Russian Toy

The Russian Toy has an illustrious past. He was once the chosen companion for Russian aristocracy. Many believe he evolved from English Toy Terriers that were gifted to Russian aristocrats by English royalty. These small dogs quickly became favored and most aristocrats had at least one of these little dogs. After the Russian Revolution, the English Toy Terrier was almost completely wiped out in Russia. It took several years of selective breeding the English Toy Terrier with toy spaniels of unknown lineage to develop the Russian Toy. With this selective breeding, the Russian Toy no longer looked like the English Toy Terrier and he also has his own personality traits. The Russian Toy only came in the smooth coated variety until 1958 when a longhaired male puppy was born from two smooth coated parents. This male puppy was named Chiky and was later bred to a female who had hair that was slightly longer than the typical Russian Toy. The puppies from these parents became the foundation for the longhaired variety. These longhaired dogs were called Moscow Longhaired Toy Terriers. In 2006, the Federation Cynologique Internationale officially recognized the Russian Toy as a breed. The FCI recognized both the smooth coat and the longhair as the same breed. In 2008, the United Kennel Club officially recognized the Russian Toy as a breed. The American Kennel Club added the Russian Toy to its Foundation Stock Service in 2010 which allows him to participate in companion dog events sanctioned by the AKC.