After visiting some chow pups for my folks as they’re buying one of the litter I’m pretty smitten. It’s not clear where we’ll be living next year but thinking of getting a dog and had started looking at Vizslas. Early days and still reading about the breed but where better to gauge opinions from owners than stw?

It would be our first dog aside from family pets as children. I’ll prob be working a lot but my gf works from home so should be able to get a decent amount of attention and exercise.

Wonderful dogs – will run all day as well if you want to take it biking with you.

Best of luck when you get it. If you do nothing else before it arrives, get a copy of “before and after you get your puppy” by Dr Ian Dunbar.

Cheers I’ll have a look at that

Forgot to say the other breed thinking of is weimaraner.

From what I’ve seen of the weimaraner that I know, I’d avoid, the vizlas seem much quieter.

We have one and know/have met plenty of others. They all seem to be the same.

They bond to their owners and can’t be left alone for long, so having one of you working at home is good. They’re very loyal and protective. Loyal and protective can causes problems though – any lone male approaching my wife when she’s walking the dog is under no illusions he’s not getting within 20 yards, which can be ambarrassing. A couple we know had one who bonded with them, but not their kids. Ours isn’t great with kids either, boys anyway. He likes girls. Hates postmen. Oddly, he likes electricians.

They don’t need much exercise. A couple of half hour walks a day is enough. They’ll do as much as you like though and trying to tire them out will make you more tired than them. They won’t let you out of their sight, so they don’t go off by themselves.

They’re bright, so expect to entertain them. Hiding things around the house is good. The first 4 years are the worst.

Great dogs.

Oh yeah, they think they’re lap dogs.

Edit: they’re nothing like weimaraners.

Friend has one, and it’s a cracking hound. Catches hares for fun, and as mentioned above, will run and run. And run and run. And then keep running.

Cracking dogs, if you can give them the time and effort.

Lovely dogs. The wire haired one is short listed as a second dog sometime next year.

Originally I was very taken with weimaraners but not much reading reveals they’re regarded as more neurotic and energetic than vizslas not to mention bigger. I’d quite like a dog that looks after my gf, I’ll be working night shifts and weekends. The biggest issue aside from cost is the exercise, we’re going to be city based for the forseeable future and I’d hate to end up with a dog that was ruined by our inability to give them the space and exercise they need to thrive.

EDIT: Would it be feasable for my gf to go running with a vizsla or is that asking for trouble?

Catches hares for fun,

yeah right

No reason why your gf can’t run with a vizsla. I cycle with mine occasionally (moderate distances and speed) and ride the quad when I’m feeling lazy – he likes to race it, not chase it, and cheats by taking shortcuts to make sure he wins.

This is ours:

AA, I’ve gutted one that he’s caught, and he’s had many more besides.

5thelefant, sounds like you’ve got a proper character! Even if properly trained still wise to keep them on a short lead in built up areas I assume?

Damn, I want one now

You sure its not a greyhound? Theresmany a lurcher not had the toe to catch hares in the daytime. Easier on the lamp at night. I very much doubt a gundog would catch anything other than the odd old or sick one let alone “catch them for fun.”

They’re ace dogs. As said above, they’re a proper velcro dog and will not leave your side (unless it’s to get up to no good, then they’ll come straight back). Don’t expect to leave one a lone for long periods of time without him letting you know it’s not a good idea. Very loyal, very protective. Trust ours implicitly with the kids and the people he knows (and likes) but he will happily nip anyone he thinks is in the wrong place.
Will happily run with you and can make a good biking dog, if trained. All round point/flush/retriever too. Ours can take pigeons out of the air if he really tries. Very difficult to tire them out, great dogs for traversing rough or overgrown terrain and I think they might be one of those breeds that you can’t be allergic to.
Wouldn’t be without one, even though they can be a whiny pain in the arse.

