Posted on BorzoiNews, April 30, 2005, in response to a discussion about senior dogs in the kennel.
We are too new in this breed to have any senior borzoi. I am sure our day will come, with all of the challenges that come with it. We do have one resident senior, and if I may bend the rules just a bit, I would like to say a few words about her. She is my black female Lab, Ebony. I took Ebony out of a shelter in Montrose, PA one day and brought her home with me. I never had a big dog before. All my previous dogs had been toys or small terriers. Yes, I acted on an impulse. This was my big leap into the world of larger dogs, enabling me to find my way to borzoi.
Shortly after getting Ebony, I remember thinking I wanted a companion dog for her. We knew Joseph Lara, who sold us our first borzoi, Lara’s River of Dreams “Casanova”, and he was supposed to be the second dog. We were enchanted by our borzoi and others followed. Majenkir My Ksar Mikhailovna “Mikhailya” followed shortly after when we became seriously interested in showing. Although Ebony graciously greeted each new companion, they kept to themselves more than her, and she remained a solo dog. Then, circumstances changed again when we added two new borzoi puppies, Blyss Paris Lights of Lido “Paris”, and Raynbo Opalesque of Blyss “Opal”. With each puppy’s arrival, Ebony came alive with interest and happiness, and a new personality emerged. She made them hers and guards them fiercely.
Ebony is only doing what comes naturally to her. When I first saw her at the shelter, I thought something was wrong but I could not put my finger on it. I was told she had whelped five litters before being put in the shelter and had just weaned the last one. It touched my heart to see her in the condition she was in so I took her out of there. She has been all that I would have ever asked of her and more. But who would have ever thought that an old Lab would love and look after borzoi pups? I thought she deserved a special mention for sharing her home, then taking such good care of the borzoi pups, too.
Lorene Connolly
Blyss Kennels
Mountainside, NJ
April 30, 2005