It was long thought that Saluki type sighthounds were originally brought to Russia from Byzantium in the south about the 9th and 10th centuries and again later by the Mongol invaders from the East. However, now that the archeological archives and research results of the former USSR are open to scientists, it has become quite clear that the primal sight-dog type evolved between the Kyrgyzstan, the lower Kazakhstan part of Altai and the Afghan plains, and that the earliest actual sight-dog breeds were the plains Afghans and the Kyrgyz Taigan.
These ancient breeds then migrated south (founding the Tazi/Saluki branch) and west (founding the Stepnaya, Krimskaya and Hortaya branches) to develop into breeds adapted to those regions. This was a slow process which happened naturally through normal spreading of trade, with the silk and spice trade via the Silk Road being the prime vector.
The more modern Psovaya Borzaya was founded on Stepnaya, Hortaya and the Ukrainian-Polish version of old Hort. There were also imports of western sight-dog breeds to add to the height and weight. It was crossed as well with the Russian Laika specifically and singularly to add resistance against northern cold and a longer and thicker coat than the southern sight-dogs were equipped with.
All of these foundation types - Tazi, Hortaya, Stepnaya, Krimskaya and Hort - already possessed the instincts and agility necessary for hunting and bringing down wolves.
The Psovoi was popular with the Tsars before the 1917 revolution. For centuries, Psovoi could not be purchased but only given as gifts from the Tsar. The most famous breeder was Grand Duke Nicholas Nicolaievich of Russia, who bred countless Psovoi at Perchino, his private estate.
The Russian concept of hunting trials was instituted during the era of the Tsars. As well as providing exciting sport, the tests were used for selecting borzoi breeding stock; only the quickest and most intelligent hunting dogs went on to produce progeny. For the aristocracy these trials were a well-organized ceremony, sometimes going on for days, with the borzoi accompanied by mounted hunters and Foxhounds on the Russian steppe. Hares and other small game were by far the most numerous kills, but the hunters especially loved to test their dogs on wolf. If a wolf was sighted, the hunter would release a team of two or three borzoi. The dogs would pursue the wolf, attack its neck from both sides, and hold it until the hunter arrived. The classical killing was by the human hunter with a knife. Wolf trials are still a regular part of the hunting diploma for all Russian sight-dog breeds of the relevant type, either singly or in pairs or triplets, in their native country.
In the 1917 Revolution, large numbers of native Psovoi were destroyed by the revolutionaries. The Tsars had turned them into a symbol of affluence and tyranny, and they were not welcomed into the new world of the Soviet Union. Some noblemen took it upon themselves to shoot their own dogs rather than allow them to fall into the hands of militants and be cruelly tortured. However, the Psovoi survived along with the other borzaya variants in the Russian countryside.
In the late 1940s a Soviet soldier named Constantin Esmont made detailed records of the various types of borzoi dogs he found in the Cossack villages.
- borzoi on above photo is from 1915 -
Esmont was concerned that the distinct types of borzaya were in danger of degenerating without a controlled system of breeding. He convinced the Soviet government that borzoi were a valuable asset to the hunters who supported the fur industry and henceforth, their breeding was officially regulated. To this day short-haired Hortaya Borzaya are highly valued hunting dogs on the steppes, while the long-haired Psovaya Borzaya, still carrying some of the stigma of its association with the old White Russia, has become more common as a decorative companion.
Exports of Borzoi to other countries were extremely rare during the Soviet era. However enough had been taken to England, Scandinavia, Western Europe and America in the late 19th century for the breed to establish itself outside its native country.
GENERAL CHARACTER AND TEMPERAMENTThese are good-natured, proud dogs and, despite their size, very gentle and calm in the house. They do not like intrusive strangers, being rather aloof, distant and even nervous. They will get on fairly well with children but do not like rough games and will not become their playmates. They will tolerate other dogs who are similarly-minded to themselves, although again they can be rather nervous of them, but they must be introduced to cats and other household pets at an early age as they will always react to the sight of a fleeing animal.