my ridgeback has caught a rabbit and hes just a great big version of a visla. vislas are very very fast. suffer uwith siezsers though which i why i chose the ridgeback

takes pigeon out of the air

**** me these are some amazing dogs.

Great dogs from what I’ve seen, for the lively and energetic owners though. I wanted one of the wirehaired vizlas in January as a companion for our rhodesian ridgeback as Ive heard that they’re a lot calmer and less velcro/neurotically stuck to you than their smooth haired brothers…. having said that my rhodesian ridgeback has started to go rather velcro and will choose to lie against us with her blankets rather than in her rather expensive bed… typical! Perfect sized dogs too I believe as I find our ridgeback a little big when Im on my own and i have to get over an awkward stile. If I had a choice I’d get a slightly longer haired dog too, Ziva finds cold weather horrible and due to her very short coat doesnt do well in undergrowth, coming out with more scratches than wildlife!

Mine caught a squirrel with his paws.

“wise to keep them on a short lead in built up areas”

Probably, more as convention than necessity. It’s easy to train them not to pull though, so it’s not too much of an intrusion.

My dog catches the odd rabbit but he’s such a wuss, he’s not sure what to do next, and trying to hug them is not the most successful restraint technique until his human catches up. He did collide once with a hare but this was just bad luck for both participants. After the initial bang, the hare just gave him a filthy look and headed for horizon.

Vizslas are beautiful dogs and we did consider them at one point but decided on the Weimaraner in the end. Our dog, Hector, is a cracking fella but as mentioned they and Vizslas cannot be left for any length of time. It’s not a problem for us as he accompanies us most of the time and is dogsat by the in laws if we’re likely to leave him for anything over four or five hours. Gun dogs can be pretty mental and when I enquired of a fellow Weimaraner owner at what age did they start to calm down? I was told’ weimaraners calm down about ten minutes before they die…’ Good training is essential, ours could be better, but a more loyal companion we’d struggle to find.
I run a lot with my dog and often see other owners with Vizlas running with their dogs, but it does all tend to be on commons and areas with few roads nearby.
Do your homework and decide whether this really is the type of dog you want and try and speak to a few owners and meet their dogs, but often in life you should go with your heart instead of your head…providing your head knows your heart won’t change it’s mind later on.

My next door neighbour’s is totally neurotic! We are on a smallholding surrounded by woods and he has the run of the place along with a spaniel/terrier cross who leads him astray. They run to the horses for miles without seeming to tire. He is prone to wander, usually with the spaniel, the problem being that the spaniel knows his way home but the vizsla is too stupid to follow her home so we have had to send the search party out a few times.
He’s too daft to catch any wildlife (unlike the spaniel/terrier cross who has even taken a boar 😯 ). Oh, and he’s been put to stud a couple of times which leaves him strutting around like god’s gift for a few hours after 8)

A great breed,friends have them. Best deer dog I’ve seen in action.
We had the chance to get a cross which is becoming more common.
Vizsla crossed with a GWP.
Look’s just like a mini GWP (ours is black with pepper blaze on chest) but with the affectionate temper of a Vizsla.

Are they not what Hungarians use to roll cigarettes?

Why yes, that is my coat….

^ 😀

I would also look at German shorthaired pointers- very similar attributes to the vizsla but from the sounds of it may be a little more independent

I see a lady in the mornings walking a beautiful Vizsla, it’s one if the very few dogs my GSP properly plays with. It genuinely pleases me to see two fantastic dogs belting round a great big field like a couple of loons. Both great breeds.

Mine is very protective and very nervy. Despite the webbed feet she won’t swim after nearly drowning when she was a pup, and she has bonded very tightly to my wife and I. She doesn’t like strangers if she feels they’ll take your attention, and this is despite a load of training.

However, she’s a great dog aside from that. Very loyal, very fit and will walk to heel for hours on end when up in the hills. They take a lot of work, but are a good breed overall. At the moment she’s curled up next to me on the sofa asleep.

