From the Memory Lane: Ch. Selvaggia di Roccabarbara

As customary in the Christmas Season, once again we visited the people at the Roccabarbara kennels, this time however prepared to face the fact that our beloved Vitaliano Cattabiani Ferrari would not be there in body. Thus, together with Sandro, one of his closest friends, we spent a few hours with the dogs and the people who are still there. And talking about the dogs, among the many memories, one especially did occur to me, and brought me back to the early Nineties…

As a fresh graduate in Modern Languages, I used to make myself useful as a ring steward and remember hearing judges from all over Europe say "This is it" when they saw this particular representative of the Roccabarbara kennels, a wonderful bitch called Selvaggia. I hadn't seen many borzois when I started with my first one, but one thing is for sure: I'd never seen so much charisma, quality and movement in any dog or bitch before, and probably ever since.

It’s hard to tell where Selvaggia’s phenotype came from. She did not look like any of the large, predominantly white old Polianka dogs which Count Cattabiani was using… Maybe there was a hint of the ancient van de Zilverstrand, a line he worked with at the very start. On all accounts, Selvaggia was different, and could bewitch anybody. It was impressive. I remember exhibitors – who later became breeders and judges – from Italy and other neighbouring countries trying at every special show (you need to win 2 special or club shows in Italy if you want the Italian Champion title) but Selvaggia would be there, just for fun, since she had won by far more than what she needed for the Italian title.

Her owner Mr D'Urso was a peculiar person. He had been able to buy Selvaggia because she was "too small" according to Mr. Cattabiani Ferrari. So he kept entering Selvaggia in the open class and blocked everyone else. There were people from Italy, France, Switzerland, Slovenia and Germany coming to the specials but they never won, no matter who the judge was. I personally remember Mr. David Allan speechless at the Padua Special in 1993. With pen and paper in my hands, I was waiting for him to say anything and he just stood there, looking at Selvaggia.

When Selvaggia was mated to Eskenazi del Marchese di Rhieti we were shocked. Before the mating I remember her owner asking for a stud service from an established breeder. This dog, sired by a European Champion, was lovely in every detail but - unforgivable fault in Italy – measured only 82 cm at the withers. Be that as it may, at the very last moment Selvaggia’s owner called the mating off and announced he had an "American dog". We were all puzzled and we waited for the offspring. At the International Show in Milan (January 1995) Aldebaran de’ Nobile Veltrus and his litter mates were shown. The pups’ names were carefully chosen among those of Mr. Gabriele D’Annunzio’s sighthounds. A sublime poet, novelist, soldier, dandy and casanova of the early 19th Century, the great Gabriele D’Annunzio was famous – among other things - for his horses and sighthounds. And Selvaggia’s owner became famous too, namely for his arrogance in adotping those names.
Such a carefully chosen set of names, however, could not prevent the drop in quality in the dogs themselves. These dogs did not seem to have inherited a single hair of their dam’s outstanding quality, and accordingly, never won anything. They quickly disappeared from the scene except for Aldebaran, that was sent to try his fortune in Russia. That turned out to be a very fortunate circumstance, as we all know, since he ended up in the hands of an influential breeder and sired hundreds of puppies, some of which are found in the pedigrees of the most successful dogs to date. But that’s another story.

Below: A wonderful bitch in the Roccabarbara pedigrees, Tchaika de Mayerling

110 Jubilee Show of the Hungarian Kennel Club, Budapest 2009

On Saturday 28 and Sunday 29 November Gitana visited the beautiful city of Budapest, the Pearl of the Danube, founded by the Romans as Aquincum and embellished by the Humanist and Italian-educated King Matthias Hunyadi and his wife Beatrice of Naples. A more or less peaceful fusion of several ethnic groups and cultures made of Budapest the symbol of a super-national Europe which existed long before the European Union and was called Mitteleuropa. A cultural environment unique to Budapest, Vienna and Trieste, a spiritual and intellectual climate that allowed for truly great achievements in the arts, especially literature, and the sciences, such as psychology.

