# My 10 week old is acting up



## ewiebe (Dec 18, 2012)

:-\ Are ten week old is showing very aggressive behaviour he starts biting and snapping his jaws and if I grab his mouth he will stop and yelp a little but when I let go he starts all over with a evil look in his eyes. It's making me and my wife very nervous. Is this normal? I know he's young but he shouldn't be acting out like this. we walk him lots through out the day he's to young for the dog park because of shots. It can't be exercise I don't think we are scared and lost SOS please


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## NeverGiveUpRAC (Aug 27, 2012)

He is ten weeks old...he is puppy biting. It is normal and not aggressive. Type puppy biting or shark attacks in the search bar and you will read a ton of stories and remedies. He will grow out of it if you handle it right. You will also feel a wave of relief! 

Always stay calm and consistent telling him no and give him a chew toy!


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Yeah plenty of threads on this. Search shark attacks. that will show you you're not alone. But, if at all possible, please don't grab pups mouth when it happens. Say no, alter the attention or isolate pup. But I would never recommend grabbing a Vizsla by it's most sensitive organ after it's stomach!!!!


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## NeverGiveUpRAC (Aug 27, 2012)

After his stomach AND HEART, Ozkar!! Hehe

Yes, I believe grabbing a dog by his nose like that creates an incredibly negative experience for the dog and is pretty dangerous for his nose as well! I agree, try not to do that...


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## Ollywebb1 (Feb 6, 2013)

Ewiebe, 

Radley (13 weeks today) does the same thing and I know what you mean about the eyes.... Freaky!  whenever he tries to nip me I just keep saying "gently, gently" and distract him with toys and chews, which seems to work well in diverting his attention. 

I'm not sure I'm doing the right thing, but as long as he is being gentle, I allow him to continue mouthing my fingers repeating "gently". I'm hoping it will eventually teach him to play nicely with humans and that he must be soft with those teeth. If he does bite hard I let out a short sharp yelp and leave the room closing the door behind me for 30 secs. This shows him that his play was too rough. It works because when I come back in he sits there as if to say "sorry, can we play again now?" It's quite funny.

I'm no expert, but worth experimenting.

Anyone know if I'm doing the right thing letting him mouth me gently?


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

It's fine. If anything It's a good thing as you are teaching Radley bite control or what is often called bite inhibition.


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## datacan (May 15, 2011)

ewiebe said:


> :-\ Are ten week old is showing very aggressive behaviour he starts biting and snapping his jaws and if I grab his mouth he will stop and yelp a little but when I let go he starts all over with a evil look in his eyes. It's making me and my wife very nervous. Is this normal? I know he's young but he shouldn't be acting out like this. we walk him lots through out the day he's to young for the dog park because of shots. It can't be exercise I don't think we are scared and lost SOS please


Interesting interpretation. 

Google is your friend... Also, please remember these are hunting dogs and most likely success will be to train along with that in mind... Hunting dog Obedience, hunting dog exercises. They are pointers as well as retrievers...


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## lyra (Nov 2, 2012)

We also taught our girl soft biting first and followed up a few weeks later by teaching her no biting. 

The first stage is to replace what the other dogs would do in her pack and help prepare her for playing with other dogs. 

The second stage is to try and embed in her that it is never acceptable to bite a human.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

Welcome! We have a 19 week old pup that we brought home at 11 weeks. I thought he was rabid or psycho until I found this forum. He was Dr Jekyll and mr Hyde -// really scary! No one who hasn't had a vizsla understands how these guys get. I'm happy to say that persistence pays off. I hug my guy close to me .. Rub his body and say "settle... Settle..." He now does it only occasionally (twice a week maybe?) and can snap himself out of it much easier. Don't engage... If you have to, offer a treat and put him in his kennel for a few minutes until he's snapped out of it. It truly does get better, even if no one around you can commiserate because they don't know vizslas!


