# Ozkar being a man!



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

My little boy is 13 months old now and has grown into a fine young man. I had an interesting experience while out walking a few evenings back. It was a warm night and I had all three with me. We were on an oval and had been doing laps with another dog who was a sweet boy and played really well. Then, another walker with a blue Heeler came over to where we were playing. Straight away this dog started to dominate little Zsa Zsa my GSP. She is only a little girl and she's not a fighter, so she just rolled over in submission to let the dog know that it wasn't needed. But, it kept going, nipping her on the legs and belly. She jumped straight up and swung around and snapped back at him, but he didn't take the hint. 

I was about to ask the owner to deal with it as I headed towards where this dog was harrasing Zsa Zsa, halfway to the two of them, I see this flash of Russet Gold come flying across my vision and next I see this Heeler knocked head over heals. Ozkar in a move reminiscent of the WWF or whatever today's equivalent is, literally nailed this Heeler to the ground with a massive body slam. No teeth, no attempt to bite it, just a big body slam at full pace to let him know to leave Zsa Zsa alone. 

It got better. This dog still didn't get the hint and came back for another crack at Zsa Zsa, thankfully she ran and hid at my feet the poor thing and I have never seen her do anything other than deal with other dogs trying to dominate her. But, this dog intimidated her and she came to me for security. The Heeler got that hint and didn't attempt to get her while she was at my feet. By this time Astro had done the same and retreated to behind me with Zsa Zsa. 

Ozkar stood in front and when this dog came near and attacked, he did this really interesting stance which I have never seen him do. He hunched his hind quarters almost like a cat getting ready to pounce. Then, when the dog had a nip at him, he would dodge sideways like a crab and launch at the dog. The Heeler had two or three goes before he realised he was not going to get the better of Ozkar. Each attempt by the Heeler was met by a sidestep and a big lunge by Ozkar. I heard the sound of his chest smashing into the Heeler each time he did it. While body slamming, he was also getting over the top of the Heeler and grabbing the back of it's neck. Ozkar refused to let the Heeler turn him, refused to let the Heeler progress any closer to Zsa Zsa and refused to concede an inch to this dog. He never attacked back, he only stood his ground and made sure this dog did not take an inch of dirt closer to us. 

The dog was persistent, but I never moved towards it to assist as it honestly looked like Ozkar had this dog's measure and was almost toying with it. Like saying....ya kidding arn't you?? That the best you got??? Gotta be faster than that doggo....cop this!!! A very "Ali" like performance, even showboating a little. 

I didn't realise a Vizsla was that protective or that strong willed in not allowing another dog to dominate, yet not really being aggressive to it. I found the hunched hind quarters the most interesting bit though. The way he fought off this dog was so interesting. It was also really effective. Coming from the bush, I grew up watching dogs get into scraps, I have seen plenty. But I have never seen a dog so well balanced when another dog tried to get over the top of it. As I said, WWF look out, Ozkar is coming! )

It was also interesting to see him stand up to a dog like that. It's only recently that he has started being a dog and stopped being a puppy. I miss his puppy stage, but I am also enjoying watching him grow into a dog.


----------



## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/04/vizsla-as-guard-dog.html

Great story. Ozkar, what a good brother to your sister.

Bailey did something like that on a walk one day about two months ago when another male Vizsla was "bothering" Chloe. 

Bailey came charging back up the hil from up ahead on our walk and just body slammed the young male after Chloe let out a whine. The young male Vizlsa got the hint quicker than the Heeler in your story. 

The message: * Leave my sister alone or deal with me*.

RBD


----------



## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

Very interesting story, thanks for sharing. Did the Heeler's owner ever show up or react to any of this? Or was he/she oblivious?


----------



## Mischa (Feb 17, 2010)

That's a great story Ozkar, you should be proud of him. That is just what I would want in a male dog. 
No need to go around shooting his mouth off, but when it counts, he's there and doesn't give up. 

