Saxafrax Borzoi

11/12/2024

Just some silly cuddle configurations from the last few weeks for your enjoyment.

9 of these photos include a mixture of the 5 permanent residents here, and one photo includes borrowzoi sister/daughter/niece/granddaughter Cormorant (regularly found over with ). Can you spot the Corm?

02/12/2024

Although in my mind they are still just tiny grubs in a pile in my lap, several of the have been making their debuts in the show ring! The name of the game right now for show puppies is making things fun and adding in life experience, and I'll say these kids certainly know how to have fun.

While we were in Wenatchee chasing their dam Fennel’s final point, we debuted our newly 6-month-old keepers in the big dog ring, too. Although Fennel’s championship was certainly highlight of this trip, I think my absolute favorite moment was when the esteemed judge Pat Trotter told us that we should be very proud of these puppies, and remarked on how well socialized they are. Under Mrs. Trotter, Augur secured his first official point (photo 1) by defeating his siblings Bombazine (photo 2) and Sibylline (photo 3). The boys are about 6.5 months old in these photos, and Siby just turned 7 months old in hers.

Back in August, up at the Sammamish Kennel Club, we ambitiously attempted to show our 4-month-old puppies in the Beginner Puppy competition while carting a toddler in tow, and somehow managed to pull it off! The winner this day was Bombazine, who not only took the puppy breed, but Puppy Hound Group 1. These fun ringside candids were captured by Lexi D Photography, and in order are Augie handled by my fiancé Kyle, Bomba handled by Elyse, and Siby cosplaying as a kite with me.

We have also celebrated sister Fable making her ring debut this fall, where she has consistently placed first in her 6-9 mo. class, and under judge Debbie Melgreen took Reserve over a nice lineup of girls! Not to be forgotten, brother Leica down in southern Oregon also debuted in both BPUP and the 6-9 mo. class, and received lovely compliments on his movement and temperament. He has not faced class competition yet, but has definitely earned his ribbons, and we are so immensely proud of both Fable and Leica’s owner-handlers, for whom these are their first AKC show dogs. We will hope to get updated photos of them soon, too!

Thanks for following along, and as always, my apologies for the overdue nature of these updates.

16/11/2024

23/10/2024

Shortly after Fennel competed in her first Beginner Puppy Competition at four months old, the world shut down. Covid. I had so many plans in mind for my first bred-by puppy, including going for that coveted medallion earned by completing an AKC conformation championship from the bred-by exhibitor class. But, our journey has been one of delays. That isn’t to say we haven’t had a lot of fun along the way, though.

While we weren’t in the AKC ring as often as I’d hoped, we competed together in outdoor venues. Fennel became my first LGRA straight racing champion, my first UKC champion from the bred-by class, and just recently, my first Senior Courser. We returned to the AKC ring and picked up three majors before we were on the hunt for that last single point.

This year, another hiatus swept Fennel away from the ring as she became the dam of our second generation. Of all her accomplishments, motherhood is definitely the one I am most proud of Fennel for tackling in the way she does all of our activities together: with love and silliness. She is still working on getting her coat back post-whelp, but is nearly back in shape.

This weekend, we travelled to the Wenatchee Kennel Club shows and Fennel gave me another first. Pending AKC confirmation, Fennel became my first BBE Champion on Friday under judge Sidney Marx by going Best of Breed Owner-Handled/Best of Opposite Sex/Winners B*. She rounded out the weekend as a move-up, and took Select both Sat & Sun, + BOBOH on Sunday under Pat Trotter. Thank you to co-breeder/co-owner Elyse Kufeldt for always cheering us on and lending us a hand. Thank you to co-breeders Jan Leikam and Monica Barry for overseeing us with all these firsts. Thank you to everyone who has helped us at shows or shared a kind word, including my non-dog-sport friends, who are honestly some of Fennel’s biggest fans. And of course, thank you to all of the judges who have found us in a lineup. Each of you are integral to the fabric of Fennel’s achievements, and we are grateful for you all as we celebrate this milestone!

Win photo by Elaine Rushton.

13/10/2024

Wishing a very happy 5th birthday to the Shallettes - our first litter, forever occupying a most sacred and special place in our hearts. We are so proud to see who these individuals have blossomed into, and cannot imagine our lives without them.