And speaking of achievements, in a festively decorated Budapest, our Gitana was CAC CACIB and BOS at the 110th Jubilee Show of the Hungarian Kennel Club on Saturday. Unfortunately, Gitana went Res CAC on Sunday and missed the last CAC needed for the Hungarian title. But we certainly had a lovely weekend on the shores of the Danube, and enjoyed our time in an ever fascinating city.

New Slovenian Champion

On Saturday 7th November our Gitana went CAC, CACIB and BOB at the International Show in Šempeter (SLO) and became Slovenian Champion. On Sunday she went CAC and res. CACIB. We are very happy about her fourth Championship title and about the lovely days we spent at the show in good company, such as Marie Christine Dulin's and her husband Giuseppe with their beautiful and stylish Italian, International and new Slovene Ch. Russki Azart Ideal.

However, once again our thoughts go to our beloved Czardas who should have been there with us. And should be here now to enjoy the bright sunny Autumn days, the walks along the little, peaceful river and the harvested fields, the runs on the beach with the scent of the sea, and the evenings by the fireplace. There is no ribbon in the world that can make us forget his place is empty.

The Tsar's Last Chase

It is with the greatest feeling of loss and deprivation that we had to say good bye to our beloved Czardas. He went, unexpected as he came, regal, noble and full of dignity as we always knew him, leaving an empty space in the house and in our hearts. Within two fatal days, after repeated and extensive examination, it was clear that nothing could save him. So he went, without a groan or moan, without a grudge or complaint, with his unique smile up to the very last, with those kisses he had for all of us within his little family of canines and humans, and that boyish look full of love and gratitude for all the good things he had shared with us.

A natural born hunter out in the field, a true male leader in charge of his pack, and at the same time, the most affectionate and dedicated of dogs ever, the most capable of unconditional love and devotion at home, he will be missed during the years to come.

For oblivion is a haze
That shall not alight
On the Tsar’s last chase
On His Highness' flight.

Nina, Nina ljubavi

It was a crispy night in early April when the amniotic sac with the apple of our eye, Nina (Katnu Karenina) glided into my hands. The living portrait of her great-grandfather Votka the Terrible, who was about to leave us for the longest rest, she revealed herself his worthy successor from the start: A hunter in heart and soul, a jester and a tough wild little thing at the same time, she was the only one to counter the mad attacks by Fennec the Looney Lurcher, to retort to her mum’s authoritarian and dictatorial ruling, to challenge her toughest, biggest brother Kidai, and especially, to enchant us with a never ending curiosity, an innate wilderness, a free spirit that was destined to conquer if not the world, at least the mountain of Knockarea… Unfavourable logistics and human fallacy have caused us to part, on 3 July 2008, something we will always regret. We will never forget her incredulous, puzzled look when she was not allowed to join her uncle Fen, mum Gitana and three litter brothers back into the station wagon that had just landed on Welsh soil. It was therefore with the greatest joy that we received from our pen-pal and borzoi friend Masha Zarnova some lovely photographs of Nina as a young lady of 15 months! Congratulations to our dear friends Maddy Donnelly and Margaret Manning for the great job in rearing and taming this wild little beauty!

Below our Nina at three months, a picture we will never tire of looking at:

The Parallel Worlds of Coursing Sight Hounds

Once on the coursing field in Manerba, I confessed to being unfamiliar with the CACIL proceedings:
“I never went coursing like this…”
“What??” – Was the rather indignant and slightly derogatory reply by one of the participants – “And you have sight hounds!”
I could not help looking at the soft, smooth terrain, then at the well-groomed, well-behaved hounds, with their well-dressed owners in their designer sun glasses, and think of how different this was from the day of the hunt.

The Hunt at Portavaud Bay

The sun was all white light and no heat, that April afternoon, while the crispy, cold ocean breeze was still burdened with the weight and smell of the heavy rains that were arising from and diving back into the big waves out at sea. On that spring day, the rains seemed to be reserved, nearly shy, and would do their dance like banshees, far away from the coast, on the open ocean, where the sun goes to rest. Like Ulysses’ sirens, they seemed to be aware of this young, feeble star’s destiny, and would patiently wait for the sun to join them at the end of his journey.

