. 
Udaloy 1876 (drawing) Argos 1892
"Style is not something applied. It is something that permeates.
It is of the nature of that in which it is found, whether the poem, the
manner, ... the bearing of a man. It is not a dress."
Wallace Stevens
The Borzoi coat is unique in the dog
world, not only in the delightful feel of its silky, thick, rabbit-fur-like
texture, but in its pattern of growth on the dog as well. Like most parts
of the Borzoi, the coat comes from function. The coat had to be warm, to
protect the dog in the cold of Russian winters; therefore it developed
with a plushy deciduous undercoat in winter. But the coat couldn't be too
warm, because on the other hand, the dog has to be able to dissipate heat
while and after running. Heat dissipation is a fundamental and primary
consideration for any athletic animal. This essential ability to dissipate
heat generated by running automatically imposes limits on both coat quantity
and body size; excessive amount of coat would be a serious, actually life-threatening
problem for the running dog. The borzoi coat developed to have a unique
pattern, with a thick protective neck mane of moderate length, longer thick
coat on the tail and back of the hindquarters for warmth and protection
when lying in the curled position in cold weather, and to be shorter on
the sides of the body to help prevent overheating when active. It is a
beautifully balanced fulfillment of required qualities.
The coat could not be too long, or of
a cottony texture, because if it were, it would pick up sticks and
other vegetation as the dog ran. An overly long or cottony coat would quickly
disable a dog in the field, tangling him into a thicket of useless immobility.
The wrong kind of coat can result in more than a few leaves in the feathering;
it can become an immobilizing disaster requiring gardening clippers and
scissors and significant effort to free the dog.
The coat should also be somewhat self
cleaning, so the mud of spring and fall will tend to fall off. These
requirements favored a coat that was silky, dirt-shedding, resistant to
matting in texture and of moderate length. The hunters of old Russia did
not want to spend many hours grooming their Borzoi, nor did they have the
blow dryers and coat conditioners and shampoos and grooming tables we have
today.
Their world left us with a wonderful,
unique, patterned coat, of moderate length, silky in texture with a thick
plush deciduous undercoat useful in winter and shed out in summer. This
close-fitting coat allows the beauty of the shapely borzoi body and it's
muscle definition to be seen. It is our good fortune that this coat also
happens to be one of the most pleasurable to the touch in the canine world.
Lucky us; beneficiaries of past pragmatism, we now get to touch that
delightful silky plushness. Fortunately, this unique original coat can
still be seen, and felt, today. But unfortunately, it is being displaced.
Excessive length and quantity of coat, coarse rather than silky dirt-shedding
texture, and the lack of a seasonal shed; all are to be found in borzoi
today; and all are alterations of the original silky, plush, patterned,
close-fitting deciduous borzoi coat. These alterations in the direction
of more, longer, coarser, and year-round parallel the increases in
quantity and loss of pattern the afghan hound coat has experienced. They
are all alterations away from the more specialized and toward the more
common and generic. Do we really want to trade in this incredibly luxurious,
plush, form-fitting borzoi coat for a coarse, generic, form-obscuring and
at times even sheeplike transformation? Do we really want our borzoi to
go the way of the afghan hound regarding coat?
If not, we need to pay some attention
to what we may be losing. Here are some descriptions of the Borzoi
coat.
"Complete Manual of the Coursing Hunt" by P.M. Giebin, Moscow 1891.
The Psovoi borzoi coat.
"Coat long, about 3 ½ in.; rather
thin, but soft, silky and glossy, and of the same
length on the neck, back and ribs. But
the ornamental hair is much longer-for instance,
on the edges of the hips it is often
7 in. long, hanging down in silky, wavy tresses, and
has heavy under hair. On the under side
of the ribs and on the belly it is thin and is
without under hair, and does not seem
so long, only toward the rear it reaches 4 ½ in.
The males have large side whiskers up
to 7 in. in length; the females lack these.
