# Cold Weather & Endurance?



## strobela (Sep 30, 2013)

I am thinking of getting a wire haired Vizsla and would love to get some thoughts regarding how well they do in cold climates (Jackson Hole WY) and what kind of endurance they have? I regularly run long distances or back country ski and would love a companion that enjoys this versus is willing to tolerate it. Any thoughts/experiences? Thanks so much!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Strobela, I do not usually do this but you may be the right kind of person to look into this breed. A breed you may never have heard of or seen.

You might consider the only other Ancient Royal Hungarian Hunting dog; the Transylvanian Hound (Kopo). 

As ancient a breed as the Vizsla, if not older, they are built more for cold and the mountains of Wyoming. (The home of Merle and Pukka)

http://thehuntingdogs.deviantart.com/journal/RARE-BREED-OF-THE-MONTH-May-2013-378357610 (it says long and short leg versions, but the short leg is about extinct.)

http://californiakopos.com/ (By friend's website, who is trying to bring them back from edge of extinction,. Less than 1,000 known to exist in the world.) He has a pup he wants to find a good home for. I'd like to find him a home where he (the pup) can stay intact and live like he should. Maybe used as a stud. 

From Scott to me in an e-mail yesterday:


> " There is one male left as of this moment, Detre, born July 16 in Transylvania. We saw him in August and spent several days with his breeder and family. I've enclosed some photos of Detre, below; he will be here on October 5 if he is not already spoken for by then. If you know anyone who is interested, Detre has championship lineage on one side and an open pedigree on the other, so he is priced at $1,000 (for comparison, Euro Puppy has similar puppies priced at $1,500-1,800 FOB Budapest)."


http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2013/08/vizsla-and-kopo-two-hungarian-hunters.html


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/07/transylvanian-hound-only-other.html
An article: 
"The Transylvanian Hound, an extremely rare Transylvanian Hungarian hunter newly imported to the United States.

Until recently these dogs were unknown outside Hungary/Transylvania. This scent hound was bred in Transylvania and used by royalty and nobility to hunt bear

Sadly, after WW I (Treaty of Trianon, 1920) few survived, and breeders have been carefully working to build up the breed while maintaining its high standards. 

When the Magyars settled in the Carpathian Basin in the ninth century, they brought hounds with them. A Magyar (Hungarian) dog Cross-bred with an indigenous dog, further crossed with the Polish hound , resulted in this breed, created for the unique climate and terrain of the Carpathians. 

They are willing to hunt in forests, mountains, rivers, and in all weathers. The Carpathians are heavily forested, 'so thick that by the time a young hunter on foot walked through the woods, he would be an old man'. 

Therefore, the dogs of the area were strong, bred to go after game following mounted riders.
Heavy winter snows and sultry summers required hounds that were particularly adapted to extremes of climate. In the past, they were used extensively by Hungarian kings and princes for hunting wolf and bear in the mountains. 

The Transylvanian Hound is known for its keen sense of direction and orientation to the environment,vital in mountainous and forested cover.

This is a dog without exaggeration, moderate in bone and head with tight skin and medium flat ear. Prized as an obedient, trainable, good-natured hound who is an easy keeper, he was never known outside Hungary/Transylvania. 

Recent reports indicate that the Transylvanian dogs face extinction with their numbers dangerously low."


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## strobela (Sep 30, 2013)

Well this is kind of weird, because the only other breed left on my short list to consider is the Transylvania Hound... kind of serendipitous. 

I will check out the links you included; thank you very much! I don't know that I'm a good match for your friend's pup, as I wouldn't want to leave him intact, simply because breeding comes with a lot of responsibility (and rightly should) and for now I just want a companion who will trek miles through the mountains with me in snow or sun or both.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

I think a WHV would absolutely love those activities. Mine is only 5 1/2 months old, so I can't comment too much from experience yet. That said, the breed was developed for working in colder conditions, such as water fowl retrieves in icy water where the smooth V would be less suitable. Where most vizslas like to burrow under blankets, mine is happier above. 
Scout isn't as fast as the smooth Vs we've come across, but she's still far faster than me. I plan on biking with her. I've only taken her out a few times so far since her joints are still developing, but she's had no trouble keeping up. The longest was about a 6 mile ride with water breaks every half-mile or so. She loved it and I can only see her endurance increasing as she matures. 

Let me know if you have any more questions and I'd be happy to put you in touch with some breeders who are far more knowledgable than me. Welcome to the forum!


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Stro - when working a V never gets cold - in a duck blind in cold weather they need a neoprene vest and with that good 4 about 2hrs - We hunt out west late in the season - Pike has been on a bunch of 4 day hunts where it never got above 15 deg - when blocking a field if I put him in the truck it is like I left the heater on - some places we stay do not allow the pups inside - then he stays in his crate with 2 mudriver crate pads & a mud river insulated crate cover - at below zero still have 2 vent it - they are a little power house furnace - left on their own & not working they sit and shiver !!!!


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## strobela (Sep 30, 2013)

Thanks for the information, especially you redbirddog. We're picking up the Transylvania Hound tomorrow in Nevada! What a fortuitous circle of events.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

STROBELA! You will have to fill in the details. This is very very exciting! 

Now there are 1001 Transylvanians!.

You can send me a PM
Rod aka RBD


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