# Vizsla and Kids



## kyleburrows (Jun 6, 2011)

Hi
We have just got a WHV who is 9 weeks old. Has anyone any suggestions as to how to best get the kids (they are 6&4) to interact with him whilst he is in his nipping and jumping up phase?
Also what is the common consensus about when a Vizsla should be trianed to use a certain place in the garden to poo in?
Any help much appreciated


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

Hope these posts help regarding kids:

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/10/i-read-they-were-good-with-kids.html

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/07/raina-and-jada-super-dog-training.html

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/07/fear-of-toddlers-overcome.html

Happy trails and trials,
Rod


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## Amber68 (Jun 6, 2011)

kyleburrows said:


> Hi
> We have just got a WHV who is 9 weeks old. Has anyone any suggestions as to how to best get the kids (they are 6&4) to interact with him whilst he is in his nipping and jumping up phase?
> Also what is the common consensus about when a Vizsla should be trianed to use a certain place in the garden to poo in?
> Any help much appreciated


Teach the children to turn their back on him and whatever adult is there should say 'ahh ahh' - he's just being a pup and at 9w old he is still a baby, baby. Children tend to squeal when dogs jump up, so teaching the kids to ignore and turn their backs and not shrieking will help. I run behavioural clinics through work and i find that a lot of people say 'down' for telling the dog not to jump up - but they also say 'down' when teaching lie down - i think 'off' is a better word to teach for not jumping up and be careful not to say 'sit down' - as this confuses a lot of dogs (and owners!!).

When we got our first Vizsla, my younger daughter was 3y old and Amber had a tendency to mouth and jump up and subsequently knock her over - she herself became very good at saying 'ahhhh..ahhh..off' in a deep voice - much to the amusement of outsiders when this deep low voice came out of this little blonde girl!

With regards to nipping/mouthing - same thing - tell the children to turn their backs and put their hands under their armpits and walk away quietly - no squealing that will wind him up. All pups mouth and i hear horror stories of so-called behaviouralists (and vets!) telling owners to do things like squeezing the pups lips up against their teeth etc. :-\

With regard to toileting, he is still very young, but i have a 'sand pit' in the garden where the dogs use - with pups, i put the smell of their pee (soaked up in kitchen roll) and a poo in the area...we have a word ('quickly') which we say to the dogs as pups when they toilet - this pays dividends in years to come when you want them to pee/poo before a long journey!

Consistency is the key with pups - he is just a baby but he will learn. Gentle but firm clear commands are the way ahead.


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## hobbsy1010 (Jun 4, 2011)

Hi
had a small problem with our Vizsla Brook regarding our youngest child (girl 12) quite often would growl/snarl sort of under his breath at her for no apparent reason. Quite disconcerting at first, when we encouraged her to to be more confident with him in front of us, to play with him more often also to feed him under our supervision. We noticed a change in him after a few months. Because we were consistent with this i think it has payed dividend regarding his behavior. When we eat as a family now my daughter is the one that sends him to his create when we eat as a family, this just works for us. We think that Brook saw her as an equal or worse below him hence the subtle but aggressive behavior. We think now that it has worked out well, no more snarling/growling and we think he now knows his place in the family 'pack'. It sounds a bit harsh but we really love him.


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## hzurkovic (Dec 9, 2010)

Hi,
We have 3 kids (8, 9, 12) and 18 month old V boy Hunter.
Your kids are younger but things that worked really well for Hunter and our family are:
1. When jumping and nipping, kids would say firm NO and turn their back (jumping and nipping stopped after a week)
2. 3 times a day, one of the kids would repeat COME, SIT, STAY, HEEL routine with Hunter. 
3. Kids were (and still are) responsible to feed him. At first, they would eat a light snack in front of him, then hold a bowl above his head for a while, make him sit and then offer food.
4. Take him out for a short walk. Yours are still young to go on their own, but try and engage them to simulate getting ready for a walk, fiddling with collar and leash and walk him around the house or your Yard
5. Few times a day one of the kids would put Hunter in to the crate and let him out. 
We were consistent with it and it worked really well. Your kids are younger and you might need to supervise the training part closely, but I am sure it can work. My youngest one was 7 when we got him and as per our trainer's suggestion, she was the one who did most of the training (supervised by us parents). 
Just hang in there and be consistent for a while and you and your kids will will have an amazing dog.


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

> Hi,
> We have 3 kids (8, 9, 12) and 18 month old V boy Hunter.
> Your kids are younger but things that worked really well for Hunter and our family are:


Hzurkovic,
That was really an enjoyable read. Since we don't have young children anymore but grandchildren are going to be around, the process you use seems simple and effective.
The pack order is established and the dogs are at the bottom of the pack where they belong.
Rod
http://redbirdog.blogspot.com


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## kyleburrows (Jun 6, 2011)

Hello All,
Thank you everybody for taking the time to anwer my questions with some really useful advice. Apologies in my late reply I thought that the site was ging to inform me when someone posted a reply. Sorry I would have liked to thank you all individually but not sure how to do it on this site!
There is some really great stuff in here and will get working on it straight away.
I think the quicker the kids get comfortable with Buddy (the pup) the less stress it will be for everyone!


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## andy198712 (May 9, 2011)

sleeping on their laps for a little worked well for us and our 8 and 11yr olds


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