Those of us who aren’t Borzoi owners find it easy to forget that this elegant, gorgeous coursing hound was very much a hunting dog not just “back in the day,” but is used in Russia even today.

Russia’s immense size saw the breed developed along local types to suit specific terrain (the Grand Duke Nicholas’ hunting preserves alone were over two hundred thousand acres!), but how the dogs were used was much the same. Matched as pairs or teams, they ran down a wolf (given a good head start by sporting Russians). Once abreast with the animal, the Borzoi gripped the ear, or behind the wolf’s ear,  and flipped it onto its back making the wolf practically powerless in biting the dogs. In that manner, the wolf was kept pinned to the ground until the hunter arrived. With smaller game (hare, for example), the Borzoi would flip the critter and squeeze its chest for a quick kill.  Because Borzoi do not tear game, they don’t damage pelts the way traps do which is why they’re still used in Russia today where hunting with dogs is still legal in some parts. We read of at least one breeder who travels with around ten Borzoi to the Chuvashia republic or Crimea each year to go hunting.

Image of a Borzoi pack assisting in a Russian wolf hunt, as shown on Охота на волка 1873