If for nothing else, we have at least one thing to be grateful for to Russia - she has given us the Borzoi, one of the most beautiful of the canine race, combining at once strength, symmetry, and grace. The manner in which in recent years the Borzoi has steadily advanced in the public favour, while other foreign breeds, and unfortunately some of our own (e.g. the Mastiff) have gone to the wall, is in itself sufficient evidence that this breed, at all events, has come to stay.

Some fifteen or twenty years ago an occasional specimen was shown in variety classes, but it was then generally catalogued as a Siberian Wolfhound. Nowadays every show worthy of the name provides classes for the breed. In March, 1892, the Borzoi Club was founded - of which more anon - with the Duchess of Newcastle as President. Indeed, in a great measure the Borzoi owes its present position in the English dog world to her Grace, who takes a keen and active interest in the welfare of the breed, and who is acknowledged to be the best judge of the variety we have. Her Grace, between the years 1889 and 1892, laid the foundation of her now famous kennels, importing, among others, Champion Ooslad, Kaissack, Champion Milka, Oudar, Champion Golub, and others, all pillars of the stud book. It was not, however, until the year 1894 that Borzois received a separate classification in the Kennel Club Stud Book (Vol. XXL).

In England, of course, the Borzoi is kept chiefly for companionship and exhibition purposes, although there is no reason why the dog should not be more generally used for coursing. A friend of the writer's owns a bitch which, when ten years old, successfully competed against trained Greyhounds. In their native country they are used for wolf-hunting, and regular meetings (or trials) are also held, much after the style of our own coursing events.

The trials take place in an enclosed place - i.e. with high fence all the way round - and the wolves are brought on to the scene in similar carts to our deer-carts. The hounds are always slipped in couples on a wolf, and judging takes place on the performance of the brace let loose on the wolf. The whole merit of the course is where the two hounds can overtake their wolf and pin him down so that the keeper can secure him alive. It means, therefore, that if in a brace one dog should prove faster and stronger than the other, he would not add any more points to the score, as he would be working alone, and alone would be quite incapable of tackling a wolf. In order to win, one has to have two good dogs as equal as possible, but of course at the same time fast and powerful. Of late it is a very, very rare occurrence for any brace of Borzois to succeed in holding a wolf at all.

Some of the first specimens imported were not all that could be desired as regards temper, and people fought shy of the breed as "vicious." "One swallow does not make a summer," neither do two or three ill-tempered dogs constitute a breed a "vicious" one. That idea is now, however, happily exploded, and it may truthfully be said that the writer has never possessed a "vicious" Borzoi, and he can only remember seeing two that could fairly be described as such. On the contrary, a Borzoi properly reared - not dragged up, chained to a kennel, a method of procedure warranted to spoil the temper of any dog - invariably turns out an affectionate and intelligent dog, devoted to those he knows. At the same time, the nervous system in the Borzoi appears (whether from inbreeding or other causes it is impossible to say) to be very highly developed, and a puppy's temper may easily be ruined by any undue harshness. A highly bred Borzoi puppy is a mass of nerves, and if beaten, either becomes a miserable, cowed brute or a snappy, bad-tempered one, and the same applies in a lesser degree to the adult hound. There is probably no breed of dog less quarrelsome than the Borzoi. In the writer's kennel there are invariably a large number running loose together, both dogs and bitches, and kennel fights are few and far between. If attacked, however, their strength of jaw and rapidity of movement make them very unpleasant antagonists. Bitches, as a rule, are more inclined to quarrel than dogs.

The Borzoi makes an excellent house-dog, taking up little room, in spite of his size. He is a thorough aristocrat, quiet and dignified in his manner, never rushing about to the detriment of the "household gods," and seldom given to unnecessary barking. In fact he is, as the advertisements say, "an ornament fit for any nobleman's drawing-room."

In constitution the Borzoi is hardy, and may safely be kept in any good outdoor kennel or stable, provided his quarters are dry, and a plentiful supply of straw be allowed in winter. The colder the weather, the better the dogs seem to like it. Damp, of course, must be avoided.

Fig. 38. - Mrs. Borman with Champion Statesman.

The accompanying illustration of Champion Statesman (Fig. 38) - although the photograph from which it was made was taken when he was dead out of coat - together with the appended list of points, as laid down by the Borzoi Club, and the following measurements of some of the leading dogs of the present day (1902) may be useful as a guide.

Mr. Gardner, head kennelman to her Grace the Duchess of Newcastle, kindly furnishes particulars of the following dogs, the property of her Grace: -

1. Champion Velsk (dog). Height at shoulder, 31¾ in. Length of head, 12 ½ in. Girth of chest, 35 ½ in.

2. Champion Velasquez (dog). Height at shoulder, 32½ in.

Length of head, 12 ½ in. Girth of chest, 36m.

3. Champion Tsaretsa (bitch). Height, 31 ½in. Length of head, 12¼ in Girth of chest, 36 in.

4. Champion Tatiana (bitch). Height at shoulder, 30¼ in.

Length of head, 12 in. Girth of chest, 35½ in.

To Mr. P. Farrer Baynes, owner of the late Champion Caspian, I am indebted for the following measurements: -

5. Champion Caspian. Height (when standing smartly), 34½ in.

Length of head, 12¾ in. Girth of chest, 37½ in. Heaviest weight, 1281b.

6. Champion Statesman's (owned by Mrs. Borman) measurements are as follows: Height, 31 ¾ in. Head, 12¼ in. Girth of chest, 35¼ in.

Besides the above there are at the time of writing five other Borzois living entitled to the coveted title of Champion - viz. H.M. the Queen's Alex (dog), her Grace of Newcastle's Velsk Votrio (dog), Theodora (bitch), and Vikhra (bitch), and Miss Kilvert's Knoeas (bitch).