# Just brought home our first Vizsla puppy



## austin03

We purchased a vizsla puppy last night and had our first night with it. Well, we can just say there was almost 0 sleeping going on. He is almost 4 months old and to say he was hyper when we got him home would be an understatement. 
I do have a few questions for you guys.
1.) I have a pet bunny that our new puppy would not leave alone(stood outside his cage) and just stared in when we had him in the living room. Is there any way these two can become friends? How should I slowly get them together? 
2.) Will there be negative side affects in the long run if I let my Vizsla puppy sleep in our bed? We had him in his crate last night but he whined and screamed to an extent I never thought possible. We tried just letting him mellow out but it was to no avail. I caved in and let him out onto the bed. He still did not want to sleep but I at least ended up getting like 2 hours of sleep. 
3.) We have our puppy in a crate while we are at work. It is only a couple hours at a time and he is not fully potty trained yet so we are not comfortable letting him around the house with noone watching. Do you think if we crate him during the day we should let him out at night?

Just want to make sure I dont mess anything up too drastically! We are so excited!


----------



## hcrowder

I am new to the whole vizzy ownership but here are my two cents. 

1 - I think your puppy is going to think the rabbit is prey and I would not introduce them. I would keep the rabbit in a separate room. Maybe other owners have other ideas.

2 - This is something that I am also struggling with. I think we are going to stick with keeping our little girl in the crate because we want to be able to have her board while we are on vacation and that is a requirement. It took about 5 nights before she settled into the crate. We made the mistake of letting her spend one morning in bed with us and now she is a royal terror in the crate and night. I vote for sticking with it. Difficult as it may be I think we will all be better off if we can get them used to the crate. 

3 - We also have our girl in a crate while at work. She is more than capable of holding it for a couple hours at a time. We have a dog walker come twice a day for 45 minutes each time. She also gets a walk in the evening with me and tons of activity on the weekend. I don't trust her out of the crate at night as there is too much they can get into. To be honest, Penny sleeps most of the day anyway. The crate is just a safe place for her to sleep. 

Good luck. They are wonderful.


----------



## MilesMom

Congrats! 

1) I would never leave them alone together, and would be hesitant to let them interact. A rabbit is essentially defenseless in a house. At least a cat can scratch or hiss a warning, a rabbit's only defense is running. Both our dogs charge rabbits and I'm sure would harm them if they caught one. You purchased a high energy hunting dog... it's in their nature! 

2) Our dogs are in bed with us. We work full time and our breeder recommended letting them sleep with us as time to bond when we are home. We did not let them until they were potty trained though. And I do like that they are crate trained for vacationing in homes that they are not allowed in bed. 

3) When we had our dogs as pups, they were in crates 8-10 am, 10:30-12, 1-3, 3:30-5, then slept all night in the crate. If there was a period of time when I could not keep my eye on them complete attention, they were in the crate then too. You don't want to miss a training opportunity. If they have an accident and you didn't see it, training opportunity is missed. I know it's hard putting them in the crate, but it's part of the training. If you are diligent and consistent, potty training can be very quick!!


----------



## Bob Engelhardt

Regarding rabbits: user Kailua hasn't posted for a year or so, but he/she put up these pictures of Snickers and Binky the rabbit.
http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;pic=117
http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;pic=118
http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;pic=189
http://www.vizslaforums.com/index.php?action=gallery;sa=view;pic=403

I'm not saying "don't worry about it", but it is possible for them to coexist.

Bob


----------



## gem2304

Hi and congratulations on your new pup!

firstly, I have a 13 week old wire V and I can honestly say the first few nights of having him I aged 10 years! he cried, whined and howled and im pretty sure he kept our neighbours awake! the best advice I was given was to move his crate into our bedroom and he slept all night from 11pm to 6.30am with a couple of toilet breaks.

I felt more at ease having him in our room as I could take him out to toilet when he needed it although now he holds it through the night. I have considered not crating our pup through the night as he spends a few hours at a time in it during the day but I think he would end up in our bed and i'm not ready to share it just yet  and he really does like his crate and it is very spacious so its not like he is cramped up in there and he can see us from where his crate is in the bedroom (on top of a blanket box at the bottom of the bed).

Is he fully vaccinated yet? short walks use a surprising amount of their energy at this age which will minimise the hyperactivity in the house.

As for the rabbit, my parents have a bedlington terrier and when she was younger we brought home a bunny, at first she looked as though she really wanted to attack the bunny but after a while of supervised interaction they became best friends but be very careful as rabbits can go into shock and have a heart attack when they are scared.

I am still learning along with my pup and there are days that are harder than others but I know it will all be worth it.