On the tail the hair is 5 to 7 in. long
and hangs down straight; the upper side of the
tail is covered with short, smooth hair;
around the root this is wavy.
On the hind edges of the forelegs the
hair is of the ordinary length of the hair of the
body, the fore edges as also the
head have a very short mouse-like coat of hair, but
it is also silky and glossy. In
general the hair on the Psovoi borzois is straight, wavy
or curly, according to which type of
its original progenitors the dog is nearer to, and
any of these is allowed as long as the
hair is not course and woolly, which would
indicate a crossing with common or sheep
dogs."
This is a very nice early description of what the Borzoi coat was and should be. The hair was 5 to 7 inches long on the tail and only 3 ½ inches on the body. Maybe we should specify maximum coat length in the standard.
Machevarianov 1876.
"The Psovaya
Borzoi has a thick wavy coat 4 to 5 cm
(1.6 to
2 inches) long, sometimes more, all over the body,
with long feathering as thin as ostrich feathers at the temples,
the rear sides of the front legs and the thighs as well as at the
lower side of the tail where it can reach over ¼ archin (7 inches)."
Machevarianov is calling for a shorter coat on the body than Giebin; only 1.6 to 2 inches. The feathering and the pattern are the same as described by Giebin and are distinctive features of the Borzoi.
Ermolov 1888.
"...the dog should be dressed in
a wavy, silky feathering. It is better if the cover
is not especially warm,
but with feathering of good quality."
Here Ermolov states that the coat should not be too warm, again because the running dog must be able to dissipate heat. An excessively long or heavy or unseasonable coat would be too warm, a serious disability for a runner who may overheat and suffer heat stroke if unable to dissipate heat.
Sabaneev 1892.
"Coat soft, silky and glossy; wavy in
places or in large curls all over.
The decorative hair, i.e. on the
neck, hips and tail, is considerably longer
than on the back and ribs; on
the head, from the ears forward, and the
fore edges of the legs, the hair
must be very short, like to a mouse, smooth and glossy."
Here no length is specified, but the pattern is described. This pattern is very distinctive to the Borzoi, and when coats become too long or excessive it is lost.
English Standard 1892.
"Coat - Long, silky (not woolly), either
flat, wavy, or rather curly. On the head,
ears and front legs it should be short
and smooth. On the neck the frill should be
profuse and rather curly. On the chest
and rest of body, the tail and hindquarters,
it should be long. The forelegs should
be well feathered."
American Standard 1905.
"Coat - Long, silky (Not Woolly), either
flat, wavy or rather curly.
On the head, ears and front of
legs it should be short and smooth;
on neck the frill should be profuse
and rather curly. Feather on hind
quarters and tail, long and profuse,
less so on the chest and back of fore legs."
The Modern American Standard.
"COAT - Long, silky (not woolly), either
flat, wavy or rather curly. On the head,
ears and front of legs it should
be short and smooth; on the neck the frill should be
profuse and rather curly. Feather
on hindquarters and tail, long and profuse, less so on
chest and back of forelegs."
The FCI standard.
"Coat: Hair: Silky, soft and supple, wavy or
forming short curls. On the head, the
ears and the limbs, the hair is satiny
(silky but heavier), short, close lying. On the
body, the hair is quite long, wavy;
on the regions of the shoulder blades and the
croup, the hair forms finer curls; on
the ribs and thighs, the hair is shorter; the hair
which forms the fringes, the "breeches"
and the feathering of the tail is longer."
All of these describe the coat pattern but do not specify lengths. They do state that the coat should be long. This is an arbitrary and relative description, and can lead to exaggeration as coats continue to become longer and longer. Further comment on the American standard will follow.
Galina Wiktorowna Zotova 1997.
"The Borzoi has a very specific
characteristic partition of coat: long, curly hair-dorsal,
long, thick
hair on breast and back. The flanks in contrary have very short hair."
