lunedì 19 agosto 2013

Un altro Articolo-

by comformation judge L.V. Ponomareva
15 years experience of the breed Chortaya


Addition to the report from the 79th hunting dog show in St. 
Petersburg 1995

After analyzing again the judge's critiques given in the 79th show, I 
would like to draw attention of the Chortaya breeders to the somewhat 
twisted impression of this breed. Evidently, the breeders and judges 
of St. Petersburg prefer to see big, strong-boned, enormously 
muscled, very broad and deep-chested dogs. In other words something 
between a Chart Polski and a Greyhound. Yet the Chortaya has always 
been slimmer muscled than the athletic Greyhound. That is why a 
Chortaya is able to perform very speedy on shorter distances 
(although not as speedy as a Greyhound would). In addition it has the 
endurance to run for distances of many kilometers, several times a 
day and even day after day during a hunting season. By discarding the 
meager-muscled hounds we bring our own dogs closer to the Greyhound. 
Yet the best ( and I emphasize - THE BEST) of the hunting Greyhounds 
do not have the endurance for more than two runs within a short span, 
not to mention that after 6-8 hours walk they in general don't have 
the strength to run any more. That is why the Greyhound owners go 
hunting with them only every other day. It should be mentioned that 
according to the laws of biology the side-phenomenon of athletic 
muscling are the tendons are often of the weaker kind. As a result 
from this, even this working "intensive" (coursing every other day) 
the Greyhounds will get their legs cripples quite soon. It can happen 
that at the age of 4-5 years the dog may be limping each of his four 
legs. On the contrary a Chortaya hunts until 10-11 years of age, 
although being slightly slower in the later years but because of his 
skills, stil with satisfactory results. Big size and massive bones 
have other negative sides aswell. Such dogs are difficult to raise, 
they grow up (mature?) slowly, start working late, and decay early. 
It takes a lot of work to maintain such dogs in working- or sporting 
condition. On the contrary,it is enough for a dog that is well taken 
care off and has a dry contruction, a 6-8 hour daily outdoor 
recreation with proper spurts, 3-4 days in a row and 3 chases after a 
prey, enough rest - and the dog is ready to start a hunting season. 
For a big dog such practice is not enough, and besides, for it the 
exertion has to be added little by little to avoid any overexertion. 
Let us admit, that a very deep-chested and well muscled sighthound 
looks gorgeaous, but a Chortaya is first and foremost a working dog 
and his greatest value has always considered to be using him for 
effective hunting. Therefore it is not right to to aim solely to a 
showy appearance. A harmonious construction, a dog with good angles 
and compact muscles required by his purpose, is always the best 
alternative. In addition to what has already been said, it should be 
mentioned that several local types have developed from a breed which 
is geographically distributed widely (it was proven long ago that 
Chortaya is a very old breed belonging to the group of oriental 
sighthounds, so that the statement that wanders from one publication 
to another and says it is a cross between a Greyhound and a Borzoi, 
is groundless and false). Of the said types the most numerous are the 
two extremities: the Rostov type - big, slightly rough in 
construction and looking modest; dogs of this type are usually 
endurant runners; and the Stavropol type - smallish, elegant, light - 
a swift runner. It would not be right to favor one type over the 
other. In other words, dogs representing their own types should get 
equal critique. While judging a dog, the defects in the construction 
should be noted and not which breed type it represents. These days 
there is reason to adopt a cautious attitude towards the extremely 
deep-chested and imposingly muscled dogs, because in Ukraine, in 
practice everywhere in Rostov area and in Pjatigorsk kennel center in 
Stavropol area it is common to cross Greyhound with Chortaya and it 
is not even mentioned in the litter's pedigree. Crossing the 
greyhound, which belongs to the Western sighthounds, with the 
Chortaya (especially in larger scale), may shake the Chortaya genetic 
heritage (genotype?) and may ultimately lead into both losing the 
hunting characters and the whole breed. It must be admitted that the 
first generation after the cross are dowright phenomenal hunters, but 
they are still "sighthound broilers". They have no breeding value 
whatsoever. In fact they are downright dangerous. The Chortayas of 
St. Petersburg are all big, and tendons of some specimen could be 
better. Therefore there is reason to adopt a positive attitude to the 
hounds that are well constructed, are well cared for in their outer 
appearance, have musculature that is according to their purpose and 
that have wiry tendons.

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