The variety of types in
Black Russian Terrier breed

Our experience for many years was base on using the best dogs of the breed (exposed in the shows) with due regard for their genetic data. As the time passed, the tenden-tion formed for preferring particular lines (branches) and the further breeding inside these lines. This allowed the fixing of the type. During the short period of time with the breed, the live-stock came to a homogeneity, and now there are no considerable fluctuations inside the breed, as it was before. However, it is quite often that in monobreed shows the prize-winners being perfectly built are of quite different types. And there's the point where discussions begin: which one is to be preferred, how to plan the breeding. It is necessary to take into acount the concrete demands while deciding how to alter the breed standards in order to impact some qualities. The fluctuations in this or that result in change of the whole built. Let's consider most common variations in the built. The link between the alteration of a single point and the whole built. We'll discuss the built of 3 types of dogs (a, b and c), and:

1. is the dog of light built with strong skeleton
2. is the dog of desired type with rough and strong skeleton
3. is the dog of rugged type with massive skeleton

These dogs are something like ths:

 

а) The head is long, the skull is more narrow than the muzzle, the muzzle is slightly longer than the skull, the teeth fit tightly and are not large. The stop is slight, cheek-bones are expressed slightly, poor muscular development.
b) The head is of enough length, well-shaped, with wide skull, cheek-bones are somehow developed, the muzzle is massive, more narrow than the skull. The lower jaw is massive, the incisors fit tightly, teeth angulation is good. The stop is obvious, but not sharp. The muscular development is fine.

 

с) The head is short, with very large skull, with cheekbones sharply expressed. The muzzle is short and broad. Incisors are in the same line with fangs and fit freely. There's a tendence for unlinearity, the bite is strong. The lower jaw is very massive. The stop is sharp. The muscular development is good.

The Neck:

• long, dry, high-set
• well-set, well-muscled and of enough length
• low-set, short, massive

The Topline

• not strong enough
• strong
• soft back withers are weak

The Body

• The chest is not deep and broad enough, the ribs are flat, the forechest is not prominent, the stomach is tightened.
• The chest is long, broad and deep, the ribs are curved, reaching to the elbows, the forechest is long. The stomach is normal
• The chest is very broad, deep and long, the ribs are too much curved, the chest gets wider to the groin. The stomach is sagged.

 

Forequarters

• The angle between shoulder blade and the upper arm is more than 1 10°, the shoulder blade is vertical, the withers are short, forearms are long and metacarpuses are nearly vertical.
• The angle between shoulders and the upper arm is between 100° and 1 10°, the withers (expressed by the shoulder blade and vertebrae), are long and muscular, the morearms are of enough length metacarpuses are slightly
• The angle between shoulder blade and the upper arm varies and can be less then 100°. Shoulder bones and forearms are not long, metacarpuses are fine-boned, chords are weak, the dog see m s stocky.

Croup and hindquarters.

• The croup is short, nearly horizontal, the pelvis is plumb, the angle between the upper thigh and the lower thigh is about 100°, legs are fine-boned, the push is not productive, the movements are mincing, the narrow set of hindquarters is quite often. The thigh is short.
• The croup is rather long, inclined to the topline, the angle between upper and lower thighs is some 130°, metatarsus are nearly vertical, chords are strong. The movements are productive with strong pushing function.
• The croup is short, horizontal, the pelvis is plumb, the bones of the upper and lower thighs are short with angle between them about 130°. The pushing function is very weak, chords are weak, the movements are not productive

Movements

• Short, mincing trot, at higher speeds the dog falls into gallop. There's a tendency for soft, winging movements, though the dog could be rather well-built, but light.
• The trot is short, swinging, with good pushing function and striving forward, nice capture of space. At higher speeds the dog doesn't go into gallop and in spite of its mass the movements are easy and free.
• The trot is short, the dog seems to type his legs into the ground. There's a weakness of back chords. The dog waddles, swings its back. The space capture is small, the pushing function is weak, at higher speeds the animal falls into gallop.

In addition it is necessary to define the questions about preferring particular types of dogs in breeding.

1. It is necessary to pay attention to the built of the chest
   • The type of chest will not allow the development of a stable topline, it leads to facilitation
   • The desired type of the chest will keep strong topline with enough weight.
   • Such chest will ensure strong topline but leads to lengthening of the type and makes the figure squat.
2. It is necessary as well to pay attention to the built of the forequarters of a dog, which allow the productive movement. The most important is to mark the built of the shoulder blade and the upper arm. One should prefer long shoulder blades
3. Pay attention to the croup, its length and the lengthes of the upper and lower thighs. One should be aware of weak chords.

Therefore, the breed can be made monotypical by recieving the standard of the dog (the main point is to achieve the sceleton which corresponds our needs) and further breeding, using this standard. But this is not a job that can be made in a couple of years and it is impossible to achieve such result by one or two copulations. But the planned breeding and using the experience of our foreign collegues (such situation was, for example, with Alsatian) will lead to a success. Anyway, one of the main factors upon which the breeding depends is monobreed specialized shows (maybe, the only ones in which the appearance is not the main factor). Here all breeders gather together, here different seminars are conducted. Here also the live-stock is discussed from the point of view of the phenotypical data. The correct apprisal of the best representatives will allow to conduct further work in right trends.