Magyar Agár Dog Breed - Facts and Information - Hungarian Greyhound

Appearance
The Hungarian Greyhound is a well muscled and athletic, yet very elegant dog. You can see an alert expression in its dark brown eyes. Typical sign is a large long nose with wide nostrils and large thick ears.

They have smooth, short, but very dense coat, which can grow little bit longer during the winter. Thanks to that, they can tolerate lower temperatures, which is normally problematic to other sighthounds like English Greyhound or Whippet. You can find Magyar Agár in almost every color, but most commonly in brown, blue, grey, black and tan, tricolor or blue-white.

This is a tall dog breed with average height between 64-69 cms, which is 25-27 inches and weight between 22-31 kgs, which is 49-68 pounds. The females are naturally little bit smaller than males.

Thanks to the strong and athletic body, Magyar Agár makes excellent hunting and coursing companion. It is true that they do not have higher top speed than the English Greyhound, but they have greater stamina and endurance, so they are better for long distance runs and longer hunts.


Personality
The Magyar Agár is a hunting breed, but that definitely does not mean, that they are not family companions. On the contrary, this is very loyal and friendly companion, which makes a great active companion. They are okay with children and other dogs in the family as well. But i would not trust them around smaller pets, because they might try to hunt them down, they are sighthounds afterall.

When they are around strangers, they are pretty alert and not very trusting, which makes them good watchdogs. For a sighthound, they have pretty strong guarding instinct. But dont worry, this breed is almost never agressive without a reason.

The training and socialization should start as early as possible, but overall, this is intelligent, loyal and eager to please dog that is capable of learning a lot of commands. With proper firm and patient training, this is very obedient dog.

This is very athletic breed and if you want to have a happy dog without any problematic behaviour in your home, it is important to let them exhaust their energy every single day. They love very long walks or jogs, but they definitely love free running the most. But you should let them run of leash only in well known areas or fenced areas.


Interesting Fact
Even though, outside the Hungary this breed is commonly named as Hungarian Greyhound, this is not the best translation of their name. They are unique distinct breed and the word Agár can be translated as gazehound or sighthound, so the name Hungarian Gazehound would be probably better.


History
There is only limited information about the breeds origin and we do not know what are the breeds ancestors, though it is believed that various scent hounds play a role in the breed’s development.

It is believed that this is very old dog breed with origin dating back a little over one thousand years ago, but there is no written evidence about this breed until the 1800s. The most accepted theory about the breeds history is, that they traveled with Magyars to Transylvania and Carpathian Basin in the 10th century.

These dogs were bred for very long distance running and they were used to run up to 30 miles every single day. It is also believed, that in the past, there were two varieties of Magyar Agárs, a bigger version owned by nobility and smaller type mostly owned by farmers. Today, the small type is extinct and we only have the tall Magyar Agár.


Health and Grooming
I already said this in the video, but since it is very important, i will repeat it. If you want to have happy and healthy Magyar Agár in your home, daily proper exercise is a must. This is one of the most important thing to keep your dog healthy physically and mentally. Proper nutrition is just as important.

This is relatively healthy and sturdy dog breed with great lifespan between 12-14 years, which is really good for a dog of this size. But just like all dog breeds, even the Magyar Agár suffer from some health issues, most commonly from Epilepsy, thyroid disease, hip dysplasia and Progressive Retinal Atrophy.

The maintenance is not very hard. They do shed, so regular brusing is good to remove the dead hair and minimize the shedding. Other than that, they dont need any special care about their coat. Just like with all dog breeds, regularly check the ears, eyes and nails and clip them or clean them if needed.