# Off lead 9 month Vizsla



## Rhodi (Aug 29, 2021)

i live in woodland so all our regular walks are here. Previously, exploring the woodland keeping fairly close to me as we are walking and responding well to recall, my 9 month has now started racing off at quite a distance, scenting trails at a fast pace. Normal young Vizsla behaviour I guess? She is not gone too long, and so far does return to where I am. She is not spending much of her walk stopping to sniff or walking/trotting at a slower pace.
We have Deer, Boar, Squirrels etc as well as other walkers, dogs, horses etc. I need to keep her and them safe.
Should I put her back on a long line? is she likely to settle back down in the next few months or will this be so exciting she will continue long into adulthood?


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

She is growing up. Her instinctive behaviors to scent and seek are kicking in. She is perfectly normal.
Should you put her back on the check cord? Yes, you actually should for her safety. She'll settle over the next 6 months, and you'll have more time to work on her recall, stay, and whoa. On days that you find yourself alone out and about, let her go to "turn and burn" as long as it is safe.
Nothing says that you have to hold onto the other end of the check cord. Let her drag 50 to 60 feet of 1/4" clothesline material behind her. She can run and sniff, and you can get ahold of the check cord and control her, without actually having to get ahold of her.
You also did not do anything wrong with training her. This is normal expected behavior from a young Vizsla. They all do it.
Have fun and please don't think that you're a bad owner and didn't train her properly. She's just doing what she was born to do. Now you just get to have fun and work on having her include you in the fun.


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## Rhodi (Aug 29, 2021)

gunnr said:


> She is growing up. Her instinctive behaviors to scent and seek are kicking in. She is perfectly normal.
> Should you put her back on the check cord? Yes, you actually should for her safety. She'll settle over the next 6 months, and you'll have more time to work on her recall, stay, and whoa. On days that you find yourself alone out and about, let her go to "turn and burn" as long as it is safe.
> Nothing says that you have to hold onto the other end of the check cord. Let her drag 50 to 60 feet of 1/4" clothesline material behind her. She can run and sniff, and you can get ahold of the check cord and control her, without actually having to get ahold of her.
> You also did not do anything wrong with training her. This is normal expected behavior from a young Vizsla. They all do it.
> Have fun and please don't think that you're a bad owner and didn't train her properly. She's just doing what she was born to do. Now you just get to have fun and work on having her include you in the fun.





gunnr said:


> She is growing up. Her instinctive behaviors to scent and seek are kicking in. She is perfectly normal.
> Should you put her back on the check cord? Yes, you actually should for her safety. She'll settle over the next 6 months, and you'll have more time to work on her recall, stay, and whoa. On days that you find yourself alone out and about, let her go to "turn and burn" as long as it is safe.
> Nothing says that you have to hold onto the other end of the check cord. Let her drag 50 to 60 feet of 1/4" clothesline material behind her. She can run and sniff, and you can get ahold of the check cord and control her, without actually having to get ahold of her.
> You also did not do anything wrong with training her. This is normal expected behavior from a young Vizsla. They all do it.
> Have fun and please don't think that you're a bad owner and didn't train her properly. She's just doing what she was born to do. Now you just get to have fun and work on having her include you in the fun.


Thanks for your reply, you’ve said what I was thinking I’d need to do. i can’t have too long a line as it gets wrapped around the trees but I’ll give her free run sessions when I think it’s safe. And continue to work on recall and make it fun


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

Actually, the line getting tangled in the trees and brush is not a bad thing.
When they run off, which she will, and you call her, and she doesn't come back, which she will also, if she gets tangled up and ties herself in place, it is you that "releases her". In her mind, you are still enforcing a command.You are still in charge.
Last fall, during hunting season, I had to put Finn back on a checkcord. It was probably about 35 feet long. He'd get tangled, I'd free him, he'd get tangled, I'd free him again. Eventually he started to listen more.
All in all, definitely not an outdoor experience for a photoshoot in the magazines, but he eventually got tired of tying himself up and paid more attention. I could also step on the cord when he went on point, and stop him from chasing the birds.
Between the eCollar and the check cord, we worked things out. You will too.


