# Need Advice - Might Adopt A New V



## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

As I've done many times before- I'm turning to the V forums.

My fiance and I have discussed adding another V to the mix but were thinking about doing it next year after we've both finished taking our CPA exams and have had our wedding. We have selected a breeder to get a puppy from for a late 2014/early 2015 litter but agreed that we would adopt the right dog if it came along when we were looking to add another to our family. Well...it turns out that I think the "right" one has popped up. Just a lot sooner than either of us expected or hoped for. So now my fiance thinks we still need to wait and I think we need to take the opportunity and run with it but we've run into a few questions/concerns that maybe the forum can help to answer or give some feedback/experience on (ya know, so I have a better argument).

Our Haeden just turned 1 at the beginning of March and is by far the sweetest, most loving dog I've ever been around. He loves any dog so I know he would get along with a new V should we bring one into our situation. The dog that we are looking at adopting is about 5 hours away from where we are so we can't just go visit, see how they do and go home and sleep on it without making another round trip again. The owner of the dog is looking to get him into a better situation as him and his family have a lot going on (I'll be general about it and not go into details). He's a male, neutered V that is just about 1. He's been around kids, has had some training and I've been told he gets along well with other dogs. From the sounds of it- he's exactly what we'd want in our new addition. Plus, I love that I will be in direct contact with the owner so I can know where he came from, get more details and know where he's been in his past year of life. It all seems win-win-win to me.

Now that we're thinking about it we have questions: what if we drive all the way there and they seem to get along but once we're home they don't? What if the new dog really doesn't like other dogs? I guess I just would love to hear how some of the members incorporated a new, older V into their home while having an existing V. What issues did you encounter? How long did it take for them to get used to each other?


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

KB87, I can only offer my personal experience... but when I brought Willie home, I had another dog, a female V-mix, who was about nine years old at the time. She was predominantly Vizsla. Don't know her age for sure, because she was also a rescue. Willie was about two.

Well, there wasn't any adjustment period at all. They loved each other immediately! Totally and completely. It was as if they had grown up together. That's all I can tell you.

It's been my experience since that time that most Vizslas really are very loving and accepting. To put your mind at ease, maybe in another conversation with this dog's present owner, you could stress the importance of this trait... getting along well with other dogs. I guess the question really is, can you trust what the human has told you. because he has already said "He gets along well with other dogs". It doesn't seem to me that he would lie, because he, too, would be hoping for a successful rehoming. 

_p.s. I do some volunteer work with a local shelter, and when they are trying to place a dog-aggressive dog, they are absolutely honest about it, and say "This dog needs to be an only dog, and should live with an experienced owner". Otherwise, any placement in a new home would be doomed to failure. So it just seems to me that the current owner is likely being honest with you._


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## heatherdyanna (Nov 14, 2012)

KB87-- I'm in the same boat! We have a two year old purebred male vizsla and I've been looking to adopt a second dog... But I was looking for an older dog, not a puppy. I live near Toronto, ON and there aren't many vizslas that come up for adoption around here. I have found a vizsla mix that we're very interested in. He is just under two years old and is mixed with catahoula leopard dog and weimaraner. I would also love to hear stories about adjustment periods, learning curves, etc. so that we have a better idea of what to expect if this all goes according to plan.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

The current owner has stressed that they want a great (not just good) home for their boy so I think he would be very careful and selective to find the best placement for him. He stressed that he is also very good with other dogs and is very energetic, like any V. I don't see why anyone who wants to find a great home for their pup would play that up. But I would also think that upon meeting we would know whether our boy and their boy get along. H would obviously make the trek out there to meet him before we brought him home because, after all, it's all about our boy first and foremost. I think he needs a companion since he LOVES other dogs but the fiance is just a little hesitant, especially since this popped up and isn't in the timeline that we agreed upon...but oh well (in my opinion). I suppose our biggest fear is that they get along great while we are visiting, then get home and we have issues. It's unlikely, but it's a fear, especially being hours from his original home.

I still have to call the owner to talk (it's been all email up to this point) as we wanted to give it more though before we got in contact again. For all I know he's found him a new home but I think he's being very selective and wants to see what all of his options are first. Hopefully I'll talk to him later tonight. And hopefully the fiance is a little more receptive to this idea after it's sunk in for a day


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

We had a similar situation come up last year. We saw a beautiful 6 month old female V at a meetup that the breeder was looking for a home for. Ruby played so well with her and would have been great. Problem was - my husband and I wanted to wait until Ruby was older like 3 or 4 yrs old. I called my breeder since she was not at the meet up and asked her about that specific breeder since they all seem to know each other. She said she was from good lines but if we are not ready for another then wait. She said don't think opportunities don't come up like that very often. She said to not make a rash decision and when the time is right she will assist in finding us the right dog when we are ready. At the time I was so upset thinking what if we passed up a great opportunity but looking back now I'm glad we are still waiting.

I know you want to add a brother to Haeden but I think there will be plenty of opportunities to give him one when the time is right if it is not right now.


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## WillowyndRanch (Apr 3, 2012)

deleted by author.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

I have good news for you, Ken- you didn't break guy code since I'll be the wife ;D And I appreciate the honest opinion.

Actually, both of us will be studying for our CPA exams, but I plan on making sure we will still have time for our pup(s) and are going to try to not disrupt their daily lives too much. I don't expect that it will cause our household to be "unstable"- just spending time a differently in our evenings. Personally, I would like to have another pup already with us when we're studying so H has a companion aside from us and has a playmate in the house. The fiance has a similar opinion as you where he thinks we should wait until after the wedding. I have a gut feeling that if we wait until after we're married that we really won't ever get another dog, especially with the plan to have kids soon after. If only these decisions could just be a lot easier!

