In this, the history of the borzoi in France I will not return to the deluge, because Noah would certainly not have come to Havre or Marseille to take the borzois on his ark. It is very difficult to find documents that prove with any certainty that there were borzois in France as early as the mid-19th century. However, it is safe to assume that since there were no breeders, they were very little distributed. If I am not mistaken, it was the Zoo Garden of Paris, directed by Mr. Lesble, who after 1870 bought some borzoi from Grand Prince Nicolai. These dogs were dedicated to reproduction, and very likely this became the first French borzoi breeding site, but it was only initially interesting and useful.
From a show in Aix Les Bains, France 1910, Sokol Du Nord, Nadia Du Nord, Ch Moscou De L’Etoile, Atalante Du Ziezeghem and Dmitri De L’Etoile.
Mr. Charles Cuvelier from Tourcoing, probably the most certified breeder in Europe, who is still alive today, and who has contributed a lot to the development of our favorite breed, bought his first dogs Scharock and Nadja from Mr. Lesble in 1876. After 30 years, Mr Cuvelier (Kennel du Nord) still very much have this blood. He also introduced to his kennel the new blood of Tchegol Perchino. Through the Perchino hunt, from which lines his beautiful bitch “Gatchina du Nord“, came, very famous for her excellent pedigree.
You can find her in the pedigree of Champion Volga du Nord, of Champion Wartha du Nord, etc. Mr. Cuvelier also used the blood of Ural-Loop. Later this kennel recruited its males from England: Kasek, Hawkeston, Courtier, Rattler, Windsor, Ben, Keiff, Steinoff.The end of the century saw yet another kennel arise, which acquired great fame, partly for its products, partly for the importation of new blood, but not least because of the thorough knowledge that this kennel owner had of borzoi. I am refering to Mr. Auguste Caron, kennel de l’Etoile in Wattignies (North). Initially, Mr. Caron mainly bred with Russian blood, which he acquired from the kennels of Messrs. Cuvelier and Fusshôller (Germany). But quite soon his intelligence made him understand that if he wanted to make any progress he would have to look abroad for new blood lines.
And so he acquired the famous “Champion Otlai Gelria” from Mr. van Haaren’s kennel, Nymegen (Holland).
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Later also Samara Gelria, Bajan Gelria and Iwan Gelria. Around the same time (1904) emerged in the south France in Ales (Gard) another kennel which still exists today and which the author of this article owns, it is the kennel de l’Ermitage Mr. Caron gave me the first instructions and made me visit the most important kennels in Belgium, Holland and France. He then suggested that I participate in an import he had in mind through the Thomas brothers, kennel O’Valley Farm, from the United States. It is recalled that these breeders, on the occasion of two trips they took to Russia, bought a certain number of animals, including Champion Nenagladni Perchino and Champion Bistri Perchino So it happened that in 1907 the Kennel de l’Etoile enriched itself by buying Champion Nenagladni Perchino, which at the age of four was considered to be the purest Perchino type. This male was 84 centimeters at the withers and weighed 49 kilograms, descended from Podruschka Perchino bred to Armavir Perchino.
Ch Nenagladni Perchino
Nenagladni was considered in Russia to be one of the best Perchino specimens, as he was remarkably strong and dry in appearance, with perfect stance, very harmonious lines, a long and well carried tail, with uncommonly or rarely beautiful dark eyes, small ears , strong and muscular jaw, very long head and very fine coat. The whole appearance gave the impression of strength and elegance.
At the same time the kennel de l’Etoile acquired Kassatka O´Valley Farm after Champion Bistri Perchini from Schaloste Perchino. Aimas, Ptachka, Valkilak and Zorka were his grandparents. This bitch has already achieved great success in America.
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Now to the third introduced dog, the Rega O´Valley Farm destined for my kennel after Champion Bistri Perchino from Raskida Woronsova, breed by Grand Prince Nicolai and raised by Mr. Artem Boldareff. Before these three animals arrived, Mr. Caron bought Sorwan O’Valley Farm from Mr Thomas a Champion, which unfortunately died before it could be shipped from New York.
Nenagladni, Kassatka and Rega then arrived in France. Unfortunately the two bitches died very soon without giving birth. Nenagladni met the same fate, however, three bitches could be brought to him for mating: Smaika de l’Etoile du Nord, Samara Gelria, Fille d’Aral (van Muylem) and Champion Lebedka Gelria.
Smaika brought a very beautiful male, Zlodei de l’Etoile, who also died very young. Samara produced two males of high value: Champion Mazeppa and Dimitri Il de l’Etoile. These three borzoi came primarily from the best Perchino blood. It should be noted that they reached a shoulder height of 81 to 84 centimetres.
Only two dogs remained from this difficult importation, very fine dogs though, but of the same blood, which meant very little for the great effort and exertion.
