The Vizsla (pronounced ‘Venezuela’, ‘zh’ as in ‘vision’), also known as the ‘Hungarian Vizsla’, ‘Hungarian Pointer’, or ‘Magyar Vizsla’, is an ancient Hungarian breed. It was used by the Magyar tribe of the Carpathian Basin for rat hunting as far back as 800 A.D, and later adapted for pointing, retrieving, and tracking.
The first written record of the Vizsla appears in the ‘Illustrated Vienna’ chronicle, prepared on order of King Louis the Great in 1357. Vizslas faced near extinction in the 1800s, falling in popularity to theEnglish pointer.
The Vizsla is an ancestor of theWeimaranerandGerman Shorthaired Pointer, and these breeds may have been later crossed back into the Vizsla. The rare Wirehaired Vizsla (only a few hundred exist in North America) was developed by crossing the Vizsla with theGerman Wirehaired Pointerand Griffon in the 1930s for a dog with a heavier coat for hunting in cold weather. A Vizsla named Sari was the first Vizsla imported to the United States, in 1950. The Vizsla was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1960 and is today a popular show dog, hunter, and pet.