FURTHER READING
AND RESOURCE LINKS
BREED STANDARD
The AKC BRT Standard was written and approved by the Black Russian Terrier Club of America.
The standard describes the temperament and physical attributes of the Black Russian Terrier as an ideal. The “perfect” BRT cannot exist; however, breeders strive to breed for it and judges should use it to judge dogs in the conformation ring.
NATIONAL BREED CLUBS
“The Black Russian Terrier Club of America (BRTCA) is the American Kennel Club Member parent club that represents the Black Russian Terrier (BRT) breed under the AKC in the United States of America.”
The club:
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sets the breed standard for the AKC
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determines required health testing for the Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) Canine Health Information Center (CHIC)
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oversees the breed rescue program
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consists of a club membership who volunteer in committees and an elected board that votes on initiatives
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puts on the yearly BRT National show
The Black Russian Terrier Club of Canada (BRTCC) serves a similar function in Canada. The Canadian Kennel Club (CKC) is the Canadian counterpart to the AKC in the U.S. (Note: There is also a club called the Continental Kennel Club, also CKC, which is different and does not have credibility within the majority of serious dog fanciers due to lack of controls in its registration protocols, nor is it a purebred registry.
BLACK RUSSIAN TERRIER DATABASE
This is a self-reporting database, meaning, breeders input the data. Some kennels record all litters, some do not or only post selected dogs. Overall, it is considered the standard to study pedigrees. It is interesting to click back through the pedigrees historically and see the evolution of the breed in photos. (The database defaults to Russian but you can click on the British flag to change it to English if needed)
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Dogs are searched by registered name. Sometimes a partial name will work. Some names with apostrophes or other characters can be tricky to search for. Try searching without them. Also try different spacing between words if your dog doesn't come up. Lastly, if you still can't find the dog, try searching for a relative then use the menu on the top to continue your search, etc.
THE CANINE CHRONICLE
The Canine Chronicle aggregates conformation rankings. You can click on each type of statistic to look for/at Black Russian Terriers. If you look at “Group” ranking, the BRT is in the Working Group. The date range for the data is listed on the top of each ranking page. There are often interesting articles about the dog fancy, also.
FRONT & FINISH
Front & Finish publishes performance sports rankings, obedience and rally annually. Also provides valuable articles. The rankings are viewable with an annual subscription.
THE AMERICAN KENNEL CLUB
The AKC is the national all breed dog registry in the U.S.
The top performance rankings by sport along with breed statistics are posted each year.
Grand Champion Point Ranking (Conformation)
This list is updated as the AKC updates points. This ranking represents the number of dogs defeated, by champions of record, year to date.
ORTHOPEDIC FOUNDATION FOR ANIMALS
The Orthopedic Foundation for Animals (OFA) maintains a public database of certified health testing results for dogs. You can search a dog by registered name or registered number.
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National breed clubs determine minimum health tests for breeding animals. Once those tests have been confirmed/certified by the OFA, they issue a Canine Health Information Center (CHIC) number to that dog. Note: A CHIC designation only signifies the minimum required tests have been completed and made public, not that the tests were passed or have a favorable rating.
BETTERBRED CANINE GENETIC DIVERSITY
Betterbred is a DNA company that provides multiple measurements to help identify, maintain and redistribute genetic diversity in dog breeds. Read their analysis of the Black Russian Terrier.
EMBARK
Embark is a DNA testing company that provides a report similar to how 23andme does for humans. When using their Breeder + Health kit, they provide carrier status for the nearly 200 variants currently known in dogs, a relative finder feature, trait identification, a deep ancestry report, a matchmaker tool, and a coefficient of breeding (COI).
BRT BREEDERS U.S.
This is a list of breeders I know or know of enough to recommend you research or talk to further before deciding where you want to get a puppy. Regardless, the BRT community is small and fairly close knit so it is a good idea to get to know as many in the community as possible. We all compete together, get puppies from and breed our dogs with each other, socialize, and contribute to the stewardship of our beloved BRT, together. Please note this is not a complete list of good breeders and this list does not contain breeders who have only one litter or are otherwise just beginning to breed like myself. Even among these breeders, there are different approaches to breeding and relationships with puppy buyers. That is why it is good to find the best fit for yourself.
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Sparta Black Russians (Emily Foster/Jean Ann Tuggle) - my breeding mentors
Blackbeard Black Russian Terriers (Christine Robinson) - recent president of the BRTCA and a breed mentor
Beautiful Black Russian Terriers in Iowa (Facebook page) (Kahla Johnson)
Midnight Rider Black Russian Terriers (Donna Patterson)
Black Powder (Tessa and Ben Moore)
Naissur Black Russian Terriers and Russian Toys (Facebook page)(Patty Bartley Shonts)
ZolaRoza Black Russian Terriers (Kaye Shipley)
Queens Over (Edea Caldwell)
Russian Standard Black Russian Terriers (Facebook page) (Alla Taradash)
Gentle Power (Tatiana Semonova)
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ADDITIONAL READING
The following are links to webpages, articles , and places to order books, that may have additional interest.
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GENETICS
Website: Additional information about the BRT and more on their history. The author of this information is not known.
Article. Opinion piece about Betterbred DNA (posted on Betterbred) and Embark DNA.
Article. A bit contentious opinion critical of Betterbred DNA technology (author linked to Embark)
Website. Clear, basic, explanations of canine genetics for general audiences.
Article. A more in depth article on canine DNA testing which explains the basics of the technology of testing STRs (such as Betterbred. good for relatedness, vs. companies like Embark that test SNPs and how that type of testing is good measuring traits and health-related variants.
Article. Explains COI (Embark's) as it relates to unknown autosomal carrier status.
Article. An article for general audiences on the role of genetic diversity (haplotypes) as it relates to health in dogs.
Article. A study on a human autosomal variant shown to provide health benefits. Very studies have been done on canine mutations and how they may be beneficial, however, if they are in humans, one could infer they may be in dogs too.
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HEALTH
Article. A good overview of the current health status of the BRT by a BRT breeder and researcher.
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STRUCTURE
Website. Nice illustration and explanations of structure/movement. More BRT history.
Booklet. Black Russian Terrier Illustrated Study of the Standard. Order (for purchase) through the BRTCA.
GROOMING
Website. Some detailed grooming instruction and illustrations.
HISTORY/BRTs GENERAL
Book Series. 8 volumes by Donald B. Anderson. Available for purchase on Amazon. A series of short books detailing the history of the BRT. Lots of photographs. This series is self-published and lacks professional editing. This leads to cumbersome reading but the series has some interesting information, however, other than some insertions of text from some Russian breeders, the sourcing on much of the information is not clear.
Website. An article on the history of the BRT with some historical photographs.
Website. A good write up life with a BRT. "Are Black Russian Terriers Right for You?"