Breed Standard of the Hungarian Vizsla
(FCI)
In Australia the Breed Standard became Country
of Origin (FCI) by a national vote in 1998.
I have broken the Standard up into sections and
offered my interpretation of each section and, where possible,
used photos I believe demonstrate the points in an effort to
make it more 'user friendly' if you like. As a licensed
All Breeds Judge, I have given the lecture to trainee judges for
many years.
NOTE: As of 2004 tail docking was banned in
Australia.
Breed Standard: Hungarian Vizsla
FCI-Standard No 57 - dated June 1996
Adopted in Australia:
from 1/01/2001 - Revised May 2001
Origin: Hungary
Translation:
Mrs. H. Gross-Richardson, Mrs. Ann Mitchell,
Mrs. Elke Pepe
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.
GENERAL APPEARANCE:
He is a medium sized, elegant gundog of noble appearance
with a short russet gold coat. His rather light, dry, lean
structure embodies the harmony of beauty and strength.
"This breed should always be medium sized, never larger than
a GSP or Weimaraner. It should also be moderate in all
aspects and have a definite elegance. The dog should be
well muscled and sleek. Any courseness should be
penalised."
CHARACTERISTICS:
The Hungarian Vizsla is a versatile gundog that must be able
to work in the field, forest and water and have the following
typical qualities.
He must have an excellent nose, firmness on the point be
excellent at retrieving and have the determination to remain on
the scent even when swimming, which he manifestly enjoys.
He copes with difficult terrain as well as extreme weather
conditions. As he is intended to be an efficient hunting
dog then gun and game shyness, unwillingness to point and
retrieve, as well as a dislike of water are undesirable.
Because of his easy going nature and his adaptability, he can
easily be kept as a companion dog in the house.
"The above characteriscs cannot be
really assessed without going out into the field, however the
body should be such that it is well muscled and gives the
appearance of a dog able to work all day".
TEMPERAMENT:
Lively, friendly, even 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.
"This again cannot be assessed easily.
The temperament seen around the house and in the show ring
should be that of an affectionate, happy, energetic dog more
than willing to please and in fact, eager to be involved in what
is happening. Example: The Vizsla will certainly
help you garden! It is uncharacteristic for a Vizsla to be
aggressive with other dogs or people or to be a timid,
frightened wary dog. Any sign of these undesirable traits
should be heavily penalised".
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.
His nose should be well developed and broad with
nostrils as wide as possible. The colour of the nose
harmonises in a dark shading with the coat colour. The
muzzle is blunt, not pointed, with strong jaws that are strongly
muscled. The bridge of the nose is straight. The
lips are tight fitting with no pendulous flews. The jaws
are powerful and the cheeks are strong and well muscled.
"A Vizsla head should
be clean, that means no excess skin in the adult dog.
Young puppies frequently have an excess of skin into which they
grow. They may show a wrinkled brow when looking intently
at something but it should be smooth once mature. Above
all, the head should have a noble or aristocratic look and be
moderate throughout. There should be no excesses, no hint
of houndiness. If there is courseness or houndiness in the
head, it will generally follow through to a coarser, heavier
body than required.
The skull land muzzle should blend together giving an overall
harmony. The muzzle should be slightly shorter than the
skull and well squared at the end with a well developed broad
nose. Lips should not be pendulous nor should they be too
tight. The nostrils which are important for scenting,
should be as wide as possible. As a gundog this breed also
requires not only a big nose, but strong well muscled cheeks
with strong jaws".
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.
"The eye should give the impression of
a good natured dog, lively and interested. The eyes should
be slightly oval with tight fitting eyelids. Any looseness
of eye is undesirable in a gundog as sore eyes from dust and
grass seeds are definitely not wanted. The colour should
blend with the coat colour. Eye colour can be difficult to
assess in young stock as the eyes can take some years to darken.
When assessing young dogs (and that could be even up to 2 years
old), look for a darker edge to the iris. If it is there,
the eye will normally darken. A clear yellow eye could be
a problem. Not only the colour should blend with the head
but also the shape. If the eyes stand out in the head,
look for the reason. It could be colour. It could
also be shape or placement".
