# My Vizsla Questions



## ken0711 (10 mo ago)

Hi all,

Thanks for taking the time to read this post.

I have a few questions and concerns about my vizsla (Cinna) and general dog training:

1. *Weight: *Cinna is only around 30 pounds at 7 months old. She looks skinny but not sickly or anything bad. I've read that most vizslas are around the 35-40 lb mark at 7 months. Her diet is a mix of farmer's dog, some puppy dry food (ultimate pro pac - recommended by breeder), some toppers, and of course many many treats for rewarding, chewing and training.

2. *Physical Activity*: I read that puppies should get 5 minutes for each month (meaning she gets 35 minutes of exercise) two times per day. We usually do much more than this between 2-3 walks (~ 4-6 miles per day), fetch in the backyard (altogether ~ 1-2 hours per day), and possibly a park (but it's been too cold/rainy lately).

3. *Mental Activity*: I have quite a few puzzles for her to solve. I usually give them to her daily. We already went through puppy training at Petsmart and are halfway through intermediate training now. She's really smart and does almost perfect with the training when there are no/little distractions. We practice inside, in the backyard, and then randomly walking around the neighborhood.

4. *Socialization: *She didn't get much socialization until I got her all of her shots, but she is doing great now. She goes to doggy day care twice a week for about 5-6 hours a day. Plus, we go to parks and dog parks every day when the weather permits. She's got a great attitude with dogs and people.

5. *Random*: She has started playing with her water bowl, and she will play with it for hours if I let her. She makes a mess. She makes bubbles in the water and then attacks the bubbles. It's cute, but she's a little obsessed. I'm sure the fascination will pass. She does pretty good walking on the leash. She was in this phase of attacking the leash but I think I found the antidote to that behavior that works with her. She will sometimes walk in front of me, as if she's trying to trip me. She doesn't do this so much now. I want to start running with her. When I run, she will put the leash in her mouth and run in front of me. So, she reverts back to those habits I have mostly broken when walking that I just mentioned. We are making a little progress here (being able to run a little further every day without her doing those 2 things), but it's slow.

So, why did I mention all of this?
I worry about her a lot. And, I'm raising her by myself. So, there is no partner, kids, other pets, etc. Just me. My work schedule is as flexible as it can be, and I work remotely. So, I can make adjustments if needed.

I am worried about her weight a little bit. It seems low to me. I talked to the vet, but he assured me that she's doing just fine. I trust his opinion, but I would like to get other opinions from vizsla owners. Plus, I need to vent all this out a little bit.

Nothing I do physically seems to wear her out. Even doggy day care doesn't wear her out. I haven't seen her ever get so tired (except at night) where she needs to take a nap. I watch other videos of vizsla owners playing, and they go about 30 minutes-1 hour. Their vizsla falls asleep and takes naps throughout the day. That's not Cinna, 99% of the time.

I'm not really worried about her people or dog socialization. She gets anxious and nervous in new environments, but she's always having a good time. We're working on the jumping up on people, especially kids and older people.

When do you let your dog off leash? Do you wait until recall is perfect? I've seen videos of people doing it at parks when dogs are like 4 months old. It's impressive. I want to give her the freedom to make the right choices, but I don't want her to get hurt by getting distracted and not listening to my commands. 

I didn't really mention this, but we do tons of trick-training on top of the petsmart training. So, she learns a new trick probably every week, and I just keep reinforcing the trick until the next week.

As you can tell, I worry a lot about her and if I am training her well enough. It's a lot, but I'm looking for any advice from what I've mentioned already. Maybe I need to try a different approach or tweak something I am doing that I didn't mention here.

Goals:
1. Her walking off leash and, eventually, jogging with me.
2. Perfect recall.
3. Proper greeting of other people and dogs. She does get super excited.
4. Be able to wear her out. Keep her happy and healthy.
5. (This is a goal for me) Be able to have a little downtime and rest, especially during work days. We are typically always doing something or going to a park.


Thanks again for reading all of this,
Kenny


----------



## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Hi! It sounds like you're doing just fine. Really.

With weight concerns, it's always nice to know the parents' weights for reference, but there are plenty of female Vs that top out at 35lbs as adults. A couple pictures would be the best way for us to help you. One standing profile from the side and one top down so we can see the ribs and hips. She'll put on muscle and fill out a bit, but I have an almost 9 year old now and with as lean as I keep her there's not a whole lot of wiggle room so I still find myself managing her body condition. The over-anxious worry lessens though. 

I have a lower energy dog, but the one thing I always comment on when it comes to hyperactivity is that my dog is much calmer when she's spent time with me. Have you noticed a difference between her energy levels on weekdays vs the weekend? Obviously going to work is unavoidable, but snuggles might be part of the solution. I also found it helpful to train and reward calm behavior. I'd stick her in the crate or out of the crate but on leash, sit down on the floor with a book and some high value treats. Whenever she laid down, was quiet for a bit, etc. she'd get a treat. Any undesirable behavior was just ignored. 

Off-leash started early, but it's less impressive than it looks. It just comes down to what development phase they are in. Younger puppies are less bold and more likely to stick close. At your girl's age my dog was always on a 30-50' check cord. They get more sure of themselves and are more likely to explore and that's a good thing. I've got to get going, but people have written really detailed advice on recall training with check cords, so see if the search brings some of that up.


----------



## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Start training with off leash asap, many good posts here about it. I learned from here using various lengths of check cords with knots on the end. Always use a harness with check cords so they don’t choke themselves or worse. Once she can roam and let her hunting instincts kick in she will tire out. Take her to open fields with tallish clumped grasses or woodlands, she’ll love it!


