Hungarian Vizsla

Elegant, strikingly coloured, short-coated; Weimaraners, Hungarian Vizslas and German shorthaired pointers are becoming more and more popular as pets and show dogs. There is a down side to this popularity, as the breed club rescue co-ordinators know only too well. People assume that because they are gundogs, they will be easy to train and live with, but they do not consider what that appealing puppy will grow into or what its ancestors were designed to do.

It is a matter of some pride to their owners and breeders that unlike the popular breeds of British gundogs - Labradors, Springer Spaniels, Cocker Spaniels, English Setters - the HPRs have not split into show and working lines. There are working dogs close in the ancestry of the show dogs and vice versa. Many show dogs are pictured in advertisements in the dog papers, on point or retrieving game. This all looks very lovely but what does it mean to the average owner?

In the shooting season, my dogs will work all day, hunting for 5 or 6 hours. Dogs who work on the grouse moors will gallop over very difficult terrain, often expected to keep going for miles before encountering game. They are strong, persistent hunters who will be equally persevering when retrieving game, especially wounded birds. If this powerful hunting instinct is not allowed a suitable outlet, the dog may well find its own amusement - running off, chasing deer, sheep, bicycles and the neighbourhood cats. Not allowed an appropriate amount of exercise and mental stimulation, an adolescent male in particular can drive his family to distraction. Tracking and searching games are ideal (not chasing balls and sticks, which is highly stimulating and can wind an already stressed dog up to a state of manic over-excitement.) HPRs can make excellent working trials and agility dogs.

German Shorthaired Pointer

When working, HPRs, setters and pointers air-scent. In a pet dog, this tendency to a high head carriage means that if the dog scents something of interest on the wind, he will be off before the owner has a chance to react. Training the dog to recall and turn to a whistle rather than to a voice, helps to keep in contact with the dog at a distance.