# When do Vizsla start getting lovey dovey?



## d_rehmann

So, I have had my Vizsla for about a month now (3 mos. old), and noticed that he doesn't really stick to my side like velcro which is the second selling point of this breed for me. Could this be because I am maybe a little to hard on him while I train him? I don't slap him, but I do try and grab him by the neck firmly and try to startle him out of the activity. So, when did you start noticing your Vizsla act like velcro?


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## MilesMom

Ours has been Velcro since Day 1. They all have different personalities though. 

Everyone has their own training methods and opinions, so I will share mine. We were very gentle with Miles as a puppy. When he would go to chew something inappropriate we would just replace it with a toy. He only had 2 accidents, but when he did we just picked him up, put him outside, and had him finish in the yard and then ignored him for a few min while we cleaned his accident up. When he nibbled on us we squeezed his baby teeth into his upper lip and gently said no. 

Our dog is a big sensitive baby so in our case, I think very firm training methods would have scared him. But again, every dog is different.


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## texasred

From the minute I brought them home.
The correction needs to fit the crime, and Vs are soft on training. So yes you are being to rough on him.

http://www.vizsladogs.com/ARTICLES/pubbite2.htm


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## texasred

Lots of great advice on this forum, and Vizsla LTD for new owners. The search box on the left will bring up plenty of posts on dealing with new puppies.
http://www.vizsladogs.com/pupinfo.htm


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## lilyloo

In my personal opinion, if you are grabbing him or putting your hands even somewhat roughly on him... you are being too rough. Vizslas are very sensitive. I've honestly found that their behavior worsens if you don't use soft correction.

Our pup was cuddly and attached to us from day one.


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## KB87

Our boy was lovey from day 1 - within minutes of picking him up he was snuggled into us, crawling between myself and my boyfriend trying to soak up as much of us as possible, giving kisses like a wildman.

I will tell you that last night our pup caught me in the face with his paw and my immediate reaction was to swat at his nose. It was a bad reaction on my part, but I did it and I caught him on the nose. He immediately ran and stayed away from me for the better part of the night. We made up in the end (with snuggles) and I learned my lesson- to think, then react. I also learned how an immediate reaction on my behalf impacted my pup. Our boy is pretty soft but I can only imagine how any startling or physical behavior could really impact the personality of a V, especially so young.

I would suggest you ease up on the physical reprimanding with your pup. I know it can be difficult to get a pup to listen to your words, to remain calm at all times and still convey what you want to your pup but it's the key to owning a V. I would check out some of the threads on here, as suggested by TexasRed, and see if you can come up with a few tips to change your behavior. I think it's really the best step you can take for yourself and your pup, especially while your pup is still developing and evolving as a dog.


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## datacan

Our boy wants to touch us as much as he can. If I pick him up in my lap, he will look like he is asleep within 30 seconds. 


Handling the dog, patting softly, massaging, stroking them is OK. Holding, shaping behavior by positioning the dog is also OK, IMO. 

I play wrestle on his terms and we are quite rough... One time he bumped my nose with his head and it was painful. He then spent the next five minutes licking my nose, my head and face every which way he could. 

However, one thing must be understood, grabbing any dog by the scruff of the neck, lifting them up and shaking is a very personal act. 
Only the absolute worst behaviors get punished in this fashion, even in the dog world. 

Try this your hand... Reach toward the dog's head gently. If it blinks and shyes away, it is hand shy. 
Not a good sign because it generally means the owner provably is a little rough with discipline.


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## mlwindc

Our five month old pup leapt from the car into our open arms when he was 12 weeks old at our first meeting. He's been attached since day one. My husband is the alpha male in our house and he can be rough with the pup, but the pup loves him more than anything. He is strick, but firm and the bonding happened first. I am the "mom" -- boy hurt his leg crashing into an end table the other night and came whimpering to me for snuggles. He's definitely Velcro and had been from the start


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## mswhipple

I think the Vizsla is the very definition of the "soft" dog, and as others have said, harsh training methods might very well backfire on you... so you have to be careful about that. 

My boy Willie, who is six years old, still comes to me and drapes himself across my lap whenever he can. He leans against me whenever he can. He follows me into the bathroom, because we are pretty much eye-to-eye when I'm seated on the "throne", and he likes that. The velcro dog, through and through. 

To repeat, be careful about roughing up your V, or you could end up with a dog who is afraid of you. They really are very sensitive.


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## ZDOGSMOM

My 2 girls have been stuck to me from day one as well.... Ziva had a 5 hour trip home first day from the breeder... on my lap except for the last half hour, at which time she crawled up my shoulder and draped herself around my neck the rest of the way home...she is now 3 1/2 years old and still loves to be with me nearly all the time... leans on me, stands on my feet, lays across me... she does not like to be handled roughly and will wilt before your eyes .... Little Izzy at 4 months also has been the true Velcro V .... but also will wilt, if I happen to have a moment of insanity and am to harsh with her. Discipline with these dogs should not be physical in my humble opinion. It doesn't take much for them to understand they have done something you aren't happy with .....


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## Ozkar

It's all been said. Tone down the physical stuff, keep your voice calm, never lose your cool. A Vizsla is not a normal dog. You can ruin one with too harsh a correction. I've stepped over the anger line a couple of times and all it succeeds in doing is eroding the bond you have with pup.....and it takes some time for them to trust you again. 

