Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!
Borzoi are quite intelligent and very quick learners. Like
greyhounds, they are fairly soft, but can be stubborn and independent.
Like Siberians, they don't go for repetition and training needs to be
made interesting for them. They practically housebreak themselves.
Oksana (means "God be praised" in Russian) is outgoing and
affectionate. As a sighthound, her energy level even when active and
playful is lower than working and herding breeds, except when she
runs. So far she's faster than the ex-racing greyhounds, and her
favorite things include teasing them until they chase her, walks,
getting onto the couch by jumping over the back, playing bitey-face
with Teddy (3 year-old oversized IG), being invited to put her paws on
our shoulders, and nibbling ears. I once found her on the kitchen
table (only once). Her all-time favorite thing is snow, and although
I don't have many pictures (it must be like when you have kids, and
there aren't many pictures of #5), below is a video of her enjoying
her first deep snow. We had no idea that this is normal Borzoi
behavior in snow, as our previous two rescues did not play outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDi6uxBcmtA

Oksana is currently blowing her puppy coat, which is also a new
experience for us. We had Siberians for years, and of course they
shed copiously, but that stuff would come out in chunks and stay where
it fell. This stuff flies through the air and goes everywhere,
usually ending up in our mouths. We had no idea that Borzoi hair was
a condiment. Oksana comes from coursing lines and we hope to try that
when she's old enough.

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!
Borzoi are quite intelligent and very quick learners. Like
greyhounds, they are fairly soft, but can be stubborn and independent.
Like Siberians, they don't go for repetition and training needs to be
made interesting for them. They practically housebreak themselves.
Oksana (means "God be praised" in Russian) is outgoing and
affectionate. As a sighthound, her energy level even when active and
playful is lower than working and herding breeds, except when she
runs. So far she's faster than the ex-racing greyhounds, and her
favorite things include teasing them until they chase her, walks,
getting onto the couch by jumping over the back, playing bitey-face
with Teddy (3 year-old oversized IG), being invited to put her paws on
our shoulders, and nibbling ears. I once found her on the kitchen
table (only once). Her all-time favorite thing is snow, and although
I don't have many pictures (it must be like when you have kids, and
there aren't many pictures of #5), below is a video of her enjoying
her first deep snow. We had no idea that this is normal Borzoi
behavior in snow, as our previous two rescues did not play outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDi6uxBcmtA

Oksana is currently blowing her puppy coat, which is also a new
experience for us. We had Siberians for years, and of course they
shed copiously, but that stuff would come out in chunks and stay where
it fell. This stuff flies through the air and goes everywhere,
usually ending up in our mouths. We had no idea that Borzoi hair was
a condiment. Oksana comes from coursing lines and we hope to try that
when she's old enough.

She seems like a happy, playful dog. My friend Bonnie raises and breeds
Borzois and also runs a kennel, obedience, and agility training. Muttley and
I visited her last week after his vet visit and we'll be going back very
soon to get his easy-walk harness. Here are the websites, which may have
some helpful information: http://www.borzois.com/ and
http://www.silkenswift.info/index.html

Bonnie was especially helpful with Muttley's introduction to Lucky in 2007
and she took some fine pictures of her and helped put together an adoption
flyer. These are my favorite pictures of Lucky:
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Luck...ead429_514.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Luck...ide429_357.jpg
http://cygnus.smart.net/~pstech/Luck...tSt430_688.jpg

Paul and Muttley

On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 04:07:43 -0400, "Paul E. Schoen"
wrote:


She seems like a happy, playful dog. My friend Bonnie raises and breeds
Borzois and also runs a kennel, obedience, and agility training. Muttley and
I visited her last week after his vet visit and we'll be going back very
soon to get his easy-walk harness. Here are the websites, which may have
some helpful information: http://www.borzois.com/ and
http://www.silkenswift.info/index.html

You know Bonnie Dalzell? Interesting. Anyway, I am quite familiar
with Silkenswift and with those web sites. I've been a Borzoi owner
for 10 years.

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!
Borzoi are quite intelligent and very quick learners. Like
greyhounds, they are fairly soft, but can be stubborn and independent.
Like Siberians, they don't go for repetition and training needs to be
made interesting for them. They practically housebreak themselves.
Oksana (means "God be praised" in Russian) is outgoing and
affectionate. As a sighthound, her energy level even when active and
playful is lower than working and herding breeds, except when she
runs. So far she's faster than the ex-racing greyhounds, and her
favorite things include teasing them until they chase her, walks,
getting onto the couch by jumping over the back, playing bitey-face
with Teddy (3 year-old oversized IG), being invited to put her paws on
our shoulders, and nibbling ears. I once found her on the kitchen
table (only once). Her all-time favorite thing is snow, and although
I don't have many pictures (it must be like when you have kids, and
there aren't many pictures of #5), below is a video of her enjoying
her first deep snow. We had no idea that this is normal Borzoi
behavior in snow, as our previous two rescues did not play outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDi6uxBcmtA

She is an absolute beauty! And I love the soundtrack too...is that Benny
Goodman?

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote

Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!

Snipped but bless you! Lovely lady there!

Heheh so playful!

