Home Forums Birds & Dogs Hunting Dogs GSP or Vizla

We've always had Labs and probably always will but I'm considering getting a close hunting, short haired, pointing dog.

I've hunted with both a good GSP & Vizla and I'd appreciate anyone's thoughts on them that has owned and/or spent some time around both breeds, also recommendations for breeders. We're used to and like Labs dispositions so how the dog is around the house and with small grandkids is a factor.

Ginger or Mary Ann?

I've never hunted over a Vizsla but a friend had one as a pet. Seemed like a nice dog but it didn't handle cold weather well.

I have hunted with friends over the years over a total of four GSPs. All were friendly dogs but seemed too hyperactive for me - they never stopped pacing the floor in the house until they were middle aged or older. Also, none of those dogs handled cold weather or water very well.

For my money, I'm real pleased with my Deustch Drahthaar (DD), Cali (on the right in this pic at ~10F in ~20 mph wind):

]

Cali hunts close and super hard, but calms right down as soon as the hunt is over, and she has one of the most pleasant dispositions I've ever seen in any dog. Plus, the DD coat lets them handle the cold and water very well. I also like the rigorous performance based testing system that all DDs must go through before the German registry will allow them to be breed. That coupled with breeders that are almost 100% hardcore hunters, and you have a very high confidence level for getting a great hunting dog.

If you're interested in DDs, I encourage you to check out the North American breed club's website at [color:#000099][b]Verein Deutsch Drahthaar - Group North America[/b][/color].
Another good web site with information on this breed is Chazz Holt's [color:#000099][b]Drahthaar Addiction[/b][/color].

But GSPs are popular bird dogs and seem to do well in warmer weather. However, I would encourage you to find a Deutsch Kurzhaar (DK) pup that is a product of the rigorous German test system. DKs aren't real common in NA yet but there are some good breeders out there. Check out the North American DK breed club's website at [color:#000099][b]NA Deutsch Kurzhaar Club[/b][/color]


No matter what the breed, make sure you get a pup from a breeder that seriously participates in a performance based, field testing program that emphasizes actual hunting skills.

Good luck with your pup search!

Both.

Thanks for the info and photo.

I've hunted with what was called a DD once on a preserve. It was a dry day, no humidity to speak of and no breeze. The dogs weren't finding birds like they normally would have and the handler put them up and brought out what looked like the dog in your photo that's lying down with the longer coat. It hunted slow and close and found birds the faster moving dogs had passed.

Cali appears to have a considerably shorter coat. Do you keep her coat shorter for hunting or are there long & short haired DDs?

I have a GSP Vizsla cross and he is great, but like a previous poster said the Vizsla in him does not handle the cold weather. But I really do think I have the best of both worlds, he is a hunting machine, he won't not stop until I put him in the truck. At home the Vizsla in him comes out and he will not leave the side of my wife or 9 year old daughter.

You can not go wrong with either.

I don't have a GSP, but have 2 Vizla's. I am not a serious bird hunter, but they are. As far as family dogs, if you don't like a dog on your lap, waiting for you to come out of the bathroom and just generally around you, then don't get a V. If you do, you have a best friend.

I have hunted over both and grew up with a guy thats father breed Vizsla's for both hunting and trials. I would say that the GSP is the better of the two in the field. I have seen GSP's that you wouldn't want in your house and I have seen them that fit as well as a lap dog in the house. Can't speak of the Vizsla's in the house as they always had them in their kennels.

I believe to a large degree the dogs behavior in the house is two things. 1) what you teach the dog to be. 2) what you allow the dog to be. Sorta goes on the same lines as training a dog for the field. Outside of genetics they are what you train them to be and what you allow them to be.

Of those two my pick would be the GSP. For the most part because its easy to find a reputable breeder of hunting stock with good genetics.

Had Labs for many years.

I now have a GSP.

You will love a GSP.

For an all around hunter/pet or one or the other?

