It was love at first sight. Although I had dogs growing up, I never considered myself a dog person, but the first time I saw a vizsla, in my early 20s, I immediately fell for the breed. I was in the American Fork Canyon in Utah on a weekend hike, and a sleek, golden-rust-colored dog with energy, confidence, and a remarkably smooth agility passed by me. Its mission, to enjoy the outdoors with its owner, was apparent and inspired me. Surprising myself, I quickly asked the owner what kind of dog it was (I thought at the time that it might be socially unacceptable to ask owners questions about their dogs). I might not ever run into this attractive breed again. “A vizsla.”
Yes, I was thoroughly won over, but I did not at the time fully realize how magical—and divinely inspired—this moment was. God, it seems, spiritually engrained the moment and memory into my soul, preparing me to receive a blessing that wouldn’t be ripe for the picking until almost fifteen years later: a vizsla for my wife and kids. Also surprising, I never forgot the vizsla breed name, and I started telling people that one day, if I got a dog, it would be a vizsla. At my first encounter with a vizsla, I was single and had not really discovered or recognized my love for exercise and the outdoors, but God knew—and perhaps I knew—that this dog would be the perfect outdoor companion to the person I was becoming, somebody with a passion for long-distance running, mountains, and God’s creations. I certainly had no idea how fitting the vizsla I found fifteen years later would be for my wife, who I had not yet met, and our four young kids.
This is why I, a husband and father of four little kids, love vizslas. (Disclaimer: this is about how much I love the vizsla breed based on my limited experiences with a few vizslas and primarily my experience with our vizsla who just turned a year old. I do not profess to be an expert on the vizsla breed. Yet, others agree that the vizsla is a great dog for an active family.)
1. Vizslas are Full of Love (a.k.a Energy) for Everyone in the Family
I like to describe vizslas as “full of love.” I believe this accurately describes the energy they convey, like most dogs, to people, especially their owners. It is also my gentle way of describing their high level of energy. “Full of love” is another way of saying “incredibly energetic.” When I started telling people that I hoped to one day have a vizsla, I’d often hear the loaded warning: “Oh, that is an active dog.” I quickly learned that this phrase was code for things like: “A vizsla will tear up your house,” “You aren’t active enough to handle this type of dog,” “You will make a big mistake by buying a vizsla,” “You’ll end up getting rid of it and only further burdening our dog overpopulation problem,” and “You’re an idiot.” There may be some truth to these warnings. For most people, I wouldn’t recommend a vizsla, especially if running, the outdoors, hunting, or an active life is not a priority. Vizslas are a unique breed—but a breed that I absolutely love. When I open my vizsla’s kennel door, its like lighting a firecracker in my kitchen. When I run with my vizsla in the mountains for hours, she returns home and acts as if she went on a peaceful walk in the park. When my three-year old girl wakes up in the morning, our vizsla—who is the same height—excitedly licks the remains of last night’s dinner off her face. For the most part, I love this energy. Any annoyance I might have is generally swallowed up by the knowledge of the additional blessing this energy brings. They are great runners, as I discuss in more depth below.
The love vizslas have is not just pure energy. Known as “the Velcro Dog,” they can’t stand to be anywhere but stuck to your side. If I sit down or lay in bed, my vizsla will cuddle up right next to me for hours, regardless of whether I have exercised her recently. Even if she hasn’t gotten her wiggles out for the day (which is highly advisable), she will cuddle. She also cuddles with my wife and with my kids (but because my kids aren’t as delicate with her, perhaps, she prefers my wife and me). She gets intimate with everyone. If she weren’t a dog with pure intentions, I would call her promiscuous. She has never attacked or truly hurt any of my kids, but she has justifiably defended herself when my kids have become dangerously rough with her.
2. Vizslas Have Energy to Fuel the Entire Family
One of the main reasons I bought a vizsla was because the breed dominates running. Every online list of running dogs includes the Hungarian vizsla, not only for long-distance but for fast runs. I am busy raising my four young children, working full time as a lawyer, and staying active in my community and church, and if I don’t exercise (running being my principal exercise), I become unhappy and, well, fat. My vizsla is an excellent running companion who motivates me to keep running. She is perfectly engineered for the task. I have been running for a good 15 years and am a full-grown adult human, a species that many argue is born to run, but after just a few months, my vizsla pup could both sprint faster than me (not a huge feat) and run longer distances than me. (However, my vizsla is just a year old, and based on advice from people smarter and more experienced than me, I am slowly easing into long-distance running until she is fully grown and her growth plates are completely developed, but a half-marathon distance run in the mountains at about 9 months old didn’t seem to phase her.) Even burdening her with a dog backpack full of my supplies doesn’t slow her down at all on trail runs.
A vizsla is also a healthy obligation to be active. Buying a vizsla is somewhat like signing up for a race, only a much bigger commitment. When I sign up for a marathon, I feel obligated to run more—and actually do run more. Now that I have purchased a vizsla, I am obligated to run for the next 11 to 15 years, my vizsla’s expected lifespan. I love this obligation. Our vizsla listens for me to get out of my bed each morning, and when she hears me stir, she jumps out of my son’s bed where she has been sleeping all night, wagging her body like a fish, excited to go running, whether that was my plan or not. So I run more in the mornings, despite sometimes thinking I am too busy with kids for exercise. And if our vizsla smells sweat on my wife or me, her excitement goes through the roof. Sweat is associated with her favorite activity: running—and sometimes in the mountains.