----------



## ken0711 (10 mo ago)

Just an update: I took her to the dog park today. There weren't any other dogs out there. The weather is kinda yucky for most people i guess. I put the long 30' leash on her and she just attacks it like she occasionally does with the 6' leash. When she does this, i typically grab her collar/harness and it stops her doing it. But, with the long leash, she has 30' to choose from when we restart. I'm not sure. maybe i should just let her go and she'll realize that "I don't care" about her attacking her leash (doing this only in areas with no car traffic near).


----------



## ken0711 (10 mo ago)

einspänner said:


> Hi! It sounds like you're doing just fine. Really.
> 
> With weight concerns, it's always nice to know the parents' weights for reference, but there are plenty of female Vs that top out at 35lbs as adults. A couple pictures would be the best way for us to help you. One standing profile from the side and one top down so we can see the ribs and hips. She'll put on muscle and fill out a bit, but I have an almost 9 year old now and with as lean as I keep her there's not a whole lot of wiggle room so I still find myself managing her body condition. The over-anxious worry lessens though.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the kind words. I haven't noticed a difference in energy between weekdays and weekends. She only likes to snuggle with me (when we're alone) when she's tired, which is just at night. Thanks for the advice too.


----------



## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

You're stressing to much.
Her weight, and size will be more evident at the 1 year mark. She'll probably have her adult size,, and be very close to her adult weight.
Start taking her jogging with you now. She can probably easily cover 1-3 miles, as long as it is not a static pace or on asphalt. You start jogging, I'm willing to bet she starts also. Just find a nice safe area. Let her drag a check cord behind her. If she want to carry some of the leash in her mouth, let her. She'll stop.
Yes, it seems impressive when a puppy has recall at 4 months. Wait another 6-8 months and watch what happens. It typically goes right out the window for about 6 months. You will be "working" on recall for the next year and half, and even after that, it will never be "perfect". I've been trying to perfect it for the past 34 years. 
You cannot wear her out. It's not humanly possible. Being with you, and running with you though, she will probably cover 2-3 times the amount of distance you do. She'll wear herself out, but she can far out last any human. Even at 7 months old.
Honestly though, at her age, it's a matter of establishing a routine that she can predict. Get her out with no other goal other to enjoy the day, and each other. She'll adapt.


----------



## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Once you see her off leash in nature you will be amazed at her athleticism. I walk Ellie in the woods daily around 2 human miles. She probably covers 5+ dog miles zooming around. After a nap she can probably do it again but I don’t want to get her used to twice a day!


----------



## Gidget (Jan 6, 2010)

Don’t worry about her weight. She seems like she’s doing well. 30lbs at 7 months seems about right. My 18 month old girl is only 35 lbs. She’s definitely on the smaller side but in no way looks malnourished. My other female Vizsla weighed between 42-44 lbs., overall just a bigger dog. Agree with gunnr..recall does seem to go out the window often in a Vizsla’s life LOL! I just mentioned to my husband that we better start working on recall again. Our girl is starting to take a longer to come back to us when called. Lately, she’ll take the long way back, get in some extra sniffs, chase and extra squirrel etc before she decides to return. So yep, time to work on recall again!


----------



## Steve424 (10 mo ago)

Dan_A said:


> Once you see her off leash in nature you will be amazed at her athleticism. I walk Ellie in the woods daily around 2 human miles. She probably covers 5+ dog miles zooming around. After a nap she can probably do it again but I don’t want to get her used to twice a day!


With a note on my 5 month old Vizsla and her energy ....? I live on a fairly large property on the water with a shore line. She's been off the leash, day one. It's only her and I for the most part. I'm happy to say that I think I've lost 5 pound in the past week since we picked her up.  Zoooom ...


----------



## ken0711 (10 mo ago)

Steve424 said:


> With a note on my 5 month old Vizsla and her energy ....? I live on a fairly large property on the water with a shore line. She's been off the leash, day one. It's only her and I for the most part. I'm happy to say that I think I've lost 5 pound in the past week since we picked her up.  Zoooom ...


I lost 20 pounds the first month I had my vizsla


----------



## Steve424 (10 mo ago)

ken0711 said:


> I lost 20 pounds the first month I had my vizsla


lol! Here's a pic. Her expression as I catch my breath....


----------



## Steve424 (10 mo ago)

gunnr said:


> You cannot wear her out. It's not humanly possible.


After one week of 5 month old-puppy-Vizsla-parent hood, I can attest.


----------



## beccamomoffour (Jan 24, 2021)

ken0711 said:


> Hi all,
> 
> Thanks for taking the time to read this post.
> 
> ...


Our dog is a male. 8 months tomorrow and only 32 lbs. I have also worried about his weight. But I have finally just given in knowing we got a small one. He’s happy and healthy and has tons of energy so I have made myself stop worrying about it. Vet isn’t concerned at all, and my breeder said they all grow at different rates and he will get bigger (lol who knows).

i do off leash with rocky every single day. Started at 8 weeks. But around 5 months he started venturing further. He would come back of course- but then one day he took after a squirrel. We were in a huge field but he almost made it to the road. It was 5:45 am on a Sunday morning so there wasn’t a car in sight, all was fine, but it freaked me out. I started doing a ton of research. Rocky is most happy when off leash, chasing squirrels, running around, he LOVES it. But I didn’t want to chance it. I read 4 books on e collars. (I was so against them before). But I followed a particular book to the t.Now we can do off leash anywhere. I don’t remember the last time I have had to buzz rocky. He loves the collar too. When I put it on in the morning he is so excited he can hardly sit still. And we do off leash everyday. It was like for the first time I could truly communicate with him in a way he understands. I never even had to shock him above a level 10- and I can’t even feel that. Something to consider.


----------

