Diva

Pretty!

Nice web site I think the blues here are versions of either sable or brindle. Not sure about how grey figures in, but my understanding is pretty limited. It seems you can get some pretty funky looking effects when sable, black overlays or brindling combine with modifiers affecting colour intensity but I get lost very quickly . There is an 'argent' silver shade that isn't a dilute, but I'm not certain of the genetics. I don't know of any dilute blues in Australia (doesn't mean there aren't any of course) but I have seen one true dilute blue in the US, years ago. I'm not sure chocolate occurs at all in the breed (unless cross-bred) and dilute blue must be very,very uncommon. Personally I am very happy for it to stay that way and I don't mind the fci approach of DQing them. But I love the sables and selfs that have been part of the breed forever. And the black and tans . The fci standard didn't used to be keen on 'sharp' tan markings, not DQ then but list as a fault, I've never been convinced on the logic behind that one.

I like the coloured ones. :D

That's true. The biggest difference between my three is desexing - the desexed girl has a much finer and more prone to knot coat than the two who are entire. Her coat takes more time to maintain than the other two combined, and then some.

In Australia self black would be rare, but in other parts of the world it's not. It is not a disqualifying colour, any colour is acceptable and there are no disqualifying colours. Merle isn't known in the breed as far as I know. Nose should be black but even so if it were dark charcoal on a blue it would get by even in the show ring in most places. Missing or very light pigment would be a different matter. Most of the Borzoi that look self black are heavily marked self black and brindles/black and tans with black masks. Dominant black from the K locus is rare everywhere I think. But quite acceptable. Hard to tell the difference just by sight sometimes :D Self colours can sometimes get a hard time in the show ring here, but mostly I think that is because judges aren't used to seeing them and the whites are so attractive. Here is a self brindle from the wonderful Teine kennel in the US. Teine have great coloured 'zoi.

No, not all of them. My long silky coated dogs drop dirt and mud very well. They can be muddy one hour and look clean as anything an hour later.

Yes you are right Jaxx. Moment of weakness :D

so do a lot of cross breeds

....I could lend you one , but she's a bit naughty :D

You have the courage to test his conformation in the ring and you shouldn't be criticised for that. I can entirely understand why breeding for colour infuriates staffordshire bull terrier breeders and how it does great damage to the breed. But if you happen to have a good blue dog you have every right to stack him up against the others and let the judges decide. He'll have his faults, all dogs do, but it's the overall quality that matters. Testing that is just what those who breed only for colour don't do.

I have the Territory AWD too and love it. I thought fuel consumption would be worse than it is. I'm averaging 12.6 l/100kms and it's probably an even mix of open highway and suburban traffic. The only catch is that my elderly dog finds the back a bit high to jump into.

Just on the reprint theme cabon copy sweet reprise special edition say it again try tri again

Thats exactly the conversation i have atleast twice a week. We get a few teenagers(the feral kind mind you) who say he's ugly and strange but everyone else say he's beautiful. When they were younger I had the occasional person tell me my Borzoi were too thin, but now they are more mature and have some coat I've had drivers slow down and kerb crawl to get a better look, or stop entirely to ask about them. Some non-dog people find the white one very attractive, I have had people following us around going "no, I really mean it, that's a really BEAUTIFUL dog". Yes, she is, but I'm trying to just go for a walk and you're weirding me out a tad....

Was the scottie one of yours scrappy?

There are tracking clubs and trials. I see you are in WA, try TrackWest - trackwest.com.au

We can pine together, I might in lotto one day and import one... One day... ;) They are also known as Chortaj if you're looking online for pics to drool over. :D If you win lotto Alyosha, import the Stepnaya Borzaya! Pleeeease!

LOL, I had heard that story but wasn't game to repeat it in case the Collie people came after me.....

No offence taken - I often get told my red sable (or sabled red) bitch is a collie.

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I've never heard of the predisposition of Black dogs to certain kinds of cancer. I was told by 2 different vets that black dogs were more prone to Hemangio. But they didn't prove to be great vets so who knows. Groenendaels can be either dominant or recessive black, both K and a occur in the breed, not sure what that means for the supposed link.

Yes, the inconsistency in naming is a major issue for the lay person trying to get their head around it for a breed with a wide range of colours and patterns. In Borzoi sable often used to be called tortoiseshell, and although incorrect that was more descriptive of what it looks like. It also has a charateristic facial pattern with a'widows peak' of colour - very like domino and grizzle. To make it worse, official colour lists like that of the AKC in the US list "sabled" red (or cream or gold etc) and red (or whatever) "sable" as two different but legitimate colours, and I still can't figure out if they are genetically different ("sabled red" ay, at and "red sable" at, at with eG). Depends entirely on who you read - talk about confusing! If When I win lotto I'll fund the research to map it out properly! if you can recommend any up to date texts on colour genetics let me know, all the stuff I read 20 years ago seems to have been proved wrong or very incomplete since.

They are fascinating. What a shame if they have been lost

My guys love sanding blocks too. When we were renovating they would carefully tiptoe around open tins of paint and power tools but you couldn't trust them within a mile of a sanding block. Hope the shark Cairn is none the worse for his appetite

Different allele or mutation at the same gene, agouti. The agouti gene doesn't by itself explain the sable colour/pattern in Borzoi. In all likelihood it is the same as domino in Affies and grizzle in Salukis, the eG gene whch was only written up this year affecting the expression of black and tan, at. But the work wasn't done on 'zoi so I don't think it's 100% certain it's the same. Borzoi breeders have known for a long time it's not just the agouti gene though, from the way it was inherited. Edited to be a bit shorter and less confusing with the quotes, I hope!

I think the deafness issue depends on which gene series is producing the white. I thought Samoyeds' white came from the chinchilla series, and some other whites from the S spotting series - but I may be remembering it wrong. I think that in my breed even the apparently white dogs, which are probably extreme white spotted on the S series, have modifiers which ensure some colour, however faint, over the ears. I haven't heard of deafness issues (not that I would necesssarily hear).