We cannot tire our vizsla. She can easily run with me in the early morning, transition right into a jog with my wife while I shower and get ready for work (and hold down the fort full of kids), and—if I want—chase me on my mountain bike for miles on an evening ride. This is her ability, not necessarily a requirement. She isn’t insanely full of unmanageable energy. Right when we stop, she cuddles right up to us and falls asleep. We have only noticed her getting anxious if we haven’t been active for a few days.
Interestingly, after I’d already committed to and purchased a vizsla, I learned that the breed dominates speed, in addition to dominating long distance running. Vizslas can sprint up to 40 mph, which makes them one of the fastest dogs in the world, usually ranked third or fourth fastest. Salukis and the famed greyhounds (45 mph) are the two that commonly boast faster times. What this means for you and your family of kids is that your vizsla will never be caught in a game of tag in the backyard. In fact, I have never successfully tagged her. She toys with me, never letting me get within more than a few feet of her, making me feel two decades older and slower than I am.
3. Vizslas Are Low Maintenance, a Blessing to a Busy Family
If you have kids, you probably don’t want to add more cleaning and maintenance responsibilities to your life. I am amazed each day how quickly our four kids can destroy a house. And I am amazed at how long it takes us to get them to bed each night. I don’t need to dedicate more time to taking care of a dog. Although having a dog requires a lot of work, for me, vizslas are low maintenance (and others agree).
When I say low maintenance, I don’t mean that you don’t need to exercise them or get them out into the world to get their wiggles out. Rather, they give you great bang for your buck. If you want a powerful tool for enjoying the outdoors but with fewer grooming needs than other dogs, you might want a vizsla.
First, they are very clean. Mud and dirt seems to fall off their sleek, short hair. They are also a self-cleaning breed, using their tongues to clean themselves. You could potentially get them muddy in the outdoors, throw them in their kennel, and wait for them to leave their kennel as if it is a washing machine. They do need to be bathed, but not as regularly as many other breeds. I recently took the cleanliness of a vizslas for granted. My sister and I went into the mountains with our three dogs: a vizsla and two miniature schnauzers. After running in a couple streams, the mud and dirt slid right off my dog and didn’t really affect the overall cleanliness of my minivan when we returned back to the car, but the miniature schnauzers retained and released mud all over my car.
Similarly, vizslas score well on the stinky scale. They are known to exude almost no smell, in fact. Some dogs, despite regular bathing, constantly smell terrible. Even after a few weeks without a bath and regular outdoor activities, a can tolerate our vizsla, but after a bath, I feel perfectly comfortable cuddling up with her on the couch. Well, mostly comfortable. The one thing I have to worry about is shedding; I keep my black suits away from her.
Yes, vizslas shed, but it isn’t terrible like some dogs. One of the main reasons my wife didn’t want a dog was because she can’t stand hair. Marrying me with my hairy chest was enough of a sacrifice. Getting a dog—especially a shedding dog—was, for years, out of the question. But after explaining the low-shedding nature of a vizsla’s coat, my wife was more inclined to let us get one, and she hasn’t complained about the vizsla hair in our house, which exists but isn’t a huge cleanliness issue to us or my wife who, again, hates dog hair, human hair, and any kind of loose hair.
The shedding has its benefits. Vizslas do not require haircuts, which really attracts me. I hate the idea of spending money to cut hair, especially $50 for a dog. I can’t even get myself to take my three boys to the barber. Once every couple months or so, I complete four haircuts at no expense: three little boys’ hair and my own. Not having to either cut or pay for a vizsla haircut makes my life simpler and less expensive.
4. Vizslas Are Intelligent and Can Quickly Learn the Family Rules
Vizslas are known for their intelligence; however, because they mature slower than other breeds, some believe training takes more patience and time than with other breeds. This was not the case with our vizsla. Our dog’s quick ability to learn was a huge perk for our child-filled home. I spend way more time than I would like trying to get my kids to eat their food, clean their rooms, obey their mother, pick up toys, and—perhaps the most difficult—get to bed at night. I was pleasantly surprised at how little time we needed to spend teaching our dog the basic family rules. She was potty trained in a few weeks, will obediently stay in our backyard even if we leave the gate open (most of the time), goes to her kennel on command, and has finally learned to not steal food off of the counter. She kept doing this when we weren’t looking until we recently caught her red-handed and gave her a cold shower with the hose. She’s been perfectly obedient now for a few weeks. Our vizsla also knows a ton of awesome tricks. She can sit, shake, twirl, lay, jump (she has a great vertical leap), give high-fives, roll over, play dead, and more. In fact, my siblings think that I am a much better dog owner than I am based on the many tricks our vizsla can perform—many more than the various schnauzers in my family realm (all my siblings have schnauzers). The only thing we haven’t managed to teach our active vizsla is to not pull on the leash, but a Gentle Leader collar has certainly helped.
In conclusion, if you want a committed family companion that will unconditionally love you and your kids, will inspire you to get outdoors and stay active (both with your kids and on your own), will require less maintenance and upkeep than most other dogs, and will likely be fairly easy to train to obey the rules of the home, a Hungarian vizsla may be the right dog for your family.