Viszlas

[Trekmoor]

I'm wondering what the hunt drive levels are of the general run of viszlas in America. I recently began training a viszla pup of 7 months for a neighbour. She isn't at all what I'm used to with either brits or GSP's. There's not much hunting drive in her at all. She had 50-60 pheasants flushed out in front of her by one of my other dogs and she chased a couple of them which was fine by me ! Since then she still hasn't shown any real willingness to get out there to find her own however.

In general ,in Britain, this breed is known as close range and often rather slow hunters that take a long time to mature into decent gundogs ....... if they ever do ! The pup I am training will at least swim , many I see will not or need a lot of encouragement for a long time to do so . Am I wrong to expect more at 7-8 months old ?

In Britain it is very hard to find viszla pups with a solid working background , there are very, very few Field Trial Champion viszlas here. They all too often just cannot hold their own when in competition with other versatile breeds. The pup I am trying to train is no exception to this. The only red ink in her pedigree comes from wins in the showring.

Bill T.

[bwjohn]

Some of the things that you mention are true of vizslas. Some can take a little longer to get into birds, but I have seen it with other breeds as well.

I would say that most V's here are medium ranging dogs on average. I have definitely seen some that can run with the best of them. I have a training partner that only runs his dogs in field trial events and does quite well with them. I do think for the most part V's here are getting to be a bigger and bigger ranging dog, b/c people are starting to trial them.

But you do have to get a dog from those lines of breeding.

Brandon

[RoostersMom]

Bill,

Vizslas can be great gundogs - but like any other breed, you need to find pups from dogs that hunt. Show lines, though not as badly divergent in V's as in other breeds out there, are still not where I would look to buy a hunting prospect. My V hunts well, closer working and slower than my English Pointers. He runs about the same as my GSP. He LOVES to swim and has more retrieving drive than many duck dogs I've hunted over. He is not as crazy about birds as my pointers, but he does love to hunt and he is excited to be out there on birds. He was pointing and retrieving at 12 weeks old. He will likely finish his MH test this fall. He is extremely biddable and the most intelligent dog I've ever owned. He also goes rabbit hunting with us and will retrieve rabbits we shoot.

My dog's breeder has a good FT prospect that she is going to breed this coming year if she can finish her CH. My breeder believes in dual champion dogs, so this dog will be a dual dog. She ranges quite a bit more than my current dog. I plan to get a pup from this litter next year - so I'll have to give Field Trialing a chance when I get the pup. I've seen some very nice dogs out of Kansas that are doing well in FT's.

Just like you'd expect from any breed - you need to look into the pedigree before you purchase the dog for hunting.

Elsa

[ultracarry]

When the dog doesn't have the natural drive for birds you are going to have to put it in the dog.

An option is for you to start with a smaller bird and make it almost lie your playing fetch... grab a pen raised bob white or cortinix and tease the pup and throw the bird... when the dog gets excited Fo it one more time, praise and put the dog up. Let the dog get away with stiff you would never allow your GSP to get away with. Once you build the drive then you can work on point.

I have watched some really nice V's work in the past year and my dog is on a string with about 20 of them. A lot of these dogs are field trial dogs and some are closer working hunt test dogs. Pedigree helps a lot when picking a Vizsla for hunting.

Have to throw in a pic....

[Trekmoor]

Thanks for the info everyone. I think I will have to take her picking up at the big shoots here and just let her loose on a few birds and more or less shut my eyes ! Britain has got some really odd and annoying laws. It's against the law here to let a bird loose from a cage and then shoot it. It's also illegal - I think - to let a dog loose on a bird released from your hands with it's wings clipped or held in any way. We are allowed to dizzy birds then work dogs up to them but too many things can go wrong when using dizzied birds in my experience.

We have all sorts of crazy laws to contend with where any kind of gun is concerned too , including starting pistols yet anyone can walk into a shop and buy a crate load of fireworks any one of which is just about capable of taking your head off !
Sorry - bit of a rant of mine our firearms and explosives laws !

Bill T.

[bwjohn]

What if you didn't shoot the bird when released from the cage? I do not think that I have ever shot a bird out of a popper house during training.

Also, with dizzing the bird, at this point you probably want the dog to catch the bird, so I think this would be a good situation. Know after 3,4 maybe 5 birds, you would probably want to stop, but I think by that point the dog in question would be way into the birds.

brandon

[Trekmoor]

Thanks Brandon, I now have access to a small pigeon loft and I will be using them in home made cages that I can pull over with a string to release the bird. This will be something new to me. With all of my previous dogs I had game available to train the hunting and pointing with. I had very few problems when training using wild bred game , the game did most of the training for me. All I had to do was walk along behind the pup and try not to interfere too much !
Been considering getting a radio type cage to release the pigeons with but they cost a fortune here ......... about 200 dollars or £140 - £180.

Bill T.

[phermes1]

I have watched some really nice V's work in the past year and my dog is on a string with about 20 of them. A lot of these dogs are field trial dogs and some are closer working hunt test dogs. Pedigree helps a lot when picking a Vizsla for hunting.

Have to throw in a pic....

That's Wimp, isn't it? Nice dog.

Answer to the original question - there are plenty of Vizslas in the states that know what they're doing on birds. It depends on where you go to look for them.

[ultracarry]

It's a dog named hootie owned by my dogs trainer.....

[Vman]

In Britain it is very hard to find viszla pups with a solid working background , there are very, very few Field Trial Champion viszlas here. They all too often just cannot hold their own when in competition with other versatile breeds. The pup I am trying to train is no exception to this. The only red ink in her pedigree comes from wins in the showring.

With all the regulations that you have over there concerning game, it is no wonder the breed is suffering. Then throw the show ring into it and it pretty much explains the reason for your problems. If you want a Vizsla that will trial with their Euro counterparts just let us know. I am sure we can send you over more than a few that will get the job done. I truly believe that here in the U.S. if there was a most improved breed over the last 20 years it would have to go too the Vizsla.
We have AA dogs, Shooting dogs, Gundogs, NAVHDA dogs and AKC Master hunters. Pick your poison.

[Trekmoor]

If I could afford it I would buy in a viszla from America Vman. I agree, Britains got far too many show vizzies and not nearly enough that can work to any standard worth having.

Much the same thing applies to the weimaraner breed here - the breed has way too many show only folk breeding them. Several of the breeds fans I know here are only interested in how well they can work and are just about in despair at how hard it is to find a pup from quality working sires and dams. At least 90% of our weims cant run to save themselves ! They walk, they trot, they even canter but they do not run while hunting.

One man I know who has had weims for years bit the bullet a couple of years back and imported a quality American weimy pup. He was not disapointed, that pup can "go" a bit ! Some of our weimy breeders are now sniping from the sidelines and claiming that this dog has had a dose of English Pointer introduced............. :roll: They don't seem to realise that if you breed for work then you have more chance of getting work !
A bit of a rant of mine !

Bill T.