Here again is a description of the coat pattern from a world-recognized Russian borzoi authority. When speaking about the differences between Russian and western Borzoi, Ms. Zotova said,
"Borzoi from Western countries
are much too large in height and the hair is thick.
The western people look
at Borzoi more or less as a decorative dog. So it seems
that they judge the dog
more in respect to exotic appeal than in behalf of the
correct anatomy, physically
ability and power.... Obviously, another difference
to our dogs, is the
long hair. That's western style and standard. So, some western
breeders say the Russian
Borzoi has little coat, although it is the original anatomy."
That is a succinct summation: a profuse coat
can hide an incorrect anatomy and a lack of muscular development and power.
It is also not "the original anatomy", that is, the breed's original coat.
Another change from the original hunting
borzoi coat involves shedding. Anna Shubkina, a Russian Borzoi
hunter, breeder and judge, wrote in the Russian PADS (the People And Dogs
Society) newsletter, in 2004,
"Hunting on Russian unlimited open spaces
did not allow the Borzoi to have too
heavy coat and the dogs shed strictly
according to change of seasons. Our Borzois,
as a rule, shed by the summer,
when they have a short light coat and develop a thicker
coat by winter reaching maximum
by late January-February. Showing dogs in Europe
requires a different kind of coat.
Since late 60th of the past Century, dogs with
luxurious heavy coat were consistently
winning and now, majority of the Borzois
in the West retain a heavy coat
during most of the year. Concentrated foods with
necessary vitamins and other supplements
stimulating growth of hairs and changing
the shedding schedule also helped
this."
Our interpretation is that alteration of something so physiologically basic as shedding cycles bears close scrutiny. In the desire to show a heavily coated dog year round, show selection is toward a dog that does not undergo a yearly shed. It requires a lot of protein and metabolic activity to grow a new coat, with as much as 25% of the protein intake being used for that purpose at the time of coat replacement. Selection against dogs who are capable of shedding out old worn coat and replacing it with new healthy coat is, inadvertently, selection toward a dog who is unable to bear the metabolic cost of coat production and therefore retains the old, worn coat rather than replacing it. In a genetic process called saltation, when one trait is altered, often other, unanticipated alterations ride along as well. These are unexpected by-products caused by the same genetic changes that were intentionally selected for when the single selected trait was altered. Saltations are why, for example, certain inherited diseases are evidenced by several apparently unrelated physical traits. Coat colors have been shown to be related to behavioral and reproductive changes in Dimitri Belyaev's studies of foxes. Temple Grandin has found evidence of hair whorls in cattle and humans being related to neurologic and behavioral traits. When we go about altering fundamental physiologic traits, we should be very humble and careful, because we may end up with associated linked changes we had no idea were genetically connected. And even on the simple face of it, causing dogs to carry a full heavy coat in warm climates throughout the year is a misery and a disservice to them.
The show Borzoi has, inarguably, gained
and changed coat over the years. The huge emphasis on hair for many
breeds at dog shows is apparent in the great deal of money and time spent
on hair care products and gadgets, for use inside and out. This goes
beyond presenting dogs with shiny clean coats; having a dog to show becomes
equivalent to getting a degree as a hair stylist. Borzoi coats with waves
or curls are often blow-dried straight for shows. Silicon spray is used
to replace the natural dirt-shedding silky texture. Supplements are sometimes
used not out of concern for supplying the dog with the healthiest possible
diet, but out of interest in growing the maximum possible coat. Less healthful
supplements have also been tried, such as low doses of arsenic, or thyroxin
given to non-hypothyroid dogs, in efforts to grow more coat. Perhaps we
should consider that the reason some of our dogs "lack coat" is because
massive coat was not what the breed originally had, nor is it the correct
and desirable coat for them to have now. Just imagine if this much emphasis
was placed instead on well-developed musculature and cardiovascular ability!