Very impressive.


----------



## luv2laugh (Oct 6, 2011)

woooo! Yay Ozkar! You must have been very proud of him. 

We had a usually friendly cat once growl at an "intruder" who was supposed to feed him while we were on vacation. That is the closest we've gotten to an animal sticking up for his "pack." It is quite a feeling to know how loyal pets can be. 

I'm sure you love that little "man," if possible just a bit more now.


----------



## datacan (May 15, 2011)

8) very impressive, Ozkar. Love it. Hope he never gets hurt, brave little boy. 

I noticed it they body slam their opponent. I play wrestle with Sam and occasionally he takes a few steps back and slams his shoulder into me. That long neck is very useful, I think.

Perhaps, they slam their body into the pray animal they chase. Perhaps it's a hunting maneuver?


----------



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Rod, I've seen a Bully cross Dingo use the body slam technique to stun an opponent, but never expected it from a V. It was interesting to watch actually. I was intrigued. But Aussie Heelers arn't the brightest lot when it comes to reading other dogs behaviour. They can be quite fear aggressive and I think this Heeler was much that way. (I have a scar on my top lip from one of our Heelers. Ferdi his name was. Once he had had enough of me giving him a pat on the back steps one evening, he signalled the end by biting through my lip. Blood everywhere. These days he would have been put down. But, he was too good a cattle dog to shoot.  ) Every Heeler we ever had has been an aggressive little sxxt to other dogs and often to humans. The one I mentioned above, Ferdi, he also bailed up the electricity meter reader too. Problem was it was mid winter and snowing. We had gone away for the weekend. He arrived at lunchtime and knocked on the back door as was usual in those days in the country areas. No answer, so he turned to go to the electricity meter box and was met with the snarling face of Ferdi. He would not let this bloke off the back step. Wouldn't let him move an inch actually. Eventually, his wife called the police, who called his boss to find out his route for the day, then they backtracked till they got to our place and found his vehicle. Then they found him still stuck on the back steps.....this was 2am Saturday morning by this stage. He wasn't a happy camper apparently.  So yeah, Aussie heelers are nasty buggers. I don't trust them as a rule. Love them, but never trust them. 

Kobi, I was only intrigued once I could see that Ozkar had the measure of the other dog.  Rest assured, if it was the other way around, the other dog would have had me deal with it. It was the aggressor. 

I know the owner from bumping into her randomly on previous walks at various times. Her dog has always been a bit nippy, but this time it decided to take things too far. I'm actually glad Ozkar was there to diffuse the situation, as had he not been, I would have dealt with the dog and the owner would not have been very happy with the end result. After having to do this with farm dogs when they are off tap, I have some brutal methods to stop a dog attack. None of which I will put to print, but of which I would have no hesitation in using on any dog which would threaten any of my animals. However, the owner did nothing initially to curb the dog's behaviour. But once I realised that Ozkar had his measure, so did she and she moved to pull her dog back. I simply stated that she should leave them to sort it out and perhaps her dog may not be so aggressive to the next dog it comes across. So she agreed and I let Ozkar sort it till I felt the other dog had the point. She was fine with it and agreed he needed correction from another dog as he had been becoming increasingly more brave of late. A good outcome in the end and I think Ozkar was proud of himself too.


I won't start a new thread to tell you this one, but Astro is one smart little boy too. I was very proud of him today. We went for our evening walk down near the lake. The grass around the lake has recently been slashed. So there is lot's of dead grass in little lines across an area of 5 or 6 acres. In the middle is a walking track and now the grass is cut and we can see the snakes, we walked it. He started sniffing at a clump of dried cut grass. Then I see a bird fly out. Then to my surprise I see Astro's little face look up at me to find out if he was a good boy or not and in his mouth is a bird!  I didn't react, as I wanted him to bring it to me, but I think he wasn't sure if it was a good thing or not, so he dropped it. Zsa Zsa, ever the opportunist, swooped the bird up and gave it a good old shake....then brought it to me....at least she got that bit right.  So I praised them both and off they went in search of more. They came up empty handed for the remainder of the walk, but it was some pretty good excitement for them to find, flush and catch a bird for the first time. (Excluding the baby duck that Ozkar brought to me alive in his mouth)

I felt sorry for the poor little bird. It was only a juvenile and I think it may have been a juvenile quail. They could fly, as the rest of them flew away, but Astro somehow lucked it and snared this one. I've got a crappy phone pic which I will load when I get a chance.


