Origins
The Hungarian Vizsla is well known to be one of the smallest pointer dog breeds, originating in Hungary. Initially, they were bred as retriever dogs, and would accompany their owners during hunts to retrieve different species of bird, most commonly, geese, pheasents and ducks.
During the second world war, Hungarian Vizsla’s were associated with aristocrasy, and were not favoured by the Soviet regime after Russia’s occupation of Hungary. This unfortunately led to 80% of Vizslas being either lost or killed.
Being introduced to other countries such as the United Kingdom in the 1950’s, most of the Hungarian Vizslas that exist today in other countries are due to emigration from Hungarians who viewed their canine companions as family, and fled the country with them.
Shortly after their introduction to the UK, during the next decade around 300 Vizslas were reported to be present within the UK. With their numbers slowly rising, the Hungarian Vizsla was still classed as a rare breed until 1971, were the breed was awarded a challenge certifcate status for the first time.
Hungarian Vizsla Blog 