Comments to the Black Russian Terrier Standard
Many people think that name "Black Terrier" directly points to how the dog is supposed to look. For a long time the breed was viewed as a terrier and was included in third Group by FCI (Terriers), but let's remember that the goal for creation of the breed was guard duty, the foundation dog was a Giant Schnauzer and main breeding stock
was out of Rottweiler, Airedale and Moscow Diver (Newfoundland crossed with Caucasian Ovcharka and German Shepherd Dog) bitches with inbreeding on Giant
Schnauzer. Because of this, one can conclude that Blackie is not a terrier in the common understanding of this word, nor should he have the build and conformation close to the terrier type. So because of the origin and conformation of Black Terrier the breed was transferred to second Group by FCI (Molosser Dogs, Schnauzers and Pinschers).
Let us point that preference is given to dogs with heavy-sturdy build, not with sturdy-dry one. But unfortunately dogs with too heavy build have not only advantages but are tied to the type faults as well, such as: coarse head, short neck, shortened bones of limbs and as a result insufficient rear angulation (straight rear). Such dogs are sluggish and phlegmatic.
Dogs of sturdy-dry type usually have long narrow head, thin high set neck, flat ribcage, straight (open) shoulder joint, reminding of the terrier. Temperament of such dogs is explosive, they are easily excitable and are characterized by excessive energy.
GENERAL IMPRESSION
Black Russian Terrier is a massive, powerful, large dog of heavy-sturdy build with balanced laid back temperament. He is stable, distrustful with strangers, self-confident, courageous and hardy. In extreme situations he momentarily assumes defensive position but settles down quickly as soon as threat had passed. He should not be shy or excessively aggressive and lacking confidence.
SIZE AND SEX TYPE
First standard for the breeding group (1958) mentioned only the lower height limit. Later upper limit was introduced as well. Work with the breed is not finished so decision was made not to disqualify overly large animals as long as they remain the balanced build. But often the taller Black Russian Terrier is, the stronger his conformation changes: he becomes high on legs, slab-sided, his shoulder joint opens, musculature is more long and flat, head is dry and light. Beside that, most overly tall BRTs have incorrect coat structure - brittle, too soft and brown. Such dogs are judged against at shows as they are untypical for the breed. But large proportionately built animals could be left for breeding. Due to that we often see big difference in size of dogs shown. Time will come when breed is more uniform in size
Bitches shall appear differently from males, as by nature males are more massive and masculine than bitches. Unfortunately we often see the reverse - large massive bitches are representing the breed standard better. Small, lightly built males with insufficient substance and in bitch type must be penalized at shows
without mercy and not allowed for breeding.
APPEARANCE
Black Russian Terrier is a strong, massive working dog with balanced build. He should be neither overly coarse nor dry and refined like a terrier. Body is covered with rough thick coat up to 4 inches long. Head and legs have decorative hair which form mustache, beard and eyebrows on the head, mane on neck and withers, and long furnishings on the legs with hair somewhat less harsh than on the body. For show ring coat of BRT must be groomed in accordance with established form. After the trimming Black Russian Terrier should not loose his harmonious appearance demonstrating his usual powerful build in combination with noble elegance. Special attention should be paid to the quality and structure of the coat. Lack of decorative hair, short straight tightly laying coat, curly hair, hair that is thin and soft - all that changes the appearance of BRT and does not correspond with the standard.
HEAD
Massive, long, in proportion to the body. Head should not have zygomatic arch and stop overly developed like in Rottweiler or be flat and narrow with smooth stop like
in terrier. Skull is flat from occiput to the ocular ridge with eyebrows continuing the line of the skull to the tip of the nose, beard and mustache are trimmed and the side view head has rectangular shape. Eyes must be dark, of medium size and oval shape. Large eyes always have rounded shape and often are protruding. Some dogs have loose eyelids and eyes of different color so expert should check both eyes.
EARS
Pendant, set high, medium size, with inner edge lying tightly against the head. Ear set is determined by the width of the skull: with narrow skull ears are set too high, thin, raised on cartilage, usually held away from the cheek; with overly wide skull ears are set low, have thick spongy cartilage, are heavy and large.
