According to the Handbook of Hunting (author Franz Reidolf) issued by the Department of State Lands and Forests of the Republic of Estonia in 1938 and based on the entries in the stud book of the Estonian Kennel Club published in the same year, Estonia did not have its own local hound breed until then. The hounds used in chase (43 animals in the stud book, numbers 245-398) were of unspecified breed and their population mainly consisted of Swiss (Helvetian) hounds and beagles, as well as Deutcher Bracke and dachsbracke. In Edgar Vester’s publication “Hunting Test Questions and Answers”, the types of hounds used in Estonia were divided into long-legged (Kostroma, Polish and English hounds) and short-legged (Swiss hounds, beagles, dachsbracke). During this period, it was decided to put emphasis on preferring a type that does not threaten hoofed animals, is smaller in size and tracks more slowly. Unfortunately, most of the breeding material was destroyed during the ravages of war.

In 1947, the Ministry of National Economy of the USSR decided that each republic must have its own dog breed. From 1947 to 1954, 2,460 hounds, including purebreds of various breeds, crossbreeds and also mixed breeds were assessed and evaluated in Estonia. By September 1954, 48 small-sized specimens of relatively uniform type were identified, which were presented to the relevant committee of specialists for evaluation on October 24-26, 1954. By the same time, the hunting dog judge of republican category Sergei Smelkov had also prepared a draft of a standard of a new hound breed. Breeding started with the available stock and the breed was named “Estonian hound”. National approval of the breed standard was given by the order of the head of the General Administration of Nature Conservation Areas and Hunting Industry of the Ministry of Agriculture of the Soviet Union on December 27, 1954, and the original standard was published in Russian.