Interesting facts

Navigation

Origin and development of the two VizsIa dog breeds

The story of the Hungarian pointers can be reconstructed for many centuries.
Breeding and development were characterized very soon. The hunting on horseback and often the falconry, determined the characteristics in that period.
Vizsla has all the typical characteristics of a pointer. Strong inclinations as a tracker and retriever and easy to leash-train, which is necessary for various kinds of hunting. Its typical colouring has been described early and stabilised in breeding.

Due to historical confusion during the late 19th Century the typical hunting practices, and therefore this dog breed, became almost obsolete. Seed breeder caring for traditions have kept this beautiful dog breed for us. For the improvement of their characteristics the English pointer was cross-bred with the short-haired German Wire-haired Vizsla as well as with a bloodhound breed.
Its colour probably comes from the yellow Turkish pointers and its capability of finding game and catching it, from the in Hungarian local Pannonian sniffer dogs.

The wire-haired Hungarian pointer was born from the Hungarian short-haired Vizsla through the directed cross-breeding with the German wire-haired Vizsla. In 1965 the standard was recognised through the FCI.

In 1973 and 1978 the first imports from Austria and Hungary towards Germany were registered in the VUV.
In the meantime there is a little breeding stock of very high-performing UD in Germany.

Story

The Magyar Vizsla is a light, noble hunt-dog of average size with thin bones and sinews like steel.
You can distinguish between two typologies of Magyar Viszla, the Magyar Vizsla sarga (yellow Hungarian pointer) and the Magyar Vizsla drotszoru (Hungarian wire-hair pointer).

The Magyar Vizsla sarga can be distinguished from his rough-haired relatives just for the hair structure. He has on his taut skin, which cannot create folds, short, straight, thick and dense coat, which shines and looks a bit greasy. He is always monochrome, shaded dark yellow.

Hungary was and is the land of the great small game hunts. The right climatic conditions of the Steppe landscape between the Danube and Theiß are very convenient for the small game population, so the numerous lakes of the Hungarian lake plain as well as the long rivers, also a rich habitat for water game animals, offer in particular ducks and migratory geese.

These are also outstanding conditions for the development of good hunt-dogs breeds.

The short-haired Magyar Vizsla was born from the cross-breeding of indigenous sight hounds, which probably have common characteristics with the Magyar Agár, with Pointers. Sure this generated also the precursor of the German short-haired Vizsla.

The founding breeder was the Hungarian family called Zay, which began in the 18th century in Zayngroc, to breed hunt-dogs similar to today's Magyar Vizsla. In the second half of the 19th century a refinement took place with Pointers, German wire-hair pointer and Hanover hound, to improve the hunting skills; the same thing was carried out again in 1917 in Kaposvar. Since this moment the Magyar Vizsla is pure-bred.

Through a cross-breeding between the short-haired Magyar Vizsla and a German Wire-hair pointer, Hungarian hunters created the rough-haired Magyar Vizsla, which is proportionally little bred and also not yet consolidated as a dog breed. Very often in the litters fair-haired and wrong-coloured puppies are present.

The Magyar Vizsla is an easy-to train, very docile dog, with steady nerves; he is strong, and can be successful in all situations.

From: BI-Lexikon "Hunderassen", VEB Bibliographisches Institut Leipzig, 1986, Author: Hans-Joachim Swarovsky, with the collaboration of Ulrich Kägler. - 3., durchges. Aufl. - Leipzig
© 2006 P. Asmuß