Midnight Rider Black Russian Terriers was honored at the 2017 National to win 3 very prestigious awards:
2016 Top Sire
2016 Register of Merit
2016 Red Star Register of Merit
It is only the second time that the Red Star Register of Merit has been awarded, which is for a Black Russian Terrier that has sired 5 AKC Champions and that both he and his get have passed ALL required health tests for the breed. It is rare, and a very high honor.
2016 Top Sire
2016 Register of Merit
2016 Red Star Register of Merit
It is only the second time that the Red Star Register of Merit has been awarded, which is for a Black Russian Terrier that has sired 5 AKC Champions and that both he and his get have passed ALL required health tests for the breed. It is rare, and a very high honor.
5Owner: Donna Patterson
Wiggins, MS
Kennel Club Affiliations: Black Russian Terrier Club of America. Currently serving 5th term as National Club treasurer.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Kennel Club - Active member since the club was founded
MS Gulf Coast Working Dog Club - Founding Member & Treasurer
My love of the Black Russian Terrier started at the very first show where they were allowed to compete in the Working Breed of the American Kennel Club in July 2004 in Biloxi, MS.
I decided to go to that show to meet some Irish Wolfhound breeders. When I walked in the door I saw David Scheiris grooming BRT (Am, Mex, FCI, Int CH Terminator) and never made it over to the Irish Wolfhound area.
I fell in love with their majestic presence in the ring, the power, strength and sheer beauty of a dog I'd never even heard of. I set out to find my own Black Russian Terrier and it is the experiences that I had with my first two BRTs, and the delight of my third that has led me to the commitment to join the Black Russian Terrier Ethical Breeder Association, and breed only if and when I can meet the health and temperament guidelines.
There are many who breed regardless of the health concerns. BRT breeders run the gamut of those who breed, from the very dedicated to the high volume breeders looking to make a living from dog breeding. Choose your breeder very carefully and only after doing much research.
I believe that you cannot have true beauty in a dog that does not have the proper structure to move well. I love movement. I think a working dog should have beautiful movement. Of course breeding OFA passing dogs to OFA passing dogs is not going to insure that all of the dogs pass OFA, but there is statistical proof that it does increase the odds. And if you keep breeding passing to passing you get more that pass. Eventually we might go from among the worst statistically to middle of the pack. You just have to keep looking to improve! Hip and elbow dysplasia are not the only health problems in the breed. They are, however, the most prevalent and the ones that in my opinion could be best impacted by selective breeding.
One of the main things I would like to convey to those who are interested in the breed, but have had no real contact with them, is that they are NOT big, fluffy teddy bears. They are strong, powerful dogs, that were bred to guard. Even those with nice temperaments, like Zilya, have protection hardwired into them. We can go out to public places, meet and greet and I have no hesitation that he will act inappropriately towards people. At home though I don't just let people in the house and assume that he will accept them. Outside of my family if someone comes over, I go outside to greet the person and bring them into the house. As long as I'm bringing them in, he seems to be OK with it. It was brought to my attention though (and I didn't even notice it) that when meeting people in public, he will always place himself between me and the individual, or group, that he is being introduced to. So they will guard, even when you don't realize they are doing it.
Luba (my first BRT), on the other hand, was crated whenever anyone came to the house. I didn't trust her around anyone that she didn't know very well. When she came out of her crate, she came out on leash to see how she is going to react. Once she settled in, we could usually take her off leash. But if a person is not a "dog" person, and is not willing to put up with the process of having a dog coming out barking and growling at them, then she just stayed in the bedroom. Luba was fearful/aggressive, which is probably the worst kind of temperament you can find in a dog, as well as dog/animal aggressive. Inside of our home when it was just family present, she was loyal, loving and devoted to us. But she never learned to distinguish between friend and foe and was completely untrustworthy around persons outside of the family. As part of my commitment not to breed any Black Russian Terrier that did not conform to either temperament or health testing, she was spayed.
As a potential owner, you need to learn to research lines and pedigree health on the OFFA website. www.offa.org. You can learn a phenomenal amount by looking up first the sire and dam of any potential litter that you are looking at, then as many siblings as you can find. There is some very good basic information on how to find a responsible breeder and what you should look for in a breeder at www.brtca.org. If any of you are looking at a potential litter and would like some help checking the offa website and discussing any of the health requirements I would be happy to provide you as much information as I have. Contact me at midnightriderbrts@att.net.
