The breeds · gun dog · versatile

UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 245

Cesky Fousek.

Continental pointing dog of griffon type (FCI Group 7, Section 1.3, with working trial): 'a multipurpose dog with inherent qualities for field and water, as well as for work in woodland', with 'innate sharpness to vermin'. A NAVHDA recognized versatile breed: points, retrieves on land and water, tracks wounded game.

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

25 / 24INHeightdogs 24.8, bitches 23.6. An ideal from the standard, not a range.

49–75LBWeight, all linesbreed dogs 68.3 lb (61.7 to 75); breed bitches 55.1 lb (48.5 to 61.7).

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 24.8 in (23.6 to 26) · bitches 23.6 in (22.8 to 24.4)

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

Center is the standard's table figure, 60 cm. The UKC standard prints 23 to 24.5 inches.

Weight

dogs 68.3 lb (61.7 to 75) · bitches 55.1 lb (48.5 to 61.7)

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

Center is the table figure, 25 kg, which is also the midpoint. The UKC standard prints 48 to 62 lb for females.

Coat

Three types of hair: a soft dense undercoat 1.5 cm long that 'prevents dampness penetrating to the skin and is almost completely shed in the summer'; a 3 to 4 cm harsh, coarse, close-fitting topcoat; and 5 to 7 cm especially harsh, straight guard hair on forechest, topline, flanks and shoulders. Feathering on the rear of the legs, no brush on the tail, a beard on lower jaw and lips, eyebrows pointing obliquely upward. Colours: dark roan with or without brown patches; brown with ticking on forechest and lower limbs; brown without markings

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

The UKC standard describes the same three-layer coat with the topcoat at one to one and a half inches.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · Medium-length wire double coat: 1.5 cm undercoat (shed in summer) under a 3-4 cm harsh topcoat and longer guard hair

DerivedFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

Derived from the standard's coat description: a medium double coat = 3 (the medium band). The undercoat's summer shedding is noted by the standard but does not move the band.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

The club places puppies only with owners who agree to hunt the dog and keep it as a family dog, and requires every placed puppy to be run in the Natural Ability and Intermediate Hunting Dog tests; a working gun dog first

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Qualitative; no registry minutes band exists for this breed. exercise_need_min not recorded.

Energy

'Driven yet cooperative hunters that exhibit a strong handler bond'; 'plenty of hunting desire, but the dog has a strong drive to please its handler'; the standard: general appearance 'shows strength and endurance', 'easily trained and very devoted to his master'

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Qualitative. No AKC page exists (the breed is not in the AKC Foundation Stock Service) and no Royal Kennel Club page; no registry energy or exercise band.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

The UKC standard: 'a multi-purpose dog for field, water and woodland'. The breed's North American club tests field, water and woods work at the Utility level.

Primary game

Upland birds found, pointed and retrieved: the club names grouse in New England thickets, pheasants in the Dakotas and chukars in the Snake River coulees; waterfowl retrieved from creek bottoms, field layouts and coastal marsh blinds

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America (formerly the Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Club of America)

The club names no single bird; versatile breeds are judged on birds, water and track together.

Also used on

Ducks; blood tracking of deer; shed-antler hunting; fall turkeys; furred game (the standard's 'sharpness to vermin'). The club's Utility Field Test includes a 200-yard drag and an optional 400-yard blood track

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America (formerly the Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon Club of America)

Range

Medium: ranges out in open country, hunts close when cover thickens; 'naturally cooperative and that hunts with and for his handler'; the club calls it 'the ideal versatile gun dog for the on-foot hunter'

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Parent club only (Managed Breeding page; the 'on-foot hunter' line is the club's home page); fewer than three sources behind this value.

Search pattern

'The dog should range out in open country but hunt close when cover thickens. Change direction in the field and watch the dog come running to quarter in front of you. We test and breed for that style of hunting behavior.' 'Seldom will you see a shock collar on one of our dogs'

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Club statement of the hunting style it selects for; no editorial source was opened.

