# New puppy Saturday!



## Cakegirl (Mar 28, 2014)

Hi everyone! 

I just wanted to introduce myself. We are picking up our first Vizsla puppy on Saturday! The breeder is out of state, so we are driving about 6 hours to pick him up.

I have to admit I'm a little nervous. In the past we've had a Border Collie (tons of energy) and most recently a Great Dane (giant couch potato). So I'm intimidated keeping up with this guy's energy needs even though we're a pretty active family.

What are the best pieces of advice on raising this breed can you guys tell me?


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Be patient with him. Their attention spans are short as puppies. Always praise any improvement when teaching him something. Don't sweat the small things. They are more motivated to learn by positive reinforcement , than negative. The shark attacks will pass. The most important thing is share your life with him. They love being apart of everything you do.


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## Cakegirl (Mar 28, 2014)

I can do that. . But, what are shark attacks?


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Oh, you'll know the shark attacks when they happen, haha! Just our little nickname for the very special kind of manic biting frenzy vizsla puppies are famous for. If you haven't already, look through the puppies section on the forum. There are threads with various detailed solutions for all the problems you'll encounter. Everything from crate training and shark attacks to nutrition and socialization. 

The best advice I can offer is that while vizslas are a highly intelligent, trainable breed, the puppy you bring home is still maturing. When you hit a wall in your training, it could be that your puppy needs a different training method or that you are being inconsistent, but more than likely it's just that he needs a little time to get to the next developmental stage. Treat your puppy as an individual. Some puppies are potty and crate trained the first week and others take months. 

oh and we LOVE puppy pictures.


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## MeandMy3 (Feb 27, 2013)

My best advise is get sleep tonight. You'll need it! Be consistent with crate training as well and follow TexasRed's advice. Patience and consistency and make the little one the newest member of your family. Enjoy the puppy months as they go way too fast - except the shark attacks, they don't go fast enough.


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## Dixiedog (Mar 23, 2014)

I'd echo the point about getting some sleep tonight, we are on night 7 now, not much sleep so far for us but we'll never look back. We have a really cheeky but really soft and loving 9.5 week old wire haired vizsla and take the view that the lack of sleep is only temporary albeit challenging. 

We have set the boundaries and tried to stick to them, its been difficult to do that but we keep in mind that she is growing by the day and work on the basis of how we want her to be when fully grown rather than as a puppy. I'm sure we have loads of challenges ahead but have read lots of threads on this forum and picked up a lot of useful infomation and also a lot of information that we can now relate to, that has been useful for us.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I can't believe none of us have taken a video of our pups in shark mode. 
If you didn't know better, you would think your pup has been possessed by a evil attack dog. Its a growling, barking, snapping, biting frenzy. That can include the breaking skin and ripping of clothing. It happens when the pup is excited and playing, and sometimes when over tired.

The truth is its a hunting bred puppy, with very sharp little teeth in play mode. They are in no way out to hurt you, and played the exact same game with their littermates.


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

TexasRed said:


> I can't believe none of us have taken a video of our pups in shark mode.


Ah, I tried so many times! People never believe me when I tell them what a terror Dexter was as a pup. Maybe it's because we're too busy protecting ourselves (and our pants, shirts, etc.) from those lil shark teeth  I am determined to get a video of our next pup doing it! 

@Cakegirl - Enjoy the puppy stage! It goes by sooo fast, especially since you'll be in a sleep deprived blur. Stock up on sleep now. Take a ridiculous amount of pictures (and share them with the forum!) so you can relive it all when the sleepless nights end!

Dig out all your old, ratty clothes. Don't wear anything you actually want to keep in one piece until puppy is 6 months old and done teething 

Search the forum threads for crate training & shark attacks!


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## Cakegirl (Mar 28, 2014)

einspänner said:


> Oh, you'll know the shark attacks when they happen, haha! Just our little nickname for the very special kind of manic biting frenzy vizsla puppies are famous for. If you haven't already, look through the puppies section on the forum. There are threads with various detailed solutions for all the problems you'll encounter. Everything from crate training and shark attacks to nutrition and socialization.
> 
> The best advice I can offer is that while vizslas are a highly intelligent, trainable breed, the puppy you bring home is still maturing. When you hit a wall in your training, it could be that your puppy needs a different training method or that you are being inconsistent, but more than likely it's just that he needs a little time to get to the next developmental stage. Treat your puppy as an individual. Some puppies are potty and crate trained the first week and others take months.
> 
> oh and we LOVE puppy pictures.


Ah, got it. We bought a pretty comprehensive book on Vizslas a few weeks ago, and it said nothing about shark attacks, haha. We already have him signed up for a training class, so hopefully that will help us get him on the right track. lack of sleep? I have three children, so I never get to sleep anyway. 

Thanks for the advice! We are so excited. I'll post some pictures after we pick him up!


