Early on, in the late 1960′s, I can still recall the thrill of delivering Snow Stag, he in a litter of 5. As he was being born, and was still half delivered, he reached for, found a nipple and began to nurse! Of course he went on to become foundation dog Ch Majenkir Sverkai Snow Stag, CD ROMX. Majenkir’s second litter, born while I still lived in Brooklyn in a three room walk in apartment, with a tiny back yard.
My favorite pup in that litter, was the only girl, Misty. She contracted distemper and after a long session of nursing care, broke my heart when I lost her to chorea.
Those were the days when vaccine could be unreliable and there were often “breaks” causing a dog to be unprotected if challenged by a live virus.
Of course Snow Stag went on to become a legend in the breed. He possessed and passed to his get the most incredible layback of shoulders. This coupled with a strong powerful rear, and a muscular loin, with his topline in the correct place, made him quite valuable as a prepotent stud dog.
His head was plain, very much an old fashioned coursing type head, as is seen in old photos of the hunting dogs bred by the great hunts of Russia. His head went with his coursing type body. Snow Stag also did not have the lovely Roman finish to the end of his nose. This is seen when the black nose droops slightly at the end of the cartilage. While his eyes, pigment, and expression were classic, his head tended towards a slight dish face.
Snow Stag came into the world at a time when the Borzoi in the show ring were becoming “stylized.” This was largely due to the influx of English imports popular at that time, who were quite fine and stylized compared to American dogs. Borzoi being shown, then as now, tended towards finer boned, some almost to the point of weedy, with straight fronts and rears. This lack of layback of shoulder and sweep of angulation limits reach and drive. This will reduce the speed of the dog in the field. There is a direct correlation between the dog’s angulation, the length of stride, and his ability to perform in the field.
Unfortunately the show ring not only presents a fine line, it pushes a breed the wrong way, as it tends to reward “pretty” or extreme over correct breed type functionally ability. There is always that fine line which if crossed can make a show dog tend towards a caricature of its breed. A show dog must be beautiful while still maintaining the correct characteristics of it’s breed type and function according to it’s written standard.
After breeding Borzoi for over 40 years my favorite word to discribe my breed is “Balance,” or to elaborate, “balance in all things.”
