Hungarian Greyhound (Magyar Agar)

Breed Rating

Breed Details

General

The Magyar agar is a dog breed that is also called MA or Hungarian Greyhound. The MA, although called a greyhound, is not a descendant of the Greyhound breed and is not even known as a Greyhound in its country of origin that is Hungary and Transylvania. The proper alternative name should be Hungarian gazehound or Hungarian sighthound. The dog was bred for hunting and coursing but is more often kept as a companion.

These dogs can live in the city but should be provided with sufficient opportunities to exercise by running, walking or jogging. As with any other sighthounds, the dog should be kept away from cattle. The dog does not like the cold although their coat can adapt to the cool weather when necessary.

The MA is an affectionate and well-behaved breed. They have gentle and calm temperament, quiet, sweet and cautious. They can get long well with children and other dogs and are not likely to bite or attack them. They can be quite reserved with people especially with unfamiliar ones.
This breed is NOT recognized by AKC however it is recognized by FCI & UKC.

Color

This dog's coat color often displays the remnants of counter-shading which is a common natural camouflage pattern. The general theory behind the counter-shading is that the dog will appear lighter on its upper half and darker on its lower half when it is lit from above where it will usually be in its own shade. Predators can learn to watch for this pattern.

Coat

The Magyars have much thicker skin with a short, smooth and dense coat. The coat becomes slightly longer during the colder seasons. This special coat trait of this dog makes them very hardy dogs that can tolerate cool temperatures better than some of the other short-coated sighthound breeds.

Personality

These dogs are affectionate and submissive. Biting or snipping people is not likely to happen with the dog although they have a much stronger guarding instinct compared to other sighthound breeds. These dogs behave well around children and other dogs if they are properly socialized at an early age. The dog is intelligent, easy to train and faithful. These dogs can live peacefully with other non-canine house pets inside the home but it is crucial to never forget their coursing heritage. These dogs are great coursing dogs and are still being used for that same purpose in Hungary. Thus, it is not impossible that they will still want to chase down anything that looks like a prey to them. Nevertheless, proper introduction and supervision should allow them to be able to live along with small dogs and small non-canine house pets.

Care

These dogs are fairly easy to groom for their smooth, short coated hair. Bathing should only be done when necessary. A damp cloth can be used to wipe their coat to keep it at its best condition. The breed is known to be generally healthy and free from any genetic diseases. Given proper nutrition and care, sufficient exercise and regular visits to the vet, these dogs can live up to 12-15 years on the average.

Training

The Magyars are intelligent, easy to train and very loyal. Training tracking dogs to track should be done naturally: the object instead is to motivate it properly and teach it to maintain focus on a single track and ignore others that might seem more interesting to an untrained dog. The dog must be motivated to continue searching for a scent for a long period of time as this can actually be very fatiguing for a dog.

Activity

These dogs are adaptable and should be fine in an apartment or outdoor kennels as long as they are given sufficient exercise and human socialization. They will spend most of the day sleeping but they are not couch potatoes. They will require plenty of exercise to keep them fit, happy and content. Daily long walks, free running and trotting alongside a bicycle or skate are the best ways to drain the energy of the Magyars as they are not very fond of chasing balls like other dogs.