The importations, which now followed uninterruptedly from 1909 to 1914, so to speak, and were effected by French breeders, were very large. Several bitches were bought from Mr. van Muylem d’Alost (Belgium) and these were mostly daughters of Champion Odyssée du Ziezeghem or of Serdetchniy (Russian import from the hunt Tchelicheff), very big and powerful bitches, with very good coat. On the whole, good results were obtained from mating them with French males of good Perchino type. Imports have since increased. The kennel de l’Ermitage acquired champion Ugar Perchino and in the kennel de l’Etoile came champion Lebiodka (Boldareff).
A young breeder, Mme. van Nieuwkuyk and later Mme. Teissonniere, imported directly from Russia, Pilai (4 gold medals from Moscow, hunting Bogdanoff), Champion Pospeck (great silver medal Moscow) and Achid, both sons of Pilai, Jaswa, from the Korff hunt, like the first two; Nagrajdai, from the hunt Gleboff and Pobiedka. Warwar left the Cheremeteff hunt to come to Mr. Arnal’s kennel du Larzac. Ploutofka (Mengden) and Tsennaia Perchino, mated to Porojai Perchino, were ceded by Count Mengden to the kennel de l’Ermitage, which at the same time also imported Zmieika (Boldareff). This blood can still be found in various pedigrees today, of which the son Champion Kalpak de l’Ermitage with a shoulder height of 82 centimeters was well known.
A major importation from Russia was accomplished in 1913 by Mr. Pellisson, consisting of the following animals: Champion Lihodey Perchino, magnificent borzoi, very large, strong and elegant, with a beautifully carved long and narrow head. That this handsome male was not used as he deserved was entirely the fault of the World War of 1914.
Ch Lihodey Perchino
Bataiy Perchino (sire of Champion Wartha du Nord), best known male; Ataman (Soumarokoff), after Lioubim and Radost. Ataman can still be found today in different pedigrees, but erroneously found under Perchino, then two more bitches, Liotka and Feia.
It is very unfortunate that Mr. Pellisson parted with his self-introduced dogs without ever having bred them.
At the beginning of 1914, thanks to its increased imports, France occupied one of the top places in borzoi breeding, and at that moment this seemed to be taking a very big upswing, because as the number of dogs increased, so did the breeders.
Dog show in Narbonne France, 1913
Although we owned many and good dogs, even excellent ones, there was a lack of similarity in type, for apart from the purest Perchino type there were various others, such as Dourassoff, Yermoloff, Kareeff, Boldareff, etc., dogs who did not embody the ideal. Much work and selection would have been necessary to arrive at the type which now in the theory is a majority, because every breeder tries to continue the work begun by Grand Duke Nicolai. But let’s not anticipate events.
Unfortunately, the war was to destroy everything. Most of the kennels were closed and only a few women continued to breed with more or less good knowledge.
In 1919 the dog tax was reduced to just a little. Let us now consider briefly everything that had to be done in order to achieve the restoration and the brilliant success of the 1936 Union Internationale des Clubs de Levriers a Lyon exhibition, with which we commend the excellent judge in quality as well as quantity , Herr van den Berkhof, deserved the greatest admiration.
It is much more difficult to work on the contemporaneous history than that of the past time, because unfortunately many breeders have disappeared.
When exhibitions resumed in France in 1920, borzoi breeders were virtually non-existent. If you now look at the various Paris exhibitions and refer to catalogues, you have to realize that for 4 or 5 years the big awards went to foreign borzois. If I’m not mistaken, it was in 1927 that the championship was awarded for the first time to a male bred in France, it was Xantho de l’Ermitage.
Then French breeding in general began to triumph, and the Lyon Show was somewhat the culmination of this period. How did France come to this conclusion? Apparently through imports; but one thing must be observed, however many borzoi lovers there are, the breeders are fewer than formerly. Nevertheless, the result proves that although the number of dogs decreased, they increased in quality.
Let us now look at importation by age range. In the first place I note the male Caucase and the bitch Perchina, thrown by the Grand Duke Nicolai Perchino kennel, and imported in 1914 by the Countess Grefhule, who in 1920 still had many offspring, but crossed with other blood or not, the result was never outstanding. There were numerous imports from various kennel owners, first from Belgium and Holland from Messrs. Beernaerts and van den Berkhof.
The first components were Aral du Zwaenhoek (Champion Almadin Nikolskoi 829 – Champion Wartha du Nord), Cilistria Pascholl 788 (Ajax v. Sachsenwald 729 – Champion Bronka Pascholl 537), bred in Germany but transferred to Holland; Sirotka Iwanoff (Ajax vom Sachsenwald 729 – Champion Wonja Pascholl 529), Butterfly Achotnik (Champion Almadin Nikolskoi. 829 – Planja Pascholl 686), Bessberk’s Bran 1027 (Almadin Nikolskoi 829 – Arsinoi Nikolskoi 831), Rassova Pascholl 792 (sister of Silis.tria Pascholl 788), etc
Then came the sample with English imports, from which one can still find descendants of the male Brassie of Addlestone after Sparrowhawk of Addlestone from Colchan of Addlestone. This male was very large, 82 to 83 cm at the shoulder, strong, powerful with fine hair, but fleshy and clumsy in bone structure. After the first generation with Russian-type bitches, the result with Brassie was very satisfactory. After the second generation, a complete improvement in type could be seen in various offspring, but the traits of strength and size could be preserved.
