Dog Breed Guide

Vizsla

Profile

Size

Medium - Large

Country of origin

Hungary

Origin

Middle Ages

Bred for

Bird hunting

Height

male 58 - 64cm (23 - 25in), female 54 - 60cm (21 - 24in)

Weight

male 25 - 27kg (55 - 60lb), female 20 - 25kg (44 - 55lb)

Life span

12 - 14 years

A hunting dog with a beautiful short, smooth coat of golden rust. Even its nose, eye rims and nails are a reddish brown that blends with the coat, and this unified single color gives it an air of elegance.

The Vizsla is so deeply devoted to its family and sticks so closely to its owner that it is nicknamed the "Velcro dog." For the same reason, it does not like being left alone for long. It is smart and sensitive, so it learns best through praise.

With seemingly tireless energy, it needs plenty of running every day. It is said to reach speeds of about 60km/h (37mph), making it one of the fastest dog breeds.

Good to know

In Hungary it was carefully bred by the nobility as a hunting dog that found birds and hares, pointed them out to the hunter and retrieved the game after the shot. Its coat blends into the landscape of the Hungarian Great Plain, and it has become the national breed.

The two world wars and the upheaval that followed pushed Hungary's Vizslas to the brink of extinction. After World War II, fanciers secretly smuggled dogs out of communist Hungary and preserved the breed abroad. The dogs that founded the American Vizsla were among those taken out of the country.

In the United States a Vizsla named Chartay became the first dog in American Kennel Club history to earn champion titles in five different areas: conformation, field trials, amateur field trials, obedience and agility.