i6o Hounds 



Russian territory for centuries, though principally 

 amongst the nobility of Russia, with whom wolf- 

 hunting is a favourite pastime. 



The introduction of alien blood — principally that 

 of the Siberian hound — has from time to time been 

 resorted to in order to check degenerate tendency, 

 which is apt to result through prolonged inter- 

 breeding. 



Not only does the physical development decline, 

 but the constitutional stamina is weakened by this 

 pernicious practice. 



Although size is a desideratum, the Borzoi must 

 not be clumsily built. This is as great a fault as 

 one that is undersized, though bitches are, as a rule, 

 a little smaller than the dogs in every way, for which 

 difference due allowance must be made when judging 

 a class in which the sexes are mixed. The Borzoi 

 Club insists on breeding these hounds in accordance 

 with the work for which the head has been designed, 

 yet in spite of this the author has often noticed the 

 tendency on the part of judges to favour exhibits 

 showing the highest degree of refinement, and ignor- 

 ing the workmanlike conformation so essential in 

 a breed of this kind. 



In a sense this is a pardonable offence on the 

 assumption that these hounds are only required in 

 Great Britain for companionship, and that the 

 transference of occupation ought, pari passu, to 