If I was getting a dog, they’d be my number 1 choice

I was v. tempted to kidnap this one

Good mate has one and she’s lovely…. Having pups due on Boxing Day if you’re interested.

painfully tempting but no idea where we’ll be living in August and could be that there London

OP

My parents have been breeding, working and showing them for something like 30 years. My mother also judges them and has been on the committee of The Hungarian Vizsla Club and Society. She lives to promote the breed (although she may be a bit biased!)

Drop me a line and I can get you in contact with her. She can tell you anything you want to know and could put you in contact with a breeder in your area.

Of course I think they’re fantastic dogs, very intelligent and love being with people. As a lad I had to walk them most days. They never caught hares but one of them did catch a squirrel once. The squirrel gave it a “peck” for it’s trouble.

my friend has one, lovely temperament, it does enjoy a good old chew though

So far its eaten the hood off a brand new, never worn gore tex jacket, and the new £40 sq/m kitchen flooring that had been down 2 days because he had just destroyed the previous one

😀

I would also look at German shorthaired pointers- very similar attributes to the vizsla but from the sounds of it may be a little more independent

Not if my GSP is anything to go by!

Physically, almost identical though, and mine is a great trail dog.

longwayhome, cheers might drop her an email

i want one, my missus always wanted a dog hmmmmm if only i worked on a farm or something instead of an office

Another vote for GSP here. We adopted a 2yr old bitch this year who makes an awesome trail dog, both day and night. Has done up to 25 miles before now, and easily takes it.

No real experience of them but really like the breed (as others have said Pointers are similar dogs), one of the few breeds able to give my lurcher a run for his money.

We have a Viz, I can’t recommend them highly enough. Beautiful, lovely, bright, intelligent, bidable, loving dogs. They’re called velcro dogs for a reason, they absolutely HAVE to be in your lap the moment your @rse touches the sofa !
From our experience they will take as much exercise as you’re willing to give them, ours doesn’t NEED huge amounts, he’ll have about 45 mins in the morning plus half an hour at lunch and again in the evening. But if we decide to go for a 15 miler he’ll trot along quite happily all day. He’s 11 now and just as enthusiastic as ever, calmed/slowed down a bit since he was younger, but will still run like the wind when there’s another dog to chase.
We’ve been quite lucky I feel, he doesn’t seem to mind being left on his own too much and has never been destructive or chewey. We always give him Kongs stuffed with his dry food if we go out for any length of time which keep him amused and something to chew on.

Things to watch out for :
Can be a bit neurotic, ours hates travelling in the car, on a bus or by train. He will get in the car but rarely relaxes, and shakes beforehand. Must have scared him at some point as he used to be ok.
Get them used to this early-on.
And he hates black labradors on sight for some reason, prob had a nasty experience with one a few years back that we’ve forgotten about.
Can be a bit over-dominant with other dogs too, I think it’s an insecurity thing.
They have their signature health issues, as all breeds do. They’re prone to eye problems. Ours had a glaucoma about five years ago and lost an eye becuase of it. Medication has kept the other healthy ever since much to the vets amazement, we expected him to lose the other at some point after a year or two.
There is a disease (whose name I forget) that causes muscle-wasting around the head and is very serious, ours doesn’t suffer luckliy but it is out there.
Ours was mildly haemophiliac when he was much younger but he grew out of it early-on. Would bleed from various places for no reason, notably gums and wedding tackle (!). Used to take longer than usual to heal from wounds like general cuts and grazes and from when he had the snip.
Do some Googling about Vizsla health issues.
A lot of these issues are genetic and if you can trace the bloodline of your prospective pup you can avoid those families with any history of these problems.
Hope that helps. Go for it, they are wonderful dogs.

Amber the downhill viz

Great YouTube vizsla video! I’ve got a viz and this sums them up perfectly!

Stupid link thing! Just search for amber the downhill dog