Stephanie: 🎶Hello and welcome to Season 2 Episode 5 of Expecto Podtronum, a podcast dedicated to all things Patronuses. 🎶

I’m your host Stephanie.

Amy:  I’m Amy.

Lucy: I’m Lucy. 

Carolyn: And I’m Carolyn and today we will be talking about the Borzoi.

Lucy: The Boazoi is also known as the Russian hunting dog. It is a sight hound that was once used for wolf hunting. Because of this they were also previously called the Russian wolf hound. That’s cool. I didn’t know there was wolf hunting.

Amy: They look very similar in body shape kind of to the wolfhounds and deerhounds, Irish and Scottish ones. 

Stephanie: Okay. That makes sense. 

Amy: The face is very different but the body looks similar so that makes sense why they would call it a wolfhound. [Yeah] I mean, on top of it, hunting wolves.

Lucy: To me it’s just a doggo. [Yeah] The breed dates back to the 16th century, they’ve been around for a very long time. It was developed by breeding Russian breeds with thick coats to European sight hounds like the Soki. 

Stephanie: I was wondering where it got all of its fur from. [Yeah] Because it’s very fluffy, because usually dogs with that body style are a lot, they have really short coats. And  this one has really long fur.

Amy: Yeah, usually it’s more, wiry.

Lucy: When I first looked at the picture I was like, that looks like a greyhound, but it’s not.

Stephanie: I think that dog comes later on. 

Amy: Lots more hair. [Laughter]

Lucy: Yeah. At one point in time they were only given as gifts by the Tsar of Russia. Which I think is quite interesting. 

Stephanie: Fancy pups.

Lucy: Yeah, very fancy. They’re not given to anybody, only the Tsar has them. Though they were almost extinct after the Russian Revolution in 1917 because they were given by the Tsar and the Tsar probably only gave them to the upper class and the Russian Revolution saw a lot of the upper class go bye bye.

Amy: Yeah, they didn’t like the Tsar. [Laughter]

Carolyn:They did have a bit of a problem with them.

Lucy: Yeah, just a little bit. 

Amy: Little bit of a tiff. 

Lucy: They have silky, curly hair and it comes in a variety of colours. They are between 26 and 28 inches tall, which is roughly 66 to 71 centimeters, and between 60 and 105 pounds, which converts to around 27 to 48 kilos. 

The males are often heavier and taller than the females, which, honestly, that tracks with a lot of animals. [mm-hmm] They have an average lifespan of 9 to 14 years and a recent study found more than half of the Borzoi’s  in the group had a heart murmur and it’s considered pretty common for that breed. 

That one’s also very interesting. According to the American Kennel Club, they are loyal and affectionate and pretty adaptive, playful and protective. They’re great family dogs. I love that.

[Laughter]

Stephanie: I love a family pupper.

Amy: Yeah. 

Lucy: They have a ton of energy and need a lot of mental stimulation and while they can be trained they are a bit more self-willed than other dogs we’ve talked about far in our previous season. It is because they don’t like repetitive activities that bore them. 

I do wonder [Same] hunting, even though it’s pretty similar to what you’re doing, it must be different at least for them to be entertained.

Stephanie: Every trail is different, every track is different, 

Amy: Different smells. 

Stephanie: The hunt itself is usually different So, yeah, while hunting, the theory and concept is the same. For the dog, there’s a lot of external factors that would make it different every time.

Lucy: I believe this dog probably falls into one that you should not have as a pet if you live in the city.

Stephanie: That’s a very good assumption. [Yeah] Otherwise be prepared to walk a lot.

[Laughter]

Lucy: In turn, this can make them appear stubborn if they don’t respond well to training.

Stephanie: Makes sense. Training is literally a repetitive activity.

[Laughter]

Carolyn: Well, on to symbolism. The Borzois are believed to be a gift from heaven itself and are frequently associated with spirituality due to the mysterious background of, I guess, how they were bred initially. They’re not really well, I guess we don’t really have a ‘this is where they came from’ direct story. It gave them a kind of mysterious air.

It’s often said that having a Borzoi around brings both peace and good fortune in your life. As we said before, it’s considered a hunter and that also tracks over into the symbolism because they’re considered a guardian of the nobility as well as the hunter.

Lucy: Going back to the peace and good fortune [mm-hmm] that made sense when the Tsar was giving it as a gift but it did not end out in the end as peace and good fortune for them.

Carolyn: Not for the Tsar anyway. Although we all know Anastasia ended up surviving and running off with that guy [mm-hmm] who was supposed to get her to France or something, right? 

Amy: That’s right. Definitely. 

[Laughter]

Stephanie: It’s also a really good play.

Carolyn: We love a good historically accurate Disney knockoff movie.

[Laughter}

Stephanie: Musical, also really good.

Lucy: The musical is coming to Australia this year and I can’t wait to go and see it.

Stephanie: I loved it.

Carolyn: They are believed to possess a special sense of protection and loyalty that is symbolizing strong family bonds. So having one in your life should also mirror the family connection, is the point they were trying to make. 

