look more normal from the point of view of the layman. That the proportions of the skeleton are such that even a well-fed greyhound will appear "thin, sonorous and transparent." "And the muscles?" they shouted. And the muscles are pumped up before the hunting season with special training or an increase in walking. Only a greyhound dog is long-legged, and in this case it is necessary to walk it 5-6 hours a day. And do not stand still, but actively move. The rest of the time, if there is no special need, it is quite enough to walk with a greyhound for two hours a day. But at the same time, you will not see good muscles. So it turns out constantly thin dog. "How, - you object, - I saw a completely well-fed greyhound." So, dear reader, such a dog will definitely be lowered at a hunting exhibition, indicating to the owner that this is a serious drawback for a greyhound. Now let's imagine a sumo wrestler on a sprint distance. Don't you want to feel sorry for him? Plus, you need to remember about the hormonal system. Bitches after childbirth tend to swear and thicken, but to a certain extent. And the greyhounds have their own. And I, in the end, learned from the indignant cries of passers-by, "Girl! Why don't you feed the dog!" with a serene innocent smile and sincere surprise on his face, ask in response: "Why?" And to get a lot of pleasure, looking at their mouths gaping in surprise, and not be upset because my attempt to reason with an ignorant layman failed again.

However, owners of other breeds have similar problems. I remember a story that happened to my friend and her Rottweiler. On a walk, a lady stops her with a loud, demanding cry. While the hostess convulsively thinks that her pet has done something wrong, the lady indignantly declares to her literally the following: "Why did you feed the Doberman like that?" And this Rottweiler was, by the way, a repeated champion of the breed and had an exterior corresponding to his titles.

Future dog owners and just people! Be patient with each other. Before making a harsh judgment, ask the owner what his dog should be like. If you do not trust his words, look for the answer in books, at exhibitions, talk to other owners of the same breed. Well, if you do not have free time for this, take care of your pressing problems.

Judge not lest ye be judged.
Oh, really!

...
Let me tell you another story on the topic of canine intelligence. Once, at a bus stop near my house, I picked up a young German Shepherd. The dog lay curled up in a ball right on the snow. I placed an ad in the newspaper and waited. Three weeks later, the owners called me and it turned out that the shepherd's house is 400 meters from the place where I picked her up. When comparing the dates of the loss and the find, it turned out that she "walked" for about a week, either leaving or returning to the place where she was lost, but she never found her home on her own. The dog was a normal, intelligent sheepdog. On that day, she was frightened by firecrackers and ran away, but then returned to the place where she last saw her master. Just a couple of months later, a different story happened. I was left for overexposure of the same young male Afghan. In my absence, my family decided to take him outside. The dog got out and ran away. When I arrived a couple of hours later and learned about it, I walked to his house, which was a 40-minute walk, hoping to meet the dog along the way. Having reached his house and not meeting the dog, I almost despaired, but decided to go into the front door and ask the concierge, since she was there. What were my surprise and joy when I found out that the dog had come a long time ago and was with the neighbors. The Afghan traveled this path in half an hour. And now I will clarify that he had never in his life before this incident passed this path on foot. He was always brought to me in a car with tinted windows. So which of these dogs is smarter? Yes, neither one nor the other. Both showed their innate properties. The first dog was bred with an emphasis on obedience and honestly waited for the owner. The Afghan is originally a hunting dog. He tends to go far from home and return on his own.

In our still large country lives most famous greyhound breeds in the world for obvious reasons. The vast expanses of Central and Southern Russia are conducive to this. Only two breeds of greyhounds I have not seen with us. These are Magyar agar and Spanish galgo. We do not have these breeds because there is a domestic breed very similar to them Hortaya greyhound. Perfectly adapted to our conditions, having excellent working qualities, easy to maintain, the hortaya is undeservedly forgotten in our country.

A Greyhound very similar to her is more common with us, because it is considered the most frisky greyhound in the world. But not all individuals of this breed are good at catching the beast. For decades, most of the world's livestock has been used in commercial races for artificial hare, and therefore have lost their greed for capturing a live animal. In addition, the Greyhound requires a more careful attitude to their health.

The Wolfhound (Irish Wolfhound) is one of the largest breeds in the world. It is difficult to fit such a giant in a small apartment. But this shortcoming is more than compensated by an impressive appearance and the most balanced disposition among greyhounds. True, it has not been used for hunting for a long time. Deerhound (Scottish wolfhound) is similar to him, but with a lighter build. There are only a few of this breed in our country, and I have not heard about its use in hunting.

The Whippet is a smaller copy of the Greyhound, easy to keep. Despite their size, these dogs are used by hobbyists for hunting. If you want to have a real greyhound, but living conditions do not allow, try the whippet.

A separate group are the so-called eastern greyhounds. Tazy, Taigan, Afghan Hound in its two current incarnations (Western version for the show and aboriginal type), Saluki, Sluggi, Azawakh - all these dogs are united by their pronounced oriental character. Independent, proud, distrustful of strangers, but at the same time loving the owner and furious in hunting dogs. It should be noted that these breeds form pairs that are very similar in appearance to each other. Tazy resembles the Saluki, Taigan resembles the native Afghan Hound, and Sluggi resembles the Azawakh. The differences are minor. Sluggi and Azawakh were the same breed some 20 years ago. However, for example, modern Irish and English setters of Western show lines differ from each other only in color.

Afghan is the brightest star of show exhibitions, is a modified type of the native Afghan hound, which began to be cultivated in the West since the beginning of the last century. At the same time, it has not lost its specific oriental character. He is smart, independent and freedom-loving. Therefore, he perceives the owner at best as a partner or friend. His respect must be won, but not by violence, but by praise and affection. The thing is that it was not bred for the purpose of psychological submission to a person, unlike many other breeds. These words can be attributed to other eastern greyhounds.

The so-called group of burrow breeds is made up of medium-sized dogs with such qualities as anger towards the beast, a pronounced temperament, dexterity and a loud, sonorous voice so that the hunter can determine the location of the dog in the hole. This group includes small terriers and dachshunds.

The undisputed leader in hunting with burrowing dogs among them is the German Jagd Terrier, a relatively young breed. Unlike the Wirehaired Fox Terrier, the Jagd Terrier does not require trimming. The smooth-haired fox terrier and welsh terrier are currently used less frequently as hunting dogs, yielding in working qualities to the "yagda". All other breeds of terriers are not actually used for hunting, being either very rare or decorative.

Except терьеров в норной охоте у нас используют такс стандартного размера. Mostly smooth-haired, which are the most numerous. The rough-haired variety is used much less often due to its small number and the long-haired variety is not used at all, which has a much softer character and is more often kept as a decorative one. It can be said about the nature of dachshunds that they are independent, know their own worth, remember both good and bad for a long time, at the same time they are smart, quick-witted, inventive. Of the shortcomings, it should be remembered that, being burrowing dogs, they love to "dig minks" in upholstered furniture.

The next, already real old gun hunting is hunting with cops. It is subdivided into hunting for swamp (snipe, great snipe) and upland (black grouse, capercaillie, partridge) game. Pointers are not a breed, but a group of breeds divided into insular and continental breeds. The Island Hounds are the Pointer, Irish, English and Scottish Setters. All these breeds are united by the innate ability to freeze in a characteristic posture after they have smelled the hidden bird, thus showing its location to the hunter. Hunting with a