The tribe of good borzois was now formed, but not yet perfect. Visits to kennels and exhibitions have resumed. In 1926, when the great exhibition of the Union Internationale des Clubs de Levriers was held in Amsterdam, German-bred borzois, of the purest Perchino type, were noted with strength, nobility, though not narrower, but with longer heads in contrast to those of the French Dogs.
Here was the truth, and France needed descendants of Asmaley Pascholl 1665, Arwed von Hohenfels 2092 and Cresta’s Husdent 1104. For this reason, Count Wildfang 1895, Burja Jarroslawa 2667, Countess Wildfang 1896, Rasswet’s Imme 4689 and in the kennel of Macon Amristar Allwind 4349, Droll Wilkaja 3850 introduced. These dogs became the basis of a new breed. I cannot at present speak of kennels, even important ones, as they exhibit little or not at all and their production is therefore not officially known. So I know that very good dogs were imported from Belgium and Germany by Baron de Bastard, but the breeding results are completely unknown to me. I would like to list only the two best-known kennels here, which ones still exist today. provided the best proof of their results on the occasion of the Lyon exhibition. Madame d’Autryve (kennel de Macon) presented two very large and beautiful dogs: Barine de Macon and Bayan de Macon, which received the mark “Excellent” under the excellent judge, who is Mr. van den Berkhof.
That Madame d’Autryve achieved this brilliant success with her important breeding, is primarily due to her import of German dogs (which we have already noted above), but ultimately not to the blood from before 1914, which she knew how to avoid in her breedings. The imposing size and great strength of the animals of the Macon breed is mainly due to their ancient French ancestry.The other French dogs or those of French ancestry that received the mark “Excellent” are:
Champion Cheick de Nikitinsk, Champion Crack de Nikitinsk. These last two dogs are by Champion Chic de l’Ermitage from Dara de l’Ermitage.
As Mr. van den Berkhof gave great praise to these dogs in his judge’s report, I would like to note that they were descendants of Asmaley Pascholl 1665, Cresta’s Husdent 1104 and Arwed von Hohenfels 2092. Since these lines are intended for the German Greyhound stud book, it is superfluous to trace the closer pedigree. Since I am now such an old breeder, I believe I am justified in making a small reproach to the German breeders, namely that, in my opinion, this excellent Asmaley Pascholl was not used as he deserved. I am firmly convinced that we owe the success of our breeding in recent years to this male. Unfortunately, it is difficult to foresee what may come of the French borzoi breed, for we lack blood and it may be difficult to record the traits acquired, principally the size, the long heads with narrow skulls and the Type. The French, with their individualism, very often hesitate to buy their bitches from an excellent male, especially when this is far away to be covered and are content with a mediocre male from their breeding.
To proceed in this way is very detrimental to the success of borzoi breeding. I see the future of the breed in Europe as one of ever closer association, and therefore the Union Internationale des Clubs de Levriers, founded by the excellent late breeder Mr. Gustave Beernaerts and continued masterfully and with much devotion by Mr. van den Berkhof, is exceptional to be useful.
Henry Teissonniere.
Translated from French into German by Madame Henri Berger, Secretaire du Club des Levriers de Pest a Strasbourg. Information is also gathered from The German studbook VII-VIII 1933-36.
I have, with help from “Google Translate” transferred the text, copied from “Unsere Windhunde Nr 8 2004” Thanks to Pirjo Hostikka-Vuokare, that provided the article. I have also added photos and information, collected from Andrus Kozlov & Danielle Laurent-Faure. Any possible misunderstandings is due to me./Dan Persson
You can find her in the pedigree of Champion Volga du Nord, of Champion Wartha du Nord, etc. Mr. Cuvelier also used the blood of Ural-Loop. Later this kennel recruited its males from England: Kasek, Hawkeston, Courtier, Rattler, Windsor, Ben, Keiff, Steinoff.The end of the century saw yet another kennel arise, which acquired great fame, partly for its products, partly for the importation of new blood, but not least because of the thorough knowledge that this kennel owner had of borzoi. I am refering to Mr. Auguste Caron, kennel de l’Etoile in Wattignies (North). Initially, Mr. Caron mainly bred with Russian blood, which he acquired from the kennels of Messrs. Cuvelier and Fusshôller (Germany). But quite soon his intelligence made him understand that if he wanted to make any progress he would have to look abroad for new blood lines.