So, if you are shopping for a Black Russian Terrier know what you are getting. You are not getting a Golden Retriever. If you want the personality of a Golden Retriever, get one of those. You are buying a very large, powerful dog. You can expect an adult male to weigh between 120 to 140 pounds. That is a lot of dog under any circumstances.
You need to be committed to constant training and several years of obedience classes. In fact that would be a requirement for any puppy sold to have a minimum of one year continued obedience training. It is a time committment, but with a dog this large, bred to protect it is an absolute requirement that you have full voice control over the dog. I would only use positive reinforcement techniques. The BRT does not respond well to "pop and crank" methods of training. They want to please you, they want to be challenged to learn, they learn quickly, but I have seen both dogs trained with positive reinforcement and "pop and crank" methods and the dogs who are trained with positive reinforcement to me are much more solid dogs than a dog waiting for his neck to be jerked.
You need to be committed to doing the health testing on your puppy. Every breeder should require it in order to see what their line is producing. Doesn't matter if you plan on ever breeding your dog. A breeder HAS to have all of the health tests of the entire litter done in order to see if the breeding plan they are undertaking are bettering the health of the breed. Only getting one or two puppies from the litter with health tests really doesn't allow them the full picture.
You need to be committed to the grooming required on the BRT. I could not even begin to tell you how many hours I spend grooming. I groom one of my dogs every weekend. All of mine are bathed bi-monthly, show groomed bi-monthly, brushed at least twice weekly, and coat conditioner worked through legs and beards every two or three days. Boots is also following Zilya's grooming schedule. So it seems like every evening there is a dog on the grooming table getting brushed out. Vincent and Dani are not showing, but are still bathed and blown dry at least every other weekend. You don't have to keep a dog in full show coat, but they still require bathing and brushing.
You need to be committed to wait to find what you are looking for. In a Black Russian Terrier you are looking at both a sizeable purchase price for a dog and a relatively rare breed. There are several BRT puppy mill type of breeders who always have puppies available. It is not in your best interest to buy from a large volume breeder. You could wait up to 2 years for a puppy from a reputable because: 1) We don't breed often. 2) It takes a considerable amount of time to find what you are looking for to breed when you combine structure, health, and temperament.
You need to be committed.
Wiggins, MS
Kennel Club Affiliations: Black Russian Terrier Club of America. Currently serving 5th term as National Club treasurer.
Mississippi Gulf Coast Kennel Club - Active member since the club was founded
MS Gulf Coast Working Dog Club - Founding Member & Treasurer
My love of the Black Russian Terrier started at the very first show where they were allowed to compete in the Working Breed of the American Kennel Club in July 2004 in Biloxi, MS.
I decided to go to that show to meet some Irish Wolfhound breeders. When I walked in the door I saw David Scheiris grooming BRT (Am, Mex, FCI, Int CH Terminator) and never made it over to the Irish Wolfhound area.
I fell in love with their majestic presence in the ring, the power, strength and sheer beauty of a dog I'd never even heard of. I set out to find my own Black Russian Terrier and it is the experiences that I had with my first two BRTs, and the delight of my third that has led me to the commitment to join the Black Russian Terrier Ethical Breeder Association, and breed only if and when I can meet the health and temperament guidelines.
There are many who breed regardless of the health concerns. BRT breeders run the gamut of those who breed, from the very dedicated to the high volume breeders looking to make a living from dog breeding. Choose your breeder very carefully and only after doing much research.
I believe that you cannot have true beauty in a dog that does not have the proper structure to move well. I love movement. I think a working dog should have beautiful movement. Of course breeding OFA passing dogs to OFA passing dogs is not going to insure that all of the dogs pass OFA, but there is statistical proof that it does increase the odds. And if you keep breeding passing to passing you get more that pass. Eventually we might go from among the worst statistically to middle of the pack. You just have to keep looking to improve! Hip and elbow dysplasia are not the only health problems in the breed. They are, however, the most prevalent and the ones that in my opinion could be best impacted by selective breeding.
