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Abstract
The weight data for 591 Hungarian Vizslas (297 males and 294 females) was collected through the Vizslas Facebook Group and Hungarian Vizslas Australia Facebook Group.
The average weight of mature male Hungarian Vizslas in the sample was 27.2 kg (60.0 lbs). The lightest in the sample was 17.2 kg (37.9 lbs), while the heaviest was 40.8 kg (89.9 lbs).
The average weight of mature female Hungarian Vizslas was 22.2 kg (48.9 lbs). The lightest in the sample was 14.5 kg (32.0 lbs), while the heaviest was 34.0 kg (75.0 lbs).
Figure1 shows the total data set in kilograms; Figure 2 shows the same data in pounds.
Figure 1: Hungarian Vizslas
Figure 2: Hungarian Vizslas (pounds)
Most people will want to skip to the data scatter charts below, and then skip straight to the summary and conclusions.
Reason for research
While the Hungarian Vizsla breed standard refers to a ‘medium dog’, what does that mean in the real world? Most people can easily relate to the weight of a dog because they can be easily weighed on bathroom scales. Having owned two Hungarian Vizslas previously and with a new growing Hungarian Vizsla puppy, I was interested to see the weight range of Hungarian Vizslas.
Literature review
Desktop research was performed to identify the Hungarian Vizsla breed standard weight. In most instances, breed standards do not refer to the weight. For example:
- The Australian National Kennel Council Hungarian Vizsla breed standard refers to a ‘medium sized, elegant gun dog of noble appearance’.
- The American Kennel Club breed standard refers to a ‘medium-sized, short-coated, hunting dog of distinguished appearance and bearing.’ In terms of size, ‘The ideal male is 22 to 24 inches at the highest point over the shoulder blades. The ideal female is 21 to 23 inches.’
Online resources were therefore sought to identify the generally acknowledged weight of Hungarian Vizslas.
- Wikipedia defines the Hungarian Vizsla breed weight as: male 45–66 lb (20–30 kg); and female 40–55 lb (18–25 kg).
- The American Kennel Club breed description (not the breed standard) identifies a weight range for males of 55-60 pounds (24.9 – 27.2 kilograms), for females of 44-55 pounds (20.0 – 24.9 kilograms).
Sources of data
Hungarian Vizsla Facebook groups were used to collect the data.
The following questions were posted to the Hungarian Vizslas Australia Facebook page on 8 July 2019.
- How heavy is your Vizsla?
- How old is it?
- Is it a boy/girl?
The last post was on 10 July 2019 and the data collection was closed on 10 August 2019 with 72 responses (41 male, 31 female).
Seeking further data, on 26 July 2019 the following questions were posted to the Vizsla Facebook group.
- How much does your Vizsla weigh?
- How old is your Vizsla?
- Is your Vizsla male or female?
The last post was on 3 August 2019 and the data collection was closed on 5 August 2019 with 519 responses (256 male, 263 female).
In total, 591 responses were received, with 297 males and 294 females.
The following should be noted about the data collection process.
- Data was self-reported by owners through the Hungarian Vizslas Australia Facebook page and the international Vizslas Facebook page. Australian Vizslas reported through the international Facebook page have been included in the international data set.
- As dogs get older, owners tended to report their ages in years, hence the grouping of data around months correlating with whole years, eg 36 months = 3 years; 120 months = 10 years.
- Younger dog ages tended to get reported by owners in months, while very young dogs were usually reported in weeks.
- For the purposes of data collection, ages reported in weeks were converted to months (based on 1 week being 1/52 of a year and 1 month being 1/12 of a year); ages reported in years were also converted to months.
- For the purposes of charting the data, ages were converted to years (recorded age in months multiplied by 12).
- For the purposes of data collection, weights reported in pounds were converted to kilograms to one decimal place. There may be an error of one decimal place when the weights have been converted from kilograms back to pounds. For example, the largest dog in the sample was originally reported as 90 pounds. After converting to kilograms and then converting back, this is now reported as 89.9 pounds.
Several limitations are evident in the data collection process:
- The data does not reflect the height of dogs. There are tall and skinny dogs, tall and fat dogs, short and skinny dogs, and short and fat dogs in the data.
- The data does not reflect the location of dogs (except those reported from the Australian Facebook page). American Vizslas may be a different stature to European Vizslas; Australian Vizslas may have bloodlines from either region, as I am sure is the case for other smaller regions.
- The data does not separate neutered dogs from intact dogs.
- Wire hair Vizslas have not been separated from smooth hair Vizslas (only two wire hair Vizslas are in the sample).
Data analysis
Data scatter charts
Figure 3 shows the responses from the Hungarian Vizslas Australia Facebook group. In total 72 responses were received (41 male, 31 female).
