Breed Feature – Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla

HUNGARIAN WIREHAIRED VIZSLA

“Whilst the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla has all the characteristics of the Shorthaired Vizsla, it is a more placid dog willing to sit of its own accord at the owner’s feet. The energy, enthusiasm and keenness to work is still there along with the desire to be involved in everything the owner is doing.” They are fun-loving and energetic and very much “people” dogs.

The Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla was created in the 1930s by three breeder-hunters in Hungary and Slovakia. They crossed smooth-coated Vizslas with German Wirehaired Pointers (though it is believed that several other breeds have been occasionally introduced). Their purpose was to develop a more robust, strong-boned Vizsla better able to cope with cold and harsh hunting conditions in Central Europe, while retaining the excellent searching, pointing, tracking and retrieving abilities of the Vizsla. HUNGARIAN WIREHAIRED VIZSLAS IN AUSTRALIA

The first Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla came to Australia in 2004 and the breed was recognized by the Australian National Kennel Council from 2007 thanks to the work of breed specialist Mrs Fay Harris who also developed the Extended Breed Standard. Since then, there have been imports from Hungary and elsewhere in Europe, the UK and New Zealand. Some kennels have bred several generations of Hungarian Wirehaired Vizslas, notably Habanero (Queensland), Rugalmas (NSW) and Lasair (Tasmania) – but not all of these are still breeding Hungarian Wirehaired Vizslas and several new kennels are starting. Nevertheless, the breed remains rare throughout Australia.

COMPARISON BETWEEN HUNGARIAN WIREHAIRED VIZSLAS (HWV) AND HUNGARIAN VIZSLAS (HV)

These are two separate breeds. They are shown as different breeds in the Gundog group. They should not be interbred, and any off-spring would be crossbreds.

The standards for the two breeds are almost identical except for the coat, temperament and the word ROBUST. The general description in the HWV starts with the sentence “A lively, russet gold hunting dog of dry and lean but more robust construction compared to the Hungarian ShortHaired Vizsla” (emphasis added).

The height limits are the same but an HWV may look more solid because of its stronger thicker bones. The HWV also has slightly shorter thicker ears and a thicker root to its tail.

TEMPERAMENT

The extended standard states “Whilst the Hungarian Wirehaired Vizsla has all the characteristics of the Shorthaired Vizsla, it is a more placid dog willing to sit of its own accord at the owner’s feet. The energy, enthusiasm and keenness to work is still there along with the desire to be involved in everything the owner is doing.” They are fun-loving and energetic and very much “people” dogs. They like their home

comforts; it is part of being with you. Neither HWVs nor HVs are suited to living and sleeping outdoors.

This is a high-drive breed, though, of course, there is variation between individuals. To become excellent family members they need fair, gentle and consistent training. Crate training and car travel from an early age are a good start.

HWVs are excellent with children provided both the children and dogs are carefully trained to keep calm and respect one another.

COAT

The ideal HWV coat is harsh with a smooth-lying outer layer of hair about 2-3 cms on the neck and back but shorter on the legs. There should be a close water-resistant undercoat. The eyebrows, moustache and beard are not as pronounced as other wirehaired breeds. Like other wirehaired breeds there is variation in coat textures with some being too soft or too smooth.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks to Amanda Williamson (Ashbolt Weimaraners), Maree McCabe (Vizwyre HWV), Lara Sedgmen and others for the photographs. Breed information from material produced by Fay Harris and Karen Orzeszko has also been used.

References and sources of additional materials:

The extended standard is at ankc.org.au/media/pdf/ HungarianWirehairedVizsla_BSE.pdf Here are some books and articles that describe the work HWVs are bred to do, including hunting with falcons:

A mating of two HWVs can produce offspring that appear to be smooth, i.e., they never grow wirehair and do not have wire eyebrows, moustaches or beards. They are HWV but do not meet the standards. The gene for a wire coat is dominant to the gene for smooth coat so as long as the dog has one gene for wire coat it will have a wire coat, but if it also has a gene for a smooth coat it can produce progeny without wire coats.

HUNGARIAN WIREHAIRED VIZSLAS AT WORK IN AUSTRALIA

HWV are versatile workers valued by hunters and dog sports enthusiasts. They make excellent deer stalkers and bird dogs. Despite the small numbers in Australia, HWVs have already gained championships in Retrieving, Tracking, Track and Search and Rally, including Dual and Triple Championships, meaning they are also champions in the show ring. Several also have titles for Obedience (up to UD), Scent Work, Endurance and Retrieving ability for gundogs.

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“The Wirehaired Vizsla: a dog for all reasons”, by Roy Bebbington, 2010, UK

“Pointing Dogs Volume One: the Continentals” by Craig Koshyk, 2011, Dog Willing Publications, Canada. www.gundogmag.com/editorial/breed-profile-wirehairedvizsla/175421 A description of coat inheritance is at australianvizsla healthregistry/home/short-wirehaired-and-long-of-vizsla-coat Details of all registered HWV and HV (main register for Australia) can be seen at www.vizsladatabase.com/

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