Early History of the Hungarian Vizsla

Excerpt from The Versatile Vizsla by Marion I. Coffman. Alpine Pubns; 2nd edition (May 1, 2004)

Photo of oil painting done by Elizabeth Mihalyi of her Panni XV while a refugee in Austria in 1948 (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman)

THE history of Hungary, and how its Magyar nomads had hounds that may have been the ancestors of the Vizsla, first appeared in writings around 890 A.D. Before that date there is little to be found in history books that is not guesswork. Language researchers have been able to establish the nomads as descendants of Ugrians and Finns. Included in that group were people from areas ranging from Turkey to Manchuria and Mongolia. There have been many attempts through the years to find the original home of the Magyars but all without success.

While it has been established that most of the nomads raised reindeer, cattle, and horses, it is doubtful that there was any set pattern of breeding dogs for a specific use during the years of their wanderings. Their "camp dogs" were yellow-colored descendants of the Mastiff and hound-type dogs encountered along the way.

When the Great Wall of China restrained the nomads in their search for new grazing lands and diverted them to the west, out of that melee of footloose tribes the Hungarians began to emerge. Climbing the Carpathian mountains, they crossed the Vereke Pass, and in 895 A.D. moved into the area that came to be known as Hungary. Primitive carvings in stone found in the Carpathian regions and estimated to be 1,000 years old, show the early Magyar hunter with dogs closely resembling the early Vizsla.

The Magyars elected Stephen I (969 - 1038 A.D.) as their first king and settled down to periods of farming between wars with invading hordes. It was during King Stephen's rule that the country was centralized. He organized Hungary into countries, each headed by a count. Conveying land titles to these major nobles assured Stephen of their aid during times of need. This form of feudalism kept its grip longer in Hungary than in almost any other country in Europe.

This organization of tillable lands then entered a peak period that would last almost three centuries. with the landowners settled down to peaceful farming, horse, cattle and pig raising, along with the production of grain, there was time to develop a breed of dog related to these landowners' needs and the type of hunting they pursued.

A Mastiff-hound strain of dogs was originally found in the great mountain spine stretching east to west across Asia and Europe, comprised of the Himalayas and the mountains of Tibet—the very area that the Magyars had traversed in their nomadic search for farmland. The Magyar's yellow dogs, closely allied with this type of dog, were then selectively bred until the hunter had dogs with specialized abilities. The breeds they developed, despite their diversity in size and color, resembled each other in the acuteness of their sense of smell, a pronounced stop, large floppy ears, and a short muzzle.

At this point the sporting element was secondary to necessity. Bird hunting was done with these scenting dogs to search for game, and falcons to retrieve it. Thus it was that the pointer type evolved as a suitable dog. Their quiet movements and deliberate action made them especially useful to the Magyars. This pointer type could also drive the pheasants and partridge they located into nets, or serve as useful retrievers of the dead birds, although at that time they probably lacked the soft mouth of the later dog.

Drawing from the Viennese Illustrated Chronicle, done by Carmelite Friars in 1357 show a hunting scene with an early Vizsla. Photo courtesy of Joan Hunt. (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman.)

In 1526 the Turks invaded Hungary, occupying and ruling it for the next 150 years. The Turks brought their own dogs which were subsequently bred to the Magyar's yellow pointers. Since the Magyars were supposed to have come from that part of Asia which was the land of the Turks, the crossbreeding of these dogs could be considered as a sort of "line-breeding." The name Vizsla in Turkish means seek and in Hungarian it means point. The Vizsla obviously did both at this stage of development.

With the end of Turkish occupation, Hungary was ruled by the German Hapsburgs and, under this new rule, the inheritance of the land was limited to the upper class and its descendants. These were the people who played an important part in the early development of the Vizsla as we know it today.

During this period in history, firearms were developed. In order to use this new weapon, the sportsman had to get it ready by seeing that the priming was right and lifting the lid of the pan holding the powder before advancing to shoot game. He needed a dog that could stand still during this procedure. Such a dog could then be found all over Eastern Europe—one developed by many German and English hunters, mainly from the early hound types brought in by the Normans.

Small shoots were organized by the aristocratic landowners, and hunters from other countries were invited to bring the pointing dogs they had developed. These dogs were eventually crossed with the yellow-colored dogs of the Hungarians, and the Vizsla began to evolve into the breed as we know it today. The Vizsla became versatile in the hunting of both birds and small game. A dog would show he had found game by freezing into position with his head held low, one forefoot raised, and his tail held straight out. As better guns developed, the use of the Vizsla grew into the pointer-retriever type that brought the game back from a distance. They were also used as tracking dogs to find the large hares and small deer prevalent in that area.

