Cesky Terrier History

Most breeds of dogs claim to have a history that goes back hundreds of years. The Cesky Terrier has a very short history that is well documented.

Frantisek Horak, the developer of the Cesky Terrier, was born at the castle Karlova Koruna in Chlumec, Czechoslovakia on June 12th, 1909. This was an area where Isabela Palomino horses were bred. Young Frantisek wanted to breed horses and ponies from the time he was quite young. At the age of 9, his parents allowed him to start breeding dogs. After World War II, in 1945, he started breeding ponies as well.

When Frantisek Horak grew up, he became a geneticist and worked for many years at the Academy of Science in Prague, Czechoslovakia. He developed two breeds of dogs -- the Cesky Terrier and the Czech piebald dog (which was formerly called Horak's Labor Dog).

The Cesky Terrier development was started in 1949, and the piebald dog was started in 1954. The Cesky Terrier was recognized by the FCI in 1963, but the Piebald dog is not an FCI breed. Breeds that were developed in the Czech Republic or Slovakia are considered National Breeds. Since the Cesky Terrier has been the most successful of the national breeds, it has been featured on postage stamps, on television, in books and even in a movie.

Although there was a ban on exporting the breed for a number of years, it still managed to become quite popular in the Scandinavian countries. Now the breed is in most of the European countries as well as England, the United States, Canada, and now Australia.

Mr. Horak named his kennel "LOVU ZDAR" which means "Successful Hunter" or "Successful Hunting", which was appropriate for his Scotties, later the Sealyham, and finally the Cesky Terrier. He never forgot his idea of combining the Scotty and Sealy, but the war interrupted his plans to try this combination.

Finally, in 1949, Mr. Horak did a breeding with a Scotty bitch and a Sealyham dog. One pup survived, and as the pup grew up, he started to hunt him. He also reported his breeding of this new breed to the local Terrier Club at that time. Although a brown color is allowed, only a few have been born since the beginning of the breed.

Unfortunately, this first Cesky Terrier was shot by a careless hunter in 195O. Mr. Horak repeated his breedinq with a Scotty bitch named Scotch Rose and a Sealyham dog named Buganier Urguelle. This litter produced 6 pups and the Cesky Terrier breed had begun. Mr. Horak kept excellent records of all his breedings and started a private registry of the Cesky Terrier.

Since the genetic pool of the Cesky Terrier was so limited, Mr. Horak decided to introduce some new blood into the breed. A Sealyham was bred into the Cesky Terrier breed in 1984 and 1985, with the permission of the FCI.

The reasons Mr. Horak developed the Cesky Terrier

Mr. Horak felt that a combination of the Scottish Terrier and the Sealyham Terrier would make the ideal hunting dog. The darker color of the Scotty and the drop ear of the Sealy were two of the considerations.

He felt that the two breeds had become too big for hunting in the burrow due to their large chest size. He bred for a narrower chest and a moderately sized head, longer legs than the original breeds, a softer coat, and a temperament that was aggressive in the hunt, but easily handled.

The Cesky Terrier is used in hunting fox, rabbits, ducks, pheasants, and even wild boar. There is a club of Cesky Terrier owners in the Czech Republic that is just for people who hunt with their Cesky Terriers.

From the beginning, Mr. Horak decided not to burden the Cesky Terrier with tail docking or the stripping of the coat done in the Scotty and Sealy. He decided that the Cesky Terrier would be clippered (shaved) and the tail would be left undocked. This has made the breed easier to groom as a pet or as a show dog.