COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL November 10, 2015
Two Black Pearls
— Gems of a Dog
B
lack Russian Terriers
(BRT) like Luba and
Sophie are often reFURRed to
as Black Russian Pearls. Their
breed resembles the Bouvier de
Flanders, but they are a larger-
newer breed resulting from
purr-paw-sley breeding combi-
nations of Airedale Terrier, Gi-
ant Schnauzer, Newfoundland
and Rottweiler plus other breeds
not known outside of Russia.
“After the Second World War,
Joseph Stalin, the Russian lead-
er, gave a mandate to the Red
Army and the state-owned Red
Star Kennel to develop a large
multi purpose dog for the mili-
tary," said Ted. “In 1957, the
Kennel offered puppies for sale
to private buyers and breeders.
Finally, in July of 2004, the BRT
was recognized by the American
Kennel Club as a Working Dog.
“These dogs are highly intel-
ligent, love to have a job to do,
and are extremely loyal to their
families. BRTs are ‘people’ and
guard dogs. They are constantly
at your feet. These aren’t dogs
you leave outside for hours.
They like to sit with you, their
sweet spirits crave, no, demand
your attention. The most diffi -
cult thing of parenting, not one
but two of them, is keeping these
100-pound lap dogs off the bed.
This breed snores — not just oc-
casionally, but all the time and
loudly!
“When you are on the com-
puter, they sit beside you laying
their chins on the desk hoping
for a scratch on the head. Ig-
nore them? Don’t! A bear-size
paw will hit your leg in case
you didn’t notice. They are so
intelligent that I am surprised
they don’t communicate with
other BRTs through Facebook
— maybe they do and I’m not
smart enough to catch them.
They are problem solvers who
are easily trainable, as they want
to please.”
Born to be working guard
dogs, BRTs take their job of
protecting their families seri-
ously and experience anxiety
when their family is out of sight.
For this reason, when Ted and
his wife, Jo Ann, travel, so do
Luba and Sophie.
“The ‘girls’ treat our car as
their traveling bed. It’s ‘rump
in — lights out’, whether for a
trip across town, or the 12-hour
drive over the Rockies to Van-
couver. Out of our two dogs,
Luba has traveled the furthest.
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As a puppy, she traveled from
Kaliningrad, on the far west
coast of Russia, to my waiting
arms at the international airport
in Vancouver, B.C.
“Our dogs are so intuitive
of Jo-Ann, and me,” said Ted.
“They seem to be able to read
our physical and emotional
needs.
Sophie weighs 115
pounds and Luba is 100 pounds.
They appear very friendly, but
if they think you pose a threat
it is a different matter. I remem-
ber an incident late one evening
as we walked past a pub. Two
patrons came barreling out of
the door for a smoke. The dogs
went ballistic. Their size alone
was threatening and their deep,
impressive and down-right
scary bark demanded obedi-
ence. The dogs settled down in
seconds, but I think the patrons
required a change of a certain
item of clothing after their fi rst-
hand experience of this breed’s
protective nature.
“This breed is not for every-
one! They are a large powerful
dog that needs to be with their
people — all the time. Many
people are not prepared or un-
willing to expend the energy
necessary for these dogs. You
can’t acquire one and then be at
work all day. These dogs need
a job to do, to be intellectually
stimulated and exercised. For
those of us that offer them this,
there is no better breed. They
have hair not fur and it requires
professional grooming every
eight weeks, so count that into
your budget.”
“First snow of the year is al-
ways fun,” said Jo Ann with
a laugh. “Imagine over 200
pounds of dogs, acting like pup-
pies, rolling and romping in
the white powder. It is the best
time to take a great photo of our
black dogs, silhouetted against
the snow.”
“Our home is in the Canadian
province of Alberta,” adds Ted,
“which is over 2-1/2 times the
size of Oregon, with roughly
Photo by Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe”
After a 12-hour car ride from Calgary, Alberta, to Bowen Island, British Columbia, these
two Black Russian Pearls, Luba and Sophie, wait for a Ferry boat trip with their dad Ted.
the same population (4 million).
Over half of our residents live
close to our two major cities, the
rest of the province is sparsely
populated. Our dogs love their
visits to Bowen Island, with its
acres of waterfront park land and
milder temperatures, although a
dog bred to deal with harsh Rus-
sian winters does not care about
Alberta’s cold winters.
“Sophie and Luba love wa-
ter. They inherited webbed feet
from the Newfoundland and are
natural and powerful swimmers.
It is diffi cult keeping them out
of the water in front of our Bow-
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en Island vacation home. Every
time they look outside they see
‘water, water, every where’!
“If you think these dogs look
big, imagine how they appear to
children! Sophie and Luba stand
at eye level to most 6-year-old
humans.
“When toddlers approach, the
dogs sit still and patiently take
whatever the little ones hand out.
The dogs know the children’s
intentions are not mean, but cu-
rious. Yes, Sophie and Luba are
understanding and patient with
children, just not drunks burst-
ing out saloon doors at 11 p.m.”
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