The Russian Tsvetnaya Bolonka

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242 – February, 2026

By Amy Fernandez

Here in the US, it’s impossible to imagine the everyday reality of life in Soviet Russia.

The so-called Iron Curtain, a political and physical boundary, divided Europe far beyond that definition. Throughout most of its history, Russia and its neighboring countries had been a hotbed of breed development that long preceded recorded history. Treaty negotiations hammered out at Yalta were ostensibly based on the hope of ensuring world peace, and communism had been an obscure political philosophy. Those ideas ended abruptly with the arrival of this new social order.

For 85 million Europeans, the post-war World War II years rapidly translated into drastic social and economic changes, ending the free and easy social and cultural exchange that had encouraged so much breed cultivation. This bleak, repressive environment became the backdrop for the development of the Bolonka.

Catherine the Great is the Russian monarch most closely associated with popularizing Toy breeds. Her devotion to Italian Greyhounds has been immortalized in art and literature. But it didn’t end there. She made direct efforts to establish links with other European courts, and they extended way beyond international diplomacy. She introduced the latest music, cuisine, fashion, and every style-driven trend that swept through Europe. That included a boatload of Toy breeds.

Click here to read the complete article
242 – February, 2026

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Posted by AnthonyA on Feb 7 2026. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.