DENTITION
Full dentition (6/6 incisors, 2/2 canines, 8/8 premolars, 4/6 molars) with a scissor bite. Dogs with narrow muzzle and narrow lower jaw often have overbite, and in dogs with short very full muzzle undershot is common. Head of Black Russian has blunt wedge shape, muzzle is rather short and very full, that's why many dogs
have very tight, almost level, bite which does not change with age even when teeth wears down. Absence of any teeth is heavily penalized. Teeth must be strong, large, healthy and stay in line. Small wide set teeth with brittle enamel are undesirable because they wear down faster and break often.
NECK
Massive, well muscled, not long, with well defined crest as opposed to long elegant and dry neck of a terrier. Heavy coarse dogs have short low set neck, dry and light
dogs have high set neck, which again reminds of a terrier. Optimal set of neck iis 40 degrees to horizontal line. Poorly muscled neck without the crest along with massive head and substantial body makes a bad impression. Special attention should be paid to such proportions during trimming.
BODY
Deep, strong, compact, in bitches can be longer than in dogs. Chest is long, deep, oval-shaped, with more spring of ribs than in Giant Schnauzer. In no case they should be flat as in terrier. Sternum is long with well developed prosternum. Withers are powerful because they support strong muscles of the back, neck and forequarters. Dogs have more pronounced withers than bitches.
Back is wide, firm and muscular, which is tightly connected to the volume of chest cavity. Dip in the area of diaphragmal vertebra leads to swayback with time.
Loin is wide, slightly arched, feasibly short because spine does not have support in that area.
Croup is wide, long and rounded. Slope of the croup depends on the angle of sacral bone. With straight or sloping croup, angle of femur bones and as result the stance and driving power of the hindquarters changes. With short croup musculature of upper thigh is usually narrow.
Tail is set high, thick and docked short. With straight (horizontal) croup tail is set too high and curves forward which is undesirable. With sloping croup tail is set too low and is often carried down.
Line of abdomen depends on development and strength of the muscles. Abdomen must be moderately tucked, being just slightly higher than lower chest.
FOREQUARTERS
With long strong shoulder blades, upper arm is slightly shorter than shoulder blade. Forearms are strong and vertical, pasterns strong, feet round and compact. Correct assembly of shoulder joint and strong broad musculature on the shoulders provides significant reach during movement. Increase of the angle of the shoulder joint leads to straightened front and shorter step, thus "terrier front" appears, and with increased speed dog breaks into gallop. Decreasing of the shoulder joint angle leads to slant (sharp) shoulder. In this case dog will place forequarters deep under the body. In motion such dog may have significant reach but it takes a lot of effort so dog will also break into gallop.
HINDQUARTERS
Strong powerful, set somewhat wider than forequarters. Must have pronounced balanced joint angles, be coordinated with the forequarters and provide a strong drive
in motion. Upper and lower thighs are approximately equal in length. Breadth and volume of upper thigh musculature depends on length and slant of the femur as well as on length of the croup. Rear pasterns are almost vertical, both forequarters and hindquarters joints should be formed correctly, have strong tendons, be flexible and thus provide for proper smooth movement of the dog. Excessively long rear pasterns or lower thighs create sickle hocks. Shortened bones of upper and lower thigh or short pastern create straight rears.
GAIT
Natural gait of Black Russian Terrier is sufficiently ground covering trot transitioning into gallop. But depending on the type and build dog can move in different way. For example, heavy and coarse dog (with all it's conformation faults) will move with short trot, breaking into heavy gallop, dry and light dog will have also a short-strided trot but leading to the light gallop natural for terriers.
COLOR
Black, black with insignificant gray. Sometimes abundant grayness may appear, including after the trimming. Total amount of gray that is allowed is not more than one third of the total surface of the dog. No definite areas of profuse gray are allowed. White spots and markings are not allowed. Sometimes dogs of other than black color are born: black and tan, sable, blue. Acceptance of these colors may be a question of time, but now all dogs other than black are disqualified.
Taken from the book "RUSSIAN BLACK TERRIER" by M.Gerasimova, President of Russian National Breed Club, FCI exp Moscow, 1996. Permission to translate and use for non-commercial purposes granted.
