Vizsla Dogs
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[ A Young Vizsla ]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.
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 solid golden rust.
The breed comes in either of two coat types: smooth or wire-haired. The
FCI, CKC, and the KC(UK) consider the smooth-haired and wire-haired as
separate breeds. Male Vizslas typically weigh between 55 and 65 lb (25
to 29 kg) and are 22 to 24 in. tall at the withers, females 45 to 55 lb
(20 to 25 kg) and are 21 to 23 in. tall.
Temperament
Vizslas are lively, gentle mannered, loyal 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.
Like all sporting breeds, Vizslas require a good deal of exercise to
remain healthy and happy. A bored Vizsla is a destructive and anxious
Vizsla who is likely to engage in unwanted behavior, including chewing
anything and everything in your home. 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.
[ Vizsla - Looking for fish in Colorado ]
The Vizsla is a very intelligent breed, and unless intellectually
stimulated may tend towards deviant behavior in order to amuse himself.
This deviant behavior often revolves around food, and large quantities
food should never be left unattended. Vizlas have been known to devour
hams, chickens, pot roasts, muffins, buns and cookies that were nicked
from kitchen countertops, leaving nary a trace by the time their owners
returned. Such feasts may require a trip to a veterinarian if bones were
ingested or excessive bloating of the stomach is observed.
[
Vizsla's love to fetch. ]
The Vizsla loves attention and prefers to be close to its owner whenever
possible. This includes burrowing under the covers of your bed at night,
and stealing your spot in the bed when you get up to get a drink of
water. A Vizsla seeks to maximize warmth, and may sometimes adopt a
spooning position beside you in order to achieve that. On the couch, a
Vizsla will tend to climb up beside and/or on your lap. If ordered off
the furniture, the Vizsla might lie on the floor, across your toes.
History
There are two prevailing theories pertaining to the Vizsla's history.
The first, and most prevalent theory traces the Vizsla 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 Eighth Century. Primitive stone etchings seem to validate this
theory. Vizslas faced and survived near extinction by the end of WWII.
The other theory holds that the Vizsla is a product of the nineteenth
century, having been the product of other pointer breeds.
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vizsla".