I have never struck Astro, but I suspect his previous owners who thought he was out of control, did. The reason I say that, is he is a little hand cautious. No fast hand movements near his head or he will startle. 

As for Velcro, never met one that didn't love cuddles. They work hard for you all day in the field and expect some love at night.....


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## RubyRoo

Our Ruby was stuck to us from the moment we brought her home. I even remember posting on the forum a question about she always wanting to be in our laps and were worried she was too clung to us. :

Ruby is extremely soft. If we even raise our voices to her, the head is down and tail between legs. That doesn't happen very often anymore but as a puppy she was the quite the little devil.

As for being by your side - at 3 months that doesn't surprise me with training. I think that will take time but when hanging out I'm sure he will want snuggle time but they all have different personalities.


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## born36

I think people have a hard time understanding the velcro bit of a V. This comes from the fact that they forget that they are a hunting breed and therefore have been trained for years to lead out in front of their owners; sometimes as far as a half mile ahead. 

So if you thought that by velcro V that you were going to get a dog that somehow didn't need to be trained on re call you are mistaken. Recall is actually one of the most difficult things to train a high energy dog to do.

Around the house your V will follow you around. In the field the dog will and should roam however you must train it to return or stop. This will take lots of time. 

Right now to address the grabbing issue. Don't do to your dog what you wouldn't want anyone to do to you. So in other words advise your pup. Show them the right way. They will make mistakes but don't physically punish them. They won't get it! 

Also you could be making the non velcro issue worse as the dog will lose trust in you and who wants to cuddle or be next to someone who might suddenly grab and yell. 

My Mac took 4months with us to before he would cuddle as physical touch to him just got him way too excited. Now at 22 months he is a cuddle bug and is constantly following around and cuddling.


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## candi30

They all think they are lap dogs and I love it!
Our girl is 16 weeks and when we're inside the house she is always right with us.
That being said she is definitely not a "soft" dog. She is extremely strong willed and fearless. We are training her by rewarding positive behaviours. No harsh correction for making mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen.
She is very smart and is picking up everything so quickly.
I'm not sure how "velcro" she is off leash. I like to think she is keeping on eye on us as she is playing with other dogs but I wonder how long it would take her to notice if we hid somewhere. We should try that. How would you train them to not roam toooo far away from you?
Her recall is great though so that's good. She'll come running from across the park if I call her (although I've been told this might not continue when she becomes a teenager  )


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## Suliko

My oldest V Sophie was not a cuddly puppy. She was possessed by the devil up until she was 1 year old. Once she started calming down and responding better to commands, we started to develop a deeper bond. But up until then, it was just non-stop running, jumping, nipping, biting, shark attacks, emotional peeing, more jumping, eating everything in her way.... We took turns to watch her while she was chewing on bones and toys, and that was our cuddle time basically. I think she was just always too busy to cuddle, and when she passed out she didn't care where and how. She only had ON or OFF button. Once she got older, and we started trusting her around the house, things got easier, and she became more cuddly and velcro. I agree that your training methods might be a bit too harsh for such a little pup. Consistency and positive reinforcement is the key. 
On the other hand, my youngest V. Pacsirta is a complete snuggle bug and has been since the minute I met her....after her 30hr flight! Not only she velcros herself to us, she also superglues herself to us


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## stryker

Oh no-no vizsla's are very emotional there feelings hurt very easily train firm but remember warm fuzzy not cold pricklys. Also be careful what you wish for a Velcro vizsla is on point all the time when they love you they really love you


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## Melissa_DT

Bentley is now 16 weeks and from day 1 insisted on following me wherever I go in the house and takes up every opportunity for snuggles (when he's not running around with the zoomies that is!) He even pouts and whines when he watches me getting ready for work in the morning since he knows I'm leaving and he isn't coming along for the ride!

In terms of training, I also like the softer approach with positive reinforcements. However he definitely has had a few puppy issues (I'm referring to it as his terrible two stage equivalent) I have him enrolled in puppy obedience classes but I'm not sure how I feel about my trainers approach. While I do agree with the need for my pup to respect me and for me tone the "pack leader" I worry her methods are a little much for my boy. This could just be me being a paranoid mom, but here's and example-

We were doing handling exercises to get the pups used to being handled (paws, ears, mouth, etc) and we would have to hold a spot for 5 seconds than reward with a treat. Now when it came time for me to put my fingers in bentleys mouth, he was not having it and started to growl and even nipped me (not hard, but teeth made contact with my hand). So the instructor came over to help me correct it and what she did was hold the underside of his collar (under his chin) and tried to put her finger in bis mouth and he growled again and he started to struggle to break loose so she held it with both hands and had his front paws elevated off the ground and he was going mental. She held it there until he submitted and stopped struggling and then she was able to put her fingers all along the inside of his mouth. She tried to give him treats and praise him afterwards but he was so upset with her he wouldn't take the treat or even make eye contact. After that he hasn't had any issues letting me put my finger or a tooth brush in his mouth (I didnt repeat that method, but it seems like once was all it took for him). 

So I guess I'm wondering if this was an appropriate method and I'm just being an overly protective mom, or if that is maybe a little too harsh for a V seeing as they're definitely more sensitive than the average pooch. There are not very many Vs where I live so I'm not sure how much experience trainers in this area have had with their unique nature.


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## Ozkar

If it was done calmly without any anger or emotion then I am sure it's fine. If the trainer however, got upset or angry or frustrated, then find a specific Vizsla trainer who wont!!!


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