Borzoi Grooming

About the Borzoi

The Hound Group page argues that breed groups predict grooming badly, and its best evidence so far was the distance between the Beagle and the Afghan Hound. This page is better evidence.

The Borzoi and the Afghan are both large, long coated sighthounds in the same group, built for the same job on the same body plan, with coats of comparable length. The Afghan needs bathing weekly because its coat cannot be brushed dry without breaking, and daily work on top. The Borzoi needs a comb through every few days and a bath every couple of months, and it is genuinely one of the easier long coats here.

Same group, same shape, same coat length, completely different commitment. If group membership told you anything useful about grooming, that could not happen.

Why it is so much easier than an Afghan

Three differences do all the work, and they are worth understanding rather than just accepting.

The hair is not as fine. Afghan hair is exceptionally fine, and fine hair tangles far more readily. A Borzoi coat is silky but has more substance to it, so it slides against itself instead of knitting together.

It sheds normally. An Afghan coat grows continuously and holds every dead hair until it is combed out, which is the mechanism that produces felting. A Borzoi sheds seasonally like most double coated breeds, so the dead hair leaves rather than accumulating in the coat.

It can be brushed dry. This is the practical difference. An Afghan must be bathed and conditioned before brushing or the hair snaps, which is why the honest bath interval is weekly. A Borzoi coat can simply be combed through as it is.

The coat itself is long, silky and gently wavy or curly, with a heavy curled ruff at the neck, long feathering on the backs of the legs and a full plumed tail. Over the body it lies fairly flat.

A comb through every two or three days keeps the whole dog in order, and a bath every couple of months. That is the routine.

Worth knowing: the coat is late to arrive. Borzoi puppies are comparatively plain and the full ruff and feathering do not develop until the second year, so a young dog tells you little about the adult.

Where it does mat, and the seasonal shed

Easier is not effortless, and the places are predictable because they are where the length is and where the coat rubs.

Behind and under the ears, first and worst as on almost every breed. The ruff at the neck, which is the heaviest coat on the dog. The armpits and behind the elbows, which move constantly on a dog built to gallop. The feathering on the backs of the thighs. And around the sanitary area under the tail plume.

Everywhere else largely looks after itself.

Use a pin brush and a metal comb rather than a slicker used hard, which breaks silky hair. Work in sections to the skin, and use the comb as the test.

Twice a year, and more dramatically in spring, the undercoat releases and a Borzoi sheds a great deal over a few weeks. During that period comb daily rather than every few days, because dead undercoat left in the coat is what turns an easy dog into a matted one.

A bath and a proper dry at the start of the spring shed is worth booking and is the one appointment where a salon clearly earns its money on this breed.

Never bathe a matted coat, because water tightens a mat like a wet knot.

Clipping is not appropriate as routine: the coat is functional, provides sun protection on a thin skinned dog, and regrowth on a sighthound can be slow and uneven.

The sighthound facts, which all apply

Under the coat this is the same architecture as a Greyhound or a Whippet, and everything on those pages applies here with a coat over the top.

Thin skin. Sighthound skin is thinner than that of comparable breeds with less fat beneath it, so brambles, wire and rough play produce long tears that usually need stitching. The coat gives some protection the others do not have, but check the dog over after any run in the countryside, particularly the legs and belly where the coat is thinnest.

Anesthesia sensitivity. Sighthounds metabolize certain drugs differently and have very little body fat, so standard protocols can leave them slow to recover. It matters here because a dog that cannot be handled is sometimes sedated, and because Borzoi are large enough that any procedure is a real one. Use a practice that knows sighthound protocols and say so.

Deep chest. Borzoi carry a real bloat risk, so no vigorous handling around a large meal, including a long grooming session, and know the signs.

Body condition. A Borzoi at a healthy weight shows the last few ribs and a deep tuck, and looks underfed to anyone used to other breeds. That is correct.

They are also quiet, sensitive, dignified dogs that do not respond to being pushed. A Borzoi that has decided it is finished will not be argued with, and patience works where pressure does not.

Feet, ears and the practical business of a very tall dog

The feet are hare shaped and well furred between the pads, and that hair mats into hard pellets, holds grit and ice, and costs the dog grip on smooth floors. Keep it trimmed flush, which on a breed this tall matters because a slip is a long way down.

Nails every three to four weeks and they grow fast.

Ears are small and folded back in repose, which is good for airflow, and problems are uncommon. A weekly look is enough. The long silky hair around the ear is where combing matters, not the canal.

Teeth, and Borzoi share the sighthound tendency to dental disease, so daily brushing is worth establishing.

On logistics: a Borzoi is very tall and long backed, and while it is not especially heavy for its height it does not fit a standard table comfortably. Ask before booking, and expect the dog to need supporting rather than lifting.

They are also, in most cases, extremely calm about the whole business, which makes them easier to handle than their size suggests. What they will not tolerate is being rushed or restrained hard.

And keep the sanitary area and the trousers trimmed short, which on a long coated dog with this build prevents most routine mess.

What to tell your groomer

Say it is a Borzoi rather than describing it as a long coated sighthound, because a salon that assumes Afghan will book three hours it does not need.

Ask for a pin brush and comb rather than a slicker used hard, since the coat is silky and breaks.

Ask for the ruff, behind the ears and the elbows checked, and the feet cleared flush.

Book a bath and full dry at the start of the spring shed.

Say the dog is a sighthound with thin skin, and mention any scrapes or scars.

Say it must not be rushed or restrained hard, and mention when it last ate given the bloat risk.

Keeping the coat between grooms

Common Questions About the Borzoi