# New vizsla owner!



## Monkeymands1977 (Apr 15, 2014)

Hi everyone

My boyfriend and I have made the massive step and become vizsla owners. We have a 8 and a half week old boy called Finn. He is adorable! 

I found your forum from searching on biting, and read quite a few posts and feel comfort that it's not us and we're not alone. I am finding it hard constantly saying no and off and getting angry from him persistently doing whatever it is, jumping on sofa, clawing and biting at the carpet, jumping up to bite... 

On the plus side, we have had very few accidents, and he is doing really well in his crate, rarely get anything out of him and sleeps through until about 5am. 

I would love peoples advise on the mouthing and biting and just some guidance that we are doing the right thing. I will be honest and didn't realise they would be so jackal and Hyde!! 

One last thing we had been underfed and not sure if this is aiding we are desperately trying to 'fatten' him up! He's on raw and wolves it down!!

Thanks in advance
Amanda


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## Simon-NH (Apr 15, 2014)

I too am a new V owner, but I'd say 8 weeks old is SO young, he IMO is doing exactly what puppies that age do! I took simon to puppy school but really it was more to train myself on how to a good owner. I'm sure you will get lots of great advice from others more experienced than I am but I'd start with researching what sort of methods and rules you will want to instill and then be very consistent. 
Crate training and housebreaking going well is a huge plus!! Great!!! 
Also, even though those itty bitty days can be frustrating, soak me up! They are over in a flash. 
Sorry I'm not much help with the biting!
Good luck!!


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## Iwantavizsla (Apr 15, 2014)

He is the cutest!!!


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## Adawes (Dec 5, 2013)

oh my days what a gowgous fella.


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## cooperman (Oct 26, 2010)

Pawgeous pup. Try a water bottle spray on the nipping and jumping, dont get angry or worked up, remember hes very young and only just learning.


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## Ruthie_67 (Jan 25, 2014)

What a beautiful puppy! I too despaired over the constant biting, tried everything but it seemed to be inbuilt and out of control. Oscar is now 5 months old and the phase has passed, I can't remember when, but it did pass, and it will for you too. I'd keep on reinforcing that it's not acceptable, eventually the penny will drop. I always had a chew toy handy and put that in his mouth every time he went to bite, it was hard work but consistency is so important. Better times are coming - promise


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## Kevin (Dec 29, 2012)

Please don't try a water bottle spray.

At such a young age he is instinctively doing a very normal thing and negative reinforcement is not the way to go.

Try and redirect his mouthing to a toy etc and if it gets too much, shout ouch!!! really loud and leave the room. Return back and then carry on where you left off. He will start to learn too much biting and attention will stop.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Even though it can be hard at times, getting angry will cause set backs in training/bonding. Positive reinforcement is the way to go with puppies.
Its better to give the pup a time out, than lose your temper.
Redirection will help a lot, and you may want to consider clicker training. 
Let the pup become a part of your family, and learn some of the rules before you use a water spray bottle. Yes I have used one. But the pups have been with me for a month, and knew what the command *Leave It *meant before it was used. A short rope snapped to the collar will make it easier to keep the pup away from things he shouldn't be chewing on. I never leave it on one if they are not in my sight.


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## gem2304 (Mar 7, 2013)

Congratulations on your new puppy! 

as other people have said, the mouthing and biting does stop and you just have to protect your arms for a couple of months  we used to put a soft toy in his mouth if he tried biting us.

Ted is 5.5months and I have noticed a lot of his testing behaviour seems to come in phases, he spent a week constantly trying to get into the window ledge and hasn't tried it since! This week it is jumping on the kitchen worktop trying to steal food (Very naughty!!!)

We tried spraying him with water and he just turned around and opened his mouth to catch it! ;D

It does get easier (not much) but a bit easier.


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## Monkeymands1977 (Apr 15, 2014)

Thank you everyone for the advice, it's all very much appreciated. I won't use the water spray. We are doing the ouch though . And praising him when he is playing nicely. He is completely adorable. And yes need to make sure I don't get angry with him. I know he doesn't mean it.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

The top 3 things that you need for V puppy raising: patience, patience, patience.


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## Monkeymands1977 (Apr 15, 2014)

Yes I am starting to see that . Definitely worth it though


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## marathonman (Jan 15, 2013)

When he shark attacks, give a big yelp or "Ai!", stand with your face to a wall until he sits, leave the room and close the door as the last option. Don't use a water bottle. It will get better, but by using the yelps you'll help him learn bite inhibition. He will be very mouthy as a pup and with consistency you will be able to teach good bite inhibition and to chew on the correct things.

As for food, you're going to go though phases throughout puppyhood where one day he looks healthy and the next day he resembles a starving Ethiopian. Just keep on feeding him healthy food (way to go with Raw. We haven't gone that far), up his amount of food at meals, with treats and snacks throughout the day. If you keep him active (and intact as he gets older) he'll generally stay pretty lean throughout his life. Our general rule is to up the food amount if we can see more spine than usual. As long as it's not excessive, seeing some ribs is fine and healthy.


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## Claire (May 21, 2012)

I'll just repeat what some people have said already, but I just want to reinforce the idea of stopping all attention as soon as he bites... For a week or so, when I first got my Liesel, yelping did seem to work, but she soon stopped paying attention to that... in the end, the only thing that really worked was a firm "NO," standing up an leaving the room as soon as she bit me. She got the message pretty quickly that way as she hated being left alone!!
Good luck, enjoy the puppy stage as much as you can and takes loads of photos!!


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## Monkeymands1977 (Apr 15, 2014)

Thank you. We've been working on the yelping today and if he carries on then standing up and walking away. It's going well so far . 

Thanks too marathonman on the food. The breeder uses raw so he came with a weeks worth. I looked into it before getting him and it seemed the best thing for vizslas so have stuck with it. We have upped it and I think it is working. He gets weighed tomorrow so will be interesting to see how much he's put on!

Definitely pictures galore


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