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!
Borzoi are quite intelligent and very quick learners. Like
greyhounds, they are fairly soft, but can be stubborn and independent.
Like Siberians, they don't go for repetition and training needs to be
made interesting for them. They practically housebreak themselves.
Oksana (means "God be praised" in Russian) is outgoing and
affectionate. As a sighthound, her energy level even when active and
playful is lower than working and herding breeds, except when she
runs. So far she's faster than the ex-racing greyhounds, and her
favorite things include teasing them until they chase her, walks,
getting onto the couch by jumping over the back, playing bitey-face
with Teddy (3 year-old oversized IG), being invited to put her paws on
our shoulders, and nibbling ears. I once found her on the kitchen
table (only once). Her all-time favorite thing is snow, and although
I don't have many pictures (it must be like when you have kids, and
there aren't many pictures of #5), below is a video of her enjoying
her first deep snow. We had no idea that this is normal Borzoi
behavior in snow, as our previous two rescues did not play outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDi6uxBcmtA

Oksana is currently blowing her puppy coat, which is also a new
experience for us. We had Siberians for years, and of course they
shed copiously, but that stuff would come out in chunks and stay where
it fell. This stuff flies through the air and goes everywhere,
usually ending up in our mouths. We had no idea that Borzoi hair was
a condiment. Oksana comes from coursing lines and we hope to try that
when she's old enough.




What a beauty! She is thoroughly enjoying herself in that snow. My
favorite part is watching her bury her face and then come up with a happy
faceful. I've known several Greyhounds, but I've never actually seen a
Borzoi in person.

On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 10:17:17 -0700, "Wingnut"
wrote:



"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
.. .
Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!
Borzoi are quite intelligent and very quick learners. Like
greyhounds, they are fairly soft, but can be stubborn and independent.
Like Siberians, they don't go for repetition and training needs to be
made interesting for them. They practically housebreak themselves.
Oksana (means "God be praised" in Russian) is outgoing and
affectionate. As a sighthound, her energy level even when active and
playful is lower than working and herding breeds, except when she
runs. So far she's faster than the ex-racing greyhounds, and her
favorite things include teasing them until they chase her, walks,
getting onto the couch by jumping over the back, playing bitey-face
with Teddy (3 year-old oversized IG), being invited to put her paws on
our shoulders, and nibbling ears. I once found her on the kitchen
table (only once). Her all-time favorite thing is snow, and although
I don't have many pictures (it must be like when you have kids, and
there aren't many pictures of #5), below is a video of her enjoying
her first deep snow. We had no idea that this is normal Borzoi
behavior in snow, as our previous two rescues did not play outdoors.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aDi6uxBcmtA

She is an absolute beauty! And I love the soundtrack too...is that Benny
Goodman?

Thanks. I think the soundtrack was used as the Harlem Globetrotters'
theme song, but I'm not sure what it is. DH added it.

On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 17:18:16 -0400, "cshenk" wrote:

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote

Oksana is our 10 1/2 month-old Borzoi (or, as she is occasionally
known, Bozo) pup. She is not a rescue and although she is our third
Borzoi, she's the the first "normal" Borzoi we've had, so we are
learning things about the breed that we didn't know we didn't know!

Snipped but bless you! Lovely lady there!

Thanks. She is not so lovely now - has blown so much coat she's
nearly naked!

On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:21:54 -0500, "starcat"
wrote:

What a beauty! She is thoroughly enjoying herself in that snow. My
favorite part is watching her bury her face and then come up with a happy
faceful. I've known several Greyhounds, but I've never actually seen a
Borzoi in person.

Thanks. Yes, Borzoi make full use of snow - it is for running
through, tunneling under, rolling in, wearing as a disguise, and
eating. I like the parts where she comes up with a pile of snow on
her head too. Also where she suddenly leaps up and starts bounding
through the deep snow ("I don't need no stinkin' path", she says).
Ex-racing greyhounds are pretty common these days. Borzoi, while not
rare, are not too common unless you frequent dog shows. They are
beautiful, elegant dogs, but also great athletes.

"sighthounds & siberians" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 16 Apr 2010 21:21:54 -0500, "starcat"
wrote:

What a beauty! She is thoroughly enjoying herself in that snow. My
favorite part is watching her bury her face and then come up with a happy
faceful. I've known several Greyhounds, but I've never actually seen a
Borzoi in person.

Thanks. Yes, Borzoi make full use of snow - it is for running
through, tunneling under, rolling in, wearing as a disguise, and
eating. I like the parts where she comes up with a pile of snow on
her head too. Also where she suddenly leaps up and starts bounding
through the deep snow ("I don't need no stinkin' path", she says).
Ex-racing greyhounds are pretty common these days. Borzoi, while not
rare, are not too common unless you frequent dog shows. They are
beautiful, elegant dogs, but also great athletes.

I don't think I had ever seen a Borzoi until I met Bonnie, and then there
were suddenly dozens of them at her kennel. Muttley and I didn't interact
much with them, but we became pretty good friends with Bonnie and Jim. I
think she especially liked Lucky, and she always asks about her, while all I
can say is that she was quickly adopted by a nice family through the
Defenders of Animal Rights.

It's a good thing to see dogs enjoying themselves, especially in the snow. I
was able to let Muttley off-leash while I dug a path through the first 30"
blizzard's snowfall, and he seemed content to stay in the path, but when my
neighbors walked by on the road, he plowed his way through it to greet them,
so I had to hook him up to the leash again.

Seeing the dogs bury themselves in the snow and then emerge with an
energetic bound reminds me of the movie "8 Below", which showed the Huskies
and Malamutes waking up from their cosy dens in the snow. I'd never imagined
Borzois as cold winter dogs, but after all they are Russian Wolfhounds.

I was surprised to read in the Wiki that Borzoi are very quiet; the ones at
BATW always raise a ruckus when Muttley and I visit. And they are also
described as one of the least intelligent breeds, but that might just be
their independent nature and unwillingness to learn commands. However, their
heads are very small in relation to their bodies so that might mean a
smaller brain size.

I remember the Borzoi name and symbol for the Alfred A. Knopf publishing
house from when I was in elementary school.

Paul and Muttley