Four of these puppies have gone on to title in various sports, and the others are most beloved companions who are champions in their own right. They have also laid the foundation for our next generation, with one of them whelping our second litter earlier this year. We look forward to many more birthdays and milestones to celebrate. Today, we honor:
borzoi - Sanin
- Ora
- Rusalka
- Fawn
Fennel & Fern here at Saxafrax
- Fancy & Fester
- Sprout
- Nettle

23/09/2024

Sibylline is growing up! Pictured here at a week and change shy of 6 months old. I can hardly believe our baby puppies are almost to this milestone age. It has been a joy to watch them grow, but I truly wish puppyhood lasted twice as long. For many dogs, it sure does mentally. 🤣 Luckily, we are enrolled in ‘s Gamify Teenage Mayhem class to fend off whatever curveballs adolescence may throw us.

I’m looking forward to our next chapter in development and beginning her show career. Fortunately, Siby is an absolute sweetheart and goofball to boot, so she has really brought a lot of fun to this round of puppy raising. She continues to do a great job acquiring skills and understanding our expectations for daily life, and I cherish the partnership we are building. We are so lucky to have such charming dogs in our lives.

Thank you to for the photo!

20/09/2024

💜💜💜

Not to be forgotten is the other oil portrait I took a break from. Also deep in the ugly stages of the painting process 😅

This is a WIP portrait of Saxafrax Wild Rushes Adrienne C'est La Vie, aka Rusalka 💜

Materials:
- Oils
-12" x 12" gessobord

28/08/2024

My apologies, friends, for delaying the announcement of our keeper boys from the . As a small hobbyist breeder, I have enjoyed sharing photos and videos of our dogs for fun, sometimes dabbling in educational topics, and connecting with other borzoi enthusiasts over social media. We don’t have litters often, and I want to share the joys of puppyhood with those who have followed us. With this litter, the experience of having our content repeatedly stolen and re-uploaded by scammers truly soured the experience of posting to socials. By returning, I know this post, too, will likely be used to that end.

 Please be aware that the Facebook account “Saxafrax Zois” IS NOT US, and we have no affiliation with Lynn Lang Borzoi (not a legitimate breeder) or any other accounts or Facebook groups that may share our content without permission.

As always, be careful who you are speaking with if you are contacting animal breeders online. Shall we get back to the puppies?

Co-breeder took home not one, but two boys from this litter. We both fell in love with these guys early on to the point that we knew there was no way they could go anywhere else. Each offers a very different style of borzoi, but two we are equally excited to see mature. Introducing:
Wild Rushes Saxafrax Then We’ll Go Dancing - Augur
Wild Rushes Saxafrax Meant For The Stage - Bombazine

Both Bomba & Augie will compete in conformation, and we’ll see what sports tickle their fancy. Elyse is looking forward to getting them out to try coursing (with Augs especially), and getting back into obedience, once a favorite sport of their 12-year-old half-sister, Z, who lives the retired life with Elyse. They are also adored by aunt Sprout, who thinks it is her greatest job in life to watch over and play with her new puppies. We will get a round-up of updated photos of the boys to share soon, who along with their littermates are growing like weeds now at almost 5 months old! I will also return to sharing where the rest of the litter has headed, too, and hopefully put the scammers behind us.

Photos 8 & 9 by

13/08/2024

17/07/2024

IMPORTANT NOTICE:

Scammers on social media are becoming ever more rampant in the world of purebred dogs, and this problem has been escalating lately within the borzoi community. Fake profiles advertising puppies using images stolen from legitimate breeders can be found all over the web. Our photos have been stolen for this purpose on numerous occasions, including at least two instances of scammers creating fake business pages or profiles using our kennel name.

Although we file copyright take-down notices on these when we come across them, we may not catch them all. If you are looking to add a borzoi to your family, please keep these very important things in mind:

1. ALWAYS check the URL of a profile or page to make sure that it belongs to the legitimate breeder you are trying to get in touch with.

2. NEVER send money to a breeder sight unseen. Many breeders require deposits for their puppies and this is common practice, however, this is what scammers are banking on. I cannot in good conscience recommend that someone ever place a deposit without having thoroughly vetted the identity of their breeder and the dog they are inquiring about. Taking their word that they are who they say they are, or even talking on the phone, is not enough. Do your due diligence.

Please know that as of 2021, Saxafrax - Wild Rushes Borzoi does NOT take deposits. If you are talking to someone who is using our kennel names and they request a deposit from you, THEY ARE NOT US.

