A HISTORY OF THE BREED
The Soviet Union was the first in the world to use dogs for military purposes during World War II. A new form of using dogs to search for mines and carry food has really proven itself. The dogs helped clear 303 large cities full of mines: Pskov, Smolensk, Lviv, Minsk, Kiev, Stalingrad, Odessa, Prague and other cities.
The decision to use working dogs for military purposes was first made in 1942. In all regions, local cynological schools were trained in the Red Army to train officers. Both the Main Kennel School for Military and Working Dogs and a science laboratory were located in Moscow.
World War II was over. People returned home to a peaceful life, but the losses were enormous. Due to the devastation of the war, the Soviet Union was left without service breeds useful for the army and police. They needed large, strong, undemanding dogs of a balanced nature, teachable, able to work in different climatic conditions and health-resistant. Beria, the head of the KGB service, presented these demands to Soviet military cynologists.
Under the leadership of Colonel G. Medvedev, a cynologist of the Main Military School of Working Dogs (Red Star), they started breeding new dogs capable of protection.
Using some dogs, they created new breed groups, such as the Moscow Diver, the Great Dane, and the Moscow Watchdog.
The cross between a large schnauzer and an airedale terrier, a large schnauzer and a rottweiler, and a large schnauzer and a Newfoundlander proved to be successful, as good black dogs with resistant hair were created. They grouped them into one group by name: BLACK TERRIER
Working with this group of dogs proved to be the most productive, so Red Star cynologists continued to develop the breed.
The first standard black terrier, published in the "Rules and Conditions for the Training and Use of Military Dogs" of 1958, gave cynologists the initiative for the association.
With the help of the founders of the Black Terrier A. Mazover and V. Sheinin, the best dogs for mating were thoroughly selected from among the puppies and later at shows. Biologists and geneticists were involved in the breeding. The work on the breeding group became even harder and more determined. Thus, black terriers became more uniform and work qualities more sophisticated.
They gradually spread throughout the Soviet Union. They were among the first abroad in Finland, then spread across the socialist Eastern bloc in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany.
The Black Terrier was first recorded as a breed group with common traits in the FCI in 1968. In 1969, there were 42 Black Russian Terriers in Leningrad. It was there in 1970 that the shearing scheme was first published, which is still valid today with minor corrections. It has been recognized as a breed since 1981. The first breed standard was adopted on May 13, 1981 by the USSR Ministry of Agriculture.
In 1984, the breed was recognized by the International Assembly of Mexico in the FCI (Standard No. 327) as BLACK TERRIER. The name Black Russian Terrier is also used. The breed began to participate in international exhibitions and in Brno (1994) won numerous awards and won championship titles.
In 1996 and then in 1998, the Russian Federation adopted a new version of the Black Russian Terrier standard, which is more in line with its modern type.
Work on improving the breed is not yet complete, but a new standard has been adopted since 2010. This big, successful black dog is already confidently taking its place in the international arena. He receives special interest from Russian and foreign cynologists.
