Cesky Terrier

The Czech Terrier was created in 1948 by a Czech breeder named František Horák from Klánovice near Prague, by crossing a male Sealyham Terrier with a female Scottish Terrier, to create a small light terrier suited to hunting in the forests of Bohemia. Although not strictly speaking a scientist, Horák had worked for many years in a research laboratory at the Academy of Sciences and used his knowledge to organize crossings and selection. The Czech Terrier was officially recognized by the International Cynological Federation in 1963. The breed is now recognized by most cynological societies in the world. It remains today one of the 6 rarest canine breeds.

Calm and non-aggressive, this pleasant and cheerful companion dog is easy to train; towards strangers it is reserved. Subjects of this breed are especially quiet and gentle.

The Czech Terrier is a short-legged dog, well-built and muscular with long hair, and with a body that fits in a rectangle; its falling ears are of average size. It resembles both the Sealyham Terrier and the Scottish Terrier and its head, with mustaches, beard and bushy eyebrows is characteristic. The withers height is 25 to 32 cm (ideal 29 cm for males, 27 for females). The weight must be between 7 and 10 kg. The head has the shape of a long truncated wedge, without being too wide. The upper lines of the forehead and muzzle offer a clear break in level. Between the ears, the skull is not too wide and becomes gradually narrower towards the eyebrow arches. The zygomatic arches are moderately prominent; the occipital protuberance is well palpable. The frontal groove is slightly marked. The stop is little pronounced, but perceptible. The nose is well-formed and dark-colored, black in subjects with blue-gray coat and liver (brown) in those with light brown coat. The muzzle is straight. The jaws are powerful, the lips relatively fleshy, well tight. The eyes are of medium size, well-set in the orbits; their expression is good-natured. They are well covered by the hair that falls forward and are brown to dark brown in subjects with blue-gray coat and light brown in subjects with café au lait coat. The ears are of medium size, but in such a way that when falling, they completely cover the auditory canal opening. They are relatively high-set and well-fitted against the cheeks. The pavilion is triangular in shape, the shortest side being at the attachment where the ear falls. The neck is of medium length, relatively strong; from the withers the upper line of the neck rises obliquely. The skin of the neck is somewhat loose without, however, forming dewlap. The body is elongated, with an upper line never entirely straight, the lumbar region always presenting a slight curvature continued by the croup. The withers is not very marked, the neck being grafted fairly high. The back is solid, of medium length, the lumbar region relatively long, wide, muscular and slightly curved. The croup is strongly developed, muscular, with a moderately inclined pelvis; the point of the hips is often slightly higher than the withers. The chest cage rather more cylindrical than tall, the ribs curved, the belly of good volume, slightly raised, the flanks full. The ideal length of the tail is 18-20 cm. Attached low, it is relatively thick. At rest, it hangs or presents at its tip a slight upward curve. On alert, it is carried horizontally or higher in saber form. The front limbs must be straight, parallel and show solid bone structure. The shoulders are muscular, the elbows supple, but turned neither inward nor outward. The front feet are large, with arched toes and strong nails. The pads are strongly developed and rounded. The hind limbs must be parallel, solid, well-angulated and strongly muscled, the legs short, the hock placed relatively high, strongly developed. The hind feet are smaller than the front. The gaits are free, lively, sustained, covering good ground; the gallop is slow, but regular. The front legs are carried straight ahead. The skin is solid, thick, without wrinkles or dewlap, pigmented. The coat is long, fine but solid, slightly wavy, with a silky sheen, not too abundant. The coat is presented in two color varieties: blue-gray (at birth, puppies are black) and light brown (at birth puppies are dark brown, chocolate). In both color varieties there are markings

In the Czech Terrier the coat is trimmed. On the front part of the head, the hair forming eyebrows and beard is not shortened. On the lower parts of the limbs and under the chest and belly, it is also not shortened. To be presented at an exhibition, the hair in the upper neck region, shoulders and back must be a maximum length of 1 to 1.5 cm. On the sides of the trunk and on the tail, the hair must be shorter. On the ears and on the cheeks, on the underside of the neck, at the elbows, on the thighs, on the legs and around the anus, the hair must be short. The transition between areas with trimmed hair and areas without trimmed hair must be progressive and pleasant to look at.