Breed Standard of the Borzoi General Appearance - Well balanced,graceful, aristocratic, dignified and elegant. Characteristics - A coursing hound which must be courageous, powerful and of great speed. Temperament - Sensitive, alert and aloof. Head long, lean in proportion to the dog's size and substance. In bitches head finer than in dogs. Well filled in below eyes . Measurement equal from octiput to inner corner of eye to and from inner corner of eye to tip of nose.Skull very slightly domed and narrow, stop imperceptible . Head fine so that bone and principal veins can be clearly seen. Viewed from side forehead and upper line of muzzle form an almoststraight, slightly convex line. Jaws long deep and gradually to tip of nose. Occipital process very acccentuated. Eyes - Dark with intelligent keen alert expression. Almond shaped, set obliquely and placed well back but npt too wide apart. Eye rims dark. eyes not light, round, bulbous or staring. Ears - Small pointed and delicate. Set high but not too far apart. Nearly touching at octiput ; when in repose folded back along neck. Should be active and responsive may be erect when alert, tops sometimes falling over. Mouth - Jaws strong with perfect regular complete scissor bite, ie upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Full, strong dentition desireable. Neck - Slightly arched; reasonably long and well muscled, Free from throatiness, flattened laterally, set at an angle of 50-60 degrees to the longtitudonal axis of body. Forequarters - Shoulders clean, sloping well back. Muscular but not loaded. Fine at withers but not accentuated. Forelegs clean and straight. Seen from front, narrow like blades , from side, wider at elbows narrowing down to foot. Elbows directed backwards , beither turning in nor out. Pasterns slightly sloping, strong and flerxible. Length of forearm nearly equal to half total height at withers. Body - Chest,ribs of narrow, oval cut, great depth of brisket reaching to elbows, giving great heart and lung room, especially in mature dogs. Breastbone slightly pronounced with adequate width between elbows, and abdomen very erll tucked up. Back rather bony, muscular and free from any cavity, rising in a graceful curve with well balanced fallaway. Highest point of curve is situated over the last rib. Curve is more pronounced in dogs than bitches. Loins broad and very powerful with plenty of muscular development. Fallaway long and well muscelled. Width between hip bones at least 8cm(3 ins). Hindquarters- Quarters wider than shoulders ensuring stability of stance. Thighs long, well developed with good second thigh; hind legs long and muscular. stifles well angulated, hocls broad, clean and well let down. Posterior line of hock vertical. Seen from side slightly set back. Feet - Front feet oval, toes close together, well arched over strong thick pads, turning neither in nor out. Hind feet hare-like i.e. longer and less arched. Tail - Long, rather low set, measured between thighs reaches up to top of nearest hip bone. Well feathered, carried low in a graceful curve. From level of hocks may be sabre or slightly sickle shaped, but not ringed. In action not rising above level of back. Gait/Movement - Front straight with long reach, pastern springy. Hind, straight with powerful driving hocks. Moving wider than front. Viewed from side. Appearance in action should be that of effortless power. Coat - Silky, flat wavy or rather curly (But never wooly) Short and smooth on ears and front of legs; much longer on body with feathering on backs of legs and hindquarters, tail and chest. Neck carres a large curly frill. More profuse in dogs than bitches. Colour - Any colour acceptable. Size - Minimum height at withers : Dogs 74cm (29 ins) Bitches 68cm (27 ins). Faults - Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousnesds with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion its degree and its effect upon the heath and welfare of thre dog. Note :- Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended in the scrotum.
that sounds about right they have been some of the most gracefull dogs its ever been my pleasure to own. you forgot to mention the fact that they have two brains though 1 for listening to you and the other when its engaged to listen to nobody and cause as much mischif as possible
Oh Mark My boys could never be like that loll. They are always well behaved (tongue in cheek) and I don't ever tell lies, well hardly ever, perhaps the little fib now and again. They never get up to mischief and have never stolen anything from the working surface that they should not have lol. But they are and will always be the right breed for me. I just adore them they are so gentle and graceful and loveable.
Oh wow! Found you! lol.. Two uh brains is uh right. There might even be a 3rd brain- the one in neutral.. lol..
I think gorgeous should be added to general appearence. Especially with those full mature male coats... <sigh> Beautiful!
This is a great forum, a topic just about borzois - fab Can I post pics of my boys here, or should I put them in the general photos section?
Hi Jane More people will see them if you post in Dog Pictures and put the breed in the title. You can if you wish also post some in the borzoi secion it's up to you, but not so many people look in here mostly just Borzoi folks. Eunice
I'm going for it here then. I'd like to introduce my boys Toto & Tchi This is them posing naturally in the field Unfortunately Toto more often looks like this Babysitting the collie pups...not big enough to eat yet and playing, they still act like pups at 7 Toto also likes to try agility, but has to be lured round with chicken...I can't afford to train him that often
I've met Eunices gorgoeus boys in person, Michelle is there any chance of seeing your zois? I could, and often do look at borzois all day
and I've met Jane's boys too, even met them when they were tiny puppies with their mum and boy were they cute........
Thought I'd bombard you with more borzoi pics...these ones from the past. This is Chaumie (1988 - 1995), the love of my life, he was a wonderful introduction to the breed winning 5 CCs and 3 RCCs. He's pictured here after winning Best in Group at Southern Counties Ch. Show Chaumie lure coursing with Shannon (Sholwood Songbird). Shannon was gorgeous but such a frustrating dog to show as he had very set ideas about what sort of surfaces he would move on. I travelled all over the country with him for him to stand in doorways and refuse to enter halls Two babies of Chaumies, Shuggie and Millie. Chaumie has children all over the world even in Australia This is Gus, I bought him as a pet but he was made up to Champion very quickly and won many best in shows at open shows. He was the best mover I've ever seen and had the sweetest temperament Gus' little sister Tosca came to live here and wormed her way into my heart after Chaumie went to the rainbow bridge. She became my special dog and went everywhere with me. I didn't show her much between junior and veteran but she still managed to win a CC at 8 years old, with BOB too Gus and Tosca...prizes for anyone guessing the date and location
Awww Jane you knowhow I felt about Chaumie and boy did that picture at Southern Counties bring it all back for me. Thanks for sharing all these blasts from the past. A bit sentimental over them but it was lovely to see them all There are some recent one's of me and the boys under Dog Pictures Weekend at Ansty Hall.There are also some of them with two of Angie's Babies under showing Brozoi Breed Show, if you want a peek.
