# Second Vizsla



## mwynnejr (Jan 10, 2011)

For those of you who have two or more Vizslas please chime in here, would love to hear more about your experience with more than one Vizsla in the house. 

We just got our 2nd last Sunday (named her Luna), our first (Lucky) has been so good around her -- I do feel bad, feels as if I've forced her to grow up overnight. So far, all is good, but my only concern is when Luna and Lucky play with each other, they can get a bit rough, and especially with Luna's nipping and sometimes growling. When Luna does that, I pull her out and tell her no, not to do that. I don't want Luna to get too aggressive and I'm afraid with Lucky being too nice Luna will take advantage of that. 

How do you manage keeping their playing to a reasonable level that doesn't encourage aggressiveness or doesn't encourage future undesirable behaviors?


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## Kobi (Oct 26, 2010)

Just curious, how old are your two V's?


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## mwynnejr (Jan 10, 2011)

Our first is 18 months, and our second is only 7 1/2 weeks.


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## Linescreamer (Sep 28, 2010)

I am no expert and don't have 2. We have thought about it and would like to hear back from you or others after a year or two. The socialization part of growing up is important and some feel that pups are often taken away from the Mother too early (7-9 weeks). I have seen many adult dogs put the pups in their place like no human can. The boundaries are drawn during this stage and are most useful as they grow older. If you have read some of the posts on this site about older dogs 10 - 24 months and their behaviors, you'll see how good behavior can be fostered buy an older dog in the mix. Some dogs will put up with more then others when it comes to puppies behavior. I have seen a 2 year old alpha male put a whole litter of puppies on guard with just his presence. Certainly the bitting will be curtailed as well as many other behaviors with the support of an older dog in the home. 

A question for you? Was there a reason you waited until the older one was 18 months before getting the second one? Did she show signs of maturity in her own behavior that lead you to believe it was the right time to add the second one?


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## kellygh (Oct 25, 2010)

We do not have 2 Vs, but we have always had 2+ dogs. Right now it is our 6m old V & a 4 y/o mini-dachshund. Needless to say, Pumpkin was bigger than Moxie almost overnight. She is very rough with our low-rider. Moxie is patient, BUT she takes no s*#T! My experience with dogs/pups of varying ages, has been when one of them gets sick of something they will absolutely tell the other one off. I have a feeling if Lucky gets sick of Luna, she will let her know. Vs play rough & are tough. I generally do not interfer with dog play & growling. The exception would be if their is a more fragile senior citizen involved, health issue, or someone's itty-bitty dog. Pumpkin would always point this 4 lb chihuahua when @ puppy class. I did not let her near the dog, because I secretly wondered if she wanted to hunt her. We have wild rabbits the size of that little guy! Good luck.


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## bounce (Dec 4, 2009)

I have two, two months apart, the oldest is 16 months. Be prepared, halving two requires more time training, but a lot of things overlap in terms of general care and exercise. It takes just as long to feed two and they will exercise each other in the yard, but they do not need separate walks or anything like that. Your vet bills will double... 

Training multiple dogs at one time does have it's benefits, too. Since it is easy to go over board with puppies, it easy enough to switch back and forth between them in shorter sessions without feeling board or ADHD on the trainers end. Also, more dogs generally does not scale up the setup time for training.

Behaviorally, the amount of nipping that occurred with the addition of the second dropped to minimal levels. Through chewing on each other, they learned what biting feels like on the other end! While they can be a bundle of energy, I have found relief in the fact that they exercise each other and give each other added attention- I am no longer the playmate. 

They definitely enjoy each others attention. They definitely can be rambunctious balls of chaos. They definitely can eat up more time. They definitely will give you twice as many kisses.

If you feel like you can devote the time, I think it improves their quality of life.


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## cathyl (Sep 9, 2010)

We have 2 v's. Maddie will be 2 next month, Alex is 4. We got Maddie from a breeder when she was 8 weeks and Alex from the rescue at 3 yrs. Maddie's energy level gets Alex on edge and several times he has lunged at her. So we monitor their play and have learned the signals when Alex has had enough. When the 2 are playing, they do play rough, Maddie growls. and pretends to bite him. They will play and play and play. When Alex has had enough, he will try to get away from her. If she doesn't take the warning, he will go after her. We try to take them to the park everyday to let them chase the geese, play with the ball and chase each other for at least 45 mins to an hour. The more excersize, the better behaved they are. Remember, a tired v, is a happy v. And Bounce is right. You will get twice the kisses, twice the lap dogs and twice the love. We wouldn't have it any other way.


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