As a reminder, all puppies from our recent YABB litter are already spoken for, as are all of our adult dogs.

It is our sincere hope that no innocent party ever fall prey to a financial scam that used images of our beloved hounds to con someone out of money for a puppy or dog that was actually already in a loving home.

Our actual business accounts are:
https://www.saxafraxborzoi.com
https://www.facebook.com/saxafraxborzoi
https://www.instagram.com/saxafraxborzoi/
https://www.instagram.com/wildrushesborzoi/
https://www.tiktok.com/
https://www.gooddog.com/breeders/saxafrax-borzoi-oregon

Photo by Olyhillary Photography, watermark logo by Art By Ashley Cirimeli.

10/07/2024

The second baby to fly the nest was the inimitable Gadabout, now Fable! Most frequently termed “Gaddy” while she was here, this little firecracker was a trendsetter from early on in the whelping box. The first to get up steady on her feet, the first to begin playing with toys, and one of the leaders of the pack for their many adventures. Clever and funny, she was always a standout to visitors. She made my own choice of who to keep incredibly difficult, as this girl also shows a lot of lure drive and has probably my favorite outline of the litter when she stacks.

However, when you have a home who wants a do-everything girl, sometimes the choice makes itself. Elyse & I are proud to co-own Fable with Cali & Mikey up in Washington, where she has already been setting off on so many adventures! Keep an eye out for this little kangaroo in the show ring, on the field, or perhaps in other sports she sets her mind to. You can follow along her adventures over at .

Fable is formally known as Saxafrax Wild Rushes Written In Paperback.

Photos 6 & 7 by Quickshot Canines.

08/07/2024

We interrupt our regularly scheduled puppy posting for a proud breeder brag! This weekend down in Florida at the Citrus County Kennel Club, Rusalka from our litter was in the ribbons both days with her owner-handler, Sy. On Saturday under judge Joan Goldstein, Rusalka was Winners B for a 3-pt major (her second overall), and on Sunday under judge Roberto Velez-Pico, she was Reserve to the major. She now just needs a couple of singles to finish her AKC conformation championship.

I could not be more proud of this team, and I am thrilled for Sy, who has now also gotten both of their parents into the show ring with their borzoi as well. A lot of hard work and dedication went into these wins, and that is what we celebrate most of all!

Rusalka is Saxafrax Wild Rushes Adrienne C’Est La Vie, JC, BCAT.

06/07/2024

The first pup to fly the nest to his new home was Tarlatan (new name still pending). When we first took individual photos of the litter at two weeks old, sire-owner Janet was drawn to this sweet boy for how he reminded her of his dad, Porter. We are honored to have been able to breed to such a beloved hound, and thrilled that Janet gets to have a piece of her boy again through his son.

Tarla, TT, or Tanner - he earned many nicknames while here, and is still showing Janet who he is before his final name sticks. He certainly has a ton of personality to make that decision a challenge! He is equal parts feisty and sweet, a real cuddle bug and a bit of a party animal all at once.

Little man has been settling in wonderfully at Morozova Borzoi, and although it was hard to let the first one spread his wings, it was made easier by seeing how dearly cherished he already is.

Photos 4 & 5 by Quickshot Canines.

27/06/2024

Introducing Saxafrax Wild Rushes Our Histories Interweave, “Sibylline”, staying at Saxafrax and co-owned with . Siby grabbed my heart from early on in the whelping box, but I tried my best to remain objective and stoically unattached as I evaluated the puppies for which would stay and hopefully carry forward our program.

The decision was incredibly hard, and I have to thank the many folks who tolerated me talking to them about making this choice. I further would like to thank all of the borzoi breeders who met the litter and offered their thoughts on who their picks were, and why. Your input was invaluable, although with Siby consistently being 1 of the 2 pick girls in a near 50/50 split of opinions, you all made this choice both affirming and more difficult. 🤣

I am grateful that the quality in both conformation and temperaments across the board in this litter made for such a difficult decision. New breeders such as myself count our lucky stars for that type of hard choice.

Some of the things that contributed to her selection were
- her substance, in muscle, bone, and width, is the right choice for what we needed to select toward in our next generation
- her nice loin combined with a tenacious lure drive is well-suited to my performance goals for her
- her sweet temperament is already very steady and meshes well with the adults in our pack
- through hard won experiences, I have learned that when you have a gut feeling about a dog, it’s better to not ignore it!