EARS:
The ears are set on at a 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.
"'Vizsla' ears can vary greatly.
When bored they may simply hang down and appear to be slightly
low set. When attracted by something in the distance they
can raise the ears which makes them appear higher set.
However, they should never stand out of the head but hang close
to the cheeks whether relaxed or alert. Baby puppies can
have quite long ears into which they grow."
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.
"Bad mouths are not common in this
breed and should not be tolerated."
NECK:
Of medium length, harmonising with the overall appearance.
The nape very muscular and slightly arched. Tightly
fitting skin (no dewlap) at the throat.
"This Standard does not call for a long
neck. It should be long and strong enough to allow the dog
to collect and carry game. The neck should not be thick or
coarse, short or stuffy as this will detract from the refined
elegant look of this breed. The neck should also be clean
with no loose skin for an injured animal to grasp. The
neck should have a slight arch and flow smoothly into the
withers."
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.
"The shoulders should be well laid back
with good angulation between the shoulder blade and the upper
arm which should be reasonably long and well muscled. The
elbows should be close to the body but not tight nor turning
out. The legs should have good bone with short pasterns
which are very slightly sloping to allow quartering in the
field."
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 arches forechest. The sternum should extent 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.
 
"The topline of the dog
should flow from the slight crest at the top of the neck to the
high set withers and along the level back to a slightly low set
tail. The high set withers are important in this breed for
without them you will not have the correct flow from head to
tail nor will there be correct layback of shoulder. Any
angle forming between the neck and the back should be checked
for the cause. Also important is the prosternum which
should be evident but not exaggerated.
The withers and prosternum should be evident even in a
youngster. If not there, they never will be. The
depth of chest however, may disappear during rapid growth and
reappear when the youngster stops growing upward and begins to
fill bout. Baby puppies and even youngsters may often have
a skirt or flank which also disappears as they grow. As
they lose this excess skin they may also appear to have too much
tuck-up. The chest should come to the elbow and should
have a well developed forechest without being exaggerated.
The sternum should extend well back from the elbow giving the
dog in profile a well ribbed body with plenty of heart and lung
space. The loin should be short and strong."
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
leg 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.
"The hindquarters should be well
angulated so that the dog has strong drive and can cover plenty
of ground on the move. The hocks should be well let down,
short and vertical. The bone should be strong but not
coarse and the legs parallel from behind. Some handlers
will stack the dog with hind legs too far apart. Watch the
dog standing naturally or move the legs to better assess the
hindquarters. The topline might then also need
re-checking."
FEET:
The forefeet are slightly oval, with well knit, sufficiently
arched, strong toes. The nails are strong and brown in
colour. He has rough, resistant, slate grey pads.
The feet are parallel when standing or moving. The hind
feet are similar to the forefeet.
"Good feet should be a must in gundogs
which are expected to do a days work over rough terrain.
The pads should be thick to cope with any ground cover.
Toes should be tight and well arched with the two middle toes
slightly longer giving a slightly oval foot. Flat feet
with thin pads and open spread toes are unacceptable. The
nails should be strong and brown, short but not too short as the
Vizsla will use his nails in climbing river banks and keeping
his footing on slippery wet ground."
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 with dense coat.
"The tail should be slightly low set
and is a barometer of the temperament. Whilst standing
around doing nothing, the tail can hang down. As the dog
begins walking he should raise his tail and on the move it
should be at least horizontal. Excited dogs or
strong males will often raise their tail higher. Until
recently tails were docked as the last portion of the tail is
easily damaged when the dog wags it enthusiastically whether at
home against the walls or, in the field against bushes.
The undocked tail can be extremely long with a very think whip
end."
GAIT:
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.
 "The
Vizsla should have an effortless smooth ground covering trot.
It should have plenty of reach and drive. Short busy steps
are incorrect as is the lifting of the front feet. Coming
and going the dog should show no sign of loose elbows. At
speed this breed does tend to single track. Good upright
carriage does not mean that the dog holds his head high on the
move as the head needs to come forward if the dog is to reach
with his forelegs.
