Breeding and training of a show Borzoi

By: Elena Balakireva

Among the sighthounds appearing annually in the dog show rings, only a few attract the eyes of experts, standing out in style and strength, shining with inimitable, well-groomed coat, emphasizing the aristocracy of the dog. And this is despite the fact that the remaining majority has an equally high-quality exterior, the puzzled owners do not see the obvious and do not realize that their dogs are woefully losing to this minority with their dogness, degree of musculature development or behavior in the ring. A significant part of the difference between a catchy and an unattractive dog is such a thing as condition. In order for a show dog to play the stellar role of a proud and worthy standard-bearer of the breed, it must be properly taken care of and presented in the best condition.

At a major exhibition, you can easily notice a big difference between useless fuss and skillful handling. Everyone has failures, but thoughtful owners never blame handlers, do not make scapegoats of them, but respect them for their boundless dedication to their work, for the work and efforts they put into achieving the goal. Thinking owners are constantly learning something from professionals. All this, of course, is true only if your dog is trained by a really professional. A lot depends on you.

The first step is growing healthy, sociable puppies.

Most greyhounds stubbornly consider freedom one of their inalienable rights. Faced with the fierce resistance of the puppy, many owners allow themselves to be controlled, instead of controlling the dog.

Some puppies, especially bitches, easily get used to the leash, but still this is more an exception to the rules than the norm. Almost all the kids, discovering for the first time that they are on the other end of the leash, perform one of the following actions: they emit a wild piercing scream, convincing the audience that they are being cruelly bullied, hoping that the frightened owner will run to hide and leave the question open (and some of them repeat this trick to exhaustion); they rear up like stallions at a rodeo, jump high into the air, somersault, constantly struggling with the leash (although this is quite a favorable sign); they lay down and categorically refuse to move from their place, yelling at every touch of the leash.

Do not pay attention to your baby's cry for help and explain in advance to sympathetic viewers that you are not mocking him, but teaching him new skills, and never (!) use brute physical force that adversely affects the unstable psyche of the puppy. Violence and rudeness are unacceptable in the treatment of a greyhound. It is clear that at first the leash scares him, because you are not only encroaching on his precious freedom, but also taking him away from home, from the most reliable shelter for him. So try to take it to the far end of the yard and move towards the house. Every meter passed should cause you sincere admiration, which you are obliged to share with the puppy, and he quickly realizes that jumping and screaming are ignored by you, and following you on a leash is interesting and pleasant, as it causes you a lot of positive emotions.

Learning to walk next to on a leash, the puppy should move at a trot, and not lazily amble, with his nose buried in the ground, which is completely unacceptable for a show dog. Sometimes a small bell, which is usually used for cats, dressed in an exhibition ring, helps a lot. Inspired movements in the chin-tinkling ring allow the dog to hold his head high and look out for objects at a distance. Any dog that is trained properly, with patience and love, training brings great joy.

The importance of muscle mass for a show dog is often underestimated. Many greyhounds, which seem quite worthy of the first place in the rack, turn out to be worthless during their movement around the ring. Without going into lengthy discussions about the comparative importance of type, physical and mental health and correct movements, as well as the general strength of the addition, we will accept the following working definition of strength: a strong, physically healthy dog should demonstrate free rectilinear movements with a good sweep of the forelegs and a powerful push of the hind limbs, without rocking the croup horizontally and vertically, sideways movements, outwardly moving limbs, intersecting or connected movements; she skillfully owns her body and is extremely maneuverable, that is, in the blink of an eye, she can change the direction of movement, up to the opposite, stop abruptly on the run or perform a sharp throw without losing her balance, which indicates the complete balance of all her frets.

It is believed that the inability of dogs to achieve such a movement is due to some anatomical developmental deficiencies. But many more greyhounds demonstrate incorrect movements due to the lack of exercise they experience, caused by incorrect cultivation, lack of proper exercise or incorrectly selected loads.

The development of musculature is a continuous process that begins during the intra-embryonic development of the fetus and continues until the end of the animal's life. Kids start stormy games, developing their muscles, before they have time to get back on their feet properly. In the future, it is the owner who should direct the turbulent energy of the developing borzenka in the right and safe direction.

There are several ways to purposefully develop muscles:

• if possible, dogs of the same age should play and communicate in pairs;
• the paddock for walking should be spacious enough so that the puppies can not only play, but also run in it from the heart;
• a long narrow paddock is better than a short rectangular pad; it would not be bad if it was located on rough or hilly terrain.
• It is reasonable for the owner of one dog to visit friends with her more often, who also keep dogs, and allow them to play until exhaustion. However, forcing a tired puppy to sadly trail behind the owner is the best way to spoil not only the dog's limbs, but also the relationship with your borzen.

During the growth period, dogs don't play much - they mostly eat and sleep. Until the age of six months, for moderate muscle building, it is quite enough for a puppy to walk a few minutes on a leash twice a day, run freely and play a little.

The late development of musculature remains the bane of all large breeds. The largest greyhounds, having very long limbs with very pronounced angles of articulation, go through a long period of imbalance and with an illiterate or indifferent attitude of the owner, some of them never manage to stand on their feet confidently.

Despite the fact that the muscles of young and immature greyhounds are not always fully developed yet, some professional experts (especially from the audience) severely punish them for this. But in natural conditions, the strongest really survives. Some of the most energetic greyhounds can control the degree of development of their musculature, constantly monitoring their physical form, while lazy and sissy have to be forced to move. Up to a year, the main load should be walking on a leash with an energetic step and fun romp with peers.

When a greyhound is about to turn a year old and the need for muscle tone increases, some owners are waiting for a miracle from running on a leash. Although they are certainly useful for some dogs, we must warn that such exercises should be fully consistent with the specific need for them of your pet at this point in time. The main rule says: the owner should never require his dog to execute a command on a leash, if she has already mastered it without him.

It is necessary to carefully observe free-playing dogs, regardless of their age, paying special attention to those poses and movements that they naturally take and make in response to what they see and hear. So, a collected alert posture is the best that a dog can demonstrate during this period of his life. The exhibition demonstration consists in a certain manner of showing such fixed poses and movements in the ring. All obvious shortcomings identified during the free movements of the dog without a leash must be carefully analyzed to find out possible causes before deciding how to fix them. Very often this issue can be solved only by a professional handler specializing in greyhounds.

Russian dog greyhounds are late-forming dogs, and from a puppy to maturity they have a whole abyss. Assessing their movements, it is necessary to weigh especially carefully whether certain disorders in them are associated with intensive growth. Many teenagers strung up on their legs, especially large and intensively growing males, have far from the most beautiful lynx, and some of them avoid it altogether until they become fit. If such greyhounds are forced to run on a leash during training or to teach an exhibition trot, they often try to compensate for the imbalance, which may eventually become a habit with them. During this period, they move mainly at a light jog or step, and not at a free trot. The period of intensive growth is the time of the greatest unrest of the owner, as well as the time of the greatest responsibility. Many really cool dogs were hopelessly spoiled by the illiterate or indifferent attitude of the owners, as well as the advice of "well-wishers" who do not have their own cool animals, but at the same time know "everything about everything"!