Despite the immense strength, they are known for being gentle family companions, very devoted to their owners. And all of this is kind of an embodiment of gracefulness and loyalty. Now we get into some symbolism in different regions. 

In Eastern symbolism, Eastern Europe in particular, they had deep symbolic meanings; royalty, power, majestic beauty, athletic prowess, all tie into the Tsar, I think, a lot. They were actually ridden by Russian nobles. I don’t know how true this fact is. This was found in my symbology doc.

Lucy: I’m actually trying to picture the physics behind that. 

Carolyn: I mean they’re pretty big, but I’m…

Amy: That doesn’t mean they actually rode them. [Yeah, that’s the thing…]  I think what that means is ridden as in the nobles were riding horses and the dogs were running alongside the horses.

Carolyn: I hope so because my mental picture was a Russian riding one and while they are very large dogs, I don’t think so. 

[Laughter]

Lucy: Yeah, I was like maybe a kid could do that, but an adult?

Carolyn: Let’s go, son. Time to learn to ride the dog.

[Laughter]

Amy: It’s a weird way to phrase it, but I’ve heard it referred to that as well with other hunting hounds, like beagles and stuff. Where they say, ‘we’re gonna go ride the beagle on this hunt.’ They’re not actually riding the dog, because you couldn’t ride a beagle. 

Lucy: What a weird turn of phrase though. I wonder where it came from

[Laughter]

Carolyn: Very weird turn of phrase. Literally was picturing and I knew that this wasn’t entirely true, I was like there’s no way, but anyway. I put it down because it was there. 

They have incredible sight and speed and they’ve been seen as embodiments of strength, agility and their royal heritage. Specifically in Russian Orthodox Christianity, they’ve become symbolic of the Lord’s gift of strength to those who press forward in faith. 

And they have legends that hold that these large dogs were even able to ascend to heaven with their beloved masters after death. [Awww] And I’m sorry, all dogs go to heaven. 

Stephanie: All dogs go to heaven. 

Carolyn: I’ve seen that movie, so you can’t tell me it was just them.

[Laughter]

Stephanie: I remember that movie.

[Laughter]

Carolyn: I remember the sequel to boot. [Laughter] Now we move on to Native American symbolism. They didn’t specify which Native American cultures or tribes, but it would not surprise me if this turned out to be Alaska. 

So we might have to do a little bit more digging into that given the Russian immigration into Alaska as well. That was where my brain went. But with Native American cultures that have been exposed to the dog, they felt they represented freedom, strength, and courage. 

And there are legends that tell of Borzoi howling on reservation land as a sign of guides coming to rescue their people in times of trouble. To this day, they’re considered symbols of liberty carrying with them a sense of hope and protection and are courageous figures that bravely fight oppression.

This dog’s traveled pretty far and wide because we then go to African symbolism. Where they are seen as a sign of prosperity and fertility and often are used for important parts of ceremonies and rituals that carry meanings of peacefulness, contentment and freedom. For an Eastern European Russian dog, they’ve gone pretty far.

Amy: Yeah. They traveled.

Lucy: I was reading when they came over to North America because I was wondering if it corresponded to what was happening in Europe at the time [mm-hmm] and the first reported Borzoi being imported from England to North America was in 1889. 

I reckon that does really tie into what was happening not just in England with a lot of prisoners being sent everywhere in the world but also the immigration as well with people from Ireland and all those places. They really were dogs of hope [All over] and they were very useful dogs as well.

Stephanie: No, definitely, especially considering how many nobles tried to flee from Russia into more of those Western European countries. Obviously, they’re going to try and take their beloved gift from the Tsar with them, not leave it behind. That’s another way they could have gotten into the Western civilization to further end up here..

Carolyn: Oh, I yeah, I definitely see them traveling. It’s just these mythologies were interesting because the dog only dates back to what we said 1600 and the first appearance of the breed. 

Lucy: Yeah 16th century 

Carolyn: 1500 that’s they’ve still tried they’ve traveled pretty far and wide. That’s all. In what I would consider a relatively short time frame

Lucy: And considering how prominent they were in Russia and what happened in Russia especially with nobility and for these Russians that were already migrated over to North America or anywhere else in the world to regain the popularity of the breed is very surreal and great because otherwise we would have lost this unique breed that’s really much tied to the history of Russia.

Amy: True.

Stephanie: Alrighty, Whose Patronus is it Anyway? 

[🎶Which character could fit this Patronus? Find out on Whose Patronus is it Anyway?🎶]

Stephanie: Looking in here, one of our other hosts, Liz, who was not able to make it on this episode, had a theory that she wanted to make sure we talked about. When she thinks about someone who gets bored easily and needs a ton of mental stimulation, she thinks of Seamus. 

Sitting in a class is really boring to him, but he loved to run around and try some random spells just to see if they would work. She thinks he’s a bit stubborn as he continues to try some of the randomest spells over and over again after they have proved not to work, but it does not deter him.

Lucy: Every time I think of Seamus it’s always Neville going “boom?” and Seamus responding ‘boom’. 

[Laughter}

Amy: One of the best movie-isms.

Lucy: Aww, yes.