Good luck!


----------



## mswhipple

Hello, austin03, and welcome to the forums! As others have said, I would be pretty careful about interactions with a hunting dog and a rabbit... predator and prey. If the puppy is as young as yours, a friendship is possible, but I would still be cautious!


----------



## Vizsla Baby

Congratulations! Pictures please.

I would not let your pup around the rabbit while it is loose, unless you are willing to really work with your dog in a big way to overcome it's natural instinct. Our dogs cornered & killed a squirrel the other day in about 10 seconds. It was painful to watch & listen to but they loved it.

Our dogs sleep in the bed and there is nothing wrong with it - in fact, it comes in real handy in the winter! But we don't use crates so maybe someone else here who uses a crate and bed sleeping can answer better than I.


----------



## austin03

Thanks guys for all the responses!
The first night I introduced the bunny and Charlie(the puppy) I thought there was no hope at all. Last night though Charlie was a lot more even tempered and less hyper around his cage. We even had em both out at the same time for a tiny bit with close supervision and it was okay. Small steps! 

Last night was a rough one. We refused to let him in bed with us. I want him potty trained and crate trained before he comes in our actual bed for the whole night. We tried his crate in our bedroom but his howling is so loud that my head almost exploded! We moved it to the spare bedroom down the hall. We were woken up about every 2 hours from him barking and then we would take him outside let him do his business bring him back in and then put him back in the crate. He would proceed to howl/scream for a good 20-25 minutes and then would quite down til we had to be woken up by him an hour and a half later to take him outside!

I know realize we should have set an alarm every hour and 45 minutes, so we could beat him to the punch with going outside. That way he wouldnt get the sense that howling/barking will get our attention and he will be let out.


----------



## CatK

Oh dear, it does get better I promise  We set an alarm, for us it was more relaxing weirdly, it stopped me grabbing the clock every time i drifted off and wondering if we'd left him too long!

We crate trained him, and it felt like it took forever, but now we take him to friends houses, b&bs, wherever ,and know that he'll sleep on his bed or in his crate wherever we need him to. Just like a kid, if he hasnt been there long enough before bedtime it takes him longer to settle, and he's more likely to need letting out during the night if we're away when he never does at home. I think he just likes to check we havent run off and left him 

He occasionally sleeps on our bed, and if the other half is away he sleeps in the bed with me, but he knows that he sleeps downstairs most of the time and we don't get any whimpering.


----------



## Canadian Expy

Congrats on the new addition!

We don't have a bunny, but I agree with the advise from other members to watch the two VERY carefully. We had a wild bunny that would graze in our backyard in the early morning. There was one really close call (I'm pretty sure our pup had tail fur in his mouth) but the rabbit got away, and has stayed away from our yard since (or he had another unfortunate encounter elsewhere). I wouldn't want to see the result of me having one in the house. 

With crate training there is almost always fuss, but with consistency it really doesn't take long for the pup to catch on. If you give the pup an inch, it will take a mile. Removing the pup from the crate while it is whining and screaming teaches it that if it acts that way, it will get what it wants (and these are VERY smart pups!). I completely understand the noise of a wailing V pup - we lived in a semi attached home, and before bringing the pup home we bought our attached neighbours an apology card and a bottle of wine  It is fine to have the pup sleep in bed with you if that's what you choose, but I wouldn't start the pup in the crate at night and then remove it when it fusses as this will only make crate training more difficult during the day. There are some excellent threads on the forum on crate training.

If you do choose to crate at night what worked for us was starting with the create at the side of the bed so that the pup was close by, and could hear us beside him. I also put an old t-shirt that I wore to bed in there with him so that it had my scent on it for comfort. If the dog fussed, we would ignore, and if he carried on we would tell him to "hush" in a stern voice. Eventually the pup would settle and fall asleep. After a few nights of this routine without giving in, the pup would only stir for a couple of bathroom breaks in the night. Your likely in for a some sleepless nights, but that's part of the fun? of having a puppy ;D

For the first few months we crated our pup at night to prevent him from exploring the room unsupervised and to allow us to sleep and not worry about a roaming puppy. Once he started sleeping through the night we started leaving the crate door open at night to see if he would getting up and roam (which he didn't). We then then took the dog bed out of the crate and put it on the floor, which is where he sleeps now. The move from the crate to the dog bed at night had more to do with us wanting to keep the crate on the ground floor vs. in our bedroom and had nothing to do with whether he was crated at any time during the day. If the crate was still in the bedroom I know he would go in it to sleep - it is his place. We don't have our guy on our bed, otherwise I'm sure he would happily sleep there as well. The choice is yours. Happy training


----------



## austin03

Yes, the first night we tried leaving him in our room but that went terribly. haha. 
We moved him to the spare bedroom but I am not sure if that is the proper place either? I could put him in the living room that way during the evening we could randomly work on him just going in there and me throwing treats in there for him to learn its not always punishment to go in there. Maybe that would do something positive for him. 

