Also called the Russian wolfhound, the borzoi is an older breed that was bred by the Russian aristocracy for several centuries. As early as the 13th century, Russians participated in the sport of hare coursing, and in the 15th and 16th centuries, those hounds used for hare coursing were crossed with hounds used for bear hunting and tall Russian sheepdogs, resulting in a dog of increased size and a thicker coat. Other accounts claim that the borzoi descended from crosses with the Greyhound, the Lapp sled dog, and even perhaps the collie. Whatever its true heritage, this new breed was used to hunt wolves. The first breed standard is evident in a borzoi hunting rule book from the 1600s. These wolf hunts were grand events in which more than 100 dogs would participate. When a wolf was spotted during a typical hunt, two or three dogs were released. They would chase down the wolf and pin it down until the hunter arrived on horseback. There are also stories regarding the 13th century hunting trips of Genghis Khan which described a borzoi-like hound. It is believed that the ancestors of the Russian borzoi may include the bearhound, the Southern coursing hounds found in the Tartars, and the Owtcher - a tall, Russian sheepdog...... Find out more about this dog breed.
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