# Day 11 with our very first vizsla :)



## Cleo911 (Jul 13, 2013)

I just joined this awesome forum, I'm truly grateful for all of the information available here !
My husband and I just acquired our very first dog, and after months of breed research and then weeks of breeder interviews, we finally lucked out and found a vizsla breeder we loved. and there she was, our brand new puppy we could Pickup on July 1st. She is beautiful and we could not have asked for a better companion. I just love her to pieces (photo attached).
Her name is Csiga (pronounced as "chi-ga") and it means "snail" in Hungarian. It took us months to find a good Hungarian name that didnt sound awkward in English, lol. 
She is 12 weeks old today And last week, in about 3 days, we were able to house train her and crate train her. I cannot believe how intelligent this breed is. 
She requires a lot of attention (which we expected) And we make sure she is stimulated and learns something new every day. She had one day at doggy daycamp already, and loved every minute of it. She also had one evening at puppy school, and of course csiga and a husky puppy were wrestling and playing tag, while all the other puppies quietly behaved!! Lol, but she is soooo cute, even the trainer let her play fight during lessons. 
she sure keeps us on our toes!!


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## redhead75 (May 8, 2013)

I don't believe she was playing during puppy school. Vizsla's never want to play...said NO ONE EVER!

She's a cutie and will be your snuggle buddy. Congrats!


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## Jlaha (Jul 12, 2013)

I asked my vet if I could take my puppy to play with others and she said not till he's at least 4 months (he's 8 weeks now). He runs like his life depends on it to me when he hears the dogs barking from the other side of the fences in our backyard. I want to socialize him, but after what the vet said, I was going to wait. If you are already socializing yours, would it hurt my Kimber to start with a few dogs? Please keep in mind I have never owned a dog before, so I am totally ignorant and in noway passing judgement, just trying to do best by Kimber. 
Also, do I comfort him when he runs to me for comfort or do I not say anything and let him know by my actions that there is nothing to fear by acting nonchalant? :-/


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## Jlaha (Jul 12, 2013)

Thank you, Organicthoughts! I know of some smaller dogs of friends who I know take very good care of their pets. I'll set up some play dates. I def want him to be socialized. He freaked out over a dogs bark on TV this morning. It was funny, but made me worry all the more what to do.


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## Cleo911 (Jul 13, 2013)

Hi Guys,

Csiga is our very first dog as well, and we have done a lot of research and were repeatedly told that she needs to be socialized as soon as possible and as much as possible. We have exposed her to a new experience every day... if there isn't something new to be learned, we introduced things that made noise in the house (ie; hair dryer, vacuum, loud banging of the cupboards, classical music - which was hilarious, etc). she has experienced thunder,... we took her outside a thunderstorm and just sat on the porch. We were told that we should never console the dog when he/she is scared of something. Instead, we should keep her occupied with distractions (like a kong) and stay as calm as possible and just show her that it's not a big deal. When Csiga runs to us (during a new experience), we rub her belly and sit with her and observe... and then the next time, she is okay. it has worked every time for us so far.
we have also exposed Csiga to kids and three cats...and she was very good with all of them.
We are trying our best to introduce her to as much as possible before she turns 6 months.... my understanding is that's when they will test you again a bit, and you need to stand ground on your rules. But we haven't gotten there yet! 
It has now been two weeks since we got her  We just love her to pieces!!

The only thing that we are mysteriously experience now is a rash on the underside of her belly. It just started yesterday and she has been sneezing for about 1 week, so I thought maybe it's seasonal allergies? Has anybody experienced this with their Vizsla at all?


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Jlaha whether or not you console your pup is your choice as people have different opinions on that. Also, it might depend on your pups personality. Our male needs some serious consoling when he's anxious over thunder, etc. our female needs a happy voice of "penny, what is that?" And for you to just be near by or approach the scary thing yourself. Then she's very exploratory and even watches fireworks with us. Perhaps try a method and see if it works. If not, try another. But be careful bec the memory could last lifetime. Sorry if that's not very helpful.


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## Jlaha (Jul 12, 2013)

Thanks, SCD. I've been doing a little of what Cleo up above wrote about exposure. The first time I pulled out the vacuum, he looked at me nervously and kind of walked behind me like, "What's going on?" So, I used it for a few seconds and then stopped, waited awhile and then repeated this several times until he relaxed and ignored it. I never looked at him or talked to him, but was very careful to appear calm like there is nothing to fear. I had to do this today with my electric mixer, have had to do it with the TV, my ipad, and my phone and now he ignores those things and does not act nervous. I have set up a play date with my friends two Dachshund dogs. They have a really big backyard. I will try the same thing there, but if I notice any unusual behavior or he seems extremely terrified, I am not sure what I'll do until it happens. I may be back on here searching like crazy. 😊


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