# 8 Month Old Male Vizsla Behaviour



## BrodyMum

Hi. I am new to this forum and have an 8 month old (intact) male Vizsla. I wanted to ask some advice on a few behaviour issues. Our boy has always been very excitable around other dogs, like a lot of puppies I guess. We have made a lot of effort to get him used to other dogs by taking him to training classes, walking him with my sister's or mother in law's dog, taking him out walks where we will meet other dogs etc etc. I am a bit concerned about his behaviour around other dogs though, as he doesn't seem to be very good at reading the warning signals other dogs give when they don't want to play and can be very tenacious about trying to play with the dogs, chase them etc. Until recently his recall was very good but now we are frightened to let him
off lead at all as he will run after another dog as soon as he spots it in the distance, and try to engage it in play. He did this today at the beach and at first it all seemed to be going ok, but when the other dog tried to let him know that was enough, our guy wouldn't give up, he wouldn't come back to me at all (another recent development) and it took 10 minutes of trying to coax him with treats (pretty good treats too, I use cheese or liver cake for recall), all to no avail until I managed to grab him by the collar. The other day he jumped out of the car boot and ran off when it opened and he spotted another dog. We also had an embarrassing incident lately when he started to play with another older male (after initially showing body language which I thought indicated being a bit fearful of him), and then proceeded to try to mount him, more than once, as I tried in vain to get a hold on him. The other dog finally did a sort of alpha roll on him and pinned him to the ground before I was able to grab him again. Even after that I think he would have gone back for more! Since all these incidents I am pretty much resigned to keeping him
on the lead at all times, but then I worry that he don't get enough exercise. I should say that he doesn't seem to be acting aggressively when he's doing any of this, just highly excited, although I did wonder if the mounting thing was any kind of dominant act? He has only ever done this to my sister's male, again after playing and getting excited. He rarely does it to humans although he will occasionally try it on one of our two children. We have always corrected him immediately when he has done this and never left him with cushions or anything which might encourage this behaviour. I have been wondering if we should be considering neutering him, we always planned to but until recently we had considered not bothering as we liked him as he was. Some people have told me it will help this kind of behaviour, others say they've done it and its changed nothing! Any advice anyone can give would be much appreciated. Brody is our first Vizsla. He is very loving and lovely in almost every way, I just wonder if there are any issues we should address or is this just adolescent behaviour which will pass in time? We have spent a lot of time on training Brody, both at classes and with a one to one trainer who has tried to show us ways if being pack leader. It feels like recently all our hard work has been undone! Hope someone can advise or maybe just let me know I'm not alone!


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## MilesMom

It's normal for Vizslas to start testing you at this age. He is becoming more independent and is an adolescent. 

Back to basics, keep on a lead if necessary, make sure you are being the leader in the home as well as on trail. We started having trouble with recall at this time as well and are considering getting him an E collar for safety as his recall is still not perfect. 

Neutering won't help this issue. if you plan to run or be very active with Brody I recommend waiting to let his bones and muscles develop


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## datacan

Same here, and while not all the neutered males are aggressive toward Sam... most are. (Sam is two and intact also)

We don't go and do not have any desire to go to dog parks. We don't throw the dog into a loose pack in hopes it will turn out well for him 
Instead, we take long walks off leash, of course in conservation areas and fields... where we meet only good, balanced dogs.

In any case the dogs are a reflection of the owners... and as there are so many types of dog owners... we take care when approaching neutered big dogs.
I have no problems with GSD or any other big dog as long as their owners are normal (many are not).


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## BrodyMum

Thank you for your replies. We live in Scotland where dog parks don't exist, people just take their dogs for walks either on or off lead anywhere (both are normal but of course generally only well behaved dogs walk off lead in town). It is normal to meet other dogs off lead on public places like beaches, river walks etc, in fact rare to see a dog on lead in such areas. So we can't really avoid him meeting other dogs who are off lead although of course we can control our own situation by keeping him on his. We also take Brody out into the open countryside where he can go off lead no problem with excellent recall, but of course that's when there are no other dogs around to distract him! Thankyou for confirming about the neutering, my gut instinct was also this would not necessarily help. We did think that if we ever did it we would like to wait till he was mature, our vet suggested 10 months if we were to go ahead, does that fit with other people's ideas? Thankyou again. I'm sorry but I don't know what an e collar is, again maybe not in use here


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## lilyloo

We have a 9 month old female and have been experiencing some of the issues (i.e. no recall, wanting to play constantly) you mentioned lately with our girl. Like others have said, I think it's normal for them to start to test us at this age. We've really buckled down with Ruby in the past few weeks and have gone back to basics. It's hard, because sometimes I feel like I spend all day redirecting/correcting her. I feel for you!

I used to take Ruby to dog parks, but now that she's getting older I'm limiting it to Vizsla meetups. She plays rougher and doesn't know when to stop, which can get her into trouble sometimes. Other Vizslas play the same as her and don't seem to get annoyed.


