Hungarian Vizsla Breed Standard

Published with the kind permission of the Kennel Club http://www.the-kennel-club.org.uk

© The Kennel Club

General Appearance
Medium-sized, of distinguished appearance, robust and medium boned.

Characteristics
Lively, intelligent, obedient, sensitive, very affectionate and easily trained. Bred for hunting fur and feather, pointing and retrieving from land and water.

Temperament
Lively, gentle-mannered and demonstratively affectionate, fearless and with well developed protective instinct.

Head and Skull
Head lean and noble. Skull moderately wide between ears with median line down forehead and a moderate stop. Skull a little longer than muzzle. Muzzle, although tapering, well squared at the end. Nostrils well developed, broad and wide. Jaws strong and powerful. Lips covering jaws completely and neither loose nor pendulous. Nose brown.

Eyes
Neither deep nor prominent, of medium size, a shade darker in colour than coat. Slightly oval in shape, eyelids fitting tightly. Yellow or black eye undesirable.

Ears
Moderately low set, proportionately long with a thin skin and hanging down close to cheeks. Rounded ‘V’ shape; not fleshy.

Mouth
Sound and strong white teeth. Jaws strong with perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. upper teeth closely overlapping lower teeth and set square to the jaws. Full dentition desirable.

Neck
Strong, smooth and muscular; moderately long, arched and devoid of dewlap.

Forequarters
Shoulders well laid and muscular, elbows close to body and straight, forearm long, pasterns upright.

Body
Back level, short, well muscled, withers high. Chest moderately broad and deep with prominent breast bone. Distance from withers to lowest part of chest equal to distance from chest to ground. Ribs well sprung and belly with a slight tuck-up beneath loin. Croup well muscled.

Hindquarters
Straight when viewed from rear, thighs well developed with moderate angulation, hocks well let down.

Feet
Rounded with toes short, arched and tight. Cat-like foot is required, hare foot undesirable. Nails short, strong and a shade darker in colour than coat, dewclaws should be removed.

Tail
Customarily docked.
Docked: Customarily docked by one third of length. Moderately thick, rather low set. When moving carried horizontally.
Undocked: Rather low set. Moderately thick, slightly curved. Tapering towards the end, reaching to hocks. When moving carried horizontally.

Gait/Movement
Graceful, elegant with a lively trot and ground-covering gallop.

Coat
Short, straight, dense, smooth and shiny, feeling greasy to the touch.

Colour
Russet gold, small white marks on chest and feet, though acceptable, undesirable.

Size
Height at withers: dogs: 57-64 cms (221/2-25 ins); bitches: 53-60 cms (21-2311/2 ins). Weight: 20-30 kgs (44-66 lbs).

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.

Note
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.