Diva

Love this work

Thanks, You might be well right, but my suburb is bounded by 4 lane roads, and I have sighthounds who know their speed. When I passed out once when walking and dropped the leads they stayed with me. But I think if the attack was directed at them they would try to outrun the attacker, especially when they are young. Their safest defence is their own ability to injure the attacker, my trick is staying on my feet while they do it I guess.

I am very sorry for your loss

I don't know how to cope with the really determined attackers, my dogs are always on lead and I don't want to let go and have them run across a road, but I don't want to go down in the middle of an attack either. They have been attacked several times since I moved to Canberra, the scariest was a couple of GSDs running loose without an owner in sight and my 2 on lead. Didn't matter what I did they ignored me and kept lunging in at my then puppy, I kept trying to circle and keep her behind me. I was just lucky my older bitch was also with me and she was determined to defend the pup. The GSDs wanted to bite the fluffy white puppy not a full on fight with a very angry adult Borzoi so they eventually ran off. It did affect her and my reaction to rushing dogs though, she became defensive on lead for a bit and I became much more wary. Then there was the Staffy type which broke right through its owners' front screen door to rush across the road and attack my on lead dog, I was lucky that time that a passing tradie stopped his ute and came running up to pull it off and send it packing. That was the second time passing drivers have seen an attack in progress and stopped to help me. Attacks make me very angry, when the owners have been there they have been useless in managing their own dogs, half the time they haven't even tried much until mine start to fight back and they realise their own dogs might be about to get a thumping. I have whole streets I avoid on walks because the chance of a known aggressive dog being out is too high.

Wow how hard for you. I think build a run for when you can't watch her. It will reduce your stress for a bit at least and that is important. Build training and work into the walks - you probably already are- and make the exercise intense and tiring. While you work on the walking issues I wonder if she is a candidate for a treadmill. She might be used to constant canine company so I assume you have considered it might have a basis of underlying anxiety, see a vet behaviourist if so. It might be frustration, she has had such a change of lifestyle. Some of those indestructible toys they use for zoo animals and everything else is off limits, redirect every time. You might need to use calming medication short term while you retrain and find the routine that works. Or she might be one that needs management for life. Have you spoken to those you got her from?

Wolves, coyotes and domestic dogs all interbreed in parts of the U.S.

What a wonderful vet. With big dogs it is so hard, getting my 35kg girl into my car to take to the emergency clinic caused back damage that has lasted for months. I made them come out to the vehicle to give her the injection, I wouldn't let them stretcher her into a strange clinic. At least she knew the car. At home would have been so much better.

The only time I have seen an analogous situation it didn't end well. It was not your breed (not mine either) but it sounds similar. I think this kind of aggression can run in lines and is very hard to handle in a multi dog household. A full vet check by a vet behaviourist would be the first step I would take in case there is something medical underlying it and being missed, but otherwise I think you are are going to have to manage her for her lifetime or make a very hard decision. Some bitches just seem to want to be the only female in the pack. I feel for you, I have run multiple girls together for years without any issues and it would be devastating to have this issue arise. Edited to add a last thought, there is research which shows that in agressive bitches desexing can make agression worse, so maybe hormonal therapies might help, I don't know.

Other questions- is her aggression to all bitches or just your own resident bitches, and if your own Is it one in particular she can't stand? Are they a relation? Has there been any change in living circumstances, eg death or loss of a resident bitch or dog?

Yeah the snobby looks I get when I say mine are pure bred and I got them from breeders (and breed myself ) are sometimes pretty funny. The most offensive was 'did you cut their ears off or was it their breeder', asked in a lynch mob tone of voice. Neither actually, they just have perfectly normal rose ears. Not knowing that is OK, but leaping to an accusation of abuse Is most definitely not. I agree with blinkblink a bit, in that I often wish there was more focus on breed level judging and less on the showiness aspect at the regular shows, and that they were more welcoming to the public. I usually minimise showing because some of that turns me right off. But not for Westminster, that is high end dog camp to me and there is room for such elite celebratory events. And really, it is the hobby of showing that keeps many of the rarer breeds going. I think the Westinster BiS show judge picked two functional and beautiful examples of their breeds. I can see the grooming on the Borzoi but she didn't look conformationally extreme or overdone, and she looked like she was athletic as they should be, as well as glamorous. I also know that the male that won best opposite sex to her at breed level is well proven in running sports and very fast. I am reassured that fast functional Borzoi win at that level, it is a very good thing for the future of the breed.

You can also get something called insular dwarfism, where populations in physically small locations such as on islands get smaller in body size. I am not describing it quite right, but for islands the general rule is that large animals get smaller and small animals get bigger. Artificial island effects from things like isolated mountain tops or valleys can get the same effect.

I don't know about the 50s, but dogfighting was big in the 80s in the rural area I lived in then. Big enough for police to go door to door talking to the residents about it.

I have heard of research that found that a fear of snakes was instinctive in humans. Maybe also for some dogs? My dogs have always killed them, I would much rather the bark and stay back approach.

I have never seen mention of any in Australia. They are not an ANKC recognised breed so if they are here it would probably be working/protection dog breeders who would know.

Such a nice win for the Borzoi, they have only won the group 4 times and to go Reseve Best in Show under a breeder judge must have been such a thrill. The other Borzoi shown, the brindle, is a nice boy too, he is called 'Duckie'.

Normal for my breed I think, at least it was for my one litter. I had one little rascal climbing in and out of the whelping box by 3 weeks.

How horrible. I hope it is found.

I use non tip travel bowls if they are crated at home. At shows I just use one that hangs up.

I had a box with easily removable rails, I decided not to put them in and it was apparent that there was no way mom was going to squash anybody, she was super careful with the babies. I think they are an individual thing, some breeds and some individuals probably need them but they weren't for us.

Have heard good things from o/s breeders but haven't investigated it

He is quite well known, been living like that for quite a while. People help him out but those who have wanted to catch him have had no luck.

I think you are putting too much emphasis on his having been a show dog. Show dogs might be heavily reinforced for a good stack but that doesn't mean they can't learn other positions, I am sure many of us have show dogs who can sit and drop, lol. It sounds like a technique problem - placement of the lure, timing if you are shaping. Have you taught him anything, or does he just not understand the whole training thing?. I wouldn't try to physically manipulate him into it, you are probably just triggering his opposition reflex and building a poor response to training.

I usually say 'Borzoi- like a big hairy Russian Greyhound'. I tried saying 'like a winterised Greyhound' after hearing it work in the USA but Aussies don't know what winterised means. If I say Russian Wolfhound people say 'I thought they were all grey', lol. RiverStar, I really like the full name too but I think Australians probably would shorten it anyway.

'Borzoi' is the masculine singular form of an old Russian adjective that means fast or fleet, and a word that is used in Russia for many sighthound type breeds. The full name in Russian, and under the FCI system, of what we call 'Borzoi' is Russkaya (Russian) Psovaya (long haired/silky haired) Borzaya (fast dog/sighthound). Nicely descriptive! There are other types of "borzoi" in Russia - Hortaya (Short haired) Borzaya, Stepnaya (from the steppe) Borzaya etc and when they talk about English Greyhounds or Irish Wolfhounds I have seen the Borzoi term used also, paired with the relevant country of origin. The Americans called Borzoi Russian Wolfhounds for a while, up until the 1930s I think, but changed to the more commonly used term. I quite like Borzoi as name, it emphasises the functionality of the breed and its original purpose.

She may have started the behaviour because you are pregnant, I have heard of that happening before, but a chat with Cosmolo (link above) would probably be a good idea.