Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla ... first impressions

[nanalander]

Lovely read, and a good insight into your first year with her. Very interesting indeed, re the different hunting and pointing styles compared to the gsp. Lovely looking young bitch with a proper wiry coat by the looks of her.

[Naj]

Newf, she has the potential to be a great water dog. My GSPs will go in if you drop a duck but haven’t been that interested in enterIng water just for the hell of it outside if shooting but the Viz loves water. I’ve been walking down the shore below my cottage everyday since lockdown and she’s straight into the water for a paddle or a swim as soon as I slip her off the leash, and she swims powerfully with head and shoulders riding high out of the water, unlike my GSP whose bottom jaw is almost on the water line and struggles a bit when there’s a bit of a wave and she’s retrieving something. As regards ground treatment I’m conditioning pups from the first day out to always hunt in relation to me just by heading off in the opposite direction each time they’ve cast past me. As they gain confidence and their range naturally increases they’re soon hunting with me as the focal point, so just a slight change in body language will pull them across if I want to cover a particular bit of ground. I rarely use a turn whistle unless I’m changing tack completely. And I’m always hunting around the wind so they get used to following my lead and adjusting to changing wind directions as I change beats.

Wullie, it sounds like the enthusiasm for water is shared by both smooth and wires. In general I’ve found that her approach to any novel experience is a cautionary one but once she becomes familiarised then there’s no holding her back. At least it gives you time to take stock.

Thanks, Nanal. She is very wiry, which is what I was wanting. I can never understand why folk strip out the wire so they end up looking like (fox red) labs with whiskers.

Naj

[crackerd]

Naj, poor wullie, having to hear this broken record, but - if I were as eloquent as you in logging my impressions of a new breed, this chronicle could have been me 25 years ago when I moved from pointers to an HPR, the spinone Italiano. (Can feel Our Bill cringing at the thought.) Difference being you had a wider range of game and grounds to bring the pup along on - and when those limited opportunities disappeared for me and put the "team" in improv mode (for an HPR), she (the spin) became a water dog deluxe with the same capabilities you've described below and made her bones picking geese instead of pointing grouse. Interestingly, the breeder had just gotten into spins because he wanted a more biddable (and bolder) breed on both fur and feathers than what he was previously affiliated with - the wirehaired Viz. In any event, great account of her matriculation and you have my envy in working with her.

Newf, she has the potential to be a great water dog. My GSPs will go in if you drop a duck but haven’t been that interested in enterIng water just for the hell of it outside if shooting but the Viz loves water. I’ve been walking down the shore below my cottage everyday since lockdown and she’s straight into the water for a paddle or a swim as soon as I slip her off the leash, and she swims powerfully with head and shoulders riding high out of the water, unlike my GSP whose bottom jaw is almost on the water line and struggles a bit when there’s a bit of a wave and she’s retrieving something. As regards ground treatment I’m conditioning pups from the first day out to always hunt in relation to me just by heading off in the opposite direction each time they’ve cast past me. As they gain confidence and their range naturally increases they’re soon hunting with me as the focal point, so just a slight change in body language will pull them across if I want to cover a particular bit of ground. I rarely use a turn whistle unless I’m changing tack completely. And I’m always hunting around the wind so they get used to following my lead and adjusting to changing wind directions as I change beats.

Wullie, it sounds like the enthusiasm for water is shared by both smooth and wires. In general I’ve found that her approach to any novel experience is a cautionary one but once she becomes familiarised then there’s no holding her back. At least it gives you time to take stock.

Thanks, Nanal. She is very wiry, which is what I was wanting. I can never understand why folk strip out the wire so they end up looking like (fox red) labs with whiskers.

MG

[Naj]

Thanks, MG, I’ve not taken her flighting Fowl yet but hope to be doing so next season. She’s retrieved cold duck so I’ve no worries there but I’m going leave geese until she’s gained a bit more confidence. She happened upon a wounded one last season when out hunting a moor. It turned out to have a broken wing and when she chased it down it turned to face her and that was enough to make her back off and I had to go in and grab it. She’d held it at bay while I got there at any rate. It was emaciated so I sneaked it into a burn while I thought she wasn’t looking and the next thing I knew she was retrieving it.

Naj

[CockerCanuck]

Very interesting read. I know just enough about HPR breeds to be in great danger of exposing the great deal I don't know by expressing and opinion. However she does sound a lot like the smooth coat Vizsla Ruby I had here this spring. Very attentive, intelligent and obedient but super soft and sensitive. A dog suited only for someone who trains with kid gloves on.

[Naj]

Very interesting read. I know just enough about HPR breeds to be in great danger of exposing the great deal I don't know by expressing and opinion. However she does sound a lot like the smooth coat Vizsla Ruby I had here this spring. Very attentive, intelligent and obedient but super soft and sensitive. A dog suited only for someone who trains with kid gloves on.

That’s for sure, CC, mine would squash under the slightest of pressure but her temperament suits my style of training.

Naj

[Naj]

Thought today was going to be a washout but the rain clouds lifted and gave way to a baking sun by the afternoon so hopped out to celebrate the start of the shooting season on a local hill moor. The Viz is 21 months old now and has matured both physically and mentally over the last few months and I was chuffed at how she just slipped into her familiar shooting routine after such a long lay off. She was full of running, despite the heat and was casting out to two hundred yards on occasion and worked well throughout. Just as well considering I’d forgotten my whistle. Turned out there were no grouse but she pointed a couple of snipe nicely, but I wasn’t able to get off a shot, which was a pity. One from a long point where the bird was up and away before I spotted it, and the second a bird off her nose which swung around behind her and wasn’t safe to shoot. But I was pleased to see more hares than I’ve seen in a long time, the heather was in full bloom and it was just a great day to be out with gun and dog again.

Naj

[newf]

Envy you Naj; my hunting is a month and a half away. That reminds though, I better start practicing my gun mounting in the basement once again.

Yes, must be a pleasure following behind your new prospect with dreamy hunts ahead. I’m curious about one thing: the long point. Do I see pointers being encouraged to close in on the prey slowly and then asked to make the flush? Probably I’m wrong.

[Naj]

Envy you Naj; my hunting is a month and a half away. That reminds though, I better start practicing my gun mounting in the basement once again.

Yes, must be a pleasure following behind your new prospect with dreamy hunts ahead. I’m curious about one thing: the long point. Do I see pointers being encouraged to close in on the prey slowly and then asked to make the flush? Probably I’m wrong.

Newf, my GSPs generally point very close to the bird, normally within a few feet. The Viz naturally stands back, sometimes 20-30 yards from the bird, then walks me in when I reach her. She didn’t move on this one and I assumed it was within a yard or so of her nose but then I noticed a snipe zigzagging away from a good 30 yards out. A lark flushed a few yards ahead of the dog at the same time and that may have been confusing the issue, not that she’s prone to pointing larks but she occasionally checks at them. Also, not all birds will hold their nerve long enough for you to get up with the dog and they’re the ones that will break as you loom in on their horizon, so practically speaking, especially on flighty birds like snipe, providing I can get within comfortable shooting distance before a bird breaks then I consider that to be a good point.

Naj

[ips]

Naj
Were you using my....i mean your benelli ??