Information about the Cesky Terrier

The Cesky Terrier is a small terrier type dog originating in Czechoslovakia.

The Cesky Terrier was created by a Czech breeder, Frantiek Horák, in 1948, as a cross between a Sealyham Terrier and a Scottish Terrier, to create a terrier suitable for hunting in the forests of Bohemia. Although not a trained scientist, Horák worked for many years as a research assistant at the Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences and used knowledge gained there in his dog breeding. Because Czechoslovakia was ruled by a communist regime at the time, when Horák’s dogs became more popular around the world, he received visits from the secret police due to the large volume of mail he was getting from outside the country. Horák died in 1997.

The Cesky Terrier was recognized for international competition by the Fédération Cynologique Internationale in 1963 as breed number 246 in Group 3, Terriers. The breed is now recognized by all of the major kennel clubs in the English-speaking world. The Cesky Terrier is one of the six most rare dog breeds worldwide.

The Cesky Terrier is short-legged (achondroplastic dwarf) and moderately long-bodied, resembling the Sealyham Terrier and the Scottish Terrier.

The Cesky Terrier has a long head, bushy beard, mustache, and eyebrows. The body is solid, but not heavy. The wavy, silky coat usually comes in various shades of gray-blue with tan, gray, white, or yellow furnishings or light coffee, though puppies are born black. The coat lightens between birth and two years of age.

The Cesky Terrier’s eyes are brown in gray-blue dogs and yellow in brown dogs. The noses and lips of blue-gray dogs are black; for brown dogs it is liver. The ears are triangular, folding forward close to the head. The head is long, but not too wide, with a well-defined stop.

The breed standard calls for a calm dog, and aggression is a disqualifying fault. Cesky Terriers are reputed to be less active and quieter than other terriers. This may or may not make them suitable pets for families with children.

The coat of the Cesky Terrier is not stripped (dead hair pulled out with the fingers or a special knife) as in other terriers, but rather is clippered. The body and tail are clipped, and the furnishings (hair that hangs down under the body) are left long, as is the hair on the lower legs and on the face (eyebrows, beard, and moustache.) The longer hair should be brushed daily.

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