Fortunately for us, so far there are
still beautiful well-fitting silky coats to be found; they are not yet
entirely lost, though they are losing ground. The old curly and wavy coats
have been significantly reduced throughout the breed in the US, and
when the curls disappear, the waves will follow. The US standard still
specifies that the neck frill be "rather curly": it reads, "on the neck
the frill should be profuse and rather curly. Feather on hindquarters and
tail, long and profuse, less so on chest and back of forelegs". Keeping
less feathering on the chest and back of forelegs would be a great help
to the dog in the field, as well as maintaining a balanced, long-legged,
sighthoundlike appearance, and is in the standard for a reason; though
it's a reason we've long forgot, based in the field rather than in the
ring. Our first reference, Giebin in 1891 makes a point of this: "On the
underside of the ribs and on the belly it is thin and is without underhair,
and does not seem so long, only toward the rear it reaches 4.5 inches."
The words "long" and "profuse" are used in the US standard, but they need
to be interpreted within the context in which they were written.
Notice that the US standard from 1905
and the current one read exactly the same. Bistri of Perchino, whose photograph
taken in 1904 is below, was described as having a "magnificent" coat at
that time. As you can see, he would be described as lacking coat, today.
This is a great illustration of the fact that though the standard has not
changed one word on coat in almost 100 years, the dogs themselves have
changed a great deal. One point to take away from this is that written
standards do not preserve breeds in their original state; they only describe
what was within the context of their time, to those familiar with the meaning
of the terms when they were written. Following from this is that standards
need to be interpreted within the context in which they were written as
much as remains possible today.
Nowhere in the US standard is the coat
described as "flowing"; yet that description is commonly used as if it
were an attribute rather than a pejorative. "Flowing" goes in a category
along with other descriptors used by exhibitors as high praise but actually
found nowhere in the standard, such as "neck like a giraffe". A giraffe-necked
creature covered in a waterfall of hair cascading to it's ankles
springs to mind. These kinds of exaggerations and alterations, not described
in the standard, are not attributes.
A Russian breeder has explained to us
that the longest coat should be located on the tail, the back of the hindquarters,
and the collar, or neck. Under the chest is not one of the areas where
the longest hair is desired. If the borzoi has equally long hair
on the rest of the body, such as is appreciated in the west, it may be
considered a deviation from the standard and be penalized. It is more important
that the form of the coat be correct, with the fineness of hair on the
head and legs, than that there be a lot of coat. This fineness of hair
on the face and legs contributes to the dry appearance of the borzoi.
The "very short, like a mouse, smooth
and glossy" facial coat, "on the head, from the ears forward" specified
by Sabaneev in 1892 and others before him, is particularly aristocratic
in appearance, like silk, with the clearly apparent facial veins coursing
beneath it. When coats become too heavy, the face loses this fineness;
the veining is no longer easily visible, and the face toward the back of
the skull tends to grow longer coarser hair requiring trimming to comply
with the written descriptions of the coat. Very heavy coats also change
the appearance of the legs, obscuring the dry bladed shape and causing
them to look thick and heavy. Even the appearance of the feet is affected;
the detailing seen in a dry foot is no longer visible when the coat pattern
is disrupted and the hair on the legs is no longer fine, but thick and
coarse. The outline of the dog is degraded in other ways by excess coat:
the coat tends to become ill-fitting, with lots of hair lumping over the
hips as seen in the herding breeds; and huge coat causes a heavy, inelegant
appearance, skewing the visual balance of the center of gravity of
the dog and making it appear lower in carriage than it might actually be.
There are ample illustrations of the
original borzoi coat and it's variations, both in old photographs
and in old artistic representations, often depicting the curly neck frill,
like a muff around the neck, thick but not particularly long, and very
moderate coat on the rest of the body, sometimes even rather short, sometimes
curly or wavy, with only slightly longer hair on the tail and back of the
hindquarters. Shape-distorting masses of hair under the chest or
on the back of the forelegs are conspicuously absent, so the shapeliness
of the hound can easily be seen.
