This is our second time meeting up with Eric and his hunting Vizsla Yoffi. Eric had suggested trying out birds with Whiskey to see if she had interest and drive. Guess what? She totally does!
very interested in the pigeon
sniffing out the bird launcher
It was really dark so the pictures are all blurry but we basically gave her a quail to see what she would do with it. The bird flew off a couple yards from the path and Whiskey ran off, sniffed it out, played with it and killed it. She even retrieved it, but didn’t want to give it back (we didn’t ask persistently). So we’ve got a bird dog!
The goal thereafter is to make sure she doesn’t catch a bird again. We also watched Yoffi train with pigeons, working on his hunting and pointing. Yoffi moved like a pro! When Yoffi was done, we told Whiskey to “find it” and Whiskey even found the pigeon (just made it fly up) in the bush. It was pretty far away so I was well impressed. Whiskey was on a bird high for the next hour, all excited and silly. We aren’t hunters and don’t think we’ll pursue this much, but were really interested to watch a Vizsla work at what they were bred to do.
*The next couple days Whiskey was very bird crazy and hunting (sniffing) everywhere. She was a bit more “wild” but thankfully wouldn’t chase birds that were at a distance.
Yesterday we met up with a fellow Vizsla owner Eric, and his 1.5 year Vizsla Yoffi for a romp in some fields. We drove 45 mins to arrive at this huge field in Maple Ridge where Yoffi normally runs and trains with birds. We didn’t have birds this time but thought the dogs would love to run and perhaps flush out their own.
As soon as Yoffi jumped out of the car we could immediately see the difference between a Vizsla from a hunting stock and one from a confirmation stock. Whiskey’s parents were both shown in confirmation shows where the goal is to conform to the breed’s published standards. In shows they are handled by strangers, shown in front of crowds, and need to stay relaxed in these situations. Hunting Vizslas are bred for their drive and endurance and are tested in the field. So while Whiskey is very mellow for a Vizsla, Yoffi shot out of that car like there was a free bacon festival ahead.
Yoffi pulling and ready to hunt
As we let the dogs off leash in the fields, Yoffi took off bounding around happily monster-trucking through the fields and bushes. Whiskey stayed close and sniffed alot, at first keeping close to us in an unfamiliar environment, then eventually running after Yoffi. Yoffi was playing pretty rough with Whiskey- more from held-back energy than anything else. He also headbutts humans for hellos!
Whiskey leaping over the grass like a rabbit-antelope
a huge space for dogs to roam
Ears flying, dogs diving
Vizsla play is full-on
Pros of Confirmation/Show dogs
-in general these dogs would be better for city life as they are bred to show well and have a temperament conductive to have lots of strangers touch and inspect them
-they must also show good character to be tested (no aggressiveness, shyness)
-they are bred for their looks so they are beautiful!
-they usually need less off leash running and roam closer to you during walks
-they don’t need to work as much
-these dogs will not be bouncing through the walls as fast as a hunting dog if they don’t get a walk
-might be better bet if you have small animals like cats in the house (although probably fine if grown up with one)
Whiskey’s Daddy
Pros of Hunting/Field dogs
-obviously if you want to hunt, you would look for a breeder that hunts and has Field Trail Champions
-these dogs are amazing to watch do the job they are bred for. They are still couch potatoes at home, but are on full “work” mode outside
-bred less for looks and more for personality and intelligence
-I’ve heard show dogs are smaller, more sharply muscled, noisier and more generally hyperactive (Whiskey is smaller, vocal, but very mellow, not hyperactive)
-you may have heard with other breeds, working dogs are usually healthier and living older because they are bred for physical purpose but Vizslas are a very healthy dog that has been much better bred than Labs, German Shepherds, Dachshunds for example. Check this article out!
Vizslas were never overbred and trendy like Dalmatians and are generally a very protected healthy breed. In conclusion hunting dogs have not been proven to be “more healthy” but they certainly have more endurance and energy!
Yoffi’s crazy energy in a picture
practicing “Whoa”
Best of Both Worlds
Of course confirmation dogs can be hunters and hunters can be confirmation dogs if you get the right bloodlines that is! I’ve shown examples of extremes, but every dog is unique and with a good breeder you should have a well balanced dog. For example Yoffi is a beauty with great muscles and amazing fur while Whiskey was pulling like crazy when she saw a deer and flushed out a little bird the other day on a walk. Also with breeding you are increasing a chance, of a specific trait and it’s not a guarantee at all.
So driving home that evening we reflected we were really happy we got a confirmation dog, as Whiskey is not “calm” but she’s practically comatose compared to Yoffi. With both of us working full time jobs and not hunters it would push our limits to have to drive out of the city everyday to exercise her. Of course we’re both avid hikers and Whiskey gets plenty of exercise a day. On the other hand, Eric says Yoffi wouldn’t do well in a dog park with other dogs and people around, and that he was really crazy as a puppy. So although Yoffi is an incredible athlete and intelligent hunter, we’re super happy Whiskey’s been so “easy” to fit in our lives. As I’m typing this, she’s sleeping at my feet.
We’ve just finished our group of puppy classes at Oh My Dog. I’m proud to say Whiskey’s improved so much over the 4 classes and was really getting the “heel, sit, stay, come here” we were working on. ‘Heeling’ to ‘sit’ was the hardest for us since she’s not looking at me most of the time.
This isn’t the first ‘school’ we’ve tried and it’s been a bit of a tough road the first couple of weeks. We’ve worked so much on training at home and in the park with other dogs around, but in a small indoor room environment with other young excited puppies, Whiskey only wanted to play.
Over the weeks though, she got better. Her concentration capacity extended and her brains kicked in. A couple tips that helped were
coming to class early so she could say hello first
try to get her walking at least 3 times before class with some offleash running too- get her as mellow as possible
from the last point, an evening class is easier than morning class
practicing the training everyday
don’t take everything the trainer says as gospel- you know your dog better so adjust
repetition
patience!
Treats vs no treats:
The treat class (first school we tried) emphasized the importance of treats but Whiskey wasn’t very treat motivated. She’s a hunting dog with a drive to run, play and chase unlike a hound who may be better with treats. In the end we found she’s much more play motivated (she will work for a stick or Frisbee) as well as agility motivated (she will interrupt play time for a chance to climb a log). Even using different kinds of high value treats didn’t hold enough value compared to playing with the other puppies so we felt so frustrated in the first class.
We know that working dogs are not trained with treats so we were curious to try training without treats. Oh My Dog classes used pets, cuddles and praise of owners instead of treats. I was pretty skeptical at first. On top of that, there was an emphasis on only saying the command once, and then forcing the dog through the command if it didn’t volunteer the action (pushing bum down for a sit). Bonus was the class also had less puppies enrolled and didn’t allow drop-ins (12+ puppies vs 4).
I have to say it was hard to stop all the treats and even harder to say the command only once (dog is usually looking away) and follow through. My takeaway from these classes was a middle ground. We still treat when teaching a new behavior but treat very little over time. I still keep some treats around for a good recall in the park with other dogs, and also when playing children are around. On top of these situations, treats are also very useful when there is a potential “scary” situation: new animals, loud noises, dremelling her nails, baths. But overall our “treats” have been reduced from 10 treats a walk to maybe 1. I find “play” motivation much better.