PS- He is right probably 90% of the time. (But don't tell him that I said that )


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

I have NO IDEA if this is an option but can a local V rescue do a home visit and "test" the dog for you? If they think he is fine I'm sure any issues would be small and easily resolved. 

Ps. You might bribe them with a donation.


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## Nelly (Feb 7, 2013)

Hey KB, first, let's get one thing straight - the wife is always right! (Keep making them believe that) ;D

Secondly, if I was in your shoes and Ken gave me the advice he just gave you it would put things into perspective for me, I don't have a wedding planned or exams just now but a whole host of other things that would mean I could just not devote the time to another V. I think about rehoming everyday and will absolutely do it in the future, but I often have to rein myself in from just going for it, especially when it is a Vizsla rehome.

That's just me giving opinion if it was me and my life, as you said these decisions are so hard!

The 'test' period is a great idea though, if you do decide to go for it.

Good luck.

Chloe


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## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

I have a question to throw out there....

*If KB87 wasn't studying for exams and planning a wedding and if her other half was on board, how would your answers shift regarding the dogs getting along together.* For example, would it be recommended, that they drive over there and book a hotel for a weekend. Observe the dogs playing together in different settings, ask certain questions, do any tests for compatibility? Would there be a list of things to do with the dogs together for bonding before leaving: walking on leash, feeding, etc. 

I am an overplanner. So, I don't think I would move forward at all if I didn't take some leaps of faith. That being said, before leaping I have to do a logic check. 

Do you have enough time to invest in this new re-home as you would an 8 week pup? If not, I wouldn't do it. This new baby may come over perfectly trained and compatible, but 1) he may not. 2) in all fairness, he should get the same love and attention during transition as a baby would. You want to be able to invest the same amount of time to get him off on the right start. Maybe the dogs will play nicely without supervision, maybe you need to be out there supervising. Maybe it will be tricky walking them together. Maybe you will have two adolescent hyper V's on your hand testing you, instead of 1. 


If you would be prepared for all the maybe's, then I would think you could continue to consider this. I just wouldn't go into it expecting the best, but not preparing for the worst.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

L2L, that's exactly what we're doing- preparing for the worst. I figure that no situation will be 100% ideal, but rather will likely have more downs than ups. But if we can handle the bad, then we can handle the good. I've decided we may be over thinking this whole thing but I'd rather beat a dead horse and know it's dead.

Last night we made a list of pros and cons, tried to figure out how much time we would want to allocate to what we'll have going on (work, studying, the dog(s), us) and then tried to see what could be done to make things better/more ideal and if these ideas were feasible. Building off of that we made a list of questions to ask the owner ranging from basic things to how would we jointly want to handle it if we brought the dog home and it went south- would they want us to bring him back or want us to contact a rescue to work through?

We've been told that he's house trained and had some basic training but, as I told my fiance, I'm going to prepare for a completely untrained dog. Being in a new place without a schedule we will likely have accidents and missed cues. Until we're on each other's wavelengths it could be hit or miss for a while, but eventually I expect that things will smooth out as we spend more time training and communicating much like what happens when you have a puppy. We had to discuss what we will do with the dogs during the day and will they go to daycare on different days or together? What will we do with them on our honeymoon? What will we do if our boy learns bad behaviors he never had before? What if the new pup growls? What if he nips us? How far is too far if something happens like him biting us?

I'm sure this dog is far from what I've prepared for, but I'm preparing for the absolute worst because if we can work with that then we can work with anything. The only thing I'm unsure of how to handle is seeing if the two boys get along. I know for a 100% fact that H will not have any issues with any new dog brought into the house as he's the most even keeled, passive, loving dog- I want to see how the other dog reacts to our boy. And without knowing that dog and how he normally acts I feel like it may be difficult.

And then there's the fact that we may decide it just isn't the right time. As of right now we're up in the air about going any further with this and even meeting him. We've put tons of thought into it and still don't have a conclusion. I'm hoping tonight we'll both have clarity about this and will know how we're going to proceed.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

One thing you might want to look out for is resource guarding with food, toys, and your attention. I'm not sure the best way to set up the scenario, but maybe you could try having the owner feed his dog with H in the same room on lead. Walk past the dog, note how he reacts. Pause by the bowl, note how he reacts, etc. See if they willingly share toys. Have the owner pet H, how does the other dog react? 

The advice I usually see about dog to dog introductions is to go to neutral territory, take them for walk on lead, and then let them play off lead. I think this is sound advice, but I wonder if it might be beneficial to ignore it in this case so you can best see how accepting the dog is of H. 

These are just some ideas from a novice, so I would recommend contacting your nearest vizsla rescue and asking them for some tips on evaluating dogs. I think you're right to, as L2L said, prepare for the worst, but you might be underestimating your ability to to judge if they get along. If there are problems they'll most likely be evident that first meeting. You and your fiance have good heads on your shoulders, so just keep your eyes and ears open.


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Kate - whatever you decide, we will be here to support you and assist with questions. Only you and James will know the right timing on giving Haeden a sibling or not.


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## KB87 (Jan 30, 2012)

We officially have decided that we want to find a younger male V to adopt that will fit perfectly into our lives. Although the owner of the V we were considering seemed very interested in talking to us he later ignored any email/calls from me so it must not have been meant to be. Now we're continuing on our search for a potential new addition


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