The day, though, was still sharp. The light was blinding, the rocks shiny as coffins. It was a day that would decide of life and death, on the last nip of Irish land that would not give in to the Atlantic ocean.

The enormous, flashy, shiny vehicle of the traveller and his boy arrived slowly to the gathering, pulling an old dog cart as it followed the windy, stony coast road that would lead to the local grocery store. The foreigner was walking along the same road, with his Russian hound, the girl following with the young lurcher. They met, exchanged a few words, and proceeded towards the meadows that ended with the dark, mossy cliffs, where the wind never ceased to howl. The traveller and the boy were holding their lurchers, an older brindle bitch and a red dog of about the same age as the girl’s, and equally covered with scars and bald patches. They had a black, rough terrier too, a tiny tireless hunter whose sole desire seemed to be dedicating his foundling’s life to that of his travelling deity.

The wind was salty, and was gathering up the first clouds when the terrier started his search. Had it been up to the borzoi, the terrier’d been the first to lose his little, insignificant life on those meadows. But the foreigner held on to his hound, and followed the traveller across the fields, on top of the rocks and around the thorns that held the dry walls of ancient stones clasped together.
The girl was following too, with her brindle lurcher. Suddenly, the terrier, having gone ahead, caught their scent and yapped.
“He’s opening up” - the gypsy cried – “They’re there. Faster, now!”

The terrier was delirious with excitement, while the traveller’s lurchers sprang forward. The borzoi pulled, crouched, whined, nearly howled with frustration, as the foreigner would not trust him loose, knowing his hound would go for the nearest kill first. And so would the gypsy, if anything happened to his lurchers. Thus, he quickly passed the frantic borzoi to the girl, and snatched the lurcher's lead out of her hands. Shaking with excitement, breathless with urgency, he took the thick, wide collar off, wrapped the red nylon lead around the dog's neck holding the two ends between his thumb and finger, ready to let go. He knew their lurcher would not listen as well as the traveller's, and decided to slip as late as possible.

While the traveller's lurchers rushed on, holding their snake heads higher than the grass, the man kept an eye on the terrier, and told the foreigner to do the same. Until the first hare sprang, a brown knot of speed and terror, of blood and despair rushing through veins that suddenly seemed too narrow for so much fear, anguish and horror to flow through. The traveller’s bitch sprinted after it, mad with desire, while the terrier – aware of his task – followed her with an intent look but then carried on searching the ground, while the hunters wouldn’t take their eyes off him. Until the second one bolted. Decisions were made, within seconds. The traveller took after his bitch, following the chase while running uphill towards the wider meadows, shouting orders to the boy. The boy spurred his lurcher on while the foreigner started running with his own shouting encouragement until he was sure the dog had seen it. Then he slipped.

The two dogs had never met before but worked at unison, ignoring the nearby flock of sheep.
The gypsy's lurcher took wide, jumping on a group of rocks, to the left of the cliffs. The foreigner's lurcher took right, climbed over a smaller wall and through the thorns, streaking his flanks with blood, and then with mud, as he crawled under a cattle gate, and darted towards the second, higher wall, at the far end of the enclosure. It was there, half way through the second meadow, as if aware of the wall being there at the end of it, that the hare attempted a last, erratic twist when the foreigner’s lurcher bent, stretched, grabbed, fell to jump back on its feet, deepened its bite and shook. The hare squeaked, slipped away, fell on the ground, attempted a few steps on the legs that were still unbroken, was caught again, and again it cried, this time with a longer, feeble and shrill cry that penetrated the foreigner’s pores, prevailing on the sound of the roaring waves down the cliffs, the whistle of the incessant wind, the voice of the girl who refused to look, and the howl of the borzoi that was longing for the kill. Within seconds, the boy’s lurcher joined in, demanding his share of that life slipping away, while the boy - ecstatic, wild, travelling bird of prey that he was – arrived on the spot of the kill shouting to the foreigner to free the hare, to ‘let it loose, let ‘em dogs have another go’, another catch, a longer agony, one more deadly shake.