One of the main things I would like to convey to those who are interested in the breed, but have had no real contact with them, is that they are NOT big, fluffy teddy bears. They are strong, powerful dogs, that were bred to guard. Even those with nice temperaments, like Zilya, have protection hardwired into them. We can go out to public places, meet and greet and I have no hesitation that he will act inappropriately towards people. At home though I don't just let people in the house and assume that he will accept them. Outside of my family if someone comes over, I go outside to greet the person and bring them into the house. As long as I'm bringing them in, he seems to be OK with it. It was brought to my attention though (and I didn't even notice it) that when meeting people in public, he will always place himself between me and the individual, or group, that he is being introduced to. So they will guard, even when you don't realize they are doing it.
Luba (my first BRT), on the other hand, was crated whenever anyone came to the house. I didn't trust her around anyone that she didn't know very well. When she came out of her crate, she came out on leash to see how she is going to react. Once she settled in, we could usually take her off leash. But if a person is not a "dog" person, and is not willing to put up with the process of having a dog coming out barking and growling at them, then she just stayed in the bedroom. Luba was fearful/aggressive, which is probably the worst kind of temperament you can find in a dog, as well as dog/animal aggressive. Inside of our home when it was just family present, she was loyal, loving and devoted to us. But she never learned to distinguish between friend and foe and was completely untrustworthy around persons outside of the family. As part of my commitment not to breed any Black Russian Terrier that did not conform to either temperament or health testing, she was spayed.
As a potential owner, you need to learn to research lines and pedigree health on the OFFA website. www.offa.org. You can learn a phenomenal amount by looking up first the sire and dam of any potential litter that you are looking at, then as many siblings as you can find. There is some very good basic information on how to find a responsible breeder and what you should look for in a breeder at www.brtca.org. If any of you are looking at a potential litter and would like some help checking the offa website and discussing any of the health requirements I would be happy to provide you as much information as I have. Contact me at midnightriderbrts@att.net.
So, if you are shopping for a Black Russian Terrier know what you are getting. You are not getting a Golden Retriever. If you want the personality of a Golden Retriever, get one of those. You are buying a very large, powerful dog. You can expect an adult male to weigh between 120 to 140 pounds. That is a lot of dog under any circumstances.
You need to be committed to constant training and several years of obedience classes. In fact that would be a requirement for any puppy sold to have a minimum of one year continued obedience training. It is a time committment, but with a dog this large, bred to protect it is an absolute requirement that you have full voice control over the dog. I would only use positive reinforcement techniques. The BRT does not respond well to "pop and crank" methods of training. They want to please you, they want to be challenged to learn, they learn quickly, but I have seen both dogs trained with positive reinforcement and "pop and crank" methods and the dogs who are trained with positive reinforcement to me are much more solid dogs than a dog waiting for his neck to be jerked.
You need to be committed to doing the health testing on your puppy. Every breeder should require it in order to see what their line is producing. Doesn't matter if you plan on ever breeding your dog. A breeder HAS to have all of the health tests of the entire litter done in order to see if the breeding plan they are undertaking are bettering the health of the breed. Only getting one or two puppies from the litter with health tests really doesn't allow them the full picture.
You need to be committed to the grooming required on the BRT. I could not even begin to tell you how many hours I spend grooming. I groom one of my dogs every weekend. All of mine are bathed bi-monthly, show groomed bi-monthly, brushed at least twice weekly, and coat conditioner worked through legs and beards every two or three days. Boots is also following Zilya's grooming schedule. So it seems like every evening there is a dog on the grooming table getting brushed out. Vincent and Dani are not showing, but are still bathed and blown dry at least every other weekend. You don't have to keep a dog in full show coat, but they still require bathing and brushing.
You need to be committed to wait to find what you are looking for. In a Black Russian Terrier you are looking at both a sizeable purchase price for a dog and a relatively rare breed. There are several BRT puppy mill type of breeders who always have puppies available. It is not in your best interest to buy from a large volume breeder. You could wait up to 2 years for a puppy from a reputable because: 1) We don't breed often. 2) It takes a considerable amount of time to find what you are looking for to breed when you combine structure, health, and temperament.
You need to be committed.