 The Estonian Hound's development was announced by an ultimatum issued by the Soviet Union’s Ministry of Agriculture and Economy in 1947, which ordered every Soviet Republic to establish a local breed of hunting dogs to replace the large breeds of hunting dogs bred at that moment.These large dogs were blamed for the rapid decline of Estonia's wildlife population; it was established that only dogs with a maximum height of 17 inches were allowed to hunt.The result was a very agile and hard driven breed that has enjoyed tremendous popularity since then