I’m so excited to start my adventures with Siby and see where we go. I will be sharing where the others are off to (or are already at) in the next few posts. Lastly, I want to thank all of the wonderful people who expressed interest in this litter. Thank you for believing in borzoi magic, and helping to keep this rare breed around for future generations to enjoy.

A note: I tried the watermark route as many of our photos have been stolen by scammers lately, but ultimately, it’s just too much of a time-add for me. PLEASE be careful out there and if you are talking to a breeder or rescue, make sure they really are who they say they are, and NEVER send money sight unseen.

Photos 6 & 7 by Quickshot Canines.

25/06/2024

We did it folks. The YABB litter made it to 12 weeks old. What a privilege it has been to raise these incredible little pups these last 3 months. Now, they begin to spread their wings and fly to their new homes and families. A few will be here longer or visiting regularly to help them grow out with sibling playmates, which will certainly lessen the emotional wave of having to say goodbye.

I am so incredibly excited to see them flourish with their families and see what they accomplish together. Just as with our first litter, we love the puppies we produce “from womb to tomb”, and being able to follow along with them throughout their lives is both one of the most joyful and sorrowful parts of being a breeder.

We are immensely grateful to everyone who has brought one of our puppies into their family for giving them enriching lives and cherishing them. I certainly can’t keep them all, would that I could, but knowing that they get to go off and become someone else’s best friend helps make the hand off possible. I will of course be sharing those who are going to homes with social media accounts for folks to follow along, in addition to announcing our keepers! I will be keeping a girl, and co-breeder Wild Rushes Borzoi will be keeping (surprise) 2 boys. Can you guess who our keepers are?

Posted in birth order, they are: Cormorant (F) - Folderol (M) - Eidolon (M) - Gadabout (F) - Tarlatan (M) - Parallax (M) - Sibylline (F) - Augur (M) - Bombazine (M)

19/06/2024

We’ve shared a lot about what life outside looks like for the YABB litter, as we love spending time in our green fields for exercise and enrichment. But I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of their inside moments as well. Our litters are raised in the home, as we keep all of our dogs as indoor companions. Here is a retrospective look at how the pups’ indoor world has changed since birth.

They began in the whelping box, in the corner of our dog room where we kept things carefully light- and temperature-controlled for their sensitive neonate bodies. I kept a bed for myself just outside of the whelping box, where I “slept” with one eye open for many weeks to make sure they were staying on schedule with nursing, and no one was accidentally getting squished by mama.

When they were big enough to get over the lip of the whelping box, they graduated to having an expen veranda off of the box. During this time was also when we set up their outdoor expen with obstacles and enrichment items. When they grew big enough that they would soon crawl over the sides of the whelping box, they upgraded again to a larger expen with a few open crates they could den inside of. This stage expanded several times in size.

Now, they are sleeping in crates at night! We keep litter boxes in their crates in case they need to potty overnight, and the pups alternate between crating either solo or in pairs at this age, with an emphasis on solo for overnights. They also get to wrestle in our living room (with a litter box available), and while they still have their outdoor expen set up for when we need to corral them or practice patience behind a barrier, they spend a majority of their waking time running around the larger dog yard, or going on romps with us into the pasture. But in case you were wondering what the pups get up to when they aren’t playing outside, the answer is usually cuddling while watching TV.

Thank you to a couple of our puppy visitors for snapping a few of these photos!

11/06/2024

More wonderful photos from visit when the pups were 7 weeks old! Looking at these photos is wild since the YABB litter is 10 weeks old today and they have really shot up in growth. I will try and get to posting some updated photos and videos for you all.

We have been busy busy busy. The litter took a trip north with me the weekend before last to visit co-breeder for the weekend. It was their longest car ride yet (over 4 hours one-way, with a potty pit stop midway), a lot of new things to experience at a novel location, and more people and dogs to meet.

Then, 7 of 9 came along this past weekend to the Borzoi National Specialty Show which was held in Pasco, WA this year. What a trip! Their first stay in hotel rooms, more long car rides, and lots of practice for other life skills (crating, leash walking, and more exposure to the world) were the big focuses for the crew all last week. A huge thank you to all of the borzoi breeders and fanciers who met them and shared their time and thoughts with us. I’m so glad we made it to the National to see so many friends from all across the country. Although it was a careful balance to do this in a way that minimized risks for the pups, I think we struck the balance!

I am cherishing every moment we have left as a group, as they begin to head to their new homes very soon.