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Borzoi

The breeds · sighthound · sighthound

AKC Hound · UKC Sighthound & Pariah · FCI standard 193

Borzoi.

FCI 193: hunting sighthound, racing and coursing hound; combines high agility with endurance and the ability to tackle game deftly at once; successfully used for coursing and racing (Group 10, Section 1, long-haired or fringed sighthounds, without working trial). AKC: bred for coursing wild game on more or less open terrain, relying on sight rather than scent, to chase, catch and hold the quarry. UKC: used by the Russian aristocracy to hunt the populous wolves (the Russian Wolfhound); today a calm companion. RKC: hunted in pairs and held the wolf down until the hunters arrived, followed on horseback. Britannica: the Russian aristocracy kept hundreds for grand wolf hunts; Wikipedia: formerly used for wolf hunting..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

12YRMedian lifespanmeasured on real dogs.
0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
60–105LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 75 to 105 lb; breed bitches 60 to 85 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRKC: up to 1 hour per day.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 28 to 33.5 in · bitches 26 to 30.7 in

Breed clubAKC breed standard

AKC and UKC print a minimum with no ceiling; the high is FCI.

Weight

dogs 75 to 105 lb · bitches 60 to 85 lb

Breed clubAKC breed standard

The standards print the female weight only as a difference from the male range; the low and high are the AKC page header figures.

Coat

AKC: long, silky (not woolly), flat, wavy or rather curly; short and smooth on head, ears and front of legs; profuse, rather curly frill on the neck; long profuse feather on hindquarters and tail. UKC: same, finer curls on the shoulder blades and croup. FCI 193: long, supple, silky, light, wavy or in large curls, with a "muff" on the neck. Colour: AKC and UKC any colour; FCI white and the pale, red, grey, brindle and black families in any combination, except brown, blue, isabella and their dilutions.

Breed clubAKC breed standard

Three registries agree on the coat; colour wording differs and is stated by source.

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · AKC: long, silky (not woolly) coat, flat, wavy or rather curly, with a profuse frill and long feather. FCI 193: long, supple, silky coat. Wikipedia: the soft undercoat thickens in winter or in cold climates and is shed in hot weather.

DerivedAKC breed standard

Derived from the standard coat description (long coat with a frill and feather = 2). Wikipedia is editorial and notes the coat sheds down in heat.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

12 years

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

McMillan et al. 2024 / Dogs Trust table. UK population; small n and an open upper bound. Teng et al. 2022 includes no sighthound.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule. The other four Eastern sighthounds in this batch sit in the RKC band of more than 2 hours; the Borzoi band is lower.

Exercise need

RKC: up to 1 hour per day; large house and large garden suggested, country. AKC breed page: energy level band 4 of 5. Britannica: given an active outing or two a day they are content to lounge around the house, preferably on a cold floor; favourite activities are chasing and running.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC and AKC bands; Britannica is editorial.

Energy

AKC breed page: energy level 4 of 5 (AKC band); mental stimulation needs 4 of 5; trainability level 2 of 5. UKC: highly prized as a companion, intelligent, calm and quiet today.

Breed clubAKC

AKC trait bands, not a study.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · RKC: grooming more than once a week; medium coat; sheds. AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency band 2 of 5, shedding level 3 of 5 (not mapped). Britannica: sheds abundantly once a year, unspayed females after each heat.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC is a UK registry band, not a study; mapped by the library rule. AKC trait bands are a different scale and are shown, not mapped.

Grooming

RKC: grooming more than once a week. AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency band 2 of 5, shedding level 3 of 5. Britannica: sheds abundantly once a year.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC bands are the AKC page trait scores.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 193: hunting sighthound, racing and coursing hound; combines high agility with endurance and the ability to tackle game deftly at once; successfully used for coursing and racing (Group 10, Section 1, long-haired or fringed sighthounds, without working trial). AKC: bred for coursing wild game on more or less open terrain, relying on sight rather than scent, to chase, catch and hold the quarry. UKC: used by the Russian aristocracy to hunt the populous wolves (the Russian Wolfhound); today a calm companion. RKC: hunted in pairs and held the wolf down until the hunters arrived, followed on horseback. Britannica: the Russian aristocracy kept hundreds for grand wolf hunts; Wikipedia: formerly used for wolf hunting.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 193

FCI, AKC, UKC and RKC wording; Britannica and Wikipedia are editorial.

Primary game

FCI 193: "mostly" hare and fox, "less" wolf. RKC and UKC: wolf (the historic work). Britannica: wolf hunts. AKC: wild game on open terrain, not named.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 193

FCI says the breed is used mostly on hare and fox, less on wolf; the other registries and editorial name the historic wolf work. Both stand.

Search pattern

RKC: hunted in pairs, the hounds followed on horseback. AKC: relies on sight rather than scent. FCI 193: before the game is found, a slow trot or even a walk; in the chase, a full gallop; visual response is well evident. UKC: when hunting, the gallop is extremely fast with very long strides.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC, AKC, FCI and UKC wording. Voice on the line is not stated by any source read.

Field trial standard

AKC Lure Coursing (breed eligible; dogs one year or older): tests are non-competitive pass/fail checks of coursing instinct, trials are competitive. In a trial hounds run in packs of three, each in a coloured blanket, behind a mechanical white-plastic lure on a 600+ yard course; judges score a maximum 50 points: overall ability, follow, speed, agility and endurance, 10 each. Stakes: Open (non-titled dogs), Specials (Field Champions) and Veteran. Titles: JC Junior Courser (two solo qualifying runs under two judges), QC Qualified Courser (a judge certifies a clean run with another hound), SC Senior Courser (qualifying scores at four trials under three judges), MC Master Courser (SC plus 25 more qualifying scores), FC Field Champion (15 championship points including two majors, under two judges; FC goes before the name). FCI 193 lists the Borzoi as a coursing and racing hound, "without working trial." Britannica: they do well in lure coursing.

Breed clubAKC

AKC lure coursing Get Started and Eligible Breeds pages. The AKC lure coursing rulebook, the ASFA rules (asfa.org was blocked from this environment) and the Schedule of Points by Breed were not read.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

2% · 928 OFA hip evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 2.0% dysplastic (mild 1.8, moderate 0.1, severe 0.1), 97.8% normal (excellent 30.8, good 62.6, fair 4.4).

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock, so normal results are over-represented. OFA rank 210.

Elbow dysplasia

1.9% · 107 OFA elbow evaluations, current all-data, accessed Oct 8 2026; 1.9% abnormal (all grade 1), 98.1% normal.

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA breed statistics. Small n, and OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock: owners submit selectively, so normal results are over-represented. OFA rank 128.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia, citing an American echocardiographic study of clinically healthy adult Borzoi: 53.8% had heart murmurs, 30.2% trace or mild mitral regurgitation, 36.1% mild tricuspid regurgitation and 14.4% cardiac disease.

EditorialWikipedia

Single editorial source, second-hand: the echocardiography paper was not read. It is a study of clinically healthy dogs, not a breed disorder ranking. No VetCompass or Kennel Club breed-survey figure read.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 2; Barking Level 2; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 3.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Borzoi yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 9 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Russian Wolfhound, Russian Hunting Sighthound, Russkaya Psovaya Borzaya

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