Show of hands if you’ve heard of the Hungarian Vizsla.

Aspen in mid-point.
If your arms are still at your side, don’t sweat it. You’re not alone. Few have heard of the breed. But those who have are typically owners, or soon-to-be. You see, it’s extremely hard not to fall in love with the breed and feel a need to have one (or many) in your life.
We had never heard of the breed ourselves until roughly two years ago. But, in the ensuing two years, our family has been enriched immeasurably by one… and then two… of these ridiculously loyal, stunning, confounding and awe-inspiring pointer/retrievers.

Timber on our front porch just days after his arrival at our Adirondack home.
Our love affair with the Vizsla started where else, but Google. Our oldest daughter had fledged the nest and my wife Monica soon needed to fill the void left by a needy child with that of a needy puppy. We all have allergies to pet dander, so she started her search with keywords like hypo-allergenic, family-friendly, hunting breeds, easily trained and obedient. From that search… like magic… appeared the Vizsla.
We soon met breeder Carol Christ of Steel City Vizsla, not far from our home in western Pennsylvania. After talking with her at length and being interviewed to determine our “fitness” as prospective Vizsla owners, we soon met our new baby girl, Aspen, followed a year later by her brother from another mother, Timber.
Our life hasn’t been the same since. It’s been crazier, happier and more blessed than it had been in quite some time.

Here, Timber demonstrates the regal appearance that has endeared many to the Vizsla breed for centuries.
Turns out, this breed — one of the oldest — descended from Hungarian aristocracy and was introduced to the U.S. largely in an attempt to save it from relative extinction following World War II. According to the AKC, “The Vizsla’s ancestors were hunters and companions for the Magyar hordes, a tribe that settled in what is now known as Hungary. A favorite of early barons, Vizslas are depicted in etchings as far back as the 10th century.” Despite its long lineage, the Hungarian Vizsla is one of the most recent to have been recognized by the AKC — in 1960. Since then, it has been a perennial top performer in AKC field trials and the show ring.
The Vizsla is a stunning, lean pointer, often mistaken for a Weimaraner, Redbone Coonhound or Rhodesian Ridgeback. But the Vizsla features a slighly smaller build than these breeds (adults max-out around 50 pounds, give or take), with a tawny rust-color that begins at the nose, completely envelopes the coat and even matches the pupils of its eyes. They are sleek, graceful, ridiculously fast and true pointers and retievers in the classic sense. They crave acres to run, and require that exercise frequently throughout the day. Despite what appears to be severe attention deficit disorder when out in the field, the breed is very trainable, with an instinctive classic point and a love for the attention that training provides.
But, as they enter the house — and they are house dogs, make no mistake — they settle into perhaps their most identifying characteristic: attaching to their “people” like Velcro.
The Vizsla presents a case study in canine multiple personality. The fifty-pound lap dog can’t stand to be away from your side, in your bed, sliding your hand onto her head for praise while indoors. But, when presented with an opportunity to run outside, will Army-crawl under an opening garage door and scrape claws against pavement in an attempt to build speed for an all-out sprint around the yard, through heavy brush, over rocks, logs and streams — all to find the source of a million different scents her refined nose distills from the air.

Our adopted “kids” in a rare moment of stillness outdoors.
If you’re looking for a lazy, care-free dog to hang out and look cute lying for hours in a sunny patch of yard, don’t buy a Vizsla.
If, however, you have a serious void in your life, need a dog who needs you to a fault, and wish to spend hours actively engaged in outdoor pursuits with your best friend, followed by equal hours of cuddling and companionship through the evening, this breed deserves more than a passing glance.