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

ewiebe, it's normal. Lots of good advice here. Also, you should know that even if you do nothing much except complain about it, this behavior will go away as your puppy matures. Normal, normal, normal...


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## dmak (Jul 25, 2012)

First, I don't want you to interpret my reply as harsh, just going to be blunt. You have a 10 week old HUNTING DOG who has been breed for the better part of a thousand years to use its mouth to work. Your pup is not at all aggressive (so please don't misuse the word), its a pup that was recently stripped away from its mother and is having to learn a whole new way of life. Don't set your expectations so high, HE'S ONLY 10 WEEKS OLD. This mouthiness of his will be around for up to the next year. Hopefully you did your research when you chose a Vizsla, because one of the first things I learned (from Wikipedia no less) is that vizslas tend to be very mouthy. The biting will subside with time and age, but as with all pups, they mouth and nip constantly, especially while growing teeth. I bet you did the same thing when you were a young teething child. Unfortunately, your dog doesn't have hands or thumbs, just a mouth and paws, so he is forced to use the tools he's provided. Please search through the threads of this forum to understand that your pup is showing natural traits and characteristics that are common with ALL Vizsla pups. Along with the mouthing, hopefully you are aware that this pup is going to be a speed demon for the next decade. He is a super high energy all day working dog and will require hours of daily on and off leash time.


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## ZDOGSMOM (Sep 15, 2012)

This post is yet another example of why I encourage all those thinking of bringing one of these amazing dogs into their lives and home to READ READ READ and then READ SOME MORE! Talk to owners of V's, breeders, vets .... do your homework before ever taking on the responsibilities of this breed. 

Your life will change forever once the pup comes across your threshold.


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## ewiebe (Dec 18, 2012)

Thanks for the tips helpful all round. And by the way I got my V to hunt with me. FIrst time with a puppy so that's all it is.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

Don't feel bad ewiebe - FWIW, no one except this forum, really seems to be honest about how crazy these pups are. I have a coworker with two 4 year old V's that she got as pups and even she only said "they are crazy" and left it at that. My trainer, who has trained many V's over his 20 years of training, still has no idea what I am talking about because he's never had a pup at home and hasn't seen them do shark attacks the way they are. I did do a lot of reading before we brought our V home, but it wasn't until I started trying to figure out the source of my dog's behavior, that I found this forum where people are honest!


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## dmak (Jul 25, 2012)

*Re: Re: My 10 week old is acting up*



ewiebe said:


> Thanks for the tips helpful all round. And by the way I got my V to hunt with me. FIrst time with a puppy so that's all it is.


Glad to bear you'll be gun training the pup. Again, don't take offense to us here, we try to keep it real so we know what we're actually getting into. Your V will be the best hunting dog you'll ever have, unless you get another V. There's quite a few of us here that hunt our pups and there is a lot of VVisdom here. Let us know of your questions. The biting and mouthiness will get better. Work on redirecting your pups energy towards acceptable chewing alternatives. I got a pair of welding gloves to use when playing with my pup. It helps and can be turned into a game. Other than that its time, patience and love. Get that pup into the field asap and give it a job to do, that will also help. I'd suggest a scented bird dummy for the house. Drag it and hide it and get the pup to point it out.


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## R E McCraith (Nov 24, 2011)

Dmak is on POINT - at 10 - 12 weeks my pups are broken to bird and gun - being house broken is 4-5 days of constent monitoring and encouragement - V's are a challenge !!! you are not trying to put them on the MOON - just make them a responsible member of your family - this forum is the best place to V 4 V's - read all you can and mold it to your pup - sorry there are no quick fixes - just time and a open mind and heart - everyone is different - one thing that works for me is the good the bad the ugly V --- a tired V is a happy V !!!


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## candi30 (Jan 2, 2013)

Totally normal ewiebe as we are going through the exact same thing at the moment.
She has already started to get better at 12 weeks so hopefully that keeps up.

Using the search tool on this site, there won't be much you can't find.
Has definitely been a life saver for us!


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