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

My 10 mos girl does the same thing occasionally. It is a safe wooded area so I'm not as concerned with dangerous animals, etc. This morning my wife and I went for a walk in the woods with Ellie off leash as usual. She disappeared from sight and my wife who does not normally allow her off leash when alone with Ellie got nervous. I told her "she does that its OK, she knows where we are". I have been practicing my "Over Here" command where I say "Ellie Ellie, Over Here!" , 15 seconds later you can see her tearing through the woods back to our area in sight and zooms by. This command means to get back near me but not necessarily a full recall. It is meant to let them know they need to be within eyesight or generally around you preferably in front. In the rare occasion that she is not snapping out of her chase, we use an e-collar as a backup starting with the tone beep, then vibrate, and if necessary a small stimulation. It has not failed as she almost always understands the tone at first try. It looks like you are in a vicinity where this may not be an option so the long-line is the next best thing. I started Ellie on various lengths of long line with a harness until she was around 7 mos before training her on the e-collar. I learned about the long-line method here from reading @gunnr and @texasred 's advice.

edit: I forgot to add we also recently started using the Fi tracking collar. It is the ultimate backup plan if Ellie did decide to not listen and run off. As long as it can gather a cellular service signal, it can report back to our phone app the area she is located. Very nice peace of mind.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I’ve never used a checkcord longer 25ft, so far it’s worked well. But I condition mine to a ecollar, once they get to that bold non recall stage. As others have stated, it’s a completely normal stage.
I also highly recommend gps collars.


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## Pennylogic (Aug 28, 2020)

13 mo male vizsla here and just to reassure you, he does the same thing. We strated with a 20' lead, then 40', and then fenced areas only until I was confident with his recall.

We use Fi collar for tracking always, then e collar on walks and just like above, the beep is used first and he nearly always responds to that. We’ve been working on him having freedom but checking back in. It’s just about the cutest thing ever. He runs chasing, sniffing, climbing, doing V stuff and if I call him back he runs to the corner of the trail to where we make eye contact and he's off again. Trying to let him know he can have freedom but stay close enough where I can successfully voice call him back.










However, Wed night we went on our mountain hike which he's very familiar with and he caught a scent and off he was. I walked all over the trail (veering off the trail is too thick) calling both voice and using beep but nothing. After about 20 very nervous minutes I thought he was lost for sure. Didn't hear his collar clinking , so used a higher setting on shock to see if that helped. I heard him yelp and darted that way.

Finally I heard him crashing down the mountain and he just about knocked me over when he jumped into me out of relief. He knew that he was lost, that I was nervous and we kinda had a moment.

Long story, but lots of people here (utah) are very against e collars, but if used and trained with properly can save your pup.

Love the e collar when out in the mountains and off leash and like the Fi collar abilities around the house/yard. Not sure if I'll renew the Fi because were often hiking outside cell service, but still has a great purpose.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I use Garmin gps collars. Pricey, and not totally infallible, but they have been great out in the field


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## GrettaTheVizsla (Aug 27, 2021)

E-collar for sure! My V isn't the greatest listener and I honestly believe the E-collar keeps her safe. She's always trying to get in trouble and I don't know what I'd do without one!


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## Pennylogic (Aug 28, 2020)

GrettaTheVizsla said:


> E-collar for sure! My V isn't the greatest listener and I honestly believe the E-collar keeps her safe. She's always trying to get in trouble and I don't know what I'd do without one!


Also, it helped strengthen the bond between us as well. Now he can run off leash and I don't stress as much...win win!


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Agreed on the e-collar. It is a shame they are looked down on at times. Ellie loves when I get it out as she knows it means super fun times ahead! Without it, I don't see how I could have made it work to give her the freedom she has living in a suburb. Sure I have close-by woods that we hike in, but with a V's speed, she can be out of them and into the streets in no time at all if she really wanted to. It's not like I'm beeping and buzzing her every day, it is more like a very seldom used reminder that "hey, you can have fun but when I give a serious recall command, you need to stop what you are doing and listen". Only used when she decides to challenge or maybe thinks something else is more interesting than listening at that moment.


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## GrettaTheVizsla (Aug 27, 2021)

Dan_A said:


> Agreed on the e-collar. It is a shame they are looked down on at times. Ellie loves when I get it out as she knows it means super fun times ahead! Without it, I don't see how I could have made it work to give her the freedom she has living in a suburb. Sure I have close-by woods that we hike in, but with a V's speed, she can be out of them and into the streets in no time at all if she really wanted to. It's not like I'm beeping and buzzing her every day, it is more like a very seldom used reminder that "hey, you can have fun but when I give a serious recall command, you need to stop what you are doing and listen". Only used when she decides to challenge or maybe thinks something else is more interesting than listening at that moment.


Exactly!


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