Not easy, no, and this page will not dress that up. A Borzoi learns fast, which surprises people: the difficulty was never learning, it is agreement. It fails, sometimes spectacularly, when it is framed as obedience for obedience's sake. The sections below are a field guide to the approach that works.
Owners who ask politely get a mannerly, graceful companion. Train a Borzoi the sighthound way: gently, briefly and with excellent pay, accepting that the breed weighs every request. The train score sits low because independence is the design, not a defect: these dogs were bred to make their own decisions at full speed far from the hunter. It is described as calm, sensitive, dignified and catlike indoors. The adult stands 26 to 30 in at the shoulder and weighs 60 to 105 lb.
The record in one paragraph: trainability 2 out of 5, energy 3 of 5, barking 2 of 5, grooming effort 4 of 5. The Borzoi needs 45 to 90 minutes of exercise a day, stands 26 to 30 inches, weighs 60 to 105 lb and lives 9 to 14 years. A high energy, highly trainable dog is a joy with structure and a whirlwind without it, while a calmer dog at the same score simply learns in a lower gear. The Borzoi's Hound heritage, from Russia, supplies the why behind the numbers: the breed's original work decided what it pays attention to, and modern training succeeds when it pays in that currency.
The core difficulty is that repetition insults this breed. Drill a Borzoi with the same cue ten times and the first three reps are good, the next three are slower, and the rest are a protest, because a dog bred to think independently reads repetition as evidence the exercise has no point. Sessions must be short, varied and finished early, ideally with the dog wanting more. The breed's defenders make one more point owners should hear: a Borzoi often complies on a delay, thinking first and moving second, and punishing the delay destroys the thinking, which was the breed's whole value. Within weeks the offered behaviors multiply, because the dog has learned that volunteering is profitable and nobody is going to drill the joy out of it. Slow is not the same as stuck, with this breed.
Harsh handling permanently damages trust with a dog this sensitive. Build the essentials: lead manners, a settle, cooperative care, and a recall practiced in secure areas with realistic expectations. Adolescents are gangly and occasionally theatrical, and calm structure carries the household through.
They bond deeply and quietly, dislike raised voices and rough handling, and move through a house like smoke. Puppies are leggy, charming and surprisingly mischievous; adults are serene, graceful companions with a philosopher's detachment and sudden, joyful bursts of clowning reserved for their chosen people.
Look sideways for a moment at the breeds this record finds most similar: the Greyhound, the Scottish Deerhound and the Rampur Greyhound. Their training scores are not identical to the Borzoi's 2 out of 5, which is worth remembering in both directions: do not borrow a similar breed's training reputation, good or bad, and do not lend this one out. Each score on the record was assigned breed by breed, and the shortlist exists for comparison, not for averaging. The Borzoi's 2 out of 5 is its own: plan lessons from it, not from a lookalike's reputation, because two similar breeds can be very different students.
Build the day around the record: 45 to 90 minutes of exercise, with training folded inside it rather than bolted on. Five minutes of cues before breakfast, a recall game mid walk, two minutes of settle practice in the evening teaches more than a weekly marathon, because the Borzoi learns in repetitions spread across real life. Puppies need the same shape at a smaller scale, with the breed's growth stages respected: joints and attention spans are both unfinished in the first year, and the 9 to 14 year lifespan rewards owners who pace the early work. Keep rest days genuinely restful: consolidation happens off duty, and a 2 out of 5 breed returns from them sharper, not rustier.
No score lives alone on the record. Alongside trainability at 2 out of 5, the Borzoi carries With enough exercise for apartment life and a coat recorded as Medium length, silky and wavy, short length. Its health watch points, Anesthetic sensitivity, Bloat (gastric dilatation volvulus) and Heart disease, are the reason this page keeps saying adapt the plan as the dog ages, with senior status arriving around age 7 years. None of that changes the headline score, 2 out of 5; it explains why the same score produces a puppy class star at one age and a careful, deliberate older student at another.
A few figures frame the effort honestly. The Borzoi comes from Russia, in the Hound group, wears a medium length coat and reaches senior status around age 7 years. Budget the treats, schedule the 45 to 90 minutes, and the record's other numbers take care of themselves.
Yes, with the honest caveat that off leash reliability is earned in stages and never assumed. With the Borzoi, whose lifespan runs 9 to 14 years and whose senior years begin around 7 years, the honest answer also shifts across the dog's life, and the training plan should shift with it. Build recall in fenced spaces, then on a long line, then in low distraction areas, paying every return like it matters, because to a Hound breed with moderate energy, the environment is always bidding against you. Some individuals in some breeds never earn total freedom near livestock or roads, and a Borzoi is no exception; a long line is a respectable permanent answer where the risk says so. Never chase a sighthound to catch it; teach it coming to you pays better than the horizon.
The day the puppy comes home. The Borzoi's own numbers frame it: trainability 2 out of 5 alongside energy 3 out of 5 is a specific combination, and it produces a specific kind of student rather than a generic one. Young Borzois are learning in every waking hour whether anyone is teaching or not, so the only choice is whether the lessons are yours. Start with name recognition, recall to a whistle or cue, toilet routine, crate comfort and gentle handling, all paid in food and play. Formal cue lists can wait a few weeks; the habits cannot. A breed rated 2 out of 5 keeps what it learns early, in both directions, for a 9 to 14 year life. Old Borzois stay graceful, quiet and devoted, gliding through the house to the end.
The basics, sit, down, stay, recall foundations and loose lead walking, take most Borzoi owners a few weeks of short daily sessions, because the breed's trainability is rated 2 out of 5. For the Borzoi specifically, a Hound dog with moderate energy and 45 to 90 minutes of daily exercise, that plays out in short daily lessons rather than in occasional long drills. A fully reliable adult dog, calm in public and steady around distractions, is a first year project in any breed. The Borzoi's timeline bends with its energy, 3 of 5: exercised dogs learn in the morning what tired evenings undo, so schedule sessions after exercise, not instead of it.
Last updated: November 10, 2026