# First Vizsla issues



## Kenneth Smith (Sep 7, 2017)

Please help. My wife and I got our fist Vizsla in June. We are no stranger to puppies. We have a Pomeranian and I had a Springer Spaniel. Penny, however, is posing some challenges for us. To make it worse I am military and gone a lot, leaving my wife at her whits end and feeling guilty for getting frustrated. Biggest issue is urinating in the house. She has not pooped in the house in months. But she pees in her kennel, even when limited on space. She will pee in the house too. She knows what it means to pee. Because we say let's go pee and she goes to the door to go. She is very smart. But this brings us to the other problem... she doesn't seem to understand that she does wrong. This goes for the peeing, jumping or chewing. She has a ton of toys and we watch her for the most part. We constantly buy chew bones. The thing is that she is very smart. She sits, lays down, shakes hands, rolls over and we are working on stay but her energy gets in the way. Please help. Will spaying help with the peeing (we plan on getting it done soon). I have seen on here about UTI's. And at what age do the begin to relax. I know my spaniel took more than a year.

Thanks very much.

Ken


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

How often are you taking her out to potty? Every 20 minutes when they are awake, has worked for me. Also they may pee 2 or 3 different times before they empty their bladder. If you bring them in before that, they still have accident.
It wouldn't hurt to have her checked for a UTI. Spaying will not fix the problem, and could even make it worse. Spay incontinence can happen, and happens more often with dogs spayed very young.


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## pez999 (Apr 22, 2017)

I don't think spaying/neutering has anything to do with potty training. That's something that can take time and has to be consistent (our vizsla had some accidents at even 4-5 months). If she's marking, even then, I know spaying/neutering may not solve that. I've heard plenty of stories of fixed dogs still marking inside home. You really just have to set a timer and take her out often until she learns and can hold it. I'm assuming your dog is about 3 months? At that age we took ours out every hour or so to make sure he doesn't have any accidents. Also take her out after lots of playing, or drinking water etc. She's smart and sits by the door to let you know she has to go, just make sure she goes out every time and gets lots of praise when she does her business.

I will say that with all the dogs I've had in the past, our vizsla was on the tougher side of potty training but it's definitely doable. Just need patience and lots of praise. Another thing to note is make sure you guys clean the areas she pees on really well. You may think the smell is gone but they can still smell it (if she keeps peeing in the same spot), there are sprays you can buy that will get rid of the urine smell completely. 

I'd definitely read more on spaying and wait longer (if you must do it), but it's your choice. There are a lot of threads on here about it and how it effects a puppy's growth etc. 

As for chewing/biting/jumping. She's just at that age, especially if she's beginning to teeth. It's completely normal. We went through dozens of toys...I swear Bandi needs to be a dog toy tester because nothing lasts more than a few hours -.- Would recommend puppy training classes and lots of play time. I'd freeze some of Bandi's rubber chew toys, he loves chewing on them when they're cold, feels good on his gums. Anyway, sorry for the ramble, you will find a LOTTT of posts on here about the same things and lot of different tips on how to go through this stage. It's not easy but it'll definitely pass


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