The foreigner’s rush decreased, the girl’s voice reached them, the ancient fury and joy of the hunter began to ebb away, and before the boy would attempt anything, he made one more decision. He grabbed the hare from the lurcher’s mouth, held it by its hind legs with his left hand, head down, and hit its cervical vertebrae with his bare right hand, like he had seen his grandfather do with rabbits before slitting their throat, down South, among the vines. The hare bent its spine upwards, its eyes shooting out of their cavities, its head shaking, nostrils twisting and mouth gasping, while its front paws frantically jerked up and down, as if seeking the ground for a last, hopeless leap.

The foreigner stood there, shivering, shaking, as if after waking up from a wild dream, uncertain whether with pleasure or horror, a raw joy rushing through his limbs as a high fever seizes a child. So he stood a few steps from the cliffs on one side, with the dead hare in his left hand, first looking at his blood-stained, ecstatic hunter panting beside him, then watching the boy, staring into his mad gypsy eyes. He stood there waiting for the traveller to join them, and finally turned to the ocean that hailed the hunt, the sky that had turned black, the wind that had soaked with water and salt as if ready to cover the prey’s cries. The foreigner looked at his dog’s catch: it was a male, big and mature. The gypsy arrived, excited, proud with the pride of an ancient, out-cast loneliness, smiling behind his steel blue eyes, with his long thin black hair loose on his shoulders. He had called the bitch back, while the terrier was waiting to resume the search. He took the hare from the foreigner's hand and said:
“Who done it? Fen. Cute one, this Fen.”
Then he looked into the foreigner’s eyes, as if to prepare him for a moment of some significance, some ritual from his outdated gypsy world:
“I want you to have this, later. We leave it for now. I’ll show you".
He took a bunch of keys from his pocket, looking a bit embarrassed for having no knife, punched a hole between the hare’s tendon and bone, in its skin, slipped the other foot and leg into the hole until the stifle was through, as to form a loop, and hung the beast head downwards on the highest thorns.
“Ay, it’ll keep the foxes away till we come back. We’re hunting now”.

Sight Hounds in the Garden of Eden

Bitches Open Class, with 3rd from left Marina and her Bagrijana

From Friday 1st till Sunday 3rd May sight hound lovers from Austria, Croatia, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Slovenia and Switzerland gathered up with their best hounds for what turned out to be one of the most exciting, interesting and pleasant events ever to be held on Italian soil. And what a soil: the sweetly sloping hills right at the shores of the Garda Lake, surrounded by olive, pine, cypress and oak trees towering over laurels and magnolias, with the old castle of Padenghe framed against the silhouette of the Alps, the top of which was still covered with snow, while a glorious sun announced the arrival of the Mediterranean summer.

This is where a 2-days Club Show under specialist judges from Germany, Great Britain, Norway and Sweden took place, plus an action-packed Sunday with breathtaking coursing by the most athletic of the entries. And this is where I had the privilege of assisting the President of the German Sight Hound Club, Mrs. Frieda Schwerm-Hahne as her interpreter and ring steward. I am most grateful to Mrs. Schwerm-Hahne for all the things I've learned, the details I became aware of, the subtleties I was able to catch. It was an honour and a pleasure.

My thanks also go to all the many friends - old and new alike - who were there to share these emotions with me, and especially to discuss dogs, discuss dogs, discuss more dogs... :-)

Making sure we're talking about the same thing :-)

Happy Birthday Katnu K Litter!

The Katnu K Litter turned one year old on April 9th: Happy Birthday Kalos Peritas, Kidai, Karenina, Kendra, Kincsem and Karatai! Kincsem had some nice results in Croatia, well done Branka! The 'spotlight' this time though is on Karatai, aka Charlie at his loving, happy home on the hills of North Wales.
Charlie was so lucky as to be 'picked' by wonderful dog people who are also willing to take him out every now and then. These are some of his results:

1st puppy dog Northern Borzoi open show Oct 08
best puppy in show Northern Borzoi Limit show February 09
Best puppy in breed also 1st junior Hound Association open show March 09
best puppy dog and Best Junior Borzoi Club open show March 09
1st junior dog Humberside Hounds April 09

Thank you very much Maddie and Reg, and best of luck with all of your lovely, happy dogs!