Once the Hungarian hunters had developed the Vizsla into the type of dog needed for their specific hunting areas, they kept it pure for many generations to come. As sportsmen came from other countries and saw hoe the yellow pointer blended into the wheat fields, making it easy to stalk game, they wanted it crossbred with their own dogs.

German hunters took male Vizslas back to their own country to improve their stock, as did sportsmen from Austria and England, where they crossbred them to their Pointers and Irish Setters. When the first field trial for Vizslas was held in 1882 near Budapest these sportsmen from Germany and England brought their dogs back to compete. However, the island where the trial was held was not felt to have the same hunting conditions as the dogs were exposed to inland, and the following year it had little support and interest.

At this point the aristocratic landowners realized that they had remaining but a few of what they had originally bred and called the Vizsla. They set about rebuilding the breed and it is believed that they may have used the Schweizhund (a solid red hound with powers of scent said to be equal to those of the Bloodhound) to bring the desired coat color back to the Vizsla. They may also have used a Pointer from Transylvania to re-establish the pointer ability. Since this Pointer had as his ancestor a black, tan, and white hound from the same area, the white markings on his chest and feet also appeared on the Vizsla.

1942 photo of Hevizi Lurko at the Festetic's kennel in Toponar, Hungary (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman.)

Whatever breeds were used, once the Vizsla was re-established, dedicated owners joined forces to keep the breed from extinction. Hubertus, an organization formed by Hungarian hunters in 1917, established a hunting dog's division which greatly helped in preserving the breed. This organization selected a dozen Vizslas which it felt represented the true breed as it was depicted in the early historic drawings, and all the registered Vizslas in Hungary descend from this foundation stock of three males and nine females.

The re-establishment of the breed was drastically affected after the end of World War I when, in 1920, the Hungarian Peace Treaty was signed at the Grand Trianon Palace in Versailles. Before the war, Hungary had 125,000 square miles of which sixty-one percent was farmland. Romania was given most of the Transylvania area; Czechoslovakia got all of the south of Hungary; Yugoslavia acquired most of the south of Hungary; and Austria was awarded part of the west. Some 3 million Hungarians were transferred to foreign soil. The kingdom that had withstood the Turks, the Hapsburg Empire, and great power jealousies, now underwent a gigantic land reform. The Vizslas, personal gundogs to the large aristocratic estate owners, were now living in parts of Hungary that had become other countries.

This, however, did not deter the dedicated owners, and late in 1920 the Magyar Vizsla Breeding Association was formed with the help of Dr. Kalman Polgar, Count Laslo Esterhazy, and Elemer Petocz. The heads of the organization were Dr. Polgar, Andre Felix, Karoly Baba, and Balazs Otvosf. When this group held their first field trial in the fall of 1922 they drew tremendous support.

The Association drew up the first Vizsla Standard at this time and kept separate stud books for both the show and field dogs. The standard was revised in 1935, at which time the Federation Cynologique International (FCI), a worldwide federation of national dog clubs, gave recognition tot he breed.

Hungary had suffered political battles and armed aggression through hundreds of years of history, but the next battle fought changed the world. It also took the Vizsla out of his native land and eventually to America.

By March 1941 German troops occupied part of Hungary and World War II had started. When Soviet planes dropped bombs on North-Hungarian towns, Hungary was forced into the war against the Allies by German pressure from within.

Elizabeth Mihalyi shown at a hunt in 1944 in Hungary with the dam of Panni XV, Csitri. Photo courtesy of Dr. Louis Mihalyi. (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman.)

Before the war 5,000 Vizslas had been registered in Hungary, but with the Soviet invasion and occupation, eighty to ninety percent were destroyed or lost. The Vizsla had been the personal gun dog to the wealthy land owners and many of these owners fled the country, leaving their dogs behind. Hundreds of Vizslas were destroyed by the Communists who resented the breed as a symbol of wealth. Many emigrants were able to take their Vizslas with them when they fled, but most of the dogs had to be left behind in other countries when the owners immigrated to America.

Elizabeth Mihalyi was one of the Vizsla breeders to flee Hungary. She took with her eleven loaded farm carts, forty-four horses, two carriages, and her Vizsla, Panni XV. Panni was pregnant with her third litter but when she whelped the puppies during the flight, it was impossible to care for them, and they had to be destroyed. Elizabeth arrived in Austria two months later and was able to keep Panni with her; she managed to remain outside the refugee camp by doing menial jobs. An accomplished artist, she also painted portraits for American army officers in exchange for food for herself, her relatives, and Panni.