Excessive coat on the Borzoi is incorrect
for the breed and should be penalized in the show ring rather than encouraged;
it is naturally penalized in the field. Following
is a quote from The Onlooker dated 1891. "The proper and only 'true type'
of any breed is that which most exactly subserves the purposes for which
the breed is designed. Any malformation which is likely to unfit the dog
for its uses is fatal to its being true to type." This is the best
explanation of breed type we have yet seen; and though breed type and it's
common confusion with style are an entire topic in themselves, this quote
does put a fine point on the concept that excessive coat is antithetical
to breed type. In addition to historic loss and functional loss,
excessive coat also causes esthetic loss by obscuring the beauty of the
body, whose lines, curves, and proportions are the essential esthetic core
of the breed. As Wallace Stevens says in the quote used to open this article,
"Style is not applied. It is something that permeates. It is of the nature
of that in which it is found....It is not a dress."
The breeds we have inherited developed
by a dynamic evolution, but currently we seek to maintain them through
a static selection process. The real style is that of the body and the
mind inside it. It is based on behavior and physical and mental ability
over time, evolving in a multi-dimensional world. Voila; out of this process,
the form appears. Today, we have a very different selection method; a static
method, looking only with the eyes, at a brief, two-dimensional show ring
appearance, according to which we then live and believe and make
animal lives. When attempts at style are made by use of this two-dimensional
system, through exaggeration of single, superficial aspects such as coat,
the result can only be a sham, a caricature, a vaudeville show, tacky and
pathetic as pancake make-up. At it's worse, an overheating, sheeplike coat
can even make the poor borzoi, sadly, ridiculous.
They say a picture is worth a thousand
words, so below are many photographs of borzoi from the past. All are photographs
except for two illustrations, which are identified as such. Included are
several photographic examples from the country of origin taken at around
1900. Unfortunately, no photo seems able to illustrate the special, silken
quality of the borzoi coat; but we are able to see pattern and quantity,
though unable to perceive the texture. The photos are ordered chronologically
by year, starting with the oldest. Most of the dogs are named; some were
bred into the Valley Farm lines, such as Marksman, Bistri and Argos. Included
also are historic pictures of afghan hounds, for comparison to the modern
US afghan hound coat, as food for thought regarding the direction the borzoi
coat is to take.
The unique and specialized can easily
be lost, replaced by the common and generic. Do we want to discard
something as rare and beautiful as the borzoi coat, with it's derivation
firmly anchored in functional breed history, and change it with quick arrogance
for something as arbitrary and trivial as a dog show? The choice is ours.
.
Udaloy 1876 (drawing)
Argos 1892
.
Argos 1892
Leekhoi circa 1892
.
Modjeska
1894
Borzoi of Tsar Nicholas II, 1897
.
Daniar
1899
Marksman 1901
.
Borzoi in Russia circa 1900.
.
Bistri of Perchina 1904
Atamanka of Woronsova 1904
Described by Joseph Thomas as having a
Woronsova was known for its
"magnificent" coat.
profuse coats.
.
.
.
Westminster show 1909
Grenada of Perchina 1909
.
.
Circa 1909
Circa 1909 (painting)
.
Perchina
dog circa 1910
Perchina bitch circa 1910
. 
1911
Perchina circa 1911
.
Rasboi o' Valley Farm 1912
Genest O' Russeau 1915
.
Cyclone of Perchina 1916
Ch. Soja 1922
.
1925 Mrs. Kent
Williams, TX
Square Acres Kennel N.J. 1925
. 
Ivor o' Valley Farm 1926
1928 Kanza Kennels, KS
.
Nappraxin
o' Valley Farm and
Boi o' Valley Farm
Louba of Vladimir circa 1930
Best of Breed Westminster Show 1930
.
Pelleas of Perchino (an American kennel)
Afghans 1924
1933
. 
Afghan 1933
Afghan 1933