Has anyone any information on living with a Borzoi.  I have admired this breed for several years. I have been to many shows where I have stewarded for the breed and I am a great admirer of this breed.

I have never owned a hound breed before. I have read as much as I can on the history and development of the breed and I would now like some practical advice.

Thank you

I dont own a borzoi, although i think someone else on here does.

i DO own a lurcher (bedlington x whippet / bearded collie x greyhound) and a 3/4 saluki greyhound.

There are a few things in common with most sight hounds.

IF they cant see it, they wont chase it and invariably, they wont go looking for it either, unlike many breeds.

A reliable recall is a must, but dont be expecting Border Collie standards here, sighthounds especially the Borzoi, Saluki, Afghan etc do NOT work like that.
You need to develop a bond, and you wont get it by bribery nor by force. You must earn respect and keep that respect, and then understand HOW your dog thinks.

A sighthound will chase something, and there are very few, even working lurchers, who can be called off a chase. One of the most important parts of owning a sighthound is knowing that you will NEVER be able to take walks that involve nattering to a friend with (as my mum says) 'yer thumb up yer bum and yer mind in neutral"....
You MUST learn your dogs body language you MUST keep one eye on her at all times. Watch those ears, watch the body, when she senses somethings about you have a few seconds to stop her between her thinking 'ooh, wossat' and 'im offski's'.

There is NO point recalling after the 'im offski's' moment. All you can then do is wait where you are for her to return.

Sighthounds do NOT expect you to move. As a pup a recall training tip is to hide whenever they go out of sight, then whistle. With luck you iwll instill into your dog that taking their eyes off you for a moment or two means YOU will vanish, however dont expect this lesson to be foremost in their mind when they see a rabbit.

They are intensely sensitive dogs and easily pick up on your mood. They can be incredibly picky, very aloof and generally not given to lavishing affection upon all and sundry.

In addition, even as pups, they play much more predatory games than most breeds, the usual one being 'chase and pin' which a great many dogs find hugely upsetting/intimidating.

Socialise socialise socilise, and then do it some more. Especially iwth live stock and horses (in the breed standard for salukis it says 'finds the thunder of hooves terribly exciting' (or words to that effect) and BOY does she ever!!!!, aeroplane ears on, and trembling alll over!).

A lot of people will tell you that sighthounds are deeply stupid. This is rubbish. However they are NOT fans of repeated boring training, fetching a stick ad nauseum is not for them, likewise organised obediance type exercises are not greeted with enthusiasm.

I ahve however had some excellent results with reward based training, making my saluki think for herself and realise SHE can make ME do things. Pretty amazing for both of us, considering the reputation salukis and sighthounds in general have for training, AND given taht she is an old dog who has only ever learned anything by force or instinct prior to living with me.

Hope that helps a bit!

Em

Hi i own a borzoi.

First and foremost if you intend to get a borzoi, please purchase it as a very young pup. I.e. 7-10 weeks old. Any older and you are asking for trouble. They need alot of socialisation. Especially with other dogs and livestock. Borzois are naturally shy dogs, if not socialised properly they will be nervous adults. A nervous dog is a dangerrous, unpredictable dog.

I got my borzoi from a well known breeder when she was six months old. BIG MISTAKE. She was terrified of everything. Household appliances, other animals all kinds of people especially men. I worked very hard with her and now she is totally diffferent. She even goes to shows and lets judges touch her without any fuss.

They need grooming about 3-4 times a week depending on coat length as the coat can mat very easily especially around the ears. Exercise should be restricted when young. They should not be allowed to run around alot either as they are very clumsy as pups and bones can easily get broken. They should also be fed on a puppy food specifically for large breed dogs until 18 months old, there are many foods on the market.

My borzoi is a pleasure to live with, she is very affectionate, obediant, and a coach potatoe. Popular to contrary beleif they can be trained. My borzoi sits, down, give paw, roll over, beg and stay when told. She is very food orientated. Show her a treat and she will do anything to get it. She is not a good watchdog, if she sees someone walking up the path she will just stand there and look at them and go back to sleep. She will sleep all day.

Outside is a different story, she loves to run and watching her is breath taking. You have to be very careful where you let them run though. If there is going to be little dogs around then the borzoi will mistaken it for a rabbit and chase it.

I hope this is of help to you. But the key thing is plenty of socialisation. The critical socialisation stage is 8-16 weeks old. After this age the dog will not take too kindly to new experiences. If you get your pup vaccinated at 8 and 10 weeks old and wait 2 weeks for immunity to build up then your pup will be 12 weeks old and that is too old to start socialisation. Think of it this way. would you rather your dog caught a virus that affected him for 2 weeks and is treatable, or wait until 12 weeks old and in adulthood you will have an under socialised dog with behavoural problems for most of it's life which are not easily treatable?  If you do not want to put your pup on the ground until immunity builds up then carry it where ever you take it, but seeing things from a height is alot different to seeeing the same things on the ground.