----------



## KashagLake (Sep 27, 2010)

Wow! Very impressive!! What an instinct to protect his sister! So cute! I would also want that in a male dog! Great story!!


----------



## redrover (Mar 17, 2011)

That's a great story! It's always nice to see dogs stick up for other dogs. 

Jasper just turned one, and in the last month I've noticed that he's at that age where he's starting to stand up for himself more--it's fascinating to watch. He's gotten pretty choosy over who he lets hump him (only certain older dogs) and he'll tell another dog enough is enough if they won't stop pestering him. He'll snap and snarl and sometimes even pin, but not once does he put a tooth on the other dog, even if it was way out of line. For example, the other night at agility class he was running tunnels. A second dog got distracted by him and got away from its owner--that dog ended up just plowing into Jasper's side (like getting T-boned in a car accident). Jasper corrected, but didn't hurt. So proud of his bite inhibition! I ended up doing some reading on that, and read that bite inhibition needs to be maintained, which is why it's important to continue to socialize your dog, even once they've "grown out of" the nipping stage of puppyhood.

Also, love your bird story. Jasper would be so excited to get a bird, I think he'd be beside himself with joy. We went up north last weekend, and my friend said he'd spotted some grouse on his land--I was wondering if Jasper would find any. But apparently the birds got the message and skedaddled before Jasper arrived!


----------



## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

I weighed Astro the other day. He weighed in at 30kgs!!!!!! Bloody **** he is a huge dog. We don't get many V's this big over here. He towers over Ozkar now and absolutely dwarfs little Zsa Zsa. Thank god he is such a placid boy!


----------



## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

Yes, when you have a big dog, temperament is everything!

Willie and I had a house guest for a 24-hour period this week. A stray Golden Retriever turned up outside of Willie's fence, and they did play bows and ran up and down along the fence, wagging furiously. I hoped this dog (a young, unneutered male) might just go home. Alas, he did not. The longer he stayed, the more I worried. I live on a lake, and the ice was very "punky" as we say. I was so afraid he'd run out on the ice and fall through. 

I couldn't ignore him and so I brought him into the house and started the search for his owners. He kept trying to mount Willie, and of course, Willie did not take kindly to that. I was pleased to see that they sorted it out within an hour. Willie never bit him, but he did snarl and show his teeth. Once they knew where they stood with each other, they had a grand time playing... out in the (fenced) yard, in the house, etc. I took the Golden to the local Vet for a microchip scan (no chip). I posted signs and put notes in mailboxes. I contacted a Golden 
Retriever Rescue Group (just in case). 

The owner turned up the next day to collect the stray. Happy ending... YAY!! And I was very pleased with the manner in which Willie handled himself. ;D I loved to see him stand up for himself without actually sinking in his teeth. He got his point across very clearly, yet without too much real violence. I think they both had a lot of fun, ultimately.


----------



## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

What a sweet boy taking up for his little sister.
I think quite a few vizslas do the body slam . All three of my mine do it when they are roughhousing.
A funny story comes to mine on them doing it to other dogs.
When my male was in training I ran him with a GSP to work on him honoring another dogs point. When they were running through the field the GSP accidentally bumped into my dog. My dog thinking he had been bump on purpose did the body slam. It sent the GSP rolling. I called my dog back to me and told him no. He looked me straight in the eyes and cocked his head to one side, as if saying " He did it first."


----------