Field trial standard

CFNA runs three progeny tests judged 0-4 per category by a panel of three: Natural Ability (6-16 months; water affinity, searching, pointing, tracking a live bird, plus nose, attitude and cooperation, max 28), Intermediate Hunting Dog, and the Utility Field Test (18 months and up; water work including duck search, blind retrieve from heavy reeds, steadiness at the blind and a marked fall from deep water; field work including search, pointing, steadiness to wing and shot, retrieve of shot bird, whoa at a distance, pheasant track; woods work including heel, a 200-yard drag and optional blood track). Breeding stock must pass both Natural Ability and the Intermediate Hunting Dog test

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

The breed is also NAVHDA recognized (navhda_breeds) and runs in NAVHDA tests; CFNA's tests follow the same versatile grammar. Conformation, coat and temperament are scored at every CFNA test.

Water work

Water work is tested at every level: affinity for water in the Natural Ability Test; duck search, blind retrieve from heavy reeds, steadiness at the blind and a marked retrieve from deep water in the Utility Field Test. The standard: 'inherent qualities for field and water'; the club: 'an affinity for water and determination to track down and retrieve ducks'

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Cold water

4 of 5 · Dense undercoat built to keep dampness off the skin under a harsh, close-fitting wire topcoat; the standard names 'inherent qualities for field and water'; the club runs water work in every test level and describes duck work from creek bottoms and coastal marsh blinds

DerivedFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2013

Derived from coat (fci_std) and water work (cfna_about, cfna_testing, navhda_breeds). A versatile dog with a protective double coat, not a specialist cold-water retriever; 4 rather than 5.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

No Cesky Fousek (or Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon) row in the OFA hip, elbow or any other table: the North American club evaluates hips through PennHIP, not OFA, and publishes results per breeding in its newsletter rather than as a breed percentage

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

Recorded so the absence is visible; no percentage is claimed. The club requires PennHIP results 'in the top half of the North American population' for breeding stock (cfna_stock).

Most common disorders

The club screens breeding stock for hip dysplasia (PennHIP) and for degenerative myelopathy by genetic analysis ('we will not breed two DM carriers together'); it runs an owner health survey from two years of age and a lifespan survey, and supplies Cornell University with health data on dogs run in the Intermediate Hunting Dog Test. No prevalence figures are published

Breed clubCesky Fousek North America

Club statement only; no VetCompass, UK survey, insurer or OFA prevalence exists for this breed. The health-survey page says the survey covers 'conditions shown to have a genetic link or suspected of including genetic factors' without naming them.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

USClub health survey from two years of age and lifespan survey (owner-reported, fed to the breeding committee)CFNA health database · Cesky Fousek North America, Health Survey and Canine Lifespan Survey (club health database; Cornell University health data on dogs run in the IHDT)
USPass both the Natural Ability Test and the Intermediate Hunting Dog Test before breeding; conformation, coat and temperament assessed at testCFNA progeny tests · Cesky Fousek North America, Breeding Stock: minimum conditions for approval as a breeding dog (NAT and IHDT pass, PennHIP top half, degenerative myelopathy genetic analysis)
USDegenerative myelopathy genetic analysis (required; two carriers are never bred together)DNA · Cesky Fousek North America, Breeding Stock: minimum conditions for approval as a breeding dog (NAT and IHDT pass, PennHIP top half, degenerative myelopathy genetic analysis)
USHip evaluation by PennHIP, result in the top half of the North American population (required for CFNA breeding approval)PennHIP · Cesky Fousek North America, Breeding Stock: minimum conditions for approval as a breeding dog (NAT and IHDT pass, PennHIP top half, degenerative myelopathy genetic analysis)

No KENAI kennel lists the Cesky Fousek yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called: Bohemian Wirehaired Pointing Griffon, Bohemian Wire-Haired Pointing Griffon, ƒåesk√Ω Fousek, Fousek, CF

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