Portraits of Popular Breeds at Home and Abroad: Russkiy Toy

This cute miniature dog is nice and joyful. It is quite a new breed and it has only started becoming popular. However, it has everything one can expect from a sociable dog, its appearance is unusual, and the bonus of its size is that it doesn’t need much space. It will become a popular dog among many breeders I suppose.

The breed of Russkiy Toy or the Moscow Long Haired Toy Terrier originated in Russia from the English Toy Terrier when crossbreeding individuals without proofs of origin and mongrels. After some time, a long-haired puppy was born. The long coat around the ears of the dog, also called fringe, was very unusual and attractive. Therefore, breeders decided that this “flaw” will be a typical feature of a newly emerging breed. The first dogs were brought to the Czech Republic in 1986 and the World Canine Organization recognized the breed only in 2006. The same year, the breed was also renamed as Russkiy Toy.

These dogs have tiny physique, they are small and elegant. Their weight doesn’t exceed 3 kg. Their hair is either short and soft or 3–5cm long and slightly wavy. In both cases, it clings to the body. A typical feature of a Russkiy Toy is large ears with fringe – long, thick hair which, in adult age, fully covers the inner side of the ears and the ear tips.

They are great companions and are perfect for older people and children. They get very attached to their families, they love being in contact with them and hardly cope with loneliness, even though they can be taught to handle separation quite well with a decent amount of patience. They can be trained even by complete beginners as they are very intelligent and they are fast learners. They can also be great watchdogs which will loudly warn you about every undesired visitor.

They can do dog sports well; they will mainly be great at agility and dog dancing thanks to their fast and agile moves. Its small size doesn’t make it avoid long hiking. Exactly the opposite, this dog is very active and needs to be occupied enough to have the opportunity to properly frolick. It will be grateful if you take it for a run and it can also follow you on a bike. A great way to make it tired is coursing.

Even though it is quite an active breed, short walks will be enough if less exercise is compensated for by interactive games and brain-teasers that will occupy its mind. When feeding these dogs, you should focus on dry dog food designed for the specific needs of small breeds. If it gets high-quality feed, it doesn’t tend to be ill.

It isn’t spread a lot in the Czech Republic now but around twenty puppies a year are born here, so it might be soon more familiar to dog owners.

Related articles

History of the domestic cat I.

Did you know that the domestic cat which is now kept as a pet all over the world, is probably a domesticated form of the wild cat, specifically of its subspecies the African wildcat, European wildcat and Asiatic wildcat?

What do cats have under their fur or cat's anatomy

Cat is a perfect tool for hunting. It owes it to the dozens of years of evolution. While in dogs, their physical signs have been emphasised or suppressed, cats got to keep, apart from several exceptions, their main anatomical features unchanged. In...

How to behave at dog playgrounds

It's no longer a strange thing when a municipality sets up a dog park or a dog playground. Due to frequent regulation of off-leash movement of dogs, this should, however, often be obligatory. Do you know how to behave in such places so that you...

How to travel safely with a dog in the car

Vacation time is finally here and many of us are planning where they will be headed this year. If you decide to go for an adventure by car and to take your dog friend with you as well, a bit of advice might come in handy on how to provide safety for...

How to teach a dog to swim

Of course that we won’t talk about how to teach a dog the swimming technique. We want to talk about how to teach the dog to get used to water and how to make swimming a positive experience for it. Since not every one of them trusts water and some are...

How to choose the right equipment for a cat

If you’re planning to bring a new addition home and it doesn’t matter whether it’s a kitten or an adult cat, it is necessary to prepare the flat for it as well. Do you know what will the animal need and what you shouldn’t forget about or how to choose...

First aid for poisoning - Pesticides

No matter how thorough we are with the prevention, a situation might come up when a dog or a cat will get to a poisonous thing, whether it’s by our inattention or it's somebody else’s fault. That’s why it’s not off-topic to prepare yourself for the...