Gitana's New Certificate

A few days ago we received Gitana's International Champion title. This helps a little to recover from the terrible shock of both Czardas' and the judge's bad performance on Sunday 5 April in Antwerp :-)

Of Eastern Winds and Western Shores - Votka Od Vjetra's Life Story

Dunmoran Strand, County Sligo, Ireland - January 2008

The ocean wind howls among the shrubs and through the hedges, and its companion the rain knocks persistently on my windows while I sit and read the last pages of EB’s winter issue. Suddenly, my eye catches a more than familiar name, Biele Noči, and I read with interest of how plans are being made to write the story of this influential Croatian kennel with the mating of Ch Nikolai Wolkowo to Gasja von St. Petersburg. I cannot but look down towards the big cushion where old Votka Od Vjetra lays asleep, and think of how influential this particular descendant of that particular litter has been in my life. Old Votka will be eleven years old in a few days, and I feel I should not ignore this invitation to go back in time and recall the moments we spent together.

It was a glorious day of late May 1997 when my friend Alessandro and I went to Rijeka to show what later would have become Multi Champion Arin, and – last but not least – to secretly take a look at this litter we heard of. Secretly, because I could not afford a dog, since I was living abroad in a small flat, about to be unemployed, and certainly not in the position to get a new dog. I promised myself I would consider getting a dog only after getting a job. Trouble was, the job interview at the Dutch company near home was on Monday, and I was going to “take a look” at the litter on the previous day…

So there I was, by myself since the Rijeka show was just slowly coming on, driving my mother’s little car through the beautiful Croatian woodland, on the old road to Zagreb, along turquoise lakes and green pastures and, unfortunately, along groups of former soldiers, now employed as police force and heavily equipped with what must have been the same fire arms they had been using during the recent war. The only sight of them gave me the shivers, but I managed to carry on unnoticed, or labelled by their icy looks as a totally uninteresting appearance.

I managed to find Nera Golojuh’s neat house with a view on a green valley, where four puppies were still spending their blissful, carefree early months. Their mother, Babočka Bielie Noči, struck me for her perfect proportions, if not for her size which was rather limited for Italian standards. Their father, Aris Hipolit, a skinny fellow with the most beautiful head and classic deep orange coat, did not particularly impress me, except for something I found out later: he bore the blood of one of the most influential dogs in Eastern Europe, that Rohan Socius which still makes a difference for some kennels, thanks to the intuition and expertise of the Nijinski breeders, who chose him for their Colombina Nijinski. And this is how I left Zagreb, later on that evening, with this little quiet white and brindle male who took the place of my savings and put his head on my knee while I was driving and thinking that yes, I needed that job near home, in Italy.

The Croatian custom officer inspected the boot of my car, which was too small to contain the rifles he was looking for, and let me go with yet another icy look. The Slovenian custom officer was more explicit: “Guns? No, no guns. Ah, ruski hrt”, Russian sighthound, and smiled approvingly. No one ever thought of asking for any papers, vaccinations, certificates. Passing borders is something old Votka became very good at, as he became a real cosmopolitan precursor of a united Europe. And in fact, the day after I went to the interview and got the job, and two days later we were on our way to Holland, the land of his grandmother MCh Vorenoff Tziganka Wolkowa. He moved in with me in my Amsterdam flat (and was house-trained within 3 days), as I needed to spend a couple of months to end my commitment with the school and finish the year of teaching. Those were beautiful days in Amsterdam, with little Votka running around on the Northern Sea beaches, eating raw herring and Parmesan cheese, since he readily decided he was going to be the most reluctant eater I ever came across. Skinny to the bone, with pockets full of vitamins for myself and tablets from the vet for my silly hunger-striker, the two of us enjoyed a beautiful Dutch summer, partying in the parks and on the sandy dunes, falling in our beds at dawn exhausted and happy.

