Page 188 - (DK) The Dog Encyclopedia

CATALOG OF BREEDS | TERRIERS

Cesky Terrier

HEIGHT WEIGHT LIFE SPAN Liver Can have yellow, gray, or white markings on the beard
10–13in 13–22lb 12–14 years and cheeks, neck, chest, belly, and limbs, sometimes
(25–32cm) (6–10kg) with a white collar or a white tip to the tail.

Tough, fearless, and sometimes willful, with patient training
this dog makes a cheerful, laid-back companion

Also known as the Czech Terrier or The breed is still used as a working dog
Bohemian Terrier, this breed was created and is also a useful watchdog. Though it
in the 1940s in what is now the Czech has spread to Europe and the US, the Cesky
Republic. Its founder, Frantisek Horak, Terrier remains rare outside the Czech
already bred Scottish Terriers for hunting, Republic. For a terrier, this dog has a
Slightly wavy coat
but he wanted to create a smaller dog that relatively relaxed, playful character and it has silky sheen
could fit into animal burrows and would be is sometimes kept simply as a companion.
easy to handle and keep. He contacted people However, it retains some terrier
who owned Sealyham Terriers, and in 1949 stubbornness, so needs consistent
crossed these with Scottish Terriers. He made training from an early age.
more of these crosses in the 1950s, keeping The coat is softer than
careful records, to create the Cesky Terrier. that of most terriers;
Horak’s new breed was registered with it is typically clipped
the Czechoslovakian Kennel Club in 1959 short on the body
and the FCI in 1963. In the 1980s he made and left long on
further Sealyham crosses to broaden the the face, legs, and
breed’s genetic base. belly. It needs
The Cesky Terrier is ideally built for to be brushed
hunting fox, rabbit, duck, pheasant, and every few days
even wild boar in its native country. It has and trimmed
plenty of stamina and a strong hunting every three to
drive, either working alone or in packs. four months.

Tail carried
FOUNDER OF THE BREED low at rest

The Cesky Terrier owes its existence to one man:
Frantisek Horak (1909–96), who started breeding
dogs from the age of nine, and bred his first
Scottish Terriers in the 1930s. Once he had
begun to develop the Cesky Terrier, from 1949
Horak and his “Lovu Zdar” (“Successful Hunting”)
kennels became nationally famous, and after the
Czech Republic’s borders opened in 1989,
people came from all over the world to meet
him. He lived long
enough to see his Yellow-white color
of lower leg and
creation become a
feet matches beard
national symbol of
the country.

A CESKY TERRIER,
BOTTOM LEFT, ON A
CZECHOSLOVAKIAN
POSTAGE STAMP
FROM c.1990

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