# Adolescence?



## lord brush (Oct 22, 2015)

Our HWV is coming up to 2 years old now, and while his general behaviour is OK, we’re struggling of late with a) his recall and b) him running several hundred metres down the beach (or wherever), if he sees another dog. There’s no maliciousness in his pursuit of other dogs- he either wants to just play, or erm….try it on with them! He is an intact male btw. 

We’ve just come back from a wonderful holiday where we stayed on the beachfront, but almost every time we let him loose, he’ll run towards any dog he can see. A lot of the time this is fine, and he’ll chase and play etc, but other times he’s either overbearing or he tries to hump. Any attempts to recall him verbally or with whistle fail once he’s locked-on to another dog. He’s not one for taking a hint either! Other dogs- smaller or much bigger than him will often give a warning shot/ nip, but he doesn’t seem phased by it. It’s a shame, as I’m finding myself having to put him back on the lead everytime I see another dog in the distance, and on a few occasions on holiday, have had to leash him to a fixed object while I play with my daughter. 

I have to say, it’s not all the time either, and on many occasions he will cease playing with the other dog on command and walk-on. Conversely, other times he’ll actually stop dead in his tracks if he sees another dog approaching- particularly on the canal paths. Only once the other dog has drawn level with him will he say hello, have a play or ignore and walk-on to me. 

I will probably be looking at contacting a trainer locally, but wondered if this is a fairly common adolescence thing he might grow out of, or not. My wife is insistent he is neutered, but I’m trying to avoid this if at all possible.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Neutering won't change the behavior. Training, and maturity is the goal. Until you get with a trainer, buy a check cord. Try and refrain from calling him, if you have no way of enforcing the recall. It can be hard not to do it. But each time you call him, and he doesn't comply. It teaches him recall is voluntary, not mandatory.


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## lord brush (Oct 22, 2015)

Thanks. Your advice makes sense re the calling and ignoring and we will give that a go. 

Ironically, our evening walk tonight back on familiar ground, he was good when meeting two other dogs- ran and played with a little female Bichon or similar, and although I had to retrieve him physically when he ignored my commands, a gentle tug of his collar back in the direction of our travel was enough, and he didn't about-turn and have me retracing my steps to retrieve him. 

Slightly off topic, is the "nose barging", thing a purely vizsla trait or not? That nosing- sometimes quite hard, of potential play mates whether canine or human!


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I've seen more male vizslas do it, than female ones.
I consider it a male vizsla thing.


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