SatinHunter

Hey everyone I'm relatively new to this forum. I have looked around it for info but never posted anything before. Anyways I'm looking into getting a dog and attempting to train it on my own. I understand the norm for upland stuff is GSP's etc, and the norm for ducks is retrievers and so on. I have been thinking about a different dog though. A couple of my buddies have vizslas and they are really cool dogs and very athletic. I was wondering if you guys have any info on these dogs from a hunting standpoint.

Vizsla Vince

Best damn bird dog you could hope to find!!! Make sure you find a reputable breeder, though. You will probably pay alot, but it will be worth every penny. Zoomie, my V, is the first gun dog I've ever trained, and I couldn't be happier! They are very trainable or "biddable" as they say. You don't need a heavy hand to train them, where as withthe GSP, I have heard, your most effective training tool is the 2 x 4.
Vizslas are upland maniacs!! They are very high energy, as a good hunting dog should be, and need an outlet, and I mean almost daily! They have fantastic noses and are great on point. I hardly had to reinforce pointing at all with Zoomie. It seemed to come naturally to him. Zoomie isn't a "natural" retriever, its something we work on... Gut nothing seems to stop him in hte field, short of nearly ripping a pad cleamn off. And evcen then, it was hard to keep him still.
In my opinion, you couldn't be making a better choice for an upland dog!

I don't know where you live, but here is the link to my breeder:
http://www.buschvizslas.com/
Many people travel to him from out of state due to his reputation. Jim & Linda are good people who really care about the breed & their performance. There should also be a link to the Vizsla webring from their site.

BHElkHunter

I helped my father train our english pointer/brittany mix and our purebred brittany when I was growing up. Now I have a Vizsla of my own that I'm training myself.

The Vizsla is by far the easiest of the three to train so far. He's also proven himself valuable as a hunter. Together this season we've got two pheasants, a hungarian partaridge, a bobwhite quail, a sharp-tail grouse, and a snipe. Not a bad season for asix month old puppy!

The quail in particular we would have never recovered if it weren't for Harney, my Vizsla. When it was shot, it looked like it was dead before it hit the ground... it wasnt. My Dad and I must have walked right over it several times before Harney stomped it out of a tight patch of grass.

Due to Harney's trainability and success in his innagural season, I would recommend a Vizsla to anyone.

SatinHunter

now this might be a dumb question also but what about ducks/geese? I know the dogs can swim but do they really struggle in the water compared to other dogs. I'm not looking for it to be the best but it would be a big plus if these dogs could retrieve ducks too.

Vizsla Vince

Vizslas fall into the category of "versatile" which means they can be used to point, retrieve, and track game. I believe most V's have been somewhat specialized as upland pointers, but the basic mechanics should still be entact in their DNA. As far as a waterfowl retriever goes, they can certainly do the job, but you will have to recognize their limited ability in very cold water. They aren't built like labs, and they don't necessarily have the same compulsion to be in the water as a lab, but with the proper conditioning, they are not the least bit shy about water, either.

birddog3412

I saw my first vizsla about 2 months ago in south dakota, he did exceptional on pheasant. he was only about 7 months old, i thought he was kind of big for his age (id guess about 45 lbs). His hair was really smooth, probably as smooth as any dog i have ever felt. I dont know if it was him or if all are that smooth. They are also a very pretty color and they stand out very well in corn and cattails.
I would have to agree though you would not want to take them waterfowling in freezing weather. There are wirehaired vizslas, dont know how popular they are.

Vizsla Vince

Not ALL V's are so smooth. We had a rescue V who never hunted & his fur was like satin. My V's hair is definitely much coarser. Not to imply that hunting has anything to do with that. More likely genetics. And don;t think that their short coat slows them down in the cold... They can take it as cold as you can, just not in the water, at least not without a neoprene vest & such.

birddog3412

Sorry, in meant freezing water, not freezing weather.

BHElkHunter

We introduced Harney to water in September/October, but he wasn't too fond of it yet. The water gets cold pretty fast up here, but I hope that someday I'll be able to get him to retrieve early season ducks.

Derag2

I looked into the Vizsla breed and a breeder close by wants 1000 bucks a pup..... They seem to be awsome dogs.