# 6 Month Old Questions...



## sadenney (Jul 28, 2015)

We have a beautiful 6 Month Old Vizsla named Ruby Mae. She is our first V so we're learning as much as we can about the breed! I have a few questions about a few things that are still problems.

1. Sleep Regression- She was sleeping through the night for a few months very consistently. She started waking up around 3-4AM around 5 months. I started taking her out to the bathroom and she always had to tinkle. This has been consistent for the past month.. sometimes 2x per night. We initially thought maybe she has a UTI so the vet started us on a 10 day pill. She finished the meds yesterday, but still does this nightly. She gets exercise during the day, but after dinner she relaxes on the couch with us so maybe she's not sleepy?Should this still be happening? What do I do to get her sleeping through the night again? Note: She sleeps in the room with us in her own bed, not in our bed.

2. Excited tinkle: When she greets guests she always tinkles! Is there a way to break this? My MIL suggested puppy diapers, but I think that's silly.

3. Jumping on people- She also jumps on people when she greets them.. we've been working on breaking this for months, but honestly not a lot of success. We use the word OFF and also try the "ignore" technique, but others don't always do this so its hard to reinforce. Suggestions/tips?

Thanks!!!


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## gingerling (Jun 20, 2015)

Your vet might do a culture to make sure if it was a UTI, it's now gone. 

If it is gone, she might just be doing it now b/c she knows she'll get the attention. You can try to ignore her, see if she settles down. 


Excited tinkle=submissive urination. Unless she's super submissive, she'll likely outgrow this. Keep a sponge nearby. Don't discipline her. And puppy diapers ARE silly. That's MIL's for you...

Jumping is a hard one b/c it's instinct to reach up to greet. The easiest way to break this is to greet her at her level...bend down so she doesnt have to jump, reward with the phrase "Good down, good girl!". That way, she learns thru association what "Down" means, and that you like this. You can then use the phrase "Down" when she jumps.

I don't like the 'knee up" that a lot of folks use, it's kinder and more effective to quickly turn away...V's are eager to please and love attention, and they learn to associate their actions with your reactions, so if you turn away when they do something, they're likely to stop as it's not getting them what they want.

This all takes time, be patient and be consistent and she'll get it.


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## bonecutter (Jan 14, 2015)

for the jumping up to greet guests: What has worked for us is to put the leash on before answering the door or letting the guests into where Jimi is. Then we step on the leash with Jimi right beside us giving just enough leash to just get the front paws up if he tries to jump. This keeps him from actually jumping on the guests and makes it easier and more pleasant for them to ignore. While he puts on his show we explain what we're doing to our guests (helping us ignore him). Then when he sits or has all four paws on the floor we give our guests the ok to pet. We work on this for ourselves too. We never give attention when he jumps up. We give a sit command and when he sits we pet. Having worked on this for awhile now (Jimi is about 4 months) he knows to sit if he wants us to pet him. It isn't perfect but this has made things much better.


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