The Hungarian Vizsla, pronounced VEEZH-la (zh as in vision), is a dog breed originating in Hungary. Vizslas are known as excellent hunting dogs, and also have a level personality making them suited for families. The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla was created by cross-breeding the Hungarian Shorthaired Vizsla with the German Wirehaired Pointer during the 1930s.

Appearance

The Vizsla, as described in the AKC standard, is a medium-sized short-coated hunting dog of distinguished appearance and bearing. Robust but rather lightly built; the coat is an attractive golden rust color. Small areas of white on the fore-chest and on the toes are permissible but undesirable. The tail is normally docked to two-thirds of the original length. The ideal male is 22 inches(0.55 m) to 24 inches (0.61 ). The ideal female is 21inches (0.53 m) to 23 inches (0.58m). Commonly weighing 40-65 lbs (18.14-29.48 kg). Because the Vizsla is meant to be a medium-sized hunter, any dog measuring more than 1½ inches over or under these limits must be disqualified.

• Wirehaired Vizsla: The Hungarian WireHaired Vizsla is a medium-sized, wire-coated hunting dog, with a distinguished appearance and bearing. They have a lean build and are very robust.

Coat: Various shades of russet gold and dark sandy gold: wiry, close-lying, strong,and dense. 3/4 of an inch to 1 1/4 inches in length with a dense, water-repellent undercoat. The outline of the body is not to be hidden by the longer coat. Pronounced eyebrows along with a strong, harsh beard, ¾ of an inch to 1¼ inch-beard on both sides of the muzzle reinforce the determined expression. The coat should never be long, soft, silky, shaggy, crinkle, woolly, thin, lacking undercoat or lacking brushes on the legs. The tail is docked 1/4 in countries where docking is permitted. Ideal males: 22¾ to 25¼ inches Ideal females: 21¼ to 23¾ inches

Temperament

Vizslas are lively, gentle mannered, loyal, caring and highly affectionate. They quickly form close bonds with their owners. They are natural hunters with an excellent ability to take training. Not only are they great pointers, but they are excellent retrievers as well.They will retrieve on land and in the water, making the most of their natural instincts.

Like all gun dogs, Vizslas require a good deal of exercise to remain healthy and happy. Thirty minutes to an hour of exercise daily in a large off-leash area is optimal. Vizslas are excellent swimmers and often swim in pools if one is available.

The Vizsla thrives on attention, exercise, and interaction. It is highly intelligent, and enjoys being challenged and stimulated, both mentally and physically. Vizslas that are under-stimulated can easily become destructive or hyperactive. Under-stimulated Vizslas may also become gluttonous, stealing food off of counter-tops and tables. However, because Vizslas are so active, they are unlikely to become overweight.

The Vizsla prefers to be close and interacting to its owner whenever possible. It is totally unsuited to being kept in a kennel, as it needs to be around its family as much as possible, and many Vizslas will sleep in bed with their owners if allowed, burrowing under the covers if at all possible.

History

The origin of the Vizsla can be traced back to very early times in Hungarian history. Ancestors of today's Vizsla were the hunting dogs used by the Magyar tribes living in the Carpathian Basin in the 8th century.

The first written reference to Vizsla dog breed has been recorded in "Illustrated Vienna Chronicle" prepared on order of King Lajos the Great (Louis the Great) by the Carmelite Friars in 1357 (Boggs, 2000:17).

Vizslas faced and survived several near-extinctions in their history. First from being overrun by English Pointers and German Shorthair Pointers in 1800s (Boggs, 2000:19) and to near extinction after WWII (Boggs, 2000:21).

The Vizsla was used in development of other breeds most notably Weimaraner and German Shorthair Pointer breed (Boggs, 2000:18). There is much conjecture about those same breeds along with other pointer breeds being used to reestablish the Vizsla breed at the end of 19th century. (Boggs, 2000:19). In either case the striking resemblance between the three breeds is indisputable.

• Wirehaired Vizsla: Is a separate breed from its common smooth coated cousin. The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla was created in the 1930's by the interbreeding of the Vizsla and the German Wirehaired Pointer to get a dog with a heavier coat, suitable for working in the colder weather. The Wirehaired Vizsla is recognized by the FCI, CKC, UKC, and the KC(UK). Currently there are less then 400 Wirehaired Vizslas in the United States.

Vizsla in US

Frank J. Tallman and Emmett A. Scanlan imported Vizsla Sari as the first Vizsla in the United States of America. Sari and her two pups (Tito and Shasta) were delivered by a TWA cargo plane to Kansas City via New York from Rome on October 7, 1950. (Boggs, 2000:23).

Sari was later bred with Vizsla Rex. The male Vizsla Rex del Gelsimino, born 8/1/49, was purchased for $75 in food, clothing, medicine, and other supplies thanks to an Belgrade's US Embassy employee M.M. Yevdjovich who provided the direct connection to the owner in Stapar, Serbia to Tallman's representative Harry R. Stritman. Rex understood German and Hungarian commands and the claim has been made of history dating back to 1730 although never verified through a Serbian dog book in Yugoslavia. Rex was delivered by a TWA cargo plane to Kansas City via New York via Brussels from Belgrade on June 12, 1951. (Boggs, 2000:26)

There is a bit of controversy about Rex's official breeder, i.e. verbatim from (Boggs, 2000:26): "The Yugoslavia Kennel Club offered to give temporary registration to Vizslas at a local dog show so as to register future blood lines since many of the dogs in Yugoslavia and behind the Iron Curtain were pure bred, but without registration papers.

The American Kennel Club recognized Vizsla as the 115th breed on November 25, 1960.

References

• Boggs, Bernard C. (2000). The Vizsla. Behi Publishing Company. ISBN 0-9700978-0-8.