I'm partial to GSP's. Zero experience with the Vizla. My current dog she thinks she is a lapdog, inside the house she has to be with you at all times. My complaint is my wife won't keep her off the bed when I leave for work. When I'm home, she knows better.

My brother in law, his dog, my dog.

Don't know anything about Vizlas. My shorthair is 15 years old and can still hunt a little. My next pointing dog will be a GSP. Sadie is the only GSP I have hunted over. She is NOT a close working dog. But she taught that I (personally) don't want a close working pointing dog, but a big runner that will hunt close when I ask it too. Sadie is a very affectionate dog and all of my four grandkids kinda grew up around her. But as a pup she was a real handful in the field, after a couple years and some judiciuos E-collar training she turned into the best pointer i have ever hunted over. But she wouldn't retrieve a lick, probably my fault as a trainer. She can't handle extreme cold weather (10 degrees above and on down) but she does fine on hot days.

How about a Wirehaired Vizsla?
Not all that common stateside. A friend had one in Europe. Cool dog and very birdy.

I have a GSP and I have worked with the V. They are both very good dog breeds. GSP tends to be a little larger (of the 2 breeds) and tolerate cold better. GSPs have a drive to hunt and will run themself to death. I'm told that V do have scent glands and don't smell.

You need to find a GSP or a V that will love you and want to be your friend and work with you. Have fun finding the dog with the indiviual personality that was to please you.

I looked at quite a few different breeds before I settled on a GSP and now I couldn't imagine not having a GSP. They're great family dogs and hunt like nobody's business!!

Good luck whichever way you go!!

Have owned both GSP's and Vizsla's.

The GSP has the edge for hunting but for a combo house hunting dog likevthe Vizsla.

My vizsla has really matured the past few years as a hunting dog.

he goes hiking, fishing with me and my wife loves him. lott's of personality.

gets along with our cat, chickens, babies ...

You could always split the diff. Have had GSP & Weim. Almost any shorthair will get cold if not moving on real cold days. They make coats commercially, or if you know anyone that can sew, you can make a good fleece one realy easy for the real cold days as they get older. Weims have to water retrieve as well to pass thier hunt tests which I never found as a problem. I don't take her waterfowling in the late season as it is to hard for them to sit in the cold marsh without any movement. But in early season or pit/field blinds there is no problem.

Cool looking dog i was researching them awhile ago....

You're welcome and apologies for my tardy reply to your follow-up questions (I seem to rarely check back on my posts).

There are not short and long-haired DDs, Cali's coat is that way naturally. DDs are breed to very high performance standards, and much less to a confirmation standard, so there can be more variability in their appearance than some other breeds. The breeder I got Cali from (vom Mauntinhoum in Boise) is an avid chukar hunter, and he tries to keep the coats short on his DDs for better hot weather performance. However, the coats on his dogs started to get slightly short (like Cali's), so he's bringing back more of the traditional DD coat. However, the coat shouldn't be as long as the one on my old AKC-registered German Wirehair Pointer (GWP), Helga - the other dog on the left in the picture.

Which brings up another point. There are breeders who will tell you that their AKC GWPs are the same breed as the VDD DDs. The DD breeders are adamant that the two breeds are NOT the same anymore. After hunting over both types for several years, I agree with the DD breeders.

That said, you can get good hunting dogs from lots of different breeds, out of different breed registries, and from a variety of breeders - but you have to do your homework. Since I didn't have lots of time to research the backgrounds of hundreds of dogs and the breeding philosophy of the kennels they came from, I elected to go with the very rigorous performance testing and breeding program common to the German versatile hunting dog registries. I'm pleased with the results, and I believe that it greatly increases the odds of every DD puppy having the potential to be a very good hunter.

YMMV - Good luck!

I honestly thought you misspoke and meant to say the DD was the one on the left... a short haired DD would be something that would interest me greatly.

As for the DD v GWP thing... is the same basically true for GSP and Deutsch Kurzhaar??? My understanding (and it is likely wrong) is that DKs are just GSPs with proven German blood lines?