Yes, Zarja is now living with us and stealing steaks off the kitchen counter!

Zarja moved in last fall, early October as I recall. She got along well the rest of the pack and had no problems with acceptance. We had five other Borzois in the pack.

Jane spoke to Anna Midgarden concerning borrowing a dog to run in lure field trials. While our Borzois are quite athletic, none perform in the lure trials. They perform better in the open field, but nearest hunting in the open field is a three day drive! Jane wanted a hound to run more locally in the lure trials. Zarja performed well for Anna and Zarja had her championships in the lure events.

Jane is away this weekend with Zarja at our National lure coursing event!

Frankly, the last thing I wanted was another hound in the house but I am just the husband and kennel worker. After Zarja stole the second steak off the kitchen counter; I all but demanded Jane return Zarja to Anna.

That all changed last February when we took Zarja out west. She won both days. The judge breeds all kinds of mixed breed hounds to hunt but was very impressed with Zarja. He suggested that we breed her to a greyhound! He thought she was one the best running Borzoi he had seen in sometime. I can not wait until I can travel west again this fall and run her again.

Zarja loves to jog and go for walks. Sleeping in the house on a good cushion is very important. She can be quite lazy. Zarja is the only Borzoi we have ever had that acts like she is starving all the time. Most of our hounds lie down on their beds and wait patiently as the meals are prepared. Jane can not prepare the meals with out Zarja poking at her and stomping her feet. Zarja does everything with great passion!

Jane’s Sojourn West

As I write, Jane should be about…oh…heading east and entering Arkansas on I-40. I anticipate her return on Sunday. Angel is her co-pilot which is not saying much. Angel is a good traveler. She sleeps well and knows all the routines for sleeping in hotels and getting walks at rest areas along the interstates. But Angel is not good for conversation.

Hopefully, Angel is not alone. We hope she is carrying Barhat puppies that should be due just after July 4th.

Barhat is a Russian import owned by Carol Enz. We’ve meet Barhat several times on our trips out West. Barhat performed well when we have seen him in the field working. That is a critical criterion. Our goal is to breed high performing Borzoi, and we believe Barhat will help us greatly in that pursuit!

But it is not just a matter of performance. We are also striving to produce Borzoi that meet the breed standard and are good examples of the breed. I also like Borzoi that are fun, like people, and are good ambassadors for the breed. It just makes life with them so much easier and fun

Life with Zarja

One day, Jane decided we needed a new hound to run at ASFA field trials; that would run well and clean. We are quite well pleased with physical ability of our hounds, and have plenty of evidence that they can run with any Borzoi kennel in the country. But the plastic lure is not as interesting as it needs to be for them to run clean.

A few weeks later, she came home with Zarja, on “loan” from our friend Anne Midgarden. This was cool; after all, she was on “loan” and temporary and would not count as we bred another litter. I have a magic number of hounds I like to have around the house before it seems like we are full time taking care of hounds and not having enough fun with any of them. Of course, I knew that once under our roof, Zarja would be a family member no matter how much I tried to think of her as “temporary.”

Zarja moved right in and got along with everybody in the kennel just fine. Angel, our dominant bitch, accepted with out much notice and Zarja wisely did not challenge Angel’s authority. Jane took Zarja to a field trial and was pleased with Zarja’s initial performance.

But then Zarja got a little flaky with the running at the field trials. Jane suspected Zarja was coming in season. We were assured that Zarja only came in season once a year. Then the boys, Tuxx and Blazer showed a special interest in her like she was coming in season. No, Zarja only came in season once a year we were assured again; the boys were just being boys.

Well, Zarja was in season within the week and hence could not be entered in the trials.

Zarja had a few bad habits that would require some training. Zarja was a pleasant house pet, and very much preferred to be in the house sleeping on a soft bed. She would carry on outside, barking a whining to coming in every evening as it got dark. This had to stop.

Zarja was a gate crasher! Go to open a gate and she would be preparing to charge through at high speed! All our other hounds were trained to wait until there name was called before coming through the gate. She has learned the correct behavior after some training.

Zarja is also a “counter surfer.” After getting a couple of my steaks that were being defrosted on the kitchen counter, I was prepared to ship her back in a box! I am not sure we have had much success on this issue other than that we modified our behaviors.

Zarja went to Colony Williamsburg with us on Christmas even for a social visit. Zarja enjoyed herself tremendously, meeting all the people. One makes very slow progress strolling through an area with a friendly Borzoi. Everybody wants to meet them and Zarja was very pleased to meet everyone.

Zarja is now a permanent member of the family. Zarja earned that right on our last trip out West. The judge was very impressed and suggested we breed her to a greyhound to create some great runners! She was one of the best running Borzoi he had seen. Zarja frequently ran to the far end of the field in her pursuits.

This is one of my major goals in breeding; to produce hounds of great, demonstrated physical ability. Zarja showed great intensity and earned a place in our kennel.