Breed Standard |
THE BREED STANDARD FOR THE HUNGARIAN VIZSLA F.C.I Standard No 57 dated June 1996. Adopted in Australia from 1st January 1998. Revised May 2001. BRIEF HISTORICAL REVIEW: The ancestors of the Hungarian Vizsla came into the Carpathian basin with the nomadic Hungarian tribes. Written descriptions and graphic illustrations are found in documents of the 14th century. From the 18th century, his importance as a hunting dog has been increasing steadily. As early as the end of the 19th century, competitions for pointing dogs were organised in Hungary, in which Hungarian Vizslas participated with great success. In those days, other Gundog breeds most likely played an important part in the development of the breed. The specific modern breeding started in 1920, as a result of which, the Hungarian Vizsla received recognition by the FCI in 1936. TEMPERAMENT: Lively, friendly, evenly tempered and easily trained. His outstanding willingness to keep contact with his master while working is one of his essential qualities. He cannot bear rough treatment and must be neither aggressive or shy. HEAD AND SKULL: The head should be dry, noble and well proportioned. The skull moderately wide and slightly domed. A slightly pronounced groove runs from the moderately developed occiput towards the stop. The supercilliary ridges are moderately developed. The stop is moderate. EYES: The eyes are slightly oval and of medium size with well fitting eyelids. He has an intelligent and lively expression. The brown eyes harmonise with the coat colour, as dark as possible preferred. EARS: The ears are set on at medium height, a little backwards. He has fine leathers, which hang closely to the cheeks and end in a rounded V shape. The length is about three-quarters of the length of the head. MOUTH: He has a regular and complete scissor bite with the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws with 42 healthy teeth according to dentition formula. NECK: Of medium length, harmonising with the overall appearance. The nape very muscular and slightly arched. Tightly fitting skin (no dewlap) at the throat. FOREQUARTERS: Viewed from the front they should be straight and parallel. Viewed from the side the legs are vertical and placed well under the body. Good bones and strongly muscled. The shoulders are long, sloping and flat with well attached shoulder blades. Flexible with strong dry muscles. Well angulated between the shoulder blade and upper arm. The upper arm is as long as possible and well muscled. The elbows fit close to the body, not tied in and turning neither in nor out and are well angulated between the upper arm and forearm. The forearm is long, straight and sufficiently muscled with strong but not coarse bone. The pastern joint is short and tight. The pastern is short and only very slightly sloping. BODY: The withers are pronounced and muscular. The back is solid, strong, well muscled, taut and straight. The muscles should hide the vertebral spines. The loin is short, broad, tight, muscular, straight or slightly arched. The portion from back to loin is well coupled. The croup is broad and of sufficient length, not to cut off short. It slopes slightly to the tail and is well muscled. The chest is deep and broad with a well developed, well muscled, moderately arched forechest. The sternum should extend as far back as possible. The sternum and the elbow should be at the same level. The ribs are moderately arched with the last ribs carried well back. The underline is elegant, tight, arching towards the rear and slightly tucked up. HINDQUARTERS: Viewed from behind they should be straight and parallel. Well angulated and with strong bone. The upper thigh is long and muscular with good angulation between the pelvis and upper thigh. The stifle is well angulated. The lower thigh is long, well muscled and sinewy. Its length is almost equal to that of the upper thigh. Good angulation between the lower thigh and the metatarsus. The hock joint is strong, dry and sinewy and rather well let down. The metatarsus is vertical, short and dry. FEET: The forefeet are slightly oval, with well knit, sufficiently arched, strong toes. The nails are strong and brown in colour. He has tough, resistant, slate grey pads. The feet are parallel when standing or moving. The hind feet are similar to the forefeet. TAIL: Set on slightly low, strong at the base, then tapering. In countries where tail docking is not prohibited by law, the tail may be shortened by one quarter to avoid hunting hazards. If tail docking is prohibited, the tail reaches down to the hock joint and carried straight or slightly sabre like. On the move, it is raised up to the horizontal. It is well covered by dense coat. GAIT/MOVEMENT: The typical gait is an animated, light-footed trot, elegant and far-reaching, with much drive and corresponding reach. Not exhausting gallop when working in the field. The back is firm and the topline remains level. Good, upright carriage. Pacing undesirable. COAT: Short and dense, should be coarse and hard at the touch. On the head and the ear leathers, it should be thinner, silkier and shorter. The hair underneath the tail should be slightly, but not noticeably longer. The coat should cover all if the body with the underside of the belly being a little lighter coated. No undercoat. COLOUR: Various shades of russet gold and dark sandy gold. The ear leathers may be a little darker, otherwise uniform in colour. Red, brownish or lightened colour is undesirable. A little white patch on the chest or at the throat, not more than 5 cm in diameter, as well as white markings on the toes are not considered faulty. The colour of the lips and the eye rims corresponds to the colour of the nose. The skin is tightly fitting, without folds and well pigmented. SIZES: Height at Withers: Dogs 58-64cm, Bitches 54-60cm IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: The body length slightly exceeds the height at withers. The depth of the brisket is slightly less than half the height at the withers. The muzzle is slightly shorter than half the length of head. FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog, and on the dog’s ability to perform its traditional work. DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:
NOTES: Male animals must have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. |