Russian Dog Breeds

The craze for Russian dogs has been booming since the mid 1990s and is now an attractive option for dog lovers around the world. The dog breeders of Russian dogs are getting more and more recognized at the international level, and with their knowledge of canine genetics and health of the breed, they are are in great demand. Here are some of the famous Russian dog breeds.

Samoyed
The Samoyed is usually a calm breed and makes a reasonably good watchdog. These dogs are fluffy and white, and have great affection for their human family. Initially these dogs were bred by nomadic reindeer herders, who used them to pull sleds when they moved. On an average, the lifespan of a Samoyed ranges from 12 to 16 years, but some live a little longer. Their coats are dense and double layered and the topcoat contains long, coarse, and straight guard hairs. The top layer helps to keep the undercoat relatively clean and free of debris. 'Doggy odor', which is very common amongst most of the dogs, is absent in Samoyed, making them especially well-suited for living indoors.

Black Russian Terrier
The Black Russian Terrier was first developed and designated as a police dog, by the Russian Red Army. This breed helped the army to guard military buildings and to patrol along with the police. Basically it is a mixed breed between the Rottweiler, the Moscow Retriever, the Giant Schnauzer and the Airedale. It’s a very rare breed and its lifespan ranges from 10 to 12 years. Besides its great strength and athletic abilities, the Black Russian Terrier also give an impression of being a highly intelligent, brave and loyal dog. These dogs are light on their feet and their tails are cropped and set high. Their coats are black and waterproof and consist of hard, wiry, close-lying and wavy hair.

Borzoi
Borzoi means 'swift' in Russian, which is the perfect word to describe this particular breed. Borzoi dogs are fearless and intelligent and can be be vicious hunters too. They are tall and slender and form affectionate bonding with the members of the human family. They get along well with children and other dogs and are generally enthusiastic about working and spending time with the owner's family. Their life span is about 10 to 12 years. The Borzoi is an intelligent breed and makes a great worker or pet dog. This breed is known as Sredneasiatskaïa Ovtcharka in Russian and is generally a splendid and courageous guard dog. Dogs of this breed have a very strong bone structure and they can be taller than 70 cm. They are very powerful and are also known as Russian wolfhounds, as they used to hunt down wolves.

The South Russian Shepherd Dog
The South Russian Shepherd dogs are quite rare outside of their native country. The dogs belonging to this breed are large, very powerful and resistant. They adapt perfectly to a wide variety of weather and temperature conditions and are robust and lean, with massive bone structure. The coat of this dog is long, generally of 10 to 15 cm. The hair is coarse, thick and dense and is of equal length on head, chest, legs and tail. The undercoat is well developed and is perfectly shielded by the outer one. The average age of the dogs belonging to this breed ranges from 10 to 12 years. They are generally healthy dogs and their build is almost identical to that of wolves, with only slight differences, which can easily be explained, considering their domestication.

Besides the dog breeds mentioned above, there are many other like the Moscow Toy Terrier, the Russian Spaniel, the Central Asian Shepherd Dog and the South Russian Steppe Hound, which are famous in Russia.