Moderately, with heavier seasonal increases. The silky, wavy coat asks for brushing several times a week mainly to stop tangles forming rather than because of sheer volume. Borzois are also cleaner and less odorous than most large breeds, which balances the grooming account in the owner's favour.
The coat record for the breed reads: Medium length, silky and wavy, short length. A robot vacuum on a schedule keeps a 3/5 shedding Borzoi household ahead of the hair entirely.
Between brushes, baths, detangling spray and professional sessions in the heavier coats, grooming is a standing line in the Borzoi's year, not an occasional treat.
Grooming effort scores 4 out of 5, top of the scale: the Borzoi's medium length coat is a weekly commitment of brushing, detangling and regular professional sessions. Thin skin and low body fat mean coats in cold weather, soft bedding for bony joints, and care with anaesthetics, which sighthound bodies handle differently. Feed to a visible waist tuck and weigh monthly; this breed does best on a routine of consistent meals, training in short sessions and daily exercise matched to its type.
For scale: the Borzoi stands 26 to 30 inches and weighs 60 to 105 lb, counts as a senior from about 7 years, and needs 45 to 90 minutes of exercise daily. Keep those numbers in mind and the rest of the page falls into place.
Size context from the growth table: 8 weeks at about 7 to 13 lb, 9 months at about 41 to 71 lb, 18 months at about 57 to 100 lb mark the Borzoi's first year, against an adult standard of 60 to 105 lb. Any colour. The breed belongs to the Hound group and its home ground is Russia.
At 60 to 105 lb fully grown, the physical side of the breed is easy to picture. Whatever this page concludes, the figures behind it are the ones a household will actually live with. The full Borzoi profile carries the complete record: health screening, life stages, growth and the questions owners ask next.
Allergy households should test honestly: live with the adult coat, in the breeder's home or a foster setting, across several visits, because puppy coats shed a fraction of what the adult coat will.
Shorter sessions, better timing and payment in food: two minutes daily beats thirty weekly for a reluctant Borzoi. Grooming aversions built in puppyhood take months to unwind, which is why the first sessions should be tiny and pleasant. The Borzoi's own figures, shedding 3/5 and grooming 4/5, are the baseline to plan the routine around.
Season, age, diet, stress and health all move the dial on a baseline of 3/5. A sudden change with itching, baldness or behaviour change in a Borzoi is a vet visit; a spring increase in a double coat is the calendar, not a crisis. When in doubt, brush: very few coat problems in this breed were ever made worse by an extra session.
With grooming effort at 4/5, professional help ranges from optional to essential for the Borzoi. High scoring coats repay a groomer every six to eight weeks; easy coats need only nails, ears and teeth kept up at home.
Borzoi derives from the Russian word for swift.
What a Borzoi costs to keep, line by line, from the first puppy year to the lifetime figure.
As close as dogs get: a coat that barely sheds. Why no dog is truly allergy proof, and the grooming bill.
Last updated: November 6, 2026