Many people think that name "Black Terrier" directly points to how the dog is supposed to look. For a long time the breed was viewed as a terrier and was included in third Group by FCI (Terriers), but let's remember that the goal for creation of the breed was guard duty, the foundation dog was a Giant Schnauzer and main breeding stock
was out of Rottweiler, Airedale and Moscow Diver (Newfoundland crossed with Caucasian Ovcharka and German Shepherd Dog) bitches with inbreeding on Giant
Schnauzer. Because of this, one can conclude that Blackie is not a terrier in the common understanding of this word, nor should he have the build and conformation close to the terrier type. So because of the origin and conformation of Black Terrier the breed was transferred to second Group by FCI (Molosser Dogs, Schnauzers and Pinschers).
Let us point that preference is given to dogs with heavy-sturdy build, not with sturdy-dry one. But unfortunately dogs with too heavy build have not only advantages but are tied to the type faults as well, such as: coarse head, short neck, shortened bones of limbs and as a result insufficient rear angulation (straight rear). Such dogs are sluggish and phlegmatic.
Dogs of sturdy-dry type usually have long narrow head, thin high set neck, flat ribcage, straight (open) shoulder joint, reminding of the terrier. Temperament of such dogs is explosive, they are easily excitable and are characterized by excessive energy.
GENERAL IMPRESSION
Black Russian Terrier is a massive, powerful, large dog of heavy-sturdy build with balanced laid back temperament. He is stable, distrustful with strangers, self-confident, courageous and hardy. In extreme situations he momentarily assumes defensive position but settles down quickly as soon as threat had passed. He should not be shy or excessively aggressive and lacking confidence.
SIZE AND SEX TYPE
First standard for the breeding group (1958) mentioned only the lower height limit. Later upper limit was introduced as well. Work with the breed is not finished so decision was made not to disqualify overly large animals as long as they remain the balanced build. But often the taller Black Russian Terrier is, the stronger his conformation changes: he becomes high on legs, slab-sided, his shoulder joint opens, musculature is more long and flat, head is dry and light. Beside that, most overly tall BRTs have incorrect coat structure - brittle, too soft and brown. Such dogs are judged against at shows as they are untypical for the breed. But large proportionately built animals could be left for breeding. Due to that we often see big difference in size of dogs shown. Time will come when breed is more uniform in size
Bitches shall appear differently from males, as by nature males are more massive and masculine than bitches. Unfortunately we often see the reverse - large massive bitches are representing the breed standard better. Small, lightly built males with insufficient substance and in bitch type must be penalized at shows
without mercy and not allowed for breeding.
APPEARANCE
Black Russian Terrier is a strong, massive working dog with balanced build. He should be neither overly coarse nor dry and refined like a terrier. Body is covered with rough thick coat up to 4 inches long. Head and legs have decorative hair which form mustache, beard and eyebrows on the head, mane on neck and withers, and long furnishings on the legs with hair somewhat less harsh than on the body. For show ring coat of BRT must be groomed in accordance with established form. After the trimming Black Russian Terrier should not loose his harmonious appearance demonstrating his usual powerful build in combination with noble elegance. Special attention should be paid to the quality and structure of the coat. Lack of decorative hair, short straight tightly laying coat, curly hair, hair that is thin and soft - all that changes the appearance of BRT and does not correspond with the standard.
HEAD
Massive, long, in proportion to the body. Head should not have zygomatic arch and stop overly developed like in Rottweiler or be flat and narrow with smooth stop like
in terrier. Skull is flat from occiput to the ocular ridge with eyebrows continuing the line of the skull to the tip of the nose, beard and mustache are trimmed and the side view head has rectangular shape. Eyes must be dark, of medium size and oval shape. Large eyes always have rounded shape and often are protruding. Some dogs have loose eyelids and eyes of different color so expert should check both eyes.
EARS
Pendant, set high, medium size, with inner edge lying tightly against the head. Ear set is determined by the width of the skull: with narrow skull ears are set too high, thin, raised on cartilage, usually held away from the cheek; with overly wide skull ears are set low, have thick spongy cartilage, are heavy and large.
