Exercise Needs:  [Back to Top]

Tired puppies are much less trouble than puppies who are full of the devil! Regular daily exercise, off the lead so your pup can tear around, will help a great deal in keeping your house and your life more puppy-proofed. BEWARE! Vizsla pups NEED this exercise-without it they will use your house as a race track and actively look for trouble! Start looking now for parks and fields where you can run your pup. For the next few years you will be spending an hour a day minimum (!) tiring out your little darling, so find a variety of places to exercise off leash. You will be out, rain or shine, for at least one major off-leash run a day, SO BE WARNED!!! A small fenced-in backyard is insufficient space for a Vizsla to really stretch. In young puppies, moderation is advisable because of the risk of damaging growth plates in their legs. Adolescent puppies are another story! 

It is difficult to raise a puppy when no one is home during the day, and housetraining becomes much more difficult. Puppies need a midday meal and to potty frequently. If your pup will be home alone for extended periods of time, you will need to have a plan for the pup's care, such as using neighbors, friends, relatives, paid pet sitters or puppy day care. Many breeders recommend crating your puppy when the pup is not able to be supervised for both the safety of the puppy and of your house; however, most agree that puppies should not be crated for more than a few hours at a time.

Training Needs:  [Back to Top]

Vizslas are very smart and trainable, and eager to please. In fact, they need training to be good companions so all that mischievous energy gets properly channeled. They are sensitive dogs who usually do not respond well to harsh training methods, and since they mature slowly, they often have short attention spans and get bored easily during training sessions when young. The rule of thumb is not to let a puppy do anything you wouldn't want a 45-65 lb. adult dog to do, and never to continue with a trainer whose methods make you uncomfortable. See the list of books at the end of these sheets for more information.

Vizslas and Children:  [Back to Top]

Vizslas are generally very good with children; HOWEVER, NO PRESCHOOL CHILD SHOULD BE LEFT UNSUPERVISED WITH ANY DOG, and all children should be taught how to interact with the dog. Puppies tend to mouth and bite small children, steal their toys and knock them down, and you and the children need to learn how to handle these situations calmly. The immediate reaction of many children is to start screaming and running, which just exacerbates the problem. Children should also be taught that the puppy's crate is off limits; it is the puppy's safe haven.

Velcro Dogs:  [Back to Top]

Vizslas are NOT dogs that can just be left in a yard. They were bred to be affectionate housedogs as well as hunting and field dogs, and they want to be WITH their people. They will follow you from room to room, including the bathroom, sleep next to you or at your feet, and lay their heads in your lap at every opportunity, etc. One friend has said that once you have a Vizsla, you will never go to bathroom alone again. Left to their own devices without human companionship, they will become lonely, bored and destructive. People who expect dogs to raise themselves by themselves will not like this breed.

Shedding:  [Back to Top]

Vizslas do shed, but unless you are allergic or obsessive, it sort of blends in with the décor. You can control this by rubbing the dog with a non-cotton sweater to pick up loose hairs.

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Last modified: February 26, 2010