loins in a graceful curve.

Loins. - Extremely muscular, but rather tucked up, owing to the great depth of chest and comparative shortness of back and ribs.

Forelegs. - Bone flat, straight, giving free play for the elbows, which should be neither turned in nor out; pasterns strong.

Feet. - Hare-shaped, with well-arched knuckles, toes close and well padded.

Hindquarters. - Long, very muscular and powerful, with well bent stifles and strong second thighs, hocks broad, clean and well let down.

Tail. - Long, set on and carried low in a graceful curve.

Coat. - Long, silky (not woolly), either flat, wavy, or rather curly. On the head, ears, and front of legs it should be short and smooth; on the neck the frill should be profuse and rather curly. Feather of hindquarters and tail, long and profuse, less so on chest and back of forelegs.

Colour. - Any colour; white usually predominating, more or less marked with lemon, tan, brindle or grey. Whole-coloured specimens of these tints occasionally appear; black to be discouraged.

General Appearance. - Should be that of an elegant, graceful aristocrat among dogs, possessing courage and combining great muscular power with extreme speed.

Size. - Dogs, average height at shoulder from 28-31 inches; average weight from 75 to 105 lbs. Larger dogs are often seen, extra size being no disadvantage when it is not acquired at the expense of symmetry, speed and staying quality. Bitches invariably smaller than dogs, and two inches less in height and from 15 to 20 lbs less weight is a fair average.

SCALE OF POINTS

Head.....................................	15
Ears......................................	5
Eyes......................................	5
Neck.....................................	5
Shoulders and Chest.................	15
Ribs, Back and Loins.................	15
Hindquarter, Stifles and Hocks.....	15
Legs and Feet..........................	10
Coat and Feather......................	10
Tail.......................................	5
Total	100