The Vizsla should however move with a proud and noble carriage".
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 of the body with the under side of the belly being a little
lighter coated. No undercoat.
"Vizslas who live inside generally have
a softer smoother coats that can feel very smooth almost like
velvet whilst outdoor and working gundogs may have a coarser
feel to the coat. Bathing before a show will make the coat
clean and shiny but also softer. The coat is quite fine
and short compared to similar breeds".
COLOUR:
Various shades of russet gold and dark sandy gold. The
ear leathers may be a little darker, otherwise univorm in
colour. Red, brownish or lightened colour is undesirable.
A little white patch on the chest or at the throat, not more
than 5cm 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.
"The Vizsla colour is unique. It
can vary from light to dark but should always have a golden red
tinge. A healthy coat when seen in the sun will have a
reddish metallic gleam to it. The coat should be the same
colour all over except for slightly darker ears and muzzle and
the darker stripe down the back known as the "Esterhazy Saddle"
- or King Stripe. These together with the light areas
behind the shoulders are common. Like the eyes, the coat
can take some time to darken and youngsters with a pale coat
should not be penalised. Their eventual colour can usually
be seen on the lower legs and muzzle. Very small areas of
white on the chest, throat and toes are permissible.
Roaning on the chest can occur in this breed but the number of
white hairs do not predominate and the roaning is not noticeable
unless looked at very closely. As with the eyes, if the
amount of white is noticeable it is probably too much".
SIZE/WEIGHT:
Height at Withers -
(Dogs) - 58-64cm
(Bitches) - 54-60cm
Important Proportions:
● The body length
slightly exceeds the height at the 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 the head.
It is ineffective to increase the height at the withers. A
medium size should be aimed at. Overall balance and
symmetry are much more important than the mere measurable size.
"Do remember the body length should be
slightly longer than the height at the withers. We are not
looking for a short backed dog - that will not aid in quartering
the ground at speed. However, we are looking for a dog
that is long in ribcage with plenty of heart and lung space.
Also, with the depth of brisket being slightly less than half
the height at withers, the legs will be slightly longer than the
distance from withers to elbows bringing the Vizsla slightly
higher on leg though not as high as a Weimaraner".
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 proportions to its degree.
"There is quite a wide variation in
height for this breed. Over the years there have been
times when Vizslas have been obviously well over the upper
height limit. It should be remembered that this is one
fault and some allowance could be made for an excellent example
of the breed with correct angulation and overall balance but,
not for an over tall Vizsla which loses type and elegance due to
heaviness. Additionally, over the years smaller bitches
which have definitely been within the height range have suffered
with judges considering them too small due to the much taller
males in the ring. Do not be fooled thinking a bitch is
too small because of other Vizslas. There is after all, a
large difference between 54cm (21") and 64cm (25")".
ELIMINATING FAULTS:
● Distinct
deviations from the characteristics of the breed.
● Strong deviation from
the sexual characteristics.
● Atypical head.
● Pendulous or dribbling
flews.
● Under or overshot mouth.
Wry mouth, including all intermediate form.
● One or more missing incisors
and/or canine and/or premolars 2-4 and/or molars 1-2; more than
two missing PM1; the M3 are disregarded. Not visible teeth
are assessed as missing ones.
● Supernumerary teeth not in
line with the others.
● Cleft palate, harelip.
● Light yellow eyes.
Very loose eyelids; ectropion, entropion. Distichiasis
(double row of eyelashes).
● Pronounced dewlap.
● Dewclaws.
● Very faulty movement.
● Dark brown or pale yellow
colour. Parti-coloured, not uniformly coloured.
White chest patch larger than 5cm.
● White feet.
● Lacking pigmentation either
on the skin or on the lips and eye rims.
● Any type of weakness in
temperament.
● Deviation of more than 2cm from the above
mentioned heights at withers.
Note: Male animals must have two
apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. |
