Vizslas as gundogs are outstanding. As companions in
the home they like to please, are generally gentle and require affection.
On the other hand they can also be very strong-willed, good guards
and will not be dominated by strangers or other dogs.
The Vizsla or Golden Pointer is the national dog of
Hungary. The breed dates back to before 1000 AD and migrated with
the Magyar tribes from the Steppes of Asia to the Carpathian Basin
- now Hungary. Today's dogs are descended from the Magyar hunting
dogs and from the Turkish yellow dog which accompanied the invading
Turkish armies in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.
The name Vizsla comes from a small hamlet in the Danube
valley. The Vizsla hunts, points and retrieves both wing and fur from
land and water in all weathers. Before big game declined, Vizsla were
used in packs for hunting large animals. In the forests they would
hunt deer, while in wooded and open country they hunted and retrieved
hare and pheasant. Also they were used to find, point and retrieve
waterfowl from rivers and river banks.
The breed became almost extinct as a result of two World
Wars and the Russian invasion in 1956. The Vizsla is another of the
breeds from continental Europe which came to Great Britain after the
Second World War, arriving in 1953. Primarily they are gundogs and
therefore should lead an active outdoor life.