such a joy to run agility with a fast, confident partner in a small package. The Russian Toy is also a very social breed, and I have enjoyed having them out and about at shows and in the local area. At an agility show, my boy is positive that every person would like to greet and possibly hold him. He loves the attention. My girl has a calm demeanor that has helped her excel during her therapy dog training, and I look forward to doing visits with her in the future. I have also worked with three different Russian Toys im- ported from Russia, and was thrilled to see them go from cautious, but cu- rious, to total excitement during our first meeting. All three of them fell in love with my seven-year-old daughter as well, and have adapted quickly to group class environments. The interest in training and learning extends beyond just the performance events and translates into the show ring as well. As a puppy, my boy was convinced the judge was there to give him attention and was a bit (over) ea- ger to interact. While my female was reserved initially, she is now much more confident as we trained and she understood what to expect in the show ring. With each new litter of Russian Toys, I see endless poten- tial for show, performance, and pets. This small but mighty breed is versa- tile, and I am looking forward to the future now that the Russian Toy has moved into the AKC Toy Group.
“TRAINING A RUSSIAN TOY IS NOT ALL SMOOTH SAILING, BUT IT IS ALL FUN. Russian Toys have a bit of a mischievous side and their Terrier roots will appear as you work with them.”
they are quick to learn and eager to train. As my boy’s first birthday came around, I was working on my canine fitness certification and I began work- ing with two additional Russian Toys from a local breeder. Immediately, I realized I was seeing the same char- acteristics and enthusiasm for train- ing. Shortly afterwards, my female, “Powa,” came to live and train with me. I began training her for agility and other performance events as well. On a regular basis, I visited with a num- ber of different Russian Toys and have found them all to be eager to work for food and quick to learn new things. Training a Russian Toy is not all smooth sailing, but it is all fun. Rus- sian Toys have a bit of a mischievous side and their Terrier roots will ap- pear as you work with them. I recently worked with a young, smooth coat Russian Toy on the new AKC Trick Dog title. As we went through the various tricks, he never stopped wag- ging his tail and never stopped trying
to figure out what I wanted from him. The resulting video made everyone who watched it smile. As I worked withmy boy on the agility pause table, he determined that the table was the same as “down” and, several times in training, he went to a perfect down on the ground at my table command. These days he has taken to vocalizing at me while on the table as if to say, “Let’s keep going.” Another important quality for a small performance dog is confidence, and the Russian Toy has quite a bit of that quality. I had worked very diligently on my young male’s teeter perfor- mance tomake sure that hewas brave- ly running to the end and understood that he needed to remain there until the teeter hit the ground and stopped moving. I was considering starting my girl’s training on the obstacle and, while I was weeding in my garden, I heard a “bang” and turned around to see her finishing the teeter. Then she turned around and did it again. It is
T op N otch T oys , J anuary 2022 • 55
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