Figure 3: Hungarian Vizslas (Australia)
Figure 4 shows the responses from the Vizslas Facebook Group. In total, 518 responses were received (256 male, 262 female). Figure 5 is the same chart, but showing weight in pounds.
Figure 4: Hungarian Vizslas (International)
Figure 5: Hungarian Vizslas (International) — weight in pounds
The data from the two sources was combined and sorted to identify the growth period of Hungarian Vizslas and the mature weight range.
Figure 6 shows the weight of Hungarian Vizslas two years old or younger (ie the growth period).
Figure 6: Hungarian Vizslas (?2 years)
Figure 7 shows the weight of Hungarian Vizslas two years old or older (ie mature weights).
Figure 7: Hungarian Vizslas (?2 years)
Descriptive statistics
For the data geeks out there, the following descriptive statistics were prepared for the data collected for all Hungarian Vizslas (both Australian and International) aged two years or older (ie mature weights). This data is represented graphically in Figure 7 (above).
| Descriptive statistics for mature male Hungarian Vizslas (two years and older) | ||
| Kilograms | Pounds | |
| Mean | 27.21827273 | 60.00601978 |
| Standard Error | 0.3200477 | 0.705584399 |
| Median | 27 | 59.52481079 |
| Mode | 24 | 52.91094292 |
| Standard Deviation | 4.747074535 | 10.46550791 |
| Sample Variance | 22.53471664 | 109.5268557 |
| Kurtosis | 0.082249814 | 0.082249814 |
| Skewness | 0.55530645 | 0.55530645 |
| Range | 23.6 | 52.02909388 |
| Minimum | 17.2 | 37.9195091 |
| Maximum | 40.8 | 89.94860297 |
| Sum | 5988.02 | 13201.32435 |
| Count | 220 | 220 |
| Largest(1) | 40.8 | 89.94860297 |
| Smallest(1) | 17.2 | 37.9195091 |
| Confidence Level(95.0%) | 0.630767727 | 1.3906048 |
| Descriptive statistics for mature female Hungarian Vizslas (two years and older) | ||
| Kilograms | Pounds | |
| Mean | 22.16063348 | 48.85583389 |
| Standard Error | 0.243210881 | 0.536188210 |
| Median | 22 | 48.50169768 |
| Mode | 22 | 48.50169768 |
| Standard Deviation | 3.615589674 | 7.971010786 |
| Sample Variance | 13.07248869 | 63.53701295 |
| Kurtosis | 0.265295918 | 0.265295918 |
| Skewness | 0.525938147 | 0.525938147 |
| Range | 19.5 | 42.99014113 |
| Minimum | 14.5 | 31.96702802 |
| Maximum | 34 | 74.95716914 |
| Sum | 4897.5 | 10797.13929 |
| Count | 221 | 221 |
| Largest (1) | 34 | 74.95716914 |
| Smallest (1) | 14.5 | 31.96702802 |
| Confidence Level (95.0%) | 0.479321364 | 1.056722722 |
Histogram
The frequency distribution for the data in shown in Figure 8 and Figure 9.
Figure 8: Histogram (Mature male Hungarian Vizslas)
Figure 9: Histogram (mature female Hungarian Vizslas)
Summary and conclusions
Following is a summary of the data of mature weights for male and female Hungarian Vizslas (two years of age or older).
Male Hungarian Vizslas
The average weight of mature male Hungarian Vizslas in the sample was 27.2 kg (60.0 lbs).
The lightest in the sample was 17.2 kg (37.9 lbs), while the heaviest was 40.8 kg (89.9 lbs).
Most (around 68%) male Hungarian Vizslas are within the range 22.5 kg (49.5 lbs) to 32.0 kg (70.5 lbs), while 95% were within the range 17.7 kg (39.0 lbs) to 36.7 kg (80.9 lbs).
Female Hungarian Vizslas
The average weight of mature female Hungarian Vizslas was 22.2 kg (48.9 lbs).
The lightest in the sample was 14.5 kg (32.0 lbs), while the heaviest was 34.0 kg (75.0 lbs).
Most (around 68%) female Hungarian Vizslas are within the range 18.5 kg (40.9 lbs) to 25.8 kg (56.8 lbs), while 95% were within the range 14.9 kg (32.9 lbs) to 29.4 kg (64.8 lbs).
Recommendations for further investigation
It would be very interesting to do a further survey that resolved the limitations in the data collection process:
- Weight and height of dogs
- Location of dogs to reflect potential differences in breed standards around the world
- Neutered dogs versus intact dogs.
A different data collection process would be required to collect the above data, as well as a much larger sample size to make the data meaningful.