Where Did Your Breed's Name Originate?

[sparkycat]

'Borzoi' is the masculine singular form of an old Russian adjective that means fast or fleet, and a word that is used in Russia for many sighthound type breeds.

The full name in Russian, and under the FCI system, of what we call 'Borzoi' is Russkaya (Russian) Psovaya (long haired/silky haired) Borzaya (fast dog/sighthound). Nicely descriptive!

There are other types of "borzoi" in Russia - Hortaya (Short haired) Borzaya, Stepnaya (from the steppe) Borzaya etc and when they talk about English Greyhounds or Irish Wolfhounds I have seen the Borzoi term used also, paired with the relevant country of origin. The Americans called Borzoi Russian Wolfhounds for a while, up until the 1930s I think, but changed to the more commonly used term. I quite like Borzoi as name, it emphasises the functionality of the breed and its original purpose.

I have found a lot more people know the name Russian Wolfhound rather than Borzoi.

I usually say Borzoi - Russian Wolfhound - or huge hairy cuddly greyhound :laugh:

[Diva]

I usually say 'Borzoi- like a big hairy Russian Greyhound'. I tried saying 'like a winterised Greyhound' after hearing it work in the USA but Aussies don't know what winterised means. If I say Russian Wolfhound people say 'I thought they were all grey', lol.

RiverStar, I really like the full name too but I think Australians probably would shorten it anyway.

[gillybob]

Basset Fauve de Bretagne is a mouthful as well. A small fawn hound from Brittany.

I just tell people they are brown scruffy bassets, that are long and have short legs, with ears like a beagle.

People look at me and say they are crossbreeds and laugh.

[jars]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

[angelsun]

Manchester Terriers used to be only known as Black and Tan Terriers. They fell out of favour when many factories no longer needed them to get rid of rats and such and a fella from "Manchester" worked to bring the breed back to life and popularity so the name now reflects their place of rebirth.

German Pinschers. They are only known as Pinschers in most European countries. German got stuck on there primarily when they began to be seen in North America only a short time ago, as it was often confused with Doberman Pinscher. Country of origin and rebirth when they almost fell extinct in the early '50's. Pinscher meaning simply 'bite' and there was the rough and smooth pinscher. The former turned into the schnauzer which was simply the name of a popular and much winning rough pinscher and then it stuck.

[Willem]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

Edited January 11, 2016 by Willem

[dragonwoman]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

That is probably why "schnauzer" was called "Schnauzer", he had one!!

[Willem]

^{„Heiner Brand 03“ von Kuebi = Armin Kübelbeck, Lizenziert unter CC BY-SA 3.0 über Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Heiner_Brand_03.jpg#/media/File:Heiner_Brand_03.jpg}

you mean something like this :D ?

[Scottsmum]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

That is probably why "schnauzer" was called "Schnauzer", he had one!!

Makes sense to me LOL

[jars]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

That's what I got from the Schanuzer Club website anyway. Will try and search more on the origins of the name when I have some time.

[angelsun]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

That is probably why "schnauzer" was called "Schnauzer", he had one!!

Nope, it was the name of a top winning dog of it's day. similar to why the Kelpie has that name....The name was given the coated pinscher because of the beard, like calling a white footed dog "boots"

[Willem]

Schnauzer was the name of the first prize winning Wire Haired Pinscher which was the bred was originally called. I think I ptrefer Schnauzer to "Wire Haired Pinscher".

'

hm, I thought the name refers to the German word for moustache which is 'Schnurbart' or 'Schnauzbart' or 'Schnauzer' because of the dog's distinctively bearded snout?...

That is probably why "schnauzer" was called "Schnauzer", he had one!!

Nope, it was the name of a top winning dog of it's day. similar to why the Kelpie has that name....The name was given the coated pinscher because of the beard, like calling a white footed dog "boots"

yep, I found in the meanwhile some sources that also mention this famous ancestor that has his own 'Schnauzer' statue (from 1620!!!) in Mecklenburg (Germany)... learning never ends...so the breed was named 'Schnauzer' because of a dog with a 'Schnauzer' called 'Schnauzer' ... :D