Blyss Kennels

Home to Beautiful Borzois in the Watchung Mountains in Mountainside, New Jersey

Borzoi

After a long pause

It is almost frightening to sit down at my computer after all I have been through since this new calendar year, now almost half over. However, I force myself to type the URL and begin entering text tonight. Let me start by saying that I know a lot of people do not like me. They find me disturbing, to the point of feeling compelled to elaborate and act out their thoughts and feelings of hatred. These people include in particular my closest family members and those whom I had held closest to my heart. It is nothing new, but it has become a pattern that has followed me through the decades. Today, I have lost my last human best friend forever. He said words implemented with actions that cannot be taken back. So here I have died, alone and friendless during the coldest, darkest days of the year, ripping me apart and rendering me mute. I have only just found my voice, thanks again to my one salvation, borzoi, the breed of dog, and the breeders who make them possible whom I regard as friends.

It was wise of me to have signed up for a hotel room for the host hotel and register to attend the Borzoi Club of America’s (BCOA) National Specialty Show in Mesquite TX from April 25 -May 1, 2022. I even found two different room-mates, for different nights, to help with the expense of the room. It was well attended by beautiful borzoi of all ages. The Futurity judge was my friend, and former Specialty judge, Barbara Bender, and it was great spending time with her again. The Sweepstakes judge was Barbara Lord. I, in the name of Blyss Kennels, support the Sweepstakes trophies in Opal’s name (Raynbo Opalesque at Blyss) for the Puppy Bitch classes. The judge for the Best in Specialty Show was someone I greatly admire and respect, and she did a wonderful job, Prudence Hlatky. Prudence and her husband Greg own the borzoi who won the BCOA Specialty Show last year in Ohio with her lovely bitch, Delilah, and who happens to be the number 1 borzoi in the country.

I was pleased by the borzoi I saw. Certain dogs of a certain style have their appeal to some judges, or some judges will put borzoi up for a win with a different style than I am accustomed to seeing. I try hard to see the quality in these borzoi, and not be a “fault” judge, overlooking the borzoi’s quality. Surely, it is there. I try to broaden my parameters. Still, I cannot overlook two things: Short legs with no tuck up, and tails held up and wagging when the borzoi moves. A new fault is developing at a disturbing rate, including Russia from pictures of litters I have seen from my Facebook friends. It is folded down ears, like a Labrador Retriever or a Golden Retriever. They ruin the head. Each breed has a silhouette that is a component of breed type. It is hard to get past these faults because they are so destructive to the borzoi silhouette, requisite for the borzoi to perform the tasks the breed was created to do.

I will soon be reserving my hotel room for the BCOA National Specialty Show next year, in Virginia Beach, VA. It means so much for me to have it to look forward to. It allowed my dark mood to lift. And why not? I was immersed in perfect bliss!

My Russian Prince

In a life greatly marked with ups and downs, with more downs than ups, you often wonder why, or why me? It is He is nowhere to be found except in my visions, and then he is everywhere.  His toys and dog beds still litter the floors, his kibble holder remains, as do his leash and collar.  When I walk into a room, I expect to see you there, and in a way I do, in a surreal vision of memory that cannot let go.  My Tre: if only we could have been together just a bit longer; if you could have made it to ten years.  I feel cheated that you left too soon……but whenever it would have been, it never would have been long enough.

My Russian Prince is gone.

He is nowhere to be found except in my visions, and then he is everywhere. 
His toys and dog beds still litter the floors, his kibble holder remains,
as do his leash and collar.  When I walk into a room,
I expect to see you there, and in a way I do,
in a surreal vision of memory that I cannot let go. 
My Tre: if only we could have been together just a little bit longer;
If only you could have made it to ten years….. 
I feel cheated that you left too soon……
but whenever it would have been, it never would have been long enough
My Beloved Boy!  You left for your journey without me……

How long must I wait at Blyss?

There are many reason why I believe I should have another borzoi but perhaps none more compelling than when I see friends I have not seen in several months, or perhaps do not read the Blyss Blog, and they ask how my dogs are.  When I tell them the Blyss Borzoi are all gone now, they express so much shock and sorrow and then ask me if I am getting another borzoi.  Of course I am, I tell them, and my goal is to have one by the end of this year.  It is then that I introduce “Jelly”, of the Bibikov Kennel in Cross River, NY, a four year old finished champion.  Then, I see their faces light up with happiness for me, and I smile back and even laugh a bit.  That is how I know I have made the right decision.