The History of the Hungarian Vizsla

Reprinted from the South Coast Vizsla Club as received from an excerpt from the Hungarian Vizsla Club book Dora Lonyai received from Hungary

The origin of the Hungarian Vizsla most likely goes back to the conquering Hungarian tribes. These tribes brought with them their hunting dogs, which were crossed with those hound-like dogs already living in the Carpathian basin, thereby creating the ancestors of the current population.

From the 14th century, there is no objective proof of the origin of the Vizsla. For example, the word "Vizsla" was mentioned in the Besztercci Index of Words and there is a picture of a Vizsla in the Kalmancsehi Brevarium dating back to 1481. According to archives from the 16th century, breeding Vizslas were in the hands of aristocratic families. (Mihaly Komlossy in 1515 asked in a letter for a "good" Vizsla, which is good for quail). During the Turkish occupation, the ancient Hungarian Vizsla was mixed again the Turkish dogs similar to the Sloughi.

The greatest growth in the use of the Vizslas took place in the 18th century due to widespread use of firearms. Vizslas were widespread in the following areas: the Hungarian highlands, Transdanubia, Szabolcs and Bihar County.

Measures taking place after the 1848-49 revolution had a serious impact on the situation of the Vizslas. According to a new order, the keeping of hunting dogs required a license issued by the Austrian Court, which led to decreasing numbers.

During the 1860's, German and English hunting dogs were imported to Hungary, which also impacted on the Hungarian Vizsla. In 1886 there was a field trial where the winner was "Linda, the without pedigree light yellow bitch". She was probably the first Hungarian Vizsla to win in competition and was one of the forebears of today's Hungarian Vizsla.

In 1916, Tibor Turoczi published an article in Nimrod warning about the near extinction of the Hungarian Vizsla. A movement was soon started in order to save the breed with prominent personalities as Bela Kerpely, Kalman Polgar, and Karoly Baba. In 1920, the Hungarian Vizsla Breeders Association was founded, and provisional registration of the stock started. Confirmed pedigree papers were issued only to dogs which were accepted both on their appearance and working abilities, "Because a dog can only be judged on the field, and in order to select the right breeding stock, we must look upon the quality of the nose," according to Kalman Polgar.

As a result of comprehensive discussions, a standard was established and eventually accepted by the FCI in 1935. The working requirements were set up in 1936 in the Rules of Competitions. There was a permanent development in the sport of hunting with Vizslas and during these competitions there were more and more Hungarian Vizslas showing excellent results.

Unfortunately, by the end of World War II, most of the Hungarian Vizsla population was demolished. The original pedigree papers were also destroyed. The newly reorganized National Vizsla Club started the reconstruction of the breed with the few recorded or unrecorded stock, which could fulfill both the appearance and working ability requirements.

The MEOE (Hungarian Kennel Club) was reformed in 1956 under the leadership of Mihaly Kende and in 1966 was accepted by FCI with the modified standard of the Hungarian Vizsla. The rise of breeding began again in the 1970's. There are more Hungarian Vizslas hunting and a number of Vizslas are competing successfully both in national and international trials. The lighter, galloping type of dogs are desirabled these days, as being more suitable for modern hunting and competition requirements. In order to accommodate the developments in recent breeding, the 1982 modification in the standard was established.