Breeding Vizsla's

[blauwiek]

Hello all,

We are looking to breed our vizsla in the next 2-3 years. We plan to have her health checked prior to doing it. We want to be sure to breed high quality hunting companions as our dog is has amazing drive, style, and the medium range that we looked for in a puppy. We plan to guarantee the dogs for life as our breeder did for us and have contracts that will require the dogs returned to us if they are not wanted for any reason. The dog is not titled as that is not what we've been concentrating on with her training.

The purpose of this post is to find out what other vizsla owners opinions are in different lines as well as which ones to watch out for. I talk with a few breeders on a regular basis but I an just trying to get more information and different opinions.

If you cannot tell I am taking this very seriously I want to improve the breed not hurt it so please don't come back on me with how big of a responsibility breeding is, I understand.

Thanks for your help!!

[kninebirddog]

Great questions Sounds like you are doing your home work THANK YOU

One thing I can suggest it get the American Field Mag this is a weekly magazine that has trials wins and stuff

Here you can watch what dogs are doing what in the American Field trials

then http://www.remekvizslas.net/dogSearch.php4 here you can research the AKC wins of certain dogs

As for lines sorry can't help there but hopefully the two suggestions will help you in researching the potential dogs you are possibly looking at or the history in them

[arcticretrievers]

Kudos to you! sounds like a great Plan.

The best way to assess what kind of dog to breed to is to wait for maturity, but also talk to your breeder he/she will know which lines and traits carried within those lines will benefit the breed as a whole most, as well as which lines with mesh well with his/her lines. Then once you have a good selection/Idea of which lines you would like to breed to, start looking for the qualities you want to breed for in the potential sire, then narrow it down to bestcombination, as I am sure you know usually at the end there will be 2-3 males you love, but need to make a decision on, choose as best you can.

Things to consider are not only hunting ability, but conformation. If the dog has poor conformation he cant perform as well in the field. Also temperament research to see if there is a history of aggression, even though the potential sire may be great, you could have a problem there.

If you have never bred before ask your breeder or a close-to-home breeder to sit in on a whelping (if you cant find a viszla breeder, look for a pointer, GSP, GWP, Weim. breeder since complications are similar) as well as help with dew claw removal and docking (if done by the breeder) that way you have some experience beforehand.

Good Luck, and I would love to see a Picture of your Girl

[blauwiek]

Thanks for all the great suggestions. Like I said we are doing our homework. I'll try to get a picture of her up soon I'd like to get one pointing but I need someone other than just me in the field so that I can concentrate on getting the picture instead of hunting

Another question I have is I've had one breeder encourage us to get her fixed as she has a undesirable head for the show ring. We didn't care what her head looked like when we bought her as long as her nose worked. Other than her head the breeder said conformation wise she's a great dog. Just wondering what your thoughts are on that comment. Should we reconsider breeding her because of the shape of her head?

[kninebirddog]

If dual concept is in consideration
Be sure that the stud you breed her to has the proper head set..Not every dog is perfect but if she is a super bird dog I am bird dog first but have to make sure conformation is there ,...head set well unless it is a bad bite or something like that...I would talk to some more breeders

[blauwiek]

Here are some pics of her.

[Wintergreen Farm]

Hi,
It does sound like you guys are off to a good start with your research. I am in the same boat, as I have a young Vizsla stud I am trying to get bred. It is best to look for mentors and folks who have not only been breeding, but contributing to the betterment of the breed. I would not be so worried that a breeder has told you that your dog should be spayed based on one undesirable trait...you should ask yourself if your bitch has other traits than can improve the breed. There is a standard and breed type, but there are many characteristics of any breed that can be exemplary, even though there may be one or two that are not the most desirable. For example, a field bred Vizsla may not have the "prettiest" head, but if their temperament and conformation are exemplary then of course, you would want to pass those traits on. You would look for a mate that would balance out her weakest point. Make sure the dog you breed to has had his hips xrayed and comes from a line of healthy, well-mannered dogs. The worst thing you can do in my opinion, would be to breed her to make a bunch of pretty puppies.....health, temperament and confirmation are far more important.

[blauwiek]

Thanks for the info. We're planning to have Sadie's OFA done this fall I just want to get her JH done and start her on her SH before we breed her. She's ready for the hunt tests I just can't seem to find a free weekend to take her.

I just looked at your ad for Red Angus he's a nice looking boy. Do you hunt with him yourself or just use him for hunt testing?

[Wintergreen Farm]

Thanks for the compliments on Angus, he is pretty special We love him! My husband hunts him, but I do all of the testing and primarily the training. We trained him ourselves, and I handled him through Senior all the way. It was a blast...but hard work. He has a ton of prey drive and getting that contained was a hard task. Now we are working on Master...hopefully he will be ready in the fall. Do you guys do your own training? Definitely try to get her titles done before you breed, most people want to see those titles so they know what she is capable of. What is her breeding? I think she has a pretty head. I am curious as to why someone told you to have her spayed???

[blauwiek]

They said she doesn't have a predominant enough stop, the wrong ear set, and her eyes are the wrong shape. We work with a trainer a little bit but to be honest she hasn't required a lot of work as of yet I'm sure there will be a lot to do for SH and MH. Just a little whoa training and heeling. She has always held her point and never had a problem with drive or retrieving. We got very lucky for our first girl. I have heard that our wedding present from the trainer is going to be a week of free training to finish fine tuning her so if I can get her JH done this spring we can start working on her Senior.