DENTITION
Full dentition (6/6 incisors, 2/2 canines, 8/8 premolars, 4/6 molars) with a scissor bite. Dogs with narrow muzzle and narrow lower jaw often have overbite, and in dogs with short very full muzzle undershot is common. Head of Black Russian has blunt wedge shape, muzzle is rather short and very full, that's why many dogs
have very tight, almost level, bite which does not change with age even when teeth wears down. Absence of any teeth is heavily penalized. Teeth must be strong, large, healthy and stay in line. Small wide set teeth with brittle enamel are undesirable because they wear down faster and break often.
NECK
Massive, well muscled, not long, with well defined crest as opposed to long elegant and dry neck of a terrier. Heavy coarse dogs have short low set neck, dry and light
dogs have high set neck, which again reminds of a terrier. Optimal set of neck iis 40 degrees to horizontal line. Poorly muscled neck without the crest along with massive head and substantial body makes a bad impression. Special attention should be paid to such proportions during trimming.
BODY
Deep, strong, compact, in bitches can be longer than in dogs. Chest is long, deep, oval-shaped, with more spring of ribs than in Giant Schnauzer. In no case they should be flat as in terrier. Sternum is long with well developed prosternum. Withers are powerful because they support strong muscles of the back, neck and forequarters. Dogs have more pronounced withers than bitches.
Back is wide, firm and muscular, which is tightly connected to the volume of chest cavity. Dip in the area of diaphragmal vertebra leads to swayback with time.
Loin is wide, slightly arched, feasibly short because spine does not have support in that area.
Croup is wide, long and rounded. Slope of the croup depends on the angle of sacral bone. With straight or sloping croup, angle of femur bones and as result the stance and driving power of the hindquarters changes. With short croup musculature of upper thigh is usually narrow.
Tail is set high, thick and docked short. With straight (horizontal) croup tail is set too high and curves forward which is undesirable. With sloping croup tail is set too low and is often carried down.
Line of abdomen depends on development and strength of the muscles. Abdomen must be moderately tucked, being just slightly higher than lower chest.
FOREQUARTERS
With long strong shoulder blades, upper arm is slightly shorter than shoulder blade. Forearms are strong and vertical, pasterns strong, feet round and compact. Correct assembly of shoulder joint and strong broad musculature on the shoulders provides significant reach during movement. Increase of the angle of the shoulder joint leads to straightened front and shorter step, thus "terrier front" appears, and with increased speed dog breaks into gallop. Decreasing of the shoulder joint angle leads to slant (sharp) shoulder. In this case dog will place forequarters deep under the body. In motion such dog may have significant reach but it takes a lot of effort so dog will also break into gallop.
HINDQUARTERS
Strong powerful, set somewhat wider than forequarters. Must have pronounced balanced joint angles, be coordinated with the forequarters and provide a strong drive
in motion. Upper and lower thighs are approximately equal in length. Breadth and volume of upper thigh musculature depends on length and slant of the femur as well as on length of the croup. Rear pasterns are almost vertical, both forequarters and hindquarters joints should be formed correctly, have strong tendons, be flexible and thus provide for proper smooth movement of the dog. Excessively long rear pasterns or lower thighs create sickle hocks. Shortened bones of upper and lower thigh or short pastern create straight rears.
GAIT
Natural gait of Black Russian Terrier is sufficiently ground covering trot transitioning into gallop. But depending on the type and build dog can move in different way. For example, heavy and coarse dog (with all it's conformation faults) will move with short trot, breaking into heavy gallop, dry and light dog will have also a short-strided trot but leading to the light gallop natural for terriers.
COLOR
Black, black with insignificant gray. Sometimes abundant grayness may appear, including after the trimming. Total amount of gray that is allowed is not more than one third of the total surface of the dog. No definite areas of profuse gray are allowed. White spots and markings are not allowed. Sometimes dogs of other than black color are born: black and tan, sable, blue. Acceptance of these colors may be a question of time, but now all dogs other than black are disqualified.
Taken from the book "RUSSIAN BLACK TERRIER" by M.Gerasimova, President of Russian National Breed Club, FCI exp Moscow, 1996. Permission to translate and use for non-commercial purposes granted.
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