Thread: Vizslas in the cold

Hi, just wondering what people’s experience is with hunting vizslas in the cold. I’m looking for a vizsla for ungulate work but in the last couple of weeks I have heard of one being sold because it whimpered to much down south due to the cold and also saw one first hand being really uncomfortable in the cold even with a jacket on.

Cheers 🍻

Hard working but soft dogs IMO and I've owned a very large vizsla dog. Very short coat doesn't help. I've seen a couple lab x vizsla cross and they were good dogs. Might be a better option.

Originally Posted by Stefanhope

Hi, just wondering what people’s experience is with hunting vizslas in the cold. I’m looking for a vizsla for ungulate work but in the last couple of weeks I have heard of one being sold because it whimpered to much down south due to the cold and also saw one first hand being really uncomfortable in the cold even with a jacket on.

Cheers ��

yes a lot of our goat hunters tried them and cold and river crossings they suffer - my two good mates are on their third + generation of spaniel heading dog cross - by line breeding from the best indicators with the right temperament they now have some absolute top dogs -for hunters who are not well versed in dog training vizlas can be a handfull - for the first two years you have an idiot untill they get a lot more mature - yes they can be very good even brilliant but need someone with some measure of training nous - a mate ran one and said the only real problem he had apart from being an idiot was indicating deer especially Ruahines the deer could be a kilometer down the face if the wind was right and yet the way the vizla was indicating one would think it was 50 metre away - pure heading dogs especially strong eye type can be a problem - one kiwi dog I knew a tri coloured strong eye was fixated with fetching sticks for some reason - pure border collie can be very good but need again a careful owner - many can be very shy and definitely a one person dog but respond well to a kind owner - but cross that with a springer spaniel and you are away

Had couple of GDP crosses and they really feel cold and shiver a heap.neopreme coats work really well and can't see polarfleece being any less effective

I had a Vizsla x heading dog. Great dog but still felt the cold. Now have a young well bred tough hill type Border Collie and I can see why deer cullers favoured them.
Smarter more intuative, good coat that stays clean and no issue with rain or cold.
Of the Vizsla's, there is a wire coated version that was formed by crossing german wire haired pointer x vizsla

I'm probably biased but if I could find a decent bitch of the same cross I would definitely breed a line from Bo. Catahoula/heading dog. Smartest dog I've ever come across, heading dog gives him brains and keeps him quiet, I've never heard him whine or squeek once. Catahoula gives him a super strong prey drive and great nose. Loves water (Catahoula again) and cold doesn't bother him, he jumps.in every water trough he sees even now with hard frosts on the ground. Been the easiest dog ever to train he basically did it himself and I just learned to work with him and I've stopped counting how many deer he's put up, he's three yrs this September. Very laid back even as a pup he never gets excited or annoying when people show up but he will guard the house which is the only time he ever makes any noise.

Morgan Trotter...has catahoulas..... lives in Cromwell I think..was fish n game ranger

I’m years away hopefully but for my next dog I’ll be enquiring with a guy who goes by ‘Fiordland finders’.

I don’t know if he’s on here. They look like English pointer X lab and he’s down your way.

My fella has a range of coats/vests, a horse blanket one for when we're out on the hills, a neophene vest for duck shooting and a knitted woolen jersey type one for nights. Its just part of the Vizsla thing, like them needing to be against you all the time, super needy.

The trade off is a dog that can visually spot deer at 500m and track a pheasant from about the same.

My boy is half Lab and half Visla and he feels the cold. First dog I've had that seems to feel the cold so I will need to get him a coat or jacket.
Wool would be good if they're going to get wet since it stays warm. Downside is it might get heavy when wet.

I have a 2 year old wirehaired Vizsla and he does not seem to be bothered by the cold although he does slow down noticeably in the heat. He has energy to burn (and then some). I haven't had him out in really hard cold but he is an outside dog so he may be acclimatised. He certainly doesn't complain at all in the cold. I reckon that when they crossbred with the GWP's they introduced a bit of resilience to the breed. My GWP (from a few years ago) never seemed to notice the cold at all.

To be fair I think it has more to do with if the dog has a double coat or just a single layer like the Visla, weimirana, GSP etc.... that under coat sure adds to their warmth.
Looks like your fluff monster might have guard hairs over the top of his under coat ?

Yeah pointers to my knowledge have a single coat and will feel the cold. My dog is half Vizsla and half GSP and as you'd expect quite active. He hasn't needed warmth while hunting during the day in mid-north island, but I noticed him shivering in 7 degrees the other day. A couple of things I've learnt/done over time:

1. They need extra insulation - They need extra warmth at night and while traveling if it's cold. We use a woolen swandri chequered vest and if sleeping at night, or really cold in the truck, I've cut down one of my old Macpac Puffer jacket's into a vest (taken the sleeves off) and chuck that on him. Acts like a sleeping bag and keeps him super warm. I also will layer him when in the truck cab as the windows are open for ventilation so can get super cold in winter

2. Extra food. Had a lot of regular hunting this year, and I didn't increase his daily food intake. Ended up having to leave him behind one trip because he hadn't put back enough condition. He burns off fat super fast (Vizsla's are lean at the best of times). I normally take 30% more food on trips for him and need to fatten him on on fatty bones often when we get back to put on condition.

I think he'd struggle as a working dog in the bush longer term as he's so active and they just burn through energy and don't have that warm under coat and fat layer that other breeds often carry. Part of being a sprinter/high performance athlete I guess, to put it another way. Have you ever noticed your larger bodied mates seem to not experience the colder if your on the leaner side? Basic physics

Originally Posted by Ryan_Songhurst

I'm probably biased but if I could find a decent bitch of the same cross I would definitely breed a line from Bo. Catahoula/heading dog. Smartest dog I've ever come across, heading dog gives him brains and keeps him quiet, I've never heard him whine or squeek once. Catahoula gives him a super strong prey drive and great nose. Loves water (Catahoula again) and cold doesn't bother him, he jumps.in every water trough he sees even now with hard frosts on the ground. Been the easiest dog ever to train he basically did it himself and I just learned to work with him and I've stopped counting how many deer he's put up, he's three yrs this September. Very laid back even as a pup he never gets excited or annoying when people show up but he will guard the house which is the only time he ever makes any noise.
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The idea of breeding a line of those dogs is great but sadly genetics wont work the way its wanted. Crossing Bo with a bitch of the same cross (Catahoula/heading dog) will result in pups that are in the following ratios, 50% will be C x H cross, 25% will be pure C but might look like HD 25% will be pure HD but might be marked like C.
If Bo were crossed with another F1 cross like a Lab x Viszla etc etc ( two breeds unrelated to the breeds from which he was formed ) the pups will be consistent and outstanding, performing 20 - 23% approx above the mean line of the parent breeds. As an F1 Bo will perform approx 16% above the mean of his parents

We have had Viszlas and still do. They do suffer in the cold some more than others. They do need extra food as they are very active dogs. We have recently bought a Viszla/GSP/Chesapeake Bay Retriever X to deal with the cold better and they are with CBR double coat. They are good dogs but the straight Viszla wins for temperament by far.