Carolyn: That scene from the movie with the rum.

Amy: Yes!

Stephanie: Eye of water, heartstring. Oh, not eye of water. 

Carolyn: I don’t remember the spell, 

Stephanie: Eye of water, heartstring hum, turn this water into rum? Eye of rabbit, heartstring hum, turn this water into rum? 

Lucy: Sounds about right, 

Carolyn: Something right. We’ll get plenty of people telling us how we have it wrong, but it sounds right.

[Laughter]

Amy: I love this. 

Lucy: I also love that scene where he’s like my eyebrows grown back.

[Laughter]

Stephanie: If you haven’t noticed! 

Amy: Yes.

Carolyn: I don’t, the stubbornness is where you get me because Seamus strikes me as someone who will stick with it despite the it not working and keep doing, keeps-

Stephanie: But that is a form of stubbornness in my opinion. He’s so convinced that this is gonna work, he won’t let it go.

Carolyn: Right, but that’s my point. His stubbornness, these dogs are known for getting bored. 

Lucy: His stubbornness is not because he’s getting bored, it’s because he wants to succeed.

Carolyn: Right, but these dogs will, I mean we said it earlier. How did we say it? They need a lot of mental stimulation and while they can be trained, they don’t like repetitive activity, it bores them, that’s what we said. It’s kind of, this is you lose me a little bit. Seamus doesn’t strike me as someone who would give up if he’s, he would keep going.

Amy: Yeah.

Stephanie: I wonder if it’s more of the attention shifting or maybe potentially ADD/ADHD types of behaviors where he can tend to hyper-focus a little bit on a specific subject, and he’ll work really hard to get it, but then he’ll get frustrated and maybe take a break and go and try something new. Focus on that a little bit, get frustrated, go and try something else. 

There’s enough magical subjects out there {That’s true] for him to continuously switch. and then either like most people with ADD or ADHD, us neuro spicy people out there, you either find it months later and you’re like, I can finish that now. [Laughter] Or you never go back to it.

Amy: Yeah. I love the Seamus idea, but I also thought of Colin Creavy. [Ohh!} I feel like his loyalty and his protectiveness and playfulness. This dog kind of fits him in a way. I mean, he’s obviously very loyal to Harry, and also very energetic and full of that puppy energy. 

Stephanie: He does scream puppy.

Carolyn: We do talk about this dog having a very attachment to the owner kind of thing too, so that does work really well.

Stephanie: Yeah, the amount of energy he has, it definitely makes sense.

Lucy: I reckon Colin Creavy uses the same as Seamus. It’s not exactly… He has Patronus but it’s pretty close I reckon.

Amy: We’re getting somewhere.

Stephanie: As much as I like Seamus, I think I’d like Colin more for this one if we have to vote and pick. But they both make sense.

Carolyn:I mean they could both have it. Nobody said you can’t have the same Patronus as somebody else. 

Amy: True. Very true.

Carolyn: And they tie in in different ways.

Stephanie: Side note. What we should do when we’re done with the podcast as a whole is we should go through all of the Patronuses and if they don’t have a person try and assign one character to as many as possible.

Lucy: We can do that as a bonus episode on Patreon. 

Amy: We could. 

Lucy: For season one. That’ll be fun.

Amy: Good Idea.

Stephanie: I want to do one at the end because then at that point we have covered all the Patronuses because we can go back through season one and see what people think but then when we know the descriptions… 

Amy: That could be the finale.

Carolyn: Yeah, we could wrap it up with a rapid fire. They all have to have someone.

Amy: Add it to the docs.

Lucy: Write it down, write it down!

Stephanie: Anyway, that was my random side note that doesn’t need to be included in the episode, but I thought it was a good idea for the future.

Amy: Now, it’s on record.

Carolyn: It’s been recorded in the audio.

Amy: Yeah. 

Lucy: Yeah. 

Amy: All right. Well, that wraps up this episode. Join us next week when we talk about the magpie. 

As always, you can find us on social media. You can find us over on Facebook, TikTok and Instagram at ExpectoPodtronum, on Twitter or X at ExpectoPod. And you can support the show on Patreon at patreon.com/ExpectoPodtronum. We’ve got all sorts of fun stuff over there. Bonus episodes every month and some really fun extras for you to check out. 

We would love to hear from you and you can send us a Patronus to any of our social media outlets or email us at expectopatronum@gmail.com. Also, leave us a review if you’ve got a second. It really helps us out, helps us get found by some more listeners just like you. All right, see you later. 

Lucy: See ya.

Carolyn: Bye.

Stephanie: And remember, a piece of chocolate a day will keep the dementors away.

“Food Show” by Music_For_Videos, Anastasia Kir — “Movie Score A” by DHy-Nez, Denita Smith — “Excuse me Cat” by geoffharvey, Geoff Harvey — “The Classical” by Music_For_Videos, Anastasia Kir — “Uplifting Celebration” by makesoundmusic, Mike Kripak — “Mysterious Music: Light Mystical Background Music for Short Video/Vlog” by White Records, Maksym Dudchyk — “Telling the Story” by goeffharvey, Geoff Harvey