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## BrodyMum

Thank you for that, it's good to know that is sounds kind of normal at his age, and its not just a 'boy thing' either! We will just keep persevering, it would be great for him to meet more Vizslas but unfortunately there aren't too many near where we live. The easiest thing would just be to keep to our country walks where we rarely meet other dogs but after him getting over excited and pestering one particular dog at training class our trainer suggested maybe he wasn't getting enough exposure to other dogs and so we went back to the local walks. As I say we really can't avoid him encountering other off lead dogs so we are trying our best to socialise him. It's not easy and I know nothing happens overnight. Yes this is quite a challenging age! I would love to hear from other owners when they found things starting to get a bit easier! Thanks again


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## Vida

Welcome to the forum!
IMO dogs don't change ( meant improve! Of course they change)after castration,they do change as they grow up though. So hang on in there. 
Your dog needs several hours of off leash walk every day. That may mean you have to get in the car and find remote places to walk, away from dog parks.
Regarding the car boot rushing. Always work on 'wait',in every situation,every time. It may save his life! 
If you can get a crate in the car for now then use one,or tie the dog into the boot with his lead, (still use the command 'wait')
My dog sounds very much like your pup,he was very wild at that age, now he's a nice dog,age two.
Where in Scotland do you live? I have family in Pitlochry that I'm 
hoping to visit after Easter.
Good luck!


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## MilesMom

We were told 12-18 months for neuter. An e collar is an electric collar that uses vibrate or shock. We have tried to avoid it but if miles gets fixated there's no breaking him from what he wants!


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## datacan

Regarding neutering... absolutely no. Not before they mature. The vet can check if the growth plates are closed or open. 
Only consider neutering if there is a medical condition like impacted testicles. 

Their bone structure keeps developing throughout the puppy stage and adolescent stage. It is important not to disturb the hormonal balance during this period.

I should add that intact males usually don't look for trouble and almost never need to fight unless there is a female in heat or territory dispute. 
They will always try and settle out of court, so to speak. 
And since they look up to us for guidance, territory disputes are out of the question. 

Here is some good reading if you cannot sleep ... Topic: sterilization

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12431819

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3506104

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12433723

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9691849

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10225598

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15577502

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14765797

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2045340

Hope this helps your dog  decide.... It's never their choice, though.

Julius


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## hotmischief

Welcome to the forum. As the others have said this is quite normal behaviour for an 8 month old puppy, and I totally agree, having him neutered will not help this problem.

Sometime it is like they don't register your voice when you are calling them. When Boris started this teenager time, the recall wasn't a problem as he is whistle trained. The pitch of the whistle seems to register. Try and get a 211.5 whistle and train him to come to it (maybe 2 bleeps) when you feed him at home, then in your hall, then yard and finally out on walks.

Hang in there, you will come out the other side. Boris is 14months now and he has had his moments, believe me but I have been persistent and consistent with his training and it has paid off. I took him to the vets yesterday to have a titre test done and even the vet said not to neuter him till after 2yrs that it would help him mature. I didn't tell her that I don't intend to have him neutered, if I don't have to.


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## Nelly

BrodyMum, I am in Scotland too! Whereabouts are you? Sorry I have no good advice to offer, we have a girly who is only 14 weeks


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## texasred

I wouldn't narrow my search to vizslas only for a exercise partner. Any of the versatile breeds would make a good playmate for Brody on walks. Look and see if there are any hunting dog clubs in your area.


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## Phoebejane

Hi brodysmum we Are from Scotland too I'm in Edinburgh 

I know exactly the behaviour your talking about and I am so glad I'm not alone!
Our boy is relentless when playing and I find he plays better with grumpy bitches as we were out a walk with his mum and sister and he tried the mouthy play biting and they swiftly told him off and he listened. I know a lot of people say the dogs sort it out themselves but letting Harry behave the way he does and the other dog getting stressed I just feel is in appropriate so I took advice from our dog trainer and have Harry on a long line so if we meet up with friends and they're dogs I can correct him. I don't know if that's the right way to do it but I'm giving it a go as although he is young he looks fully grown and I don't want him getting in trouble as when he does his mouthy play i know he does not mean any harm but others don't. I think Harry and brody would get along great lol


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## BrodyMum

Thank you everyone for the helpful comments, sorry it has taken me a while to reply  its great to know that there are others out there who are having or have experienced similar issues  we are actually in a small town in the very far north of scotland, so Edinburgh and Pitlochry are still a few hours away which is a shame! The last couple of days we have stuck to our country walks and Brody has been fine, of course, no distractions to divert him! I think I will just keep him solely on lead on our local walks, until I can trust him to come back, he will probably be the only dog at the beach on lead but hopefully its not forever! And thanks for the interesting articles on neutering, certainly gives us something to think about, we definitely want to do the best thing for Brody and if he's better kept intact then thats what we will try to do  Brody is actually (or is supposed to be) whistle trained but unfortunately neither whistle, voice or tempting treats seem to help when he is 'in the zone'. He goes to gun dog training, just as a hobby, we also plan to take him to agility (any advice on a good age to start?), he seems to like having 'jobs' to do. Despite everything I say when he is focused he is very eager to please, its just that it all goes out the window when something more interesting comes along  I could start on the questions about jumping, counter surfing, pulling on the lead and excited nipping but maybe Ill leave that for another post  As a few people have said we are just trying to keep correcting him and hoping in time it will all pass  our trainer said she thought he would end up a brilliant dog, she said he just had a few 'rough edges' lol. Hopefully she was right  Thank you all so much again for your advice


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## McVizsla

Your dog will mellow out with age and these issues will dissappear. I make check cords which is a nice way of allowing my dog to have most of the freedoms of being off lead and gives me the ability to quickly get control of the dog until I am 100% confident in the dog. Go to your hardware store by some nice nylon rope....there are many colors to choose from cut a length 20 the 30 feet in your case <10meters. Buy a real nice brass snap. Tie rope to snap. Clip snap to the collar. When you see another dog coming step on the rope, control your dog until the other dog has passed, then drop rope and continue your walk.


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## BrodyMum

Thank you for that advic, sounds like a good idea


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