I am getting mixed answers on this questions. 
Should I put puppy pads in his crate??? 

Thank You!!

Appreciate all the responses a ton!


----------



## austin03

Here are a few pictures of the little guy!


----------



## MeandMy3

Congrats on the little guy!

I would not put puppy pads in his crate - just one more thing for him to chew on. Plus, you don't want him to think he can potty in his crate. 

He is adorable!


----------



## MilesMom

We put our pups right by our bed (when they were crate training, they are in bed now). Firm "no" and "quiet" when they cry. They want to feel close to you, I think putting in another room may make it harder. 

Make sure to keep you pup awake for a few hrs before bed so he will be very tired and ready to sleep. You can try covering crate or using a ticking clock for comfort.


----------



## austin03

I am pretty sure the little guy never sleeps so I do not have to worry about keeping him awake before bed haha. 
I just went home over lunch to see poop in his crate(dang it!). This is partially my fault because I put the puppy pad in there this morning(was not sure what to do). Fortunately though the poop got stepped in and hopefully that makes him uncomfortable and refrains him from doing it again. 
I moved his kennel into the living room and put his doggy bed, a rawhide, a chew toy, and then one of my Tshirts so he can have my scent. Hopefully that helps!


----------



## MilesMom

Is the crate very small so he doesn't have a place to go to the bathroom?

Careful with the rawhide! Many dogs don't digest it well, I would monitor him when he has it. We can't give it to ours, they will throw it up.


----------



## austin03

hmm. Well he hasnt had any problems with the rawhide yet. He hasnt chewed on em much though unless we give it to him. Not sure why but he likes picking it up bringing it to me and having me hand it to him haha. 

The crate he would not have much room to use the bathroom and not have it in the way if he were to move around. 

Please Charlie work with me buddy on this potty training! I hate cleaning up poop/pee inside! haha


----------



## austin03

Also,

The puppy is 4 months old and last night he woke us up every 2 hours to go outside. He did go pee every time so Im assuming its not just for the attention.
I am correct not to ignore him here right? I should not try and make him hold it longer?


----------



## MeandMy3

I wouldn't ignore him if he is getting up to go potty. However, make sure it is strictly potty, no food, no drinks, no play. Otherwise, he will expect the rest every time he goes out.


----------



## LokiV

Our puppy is 9 weeks old and he can get through the whole night with no toilet breaks (sometimes he needs one). As long as he doesn't drink too much before bedtime I think they can hold on for longer than you normally hear.

He doesn't sleep in his crate though (he sleeps in a bed next to ours) so I can't comment on that but I imagine a puppy in a crate would be even more inclined to hold on because it's his sleeping area.

He started off crying every couple of hours but we worked out that he just wanted to know we were there and a little pat (reaching out to him without us having to get up) was all he needed.


----------



## MilesMom

I would recommend using the search bar on rawhide. You will find some good info on it.


----------



## CatK

austin03 said:


> Also,
> 
> The puppy is 4 months old and last night he woke us up every 2 hours to go outside. He did go pee every time so Im assuming its not just for the attention.
> I am correct not to ignore him here right? I should not try and make him hold it longer?


Morris took ages to go through the night, we sped it up eventually by offering zero interaction when we let him out. No eye contact, no strokes, no talking other than simple praise when he went in the right place, then back to bed with everyone. He did it faster and woke us up less when we became boring at night!


----------



## MCD

We have 2 guinea pigs. Dharma would do serious harm to them. My daughter who is 20 years old holds them and she will be right there. I think she does hurt them. The breeder did warn us about this. She does get occupied with what goes on in the cage. The cage is in our living room. To date nothing serious has happened.
Dharma was let into our bed at night instead of sleeping in her crate. She is 9 months old but still gets my husband up to let her out at least once. I sleep very soundly and would not have done this. So much for the best intentions of crate training- we can not go back on her sleeping in our bed now! She does go in her crate for at least 4-5 hours a day when no one is at home. (Maybe one day a week). She still messes up her crate and will dig to China. She does go into her crate willingly and will come and go as long as the door is open. I just wish we had been more diligent on the crate thing from the get go. Unfortunately my husband and daughter are very soft in enforcing consistency and rules. Take from this post what you need. Each dog and owner is unique though.


----------