Little we knew that we were going to be set apart very soon. At the end of the school year we moved to Italy, where the job turned out to be a nightmare, but my big thirsty car still needed to be paid for, and as soon as Votka was one year old and had his Vrlo Dobar and Very Good in the youth class at various shows, I signed a contract that was going to keep me far from home for no less than two years. I came back and found the most stunning borzoi male instead of the skinny, unsteady puppy I left behind. Love makes you blind, obviously, for in spite of a CAC and a few reserves, the judges hasted to say he was still very, very skinny. And contrary, oh yes, he could be contrary, but was it his fault if every other male dog was jealous of him?

Destiny, however, was around the corner, when three years old Votka was chosen by the two most prominent breeders in Italy to sire a litter, which was to make him a Stud Champion, thanks to the 3 Italian and International Champions among his offspring (Alarico and Berengario di Roccabarbara, and Volkonshkj della Matildele), plus a Slovenian and Croatian title for the one of them that was at leisure to travel.

If his offspring did not travel so much, Votka was making it all happen, since a couple of years later he followed me back to Amsterdam, where my girlfriend and I had moved to a nice little ground-floor house with a delightful garden near the Amsterdam parks. Already a bit of a grumpy old fellow, at over 8 years of age he joined his granddaughter Gitana di Roccabarbara and the adopted greyhound Kesty in our little household, to make the most striking appearance that ever was seen along the canals of the Dutch capital, or to prepare himself to attack a huge, black Galloway bull in the nearby woodland. Or to find the main door open by burglars, and decide to follow them for a tour of Dam Square, where the police convinced him to follow them to the station and go to sleep in one of their security cells. A decision he obviously regretted, since when he saw me enter the cell door he made ready to go and waited for me at the door, ignoring the officers who had – how naïve – offered him a cheese toast.

Last year, in June, aged over ten, he travelled again in our little happy van through the heart of Europe, England and Wales, when the whole lot moved again with us to green but rainy Ireland. Here he takes his walks on Dunmoran Strand, the beach that was famous for the saying “Next stop, America”. But America is certainly not old Votka’s destination, as the time has come for him to rest his old bones near the fire, and shake his mane in the howling wind when dawn comes over the mountain of Knockarea.

Gitana and Babies

The Katnu Litter

It all started with an Italian dog, Multi Ch Aldebaran de’ Nobile Veltrus being exported to an influential kennel in Russia. Aldebaran is a total outcross between the long-established Rocca Barbara lines on one side, dating back as far as 1955, and some Italian (del Marchese di Rhieti), French (d’Ymauville) and American (Rising Star) lines on the other. Aldebaran’s dam, Ch Selvaggia di Rocca Barbara, was some of the highest quality ever seen in a borzoi bitch. Her litter sister, Ch Diamante, is European Champion Magdala’s dam. The mating of Magdala and Votka od Vjetra gave Ch Alarico di Rocca Barbara, our Gitana’s sire.

So much for the Italian side, to which the genetic melting pot in Votka’s pedigree must be added, with champions like Rohan Socius, Brigand Zumir, Filai Gajaneta, and more recently Fandango Nijinski and the Wolkowo’s on the Eastern side; and Vorenoff, Van Troybhiko and Vom Bergland on the Western front. All of the above is our Gitana.

Aldebaran’s Russian journey was a very successful one, and he sired several litters, one of which out of Metelitsa Hepi Hepri. Metelitsa is an example of sound Russian quality with some American glamour from Seabury’s and some assets from old European lines via Van Troybhiko. But more importantly, she has Rohan Socius among her ancestors via Ch Bojarin Zlodey. From the successful mating of Aldebaran and Metelitsa, Ms Margaret Manning imported young Hepi Hepri Liman and blended his genes into part of her line. The result of one of these unions is Manitias Moscow Flyer, the sire of the Katnu “K” litter. With his 89 cm at the withers, fine features, sound built and lovely temperament, Moscow promises to bring in the quality of his long-established English lines and to allow the genes of Selvaggia and Rohan to meet again.

Selvaggia’s is the one fixed genetic heritage in a blend where quality is the common denominator.