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## Janders (Feb 27, 2014)

We are currently at the end of our 4th week with Gus. He will be 11 weeks old on Sunday. He is a true joy. While he's not our first dog, he is our first Vizsla. He plays hard and then he sleeps hard. The books and website that define them as Velcro dogs are right on. He is constantly by our side. He adjusted well to us and doesn't seem to miss his brothers or sisters. He was full of cuddles for the first couple of days. Then the shark attacks started. I am very big on routine and this has helped his transition tremendously. He stays in his crate during the day. (I work from home so he has many potty breaks. He can also seem me from it.) We both said we would not have a dog on the couch or in the bed with us. But he does both. He is just so irresistible and we are both totally in love with him. We have started some basic training already. He loves to please and sits and lies down on command. He's doing pretty good with come and stay also. We start our official training course next week.
Two of the best ways we keep in occupied are carrots and his kong ball that we put peanut butter & cheerios in. He will chew on a baby carrot for 5 minutes. He loves them.
Enjoy your new puppy!


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## Watson (Sep 17, 2012)

LOL @ not taking video of shark attacks. dextersmom is right - we're probably too busy trying to protect ourselves. 

Cakegirl: here is a pic of what Watson did to my arm one day while coming back from a walk. Not only would he wait until we weren't home, but he'd usually wait until there was an audience. Don't miss those days!


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## Cakegirl (Mar 28, 2014)

Watson said:


> LOL @ not taking video of shark attacks. dextersmom is right - we're probably too busy trying to protect ourselves.
> 
> Cakegirl: here is a pic of what Watson did to my arm one day while coming back from a walk. Not only would he wait until we weren't home, but he'd usually wait until there was an audience. Don't miss those days!


Oh yikes. I have a 2 year old, so we are going to really stay on top of that! 

I am so excited to pick him up - only a few more hours!


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## littleredrooster (Feb 13, 2014)

einspänner said:


> Oh, you'll know the shark attacks when they happen, haha! Just our little nickname for the very special kind of manic biting frenzy vizsla puppies are famous for. If you haven't already, look through the puppies section on the forum. There are threads with various detailed solutions for all the problems you'll encounter. Everything from crate training and shark attacks to nutrition and socialization.
> 
> The best advice I can offer is that while vizslas are a highly intelligent, trainable breed, the puppy you bring home is still maturing. When you hit a wall in your training, it could be that your puppy needs a different training method or that you are being inconsistent, but more than likely it's just that he needs a little time to get to the next developmental stage. Treat your puppy as an individual. Some puppies are potty and crate trained the first week and others take months.
> 
> oh and we LOVE puppy pictures.






*****My wife and I got our female V named Kaya two and half weeks ago. She's now 12.5 weeks. 

We have been making major progress compared to the beginning. First night or two she wasn't a big fan of the crate but now she's doing great and not being disrupting at night except for two bathroom breaks at 2am & 5/6am. 

We notice the shark attacks & zoomies (which I think come in tandom?) right away after the first night or two when she was comfy enough to act like a nut. We usually let her play it out a bit or bring her and our older dog outside, but have at times put her back in the crate with treats and a baby and she settles after a min or two. 

We have an English bulldog. Overall they get along (ie: no actual fighting) but Kaya gives our bulldog a lot to swallow. Constantly nipping at hear ears, legs and face. Our bulldog handles it VERY well but will sometimes put her in her place/bulldoze her. I think it's important they work this out alone? So we don't interfere. 
Any tips on a preventing or lessening a puppy harassing the older dog would be much appreciated!!

Other issue I'm running into is she eats EVERYTHING! Grass, rocks, bird poop, and basically any object she comes across that's small and on the ground. I'm worried most about the rocks. We live in Bermuda so they're like compacted sand rocks, but still I think she manages to swallow small pieces as we can't pull them out of her mouth at every instance. 
Ant tips or experience with V's eating ROCKS?!?!?!

Thank you. Pics attached. [/color][/color]


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## dextersmom (Oct 29, 2013)

Watson said:


> He'd usually wait until there was an audience. Don't miss those days!


SO true. And so embarrassing, haha!


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## CrazyCash (Jul 12, 2012)

I remember the first time Cash had a shark attack. I wasn't on the forum yet so I had no idea what shark attacks were. I was playing with him and then he went into crazy mode and just started coming after me! He eyes would roll back a little (just like when a shark bites) and those super sharp little teeth were coming for me. I remember just trying to block him before he got ahold on me and I was shoving toys in his mouth to keep him off me. After he calmed down I was talking to my brother and I told him that my new adorable puppy was crazy and he just attacked me like a shark. . Then I found the forum and I think I even posted something about these crazy attacks, but then I saw all these other posts on shark attacks and I felt so much better - at the time I truly thought that I had adopted the worlds craziest and most aggressive puppy ever. They really do just outgrow the shark attacks, you wake up one day and all of a sudden just realize that they are gone.


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## hcrowder (Dec 26, 2013)

Thank god the shark attacks stop on their own. Those needle sharp teeth start coming after you and it seems like you previously sweet and cuddly pup has been possessed. Then you read on some forum that when a puppy bites you should ignore them or give a high pitched ouch noise. So you try this but your little red devil just keeps coming after. I imagine it is more like a piranha than a shark. This can be quite overwhelming. We called ours a snapping turtle because she would lie calmly and then all of a sudden she would snap at us.


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## Cakegirl (Mar 28, 2014)

Here he is! We are in LOVE. Meet Dakota!


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

Nice...  

Now the fun starts.... 

Good luck, enjoy and keep on top of him 

Hobbsy


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