# Vizsla with small dog.



## JohnO (Oct 25, 2013)

Hi, my male Vizsla Odi is very good with all dogs he meets except for my sister's Yorkshire Terrier. Her dog is by far the smallest dog Odi "plays" with. The Yorky is only six pounds compared to Odi's fifty three. When he sees her (the dog), he gets very excited and wants to get his tongue or teeth on her not to mention he stares at her like he's just waiting for her to run so he can chase her down. My sister never fully let's go of her dog and I hold Odi by his collar as he jumps and whines and spins in circles and attempts to break free which he did this weekend pulling free of his collar. I dont think he's looking to harm her but he definitely wants to chase her down and grab her to play. I know Odi is a hunting dog......obviously, but is there any techniques I could use to get him desensitized to her dog. Would it ever be completely safe to leave them alone together? Thanks.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

What happened to the other thread on this?

Does the terrier seem afraid of Odi? 

I would work on his leave it, down stay, and eye contact. If it's not already there, get it to the point where he will stay even if you throw his favorite toy. Reward him when he looks back to you. Dog's don't localize well so practice this in lots of locations. Inside, outside, your sister's place. It's still a big jump between a toy and a live animal, but it's a step in the right direction. I would also practice having him calm down quickly after being riled up. So play with for 30 secs, then make him down stay for 30 secs. Repeat. He's learning to control his impulses.

Once he's got that down, I'd keep him on a leash, put him in a down stay, and have your sister walk her yorkie by on leash and out of sight. If he stays, reward him by playing with him. Put him back in a down stay and have your sister walk by again. If he gets up, which I'd expect at first, then let him have his tantrum and once you have his attention again, stick him in a down stay. Ask for eye contact, then have your sister walk by again. 

Over a period of time have your sister move walk by closer. Increase the difficulty for Odi very gradually. If he slips up at any point reduce the difficulty by 2 steps. 

No one can say for sure if it will ever be safe to leave them alone. You'll have to judge by how he does with this training. I will say that my dog acts very similarly around our cats. Super fixated, stalks them, etc, but she's been raised with them and will calmly sleep next to them as well. She would never intentionally hurt them, but she certainly could unintentionally hurt them. How old is Odi?


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Just noticed there are two separate threads on this subject -- the one here in Training & Behaviour, and another in General Vizslas.


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