Russian Toy Dog Breed Information

The Russian Toy is one of the smallest dog breeds in the world, smaller than the typical Chihuahua and bred from the English Toy Terrier in late-19th-century Moscow and Saint Petersburg as a drawing-room companion for the Imperial Russian aristocracy. The breed comes in two coat varieties (smooth and long-coat), often produced in the same litter, and has grown steadily in NZ since the late 2010s among apartment owners drawn to the tiny footprint, biddable temperament and an alternative to the Chihuahua. NZKC registrations sit in the low double digits each year, with a small group of NZ-based breeders importing stock from Russia, Eastern Europe and Australia.

Adults stand 20 to 28 cm at the shoulder and weigh 1.5 to 3 kg, making the breed lighter than almost any other registered toy. The smooth coat is short and glossy; the long coat has 3 to 5 cm fringes on the ears, the back of the legs and the tail. Colours include black and tan, blue and tan, brown and tan, red, red sable and lilac and tan. Lifespan runs 12 to 15 years.

Personality and behaviour

Russian Toys are alert, lively and closely bonded to one or two people in the household. The breed is reserved with strangers in a way the bichon-family toys are not; a confident socialised Russian Toy is polite with new people, but warming up takes minutes rather than seconds, and an undersocialised dog can drift toward shy or yappy behaviour. Early socialisation matters more for this breed than for the average toy. With other dogs the breed is generally polite, but the size mismatch with anything larger than a small dog is a real concern; most Russian Toys are best kept on lead around bigger dogs and on a long line in mixed-dog parks.

The bark is the trade-off. Russian Toys are watchful and will alert on the doorbell, on passing cars, on couriers and on unfamiliar sounds, and the alert bark can become a constant pattern fast if reinforced. Picking up a barking Russian Toy to soothe it is the single most common reinforcement of the problem. Quiet-on-cue training from puppyhood, ignoring nuisance barks and rewarding calm behaviour are the standard fixes; the breed is among the easier toys to teach a real quiet cue if the work is done early.

The trait that surprises new owners is the trainability. Russian Toys are bright, food-motivated and engaged with their owner in a way Chihuahuas often are not, and the breed responds quickly to reinforcement-based training. Sit, recall, name, leash manners and a reasonable trick repertoire are achievable inside the first three months. Owners who treat the breed as a trainable small partner rather than a passive lap dog get a much better dog.

The other trait that surprises new owners is the fragility. The lean body, fine bones and 1.5 to 3 kg weight mean a jump from the sofa or a misstep on the stairs can fracture a leg, and an accidental fall by a child or a trip from a partner is a vet visit. The breed needs supervision around height changes that no other size class needs, and households with active toddlers, larger dogs or busy stairs are not the right fit.

Around children, the breed is patient with calm older children who handle small dogs gently. Toddlers and primary-school-aged kids under eight are a poor match because the body is genuinely too fragile for accidental rough handling, and most NZKC-affiliated breeders will not place a puppy in a household with children under eight.

Care and exercise

Plan on around 30 minutes of exercise a day, split between two short walks and indoor play. The breed is not high-energy in the working sense; a 12 to 15 minute morning walk and a 12 to 15 minute evening walk plus zoomies in the lounge meet the daily need comfortably. Russian Toys enjoy short training drills and food puzzles as mental enrichment, and the breed responds well to a daily 5 to 10 minute trick session.

Recall and lead manners need work. The breed has more drive than the size suggests, and a Russian Toy off-lead in an unfenced setting is a flight risk. A Y-front harness rather than a collar is essential because of tracheal collapse risk; jerking on a collar in this size class causes real damage.

Grooming is one of the easier setups in the toy group. Smooth-coat dogs need a weekly brush with a soft bristle brush; long-coat dogs need brushing two or three times a week with a pin brush, paying attention to the feathering on the ears, legs and tail. Neither variety needs professional clipping, and total annual grooming spend is well under NZ$300 if the owner does the basics at home. Bath every six to eight weeks.

Dental care is the major ongoing health task. Toy-breed dental disease is severe in this size class, with crowded jaws, retained baby teeth and plaque building fast. Daily home brushing slows the build-up but does not replace the descale; most adult Russian Toys need an annual scale-and-polish under anaesthetic from age 4 at NZ$500 to NZ$900 per session. Retained baby teeth are common and usually need to come out at the desexing or first descale appointment.

The dietary watch-outs are portion control and puppy hypoglycaemia. A 2.5 kg adult eats 40 to 70 g of quality dry food a day, and the very small stomach copes better with two or three small meals than one large feed. Puppies under 2 kg are at real risk of blood sugar crashes if meals are missed; small frequent meals for the first 16 weeks are essential, and most NZ breeders supply a sugar paste (Nutri-Plus, Nutri-Cal) for emergencies.

Climate fit is uneven. Heat tolerance is reasonable for a small dog and Auckland summers suit a Russian Toy with shade and water access. Cold tolerance is poor; the lean body and fine coat insulate poorly against frost, and cold mornings in Wellington, Christchurch and Otago below 10 degrees need a fitted coat for walks. Indoor heating above 18 degrees is the breed’s preferred environment year-round, and most Russian Toys spend NZ winters happily on a heated dog bed by the fire.

Where to find a Russian Toy in New Zealand

Three paths.

1. Registered NZKC breeders. The Dogs NZ breeders directory lists the small group of registered Russian Toy breeders, mostly in Auckland, Hamilton and Christchurch. Expect a 9 to 18 month waitlist and NZ$2,500 to NZ$4,500 per puppy. A reputable breeder shows patella scores, eye certificates, dental records on parents and ideally cardiac auscultation. Walk away from “teacup” listings; the breed is already small and “teacup” usually points to undersized runts with health risks.
2. Imports. Some NZ owners import from Russia, Eastern Europe or Australia. The cost runs NZ$5,000 to NZ$8,000 with shipping, paperwork and arrival care depending on origin country. Australian imports are the simpler option for most NZ owners.
3. Toy and small-breed rescue, SPCA. Pure Russian Toys in NZ rescue are very rare; the breed’s small population means almost none are surrendered. Russian Toy crosses (often with Chihuahua) appear occasionally in SPCA centres at NZ$300 to NZ$600 and are worth considering for owners attracted to the temperament rather than the breed standard.

Council registration is required by 12 weeks under the Dog Control Act. The DIA national dog database holds the record; your local council issues the tag and the annual fee. Microchip details flow through the New Zealand Companion Animal Register.