Russkiy Toy - History

History

The first evidence of English style terriers in Russia can be seen in the Museum of Zoology in Saint Petersburg. On display is an English style terrier dated 1716–1726 with a sign that reads "This dog is a short hair terrier named Lizetta. It personally belonged to the Russian Emperor Peter the Great. Towards the start of the 20th century, the English Toy Terrier was one of the most popular toy dog breeds in Russia. Between 1920 and 1950, their numbers were greatly diminished following the October Revolution as these types of dogs were linked to the aristocracy and frowned upon. When the breeding was restarted almost all of the dogs used had no pedigrees or were even purebred.

The original long haired Russkiy is considered to be a dog named Chikki who was born on 12 October 1958 from two smooth haired terriers. One its parents had no recorded pedigree, but had slightly longer hair than normal. Chikki was mated with a female named Irma, who had longer hair than normal and together they had three long haired puppies.

The political isolation of the country at the time caused the creation of a whole new breed as breeders sought to stabilise the toy sized terriers at the time into a standard breed. The first standard for the two varieties was written in 1966 and authorised by the Ministry of Agriculture. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, a number of foreign small breed dogs were imported, and this caused the popularity of the Russkiy Toy to decline. By the 1990s, the long haired type of Russkiy Toy had hit critical numbers, but luckily a resurgence occurred due to a new generation of dog breeders. Until this time the breed was virtually unknown outside of its homeland.

It was recognised by the Federation Cynologique Internationale in 2006 and the United Kennel Club in 2008. It is also recognised by the American Rare Breed Association, North American Kennel Club and International All Breed Canine Association. It has recently been admitted into the Foundation Stock Service of the American Kennel Club which can be seen as a first step towards full AKC recognition. In July 2009 the Russian Toy was approved to compete in AKC companion events from 1 January 2010 onwards.