Other names: Tchornyi Terrier, BRT.

The Black Russian Terrier, also known as the Chornyi Terrier (chornyi being Russian for black) is a breed of dog created in USSR in Red Star (Krasnaya Zvezda) Kennel during the late 1940s and the early 1950s for use as military/working dogs. The contemporary Black Russian Terrier is a working dog, guarding dog, sporting and companion dog.

Despite its name, the Black Russian Terrier is not a true terrier: it is believed that about seventeen breeds were used in its development, including the Airedale, the Giant Schnauzer, the Rottweiler, the Newfoundland, the Caucasian Shepherd Dog and other breeds.

History

The Black Russian Terrier was developed in the former USSR in Red Star (Krasnaya Zvezda) Kennel by the state for use as a military/working dogs. The breeding stock was largely imported from countries where the Red Army was active during the Second World War, especially East Germany. Breeds used in the development include the Giant Schnauzer, Airedale Terrier, Rottweiler, Newfoundland, Caucasian Shepherd Dog and other breeds. BRT was bred for working ability, rather than appearance, and early examples only resembled today’s Black Russian Terrier in their build and coat type. The BRT was bred solely by the state-owned Red Star Kennel in Moscow until 1957 when some puppies were sold to civilian breeders. These breeders began to breed for looks (as the original was rather plain) while retaining working ability. In time, the breed spread to the other parts of USSR like Saint Petersburg, Siberia, Ukraine and later to the first European country Finland and next to the other European countries: Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Germany and finally to the United States, Canada, Australia and others.

In 1955 the first working examples of the breed were put on show at an exhibition in Moscow and the first Breed Standard was published in 1958, which was then adopted by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1984. In 1996 The Russian Federation Working Dog-breeders & Russian Kynological Federation (RKF) adopted a second Standard for the breed more in line to the modern day Russian Black Terrier. And it was also in 1996 that the breed was first introduced into the UK. In 1998 The Kennel Club added the Russian Black Terrier to the Import Register.