On the depictions of that time, a hunting dog appeared, which followed them during their migrations to the Carpathian Basin. It can be assumed that the Hungarians, now transformed into horsemen, could hunt here and then with the ancestors of the Tartar hound.
The Egyptian Hound reminds us of the short-haired Vizsla breeds of our time and differs from them only in its shorter ears and longer limbs. It appears to be a characteristically nasual type, persistent, but extended to a slower growth. Both ancient Egyptian hunting breeds have short hair and the dominant base color is desert yellow. Both types of hunters can be found in a somewhat refined form in the hands of today’s Egyptian Arab hunters.
The age-old and constant eastern breeds left their mark on the still heterogeneous Hungarian hunting dog breeds crossed with them. The direct ancestor of both the Hungarian greyhound and the Hungarian Vizsla, the Hungarian falconry dog, inherited from them the characteristic features that are distinct from all other similar European hunting dog breeds.
According to data from 1731, the Hungarian Zay family, originally from Zayugrocon in Trencsén County, started breeding today’s Hungarian Vizsla. According to Imre Zay, it can be proven that his predecessors started this process after the Peace of Szatmár (1712). In a short time, the Vizsla breed, then still called the Yellow Vizsla, spread from the estates of this family to the Csallóköz, from there to the whole of Transdanubia, and even later to the whole country. It is a fact that the XVIII. at the end of the century, it was already the most widespread Vizsla breed in the Carpathian Basin.
The flourishing of the Hungarian Vizsla was brought to an end by the invasion of pointers, imported sporadically from 1860, en masse from 1880, and German Vizslas, imported even later. The foreign Vizsla breeds were not brought to our country for the purpose of ennobling the Hungarian Vizsla, but solely for the reason of imitating Western fashion. That is why only its restorers were able to collect the remaining, barely a dozen copies, at the cost of the greatest difficulties. There is no doubt that some of the Hungarian Vizsla breeds were crossed with the pointer, but this blood did not ennoble it, but adversely affected the Hungarian Vizsla’s characteristic appearance and mental qualities, which are different from all other European Vizsla breeds.
The Hungarian Vizsla is one of the oldest Vizsla breeds in Europe, its original ancestor is the Hungarian falconry dog bred from the Pannonian and Transylvanian hounds through selection.
The result of breeding with several foreign hunting dog breeds has become an all-round hunting dog, which is an excellent tracker, game marker and vizsla. In the pedigree registration that started in 1884, it was no longer possible to find the breed that was once widely kept, but by this time dog sports had also appeared in our country: in 1882, a Vizsla field competition was already held (in 1886, one of the winners was Linda, Jr. János Tulok “without a pedigree light yellow bitch’.)
At the turn of the century and the beginning of the 1900s, the herd thinned out, property and hunting conditions changed, and the game population decreased. In 1916, an article written by Tibor Thúróczi was published in the columns of Nimród entitled The old Hungarian yellow vizsla. In his writing, he warned breeders: if they don’t do something, this beautiful breed will die out.
His article caused a great response, many people spoke up for the old yellow Hungarian Vizslas (14 Hungarian Vizslas were found in 1917). The movement was headed by Dr. Kálmán Polgár, Károly Bába, and Béla Kerpely. A handful of teams led by animal husbandry specialists saved the Vizsla and led it into the future: the pedigree started with 11 individuals, but the individuals that were found and showed suitable work and appearance characteristics were also included in the breeding.
In 1920, the pedigree registration of the breed began, and in 1924, the National Vizsla Club was founded. The breed description (standard) was completed on May 30, 1928 – it was modified in 1934, and then published in June 1936 by the newly formed National Vizsla Club (OVC). In 1935, the FCI registered the Hungarian Vizsla among the officially recognized breeds. As a result of this work, many Vizslas have successfully participated in exhibitions abroad. Unfortunately, most of the stock belongs to II. disappeared by the end of World War II.
Dr. Tibor Thuróczi wrote about Hungarian Vizsla breeding in the Nimród Vadászlap issue of December 20, 1941: “It would be a shame if, after a quarter of a century of prosperity, our breeding should decline again because they do not meet the requirements of hunters.”
To make up for the loss, the rescue of the breed began in 1947 at the breeding farm established in Gödöllő with the individuals that could be found.
In Hungary, the MEOE was re-established in 1956 under the leadership of Mihály Kende, and in 1963 it managed to settle its membership relationship with the FCI, which accepted the amendment of the Hungarian Vizsla standard in 1966 – and registered the wire-haired Hungarian Vizsla as a new breed. This standard gave a detailed definition of the appearance of the Vizsla in accordance with the needs of modern animal husbandry. And – which proves the blood strength and development of our breed – there is no significant deviation from the Vizsla ideal defined in the 1920s and 30s either.
The dog sport, and with it the dog show, began to develop at the end of the 1960s.
Nowadays, the Hungarian Vizsla is one of the most popular dog breeds in the world.
As a species-caring country, it is our duty to take care of this wonderful heritage!
