# Help - I am going nuts



## Rebelbnkr (Oct 30, 2013)

So my V is 14 weeks old. It drives me absolutely crazy to go on longer walks with him. The cool thing is, he will go potty as soon as he hits the grass and I praise him for his potty power. But after he goes potty, he will walk with his head down and try to eat EVERYTHING off the ground...cigarette butts, wood chips, rocks, sand, you name it...
I know he is not hungry because he always does it, before and after meals. We cannot enjoy walks because I constantly tell him to leave it, try and take stuff out of his mouth, shorten the leash...

Does anyone have any advice on what to do?
Will this pass? Help!


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## Carolina Blue (Sep 20, 2012)

Teach Leave It! K will still try to get a butt..but if I see it first..i tell her Leave It. And she will walk away. You need to practice this with other things in the house..than move to outside objects. Does not happen overnight. Consistent training and keeping an eye open will help. K is 13 months and will pick up whatever I don't tell her not to. I hope over time this will stop!


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## RugersParents (Jul 16, 2013)

I know how you feel. Ruger is 5 months and he still walks with his nose on the ground. We have been teaching leave it and has helped but we still have a ways to go too. Also we have been working on heeling diligently and when he is heeling he's not allowed to do anything but heel. So he tends to ignore alot of things on the floor.


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## chrispycrunch (May 11, 2012)

Rebelbnkr said:


> Does anyone have any advice on what to do?
> Will this pass? Help!


Welcome to the wonderful world of having a hunting-machine-puppy  

Wiley was SOOOOOO bad when we first started walking. He's still not amazing at 7-months now, but I am always consistent with the rules of on-leash walking and I can slowly see progress. When he's on leash, he gets to sniff and wander until I say heel. Once I give him the heel command he better be right beside me with his head up or I stop walking. Any pressure on the leash and I stop walking and take one big step backward which almost always motivates him to get back to heel.

Patience and consistency are they only things that are going to work to help you overcome your dogs drive to sniff and explore the world. Keep in mind, puppies have an incredibly short attention span, so expecting him to heel for any more than a few 100 meters at a time is too much to expect. Let your pup earn the right to sniff and explore the world by walking nicely.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

I was watching my 7 month old granddaughter yesterday evening. It was nice outside, so we went in the backyard and I sat the little one down on the ground. Had to keep taking sticks and leaves out of the girl's hand otherwise they were going into the mouth. Darn kid. Wants to get into everything now that she has discovered crawling.

This too will pass. Enjoy your baby Hungarian Pointer. Good job on the potty training. 

Suggestion. While on lead, use the command "head up",using a quick tug upward. If the head stays up a few seconds then a treat each time. A Hungarian Pointer should not have it's nose to the ground (_note: if you want to field trial against the best pointing breeds_), but its head held high, using the wind to gather scent. Charging through the field and slamming into a point once game is close. All by smell and not by sight. Bailey may slam on point 15 yards from the bird if the wind is right and never see it until I put it in the air.

The regal head up attitude of a true quality bird dog (wisdom passed on to me from a national championship caliber dog trainer and field trailer, Randy Berry). We all want different things from our dogs. This is what judges in high caliber field trial stakes want.

Happy trails, (sorry to hijack the thread) Your pup will be great.

RBD


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

A great pointer does both - head up for initial scent - nose down for tracking the scent - most pointers I C have the head up then get head down when they R truly birdie


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## tknafox2 (Apr 2, 2013)

Oh my gosh... this just made me chuckle!! ;D
I couldn't help remembering the first time I walked Fergy in the wind, and he was chasing every leaf, flower petal, scrap of debris, etc. that went whooshing his way, he was like a vacuum cleaner. Now that he is almost 5 mo. he knows " leave it" and once he has picked it up ( if it is in his path) he puts it right down. HOWEVER... his walking mate is a Bloodhound... just TRY to get her nose off the ground... I have had to start walking them independently ( not always of course) but if I want Fergy to learn anything, he has to be in bird dog mode ( and he is spot on). When I take them out together, it is recreational, they must behave & heel, but I allow many stops for sniffing, exploring bushes, running in Ivy, tromping the iceplant, picking up rocks etc. I'm very impressed that Fergy the V especially , knows the difference between a work walk, and a play walk. Pearl is just happy to be out sniffing the world under her feet, because that is "work" for her.

So anyway, I would just say from my own experience with the 2 v's I've owned, they are very smart and in another month your pup will have advanced from beginner to intermediate or above, no question. Just keep doing what you want him to do and he will.


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## zigzag (Oct 4, 2011)

True pointer= head up charging hard. HPR& Track. That's a true Vizsla. If you want a dog to run out 100plus yards nose into the wind charging over the hill to the next objective. Then a Pointer with a high tail set is the dog for you. If you want to put birds in your vest with a walking gun dog. Let your Vizsla hunt, nose to the ground, then head up into the wind. Blowing air out the side of the mouth while the nose wiggles into the sky. Awaking your dogs nose now! Drag some bacon across the lawn into the cover, release the dog & say huntem up. No praise necessary, the dog will find his treat. Later you will use this command to get the dog going on your hunt. Don't be to heavy with the leave it command yet. If the dog picks up a stick & wants to carry it in his mouth along side you, LET the dog carry the stick! You will have a good retriever. Just my 2cents we all want something different in a dog but Vizsla can do it all.


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## Ksana (Mar 30, 2013)

Welcome to the V's puppyhood world. We had the same problem. In fact, I was afraid he would need a surgery one day if he continued swallowing small stones. If you are consistent with your commands (it looks like, you are on the right track), this stage will pass. One day, a 'light bulb' goes off in the pup's head, and he stops doing it.


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## Rebelbnkr (Oct 30, 2013)

Thank you for all the input. This makes me feel better. 

In fact, I saw a Vizsla pup today here in St. Augustine, same Age as Duke but from a breeder in CA who behaves in the same way. It was great comparing our dogs' quirky ways...and our dogs loved playing with each other while we chatted...


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