During the six years she spent in Austria awaiting passage to America, Elizabeth located a male Vizsla owned by a Mr. Hofbauer of Vienna. The dog had been born at the kennels owned by the Festetics in Hungary and rescued by their gamekeeper. The Hofbauers had named him Betyar and registered him as the first Vizsla in the Austrian International Dog Registry. Panni was registered as the second Vizsla in this book and when she gave birth to Betyar's puppies the litter was registered as the first Vizsla litter born in Austria. Born 19 January 1948, there were seven puppies which all carried a name beginning with a "C." Several of these puppies went to people living in Italy and Germany, and they were the foundation stock for Vizsla breeders in those countries.

Photo taken in 1952 shows possibly the first litter of Vizsla puppies born in America. Breeder - Frank Tallman. Photo courtesy of E. Mihalyi. (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman.)

Elizabeth Mihalyi had to leave both Panni and Panni's daughter with the Hofbauers in Austria when she finally emigrated to America. However, several years later she was able to have a bitch from Panni's line sent to her and she continued breeding Vizslas in her new country. Panni lived past 17 years of age and her contribution to the breed both in Europe and in America gave many vizsla owners their foundation stock.

Vizslas that had been left behind in Hungary when the aristocratic landowners were forced to flee in 1944 were impossible to identify. It is probable that in future breedings brother and sister were unknowingly bred to each other. Without identifying pictures or pedigree backgrounds, new litters were finally registered as "of an unknown breeding" in the Hungarian stud books that were compiled in 1955.

During the post-war years when the Communist government was established, purebred dogs and activities related to them were discouraged, especially with a breed that had belonged to the aristocracy. Dog breeding and canine pursuits became more and more difficult as the Hungarian people struggled to survive and rebuild. In 1956, after a revolt against the regime, living became easier in Hungary, and dog activities again began to flourish. In that year Mike Kende was appointed Director of the Magyar Dog Breeders' Association, and he started to register dogs that fit the Vizsla Standard. These registered dogs were then able to be bred to those that had identifiable pedigrees, but if any questionable characteristic appeared in the litter it was culled. It was only by means of this careful culling that the breed was finally re-established in its homeland.

With the government's bare tolerance for dog shows and breeding, difficulties again surfaced in 1973 when the license tax for a dog was raised to an amount similar to what most workers earned in a month. This action did more damage to the breed than both World Wars. Dogs became too costly to own and had to be abandoned; breeding came to a standstill. It took several years before the Hungarian Kennel Club was able to persuade the government to change this luxury tax on dogs but when it was finally resolved, the hunting breeds were given a tax break.

All field training and hunting in Hungary now falls under the province of the Ministry of Agriculture and Food. The Forestry and Wood Industrial Office regulates the hunting seasons, hunting grounds, and licenses. Field trials are held by the National Association of Hungarian Dogbreeders under the FCI regulations.

Wire-haired Vizsla adult. The course coat protects the dog from injury while hunting in heavy cover. Photo courtesy of Judy Heiser. (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman.)

The standards for the Vizsla, like other European versatile breeds, are high, and the dogs are expected to perform superbly. They are used for hunting deer and wild boar, along with the native partridge, pheasant, fox, and rabbit. The dog has to possess a keen nose, and retrieving and tracking instincts.

In the early 1930s Hungarian foresters and gamekeepers interbred the vizsla with the Wirehaired German Pointer to get a dog with a heavier coat, suitable for work during the colder periods. The result, known as the Wirehaired Vizsla, is everything the shorthaired Vizsla is, except for a rough coat, but as they are mainly required by professional hunters, greater emphasis is laid on their hunting performance than on an elegant appearance. With this weatherproof coat they are able to lie quiet in wait on foggy, frosty autumn dawns or to fetch wild ducks out of icy water and then sit for hours in a boat. The Wirehaired Vizsla has slowly gained popularity in Canada where the Vizsla has two classifications: smooth and wire coats. However, to date, it has never created interest in the U.S.

Photo from the 1982 Breeder's Tour of Hungary shows that the breeders there have regained the quality in their dogs that was lost during early years of the Communist Government (referenced in the "Versatile Vizsla" by Marion I. Coffman)

In Hungary today Vizslas have regained their early popularity and pride held by the Hungarian people as the national dog of Hungary. From the early differences in color, size, bone and body type, and half a century of crossbreeding, the present-day Vizsla has finally evolved. The breed's many excellent attributes are not only bringing him appreciation by the hunters but he is loved and valued as a family dog.

> Review the AKC Breed Standard

> The Versatile Vizsla by Marion I. Coffman. Alpine Pubns; 2nd edition (May 1, 2004)

* In reference to The Versatile Vizsla by Marion I. Coffman. Alpine Pubns; 1st edition (1991)