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Vizsladogs, Ltd.
Where Now Brown Dog?
by Phil Wright
"I did find, however, an article which I
believe was originally published in the Vizsla Club of Canada
newsletter, and later reprinted in the HUNGARIAN REVIEW, a fairly
short lived magazine devoted to Hungarian dog breeds. However,
this article stems from sometime in the early 1970s when in
Phil's opinion, the majority of field dogs were correctly sized,
solid coloured working representatives of the breed. At the same
time, he felt there were a number of lines bred for show which
were trying to meet the preferences of informed judges and were
getting away from true breed type."-- Susan Mulley
[From the original article: About the
Author - Phil Wright was a Professor and Acting Director of the
School of Agricultural Economics and Extension Education at the
University of Guelph. He was a Vizsla owner for eleven years and
a serious breeder for nine years. He was fortunate in that one of
his early litters produced the First Best in Show Vizsla in the
USA, Canada, and Mexico. At the same time dogs from his kennel
have won more field trial placements than those from all other
Canadian breeders combined. This can be credited to the very fine
people who have obtained their dogs from him and whom he
sincerely appreciated. The emphasis at Napkelte Kennels is on
complete honesty with the buyer and complete objectivity in
breeding. With a bit of luck, which we all need, there can't help
but be a payoff in quality Vizslas.]
A few years back while attending the Vizsla
Club of America Fall Field Trial at the Killdeer Plains Wildlife
Refuge in Ohio, I listened with considerable skepticism while the
editor of HUNTING DOG magazine, a magazine that I enjoy very much
incidentally, told us that he could very clearly see the day when
there would be two strains of Vizslas, exactly as there are two
strains of Pointers, Setters etc. I felt like getting up and
saying it wouldn't happen with our breed because their true
heritage as a household hunting companion was the heart of their
ownership appeal. How wrong can a person be? How naive can one
be? In the span of a few short years I have come to see the
emergence of some very real signs of difference within the breed.
It is one of life's facts that anything which
is beautiful as well as useful will soon be coveted for its
beauty and that those who so covet will soon outnumber those who
treasure its utility. In my opinion the Vizsla is on that road.
Lest anyone get the impression that I am
suggesting that the Vizsla is on the road to extinction, let me
hasten to make some observations. In my opinion the advancement
of the qualities of the Vizsla as a field dog have far
outstripped the improvements in the breed as show dogs. There are
very good reasons why this is so. In the field the dog has to be
judged by the quality of its performance and there is a sharp
upturn in this feature. In the show ring the dog is judged in
some measure by the reputation of the person holding the lead and
large measure by the ability of the person holding the lead to
hide its faults and show off its good qualities. If the dog is a
reasonable specimen at all it is a cinch for a
"championship", whatever that is worth. I will refrain
from comment on the actual judging for I have seen good judging
so rarely that I feel I have limited observation to generalize
from.
I have recently come back from a visit to
Hungary and a conducted tour of Vizsla owners. I did not go to a
dog show and hope to see some Vizslas. Instead I went to the
President and the Secretary of the Hungarian Hunting Society and
asked to be shown Vizslas, period. I was fortunate enough to see
a hunting training session, the top winning show Vizslas and a
goodly number of dogs which are both shown and hunted
extensively. There is not a shadow of doubt in my mind that the
Vizsla in Hungary is primarily a hunting dog. I did not see a
large Vizsla in Hungary. The dogs I saw were all around the
23" to 24" size range. I did not see a red Vizsla in
Hungary. The dogs I saw in several towns and villages, as well as
in Budapest, were almost entirely of the golden rust colour.
Reddish or rust tint, yes, but Irish setter red, NO!! It was
quite a surprise to find that Miklos Farkashazi, director of the
Vizsla section within the Hungarian Kennel Club (M.E.O.E.) and I
were unanimous in that the Vizsla field trial dogs as I have seen
them in the USA and Canada are also close to that ideal. I also
say that many show dogs are veering away from the real type of
the breed. Tall dogs, straight shoulders, poor feet, funny gaits,
and rosy red colour are becoming common in the shows. They
couldn't hack it in the field.
It may be just a voice crying in the
wilderness, but I urge all of you to prevent the separation
within our breed. We have the breeding stock to do it, but if we
don't look we won't find it in time.
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