I live on a 300+ acre place on the red river. I am looking for a family dog that I can utilize hunting. I want a smart dog. I also want a dog that will be good with young kids (3 year old boy and 1 year old girl). I am really leaning towards Vizsla but my wife is thinking lab. What is your opinion (mainly from people that have owned both dogs)? I like Vizsla for many reasons: short haired, minimal shedding, smaller framed dog, less dog odor, more drive and energy. I would like to visit with a reputable Vizsla breeder. Does anyone have any recommendations or advice? Thanks for all the help!


Edit: Also, I forgot to add looking for breeder in North-Central Texas (DFW area and north ) or Southern-Central Oklahoma.

There is tons of info on both breeds, breeders etc if you use the search function.

Cant go wrong with either. Or get both.

Your comparing two very different dogs, but it sounds like you already know those differences.

For the area your asking about I can highly recommend Huntmore Vizslas.
http://www.huntmorevizslas.com/
But don't limit yourself just to breeders close to you. I have been very happy with my Vizla's. Both out of Louisiana and Florida pairings. My young Vizsla Dash is a Vermilion/Annian's dog. My old girl Blaze who I consider my "lifetime" dog is a Vermilion/Lagniappe dog. http://vermilionvizslas.com/

This club site has a real good page that is not too wordy that lists the good and bad points of owning a Vizla. The only thing missing from that list is to know that some can be very soft and not take well to harsh training methods.
http://www.tampabayvizslaclub.com/areyousure.html

Good luck in your decision and your search.

What kind of hunting are you looking to do with this dog?

As other said, I don't think you can go wrong with either. We have both, a lab and a vizsla, and they're both excellent. We lost our old vizsla last October and just got a puppy, out of Colt at Huntmore, on 8/31. Josie, our new vizsla pup, was 8 weeks old when we got her and she was birdy as all get out and would retrieve dove.

As I said, we've had both a lab and a vizsla for the last 8 years. Both are excellent pets, great hunters, extremely intelligent and great with kids. I really can't find a bad thing to say about either.

I don't think your reasons for wanting a vizsla over a lab are valid/accurate though. They both shed and it just depends on what colors you have on or through out your house on whether or not the black/yellow hair of lab or the red hair of a vizsla shows up. Both do an excellent job of keeping themselves clean. I've seen labs with energy that would put ANY pointer to shame. And I've seen labs that max out around 50 lbs.

I will say that if you're interested in a Vizsla, be prepared to wait a while. The breeders, and there are very few reputable breeders in this area (I think we found 4 in Texas and 3 within OK, AR, and LA and some were mentioned in prior posts), are very particular about the homes that their pups go to. We were on waiting lists for over 6 months before we got a pup.

I would have to say that my choice of a dog, if I couldn't get both, would boil down to the type of hunting I was doing. Although the vizsla is a great retriever, and I do mean great, they aren't bred to sit at heel, they're made to run. If I was was going to upland, I'd go a vizla. If was ducks and geese, I'd go lab. While vizsla handle the cold well, they don't handle cold water very well, at least not from my experience. And labs down in this part of the country aren't known for their wide range and pointing abilities.

Just my two cents from owning both. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks so much for all the quick replies! I appreciate all the references on breeders and will be looking into who will be best for us if we make that decision. Also, thank you for all the information on your personal experiences and point of views.

Good luck and let us know what you decide!