# What kind of “job” for V?



## rubicon (Dec 9, 2019)

Our 4.5 month old pup’s obedience training is coming along pretty well and has become bored with the tricks we want him to do. Though he is still very young, we’re starting to wonder what kind of more challenging program is right for him, for more advanced training. My SO is partial to hunting, and I wonder if V’s make good service/therapy dogs? SO kind of thinks he should do what he’s bred to do, while I think it will be wonderful if we can volunteer somewhere with him.

He’s intelligent, eager to place, excitable but doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. He’s never growled at us or shown any aggressions- we can freely take his food or toys. He’s also very submissive around other dogs. Yes, he’s rambunctious but takes reprimands a little too hard sometimes. If a dog shows a little aggression he’ll submit. Although I’m a little concerned he’s not calm enough to work as a therapy dog.

Hunting wise, he has a pretty good instinctive “point”, though his nose doesn’t seem to be the best. When we play the seeking game with him it can take him a while if there are other distracting odors around or he’s not within a few feet of the target. He does pretty well when we play with a flirt pole though.


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

You can do many-many things with a vizsla, they were bread to be all round hunting dogs - those skills can be used in several situations, from hunting to agility, service dog etc. 4.5 months is a bit early to decide on many of the attributes, but if your pup likes to hunt, i would try possibilities for him to elaborate on that. Their nose constantly evolves as their brain learns to distinct scents. 
The retrieving and pleasing instinct is being used in my household for several purposes, like helping with laundry, and alerting for dangers, like food overcooking. Or Bende telling is his little brother Miksa is countersurfing
The possibilities are endless, just make sure you praise your pup a lot if they offer something you like naturally, even if it is not exactly anything u asked them for. I cut back on obedience training a lot, as i find that being way too rule based and curbing natural curiosity. Just my experience / opinion. 
I have a lot of toys for my dogs, rotate them and have usually approximately 20 out. We name all of the toys and do a lot of seeking / retrieving games for specific named toys. it is a lot on their brain, so usually it is 2 rounds per young dog. also i practice commands with toys instead of just food, and my boys love that, just as much as they love food reward. 
Also good to practice some of the life saving skills in different environmental settings, the pup will most probably not stay in place in a new park with lots of unknown scents the same way as they were in the living room at home.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

At 4-1/2 months old, unless you have a lot of experience with training V's to hunt, it's a little early to pass judgement on his nose just yet.
Everything at that age is interesting to a Vizlsa. Birds, squirrels, chipmunks, mice, voles, deer, fox, racoons, and lastly, but usually first, RABBITS!!! Basically anything and everything that leaves a foot scent on the ground.
His nose is developed with experience. Hours upon hours of experience running scents to ground, or a dead end. The trainer in the equations, learns to recognize when the dog, or puppy, is on a "productive scent". A productive scent is the scent of an animal that the trainer wants the dog to search out. Usually it's upland birds, but Vizslas make great "fur dogs" also given the correct training. That little dopey puppy, will grow into a dog that can take down a running deer by itself.
The trainer will condition the dog to "work" productive scent, and "leave" non productive scent. I don't use my V's for rabbits or deer, so they are avoidance trained away from those scents.
Can a V make a nice service dog? Sure they can, why not? but as with all breeds, it's up to individual temperament. Not every Golden Retriever, or Lab makes a service dog, but many do.
I am with your SO. I fully stand behind training a Vizlsa to hunt, as a program.
Training a Vizsla to hunt is a wonderful way to train the dog. The principle reason is because all of the "leg work" has already been done before. There is no shortage of books, magazines, internet sites, YouTube videos, etc, detailing the process
At 4-1/2 months old he should be yielding to older dogs. That's how puppies survive. In a year's time that may not be the case, but having a non aggressive dog in the field is truly not a bad thing, and generally a blessing in disguise.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Not necessarily a job, but I have taught mine to file their own front nails.
I used a large cutting board, and covered it in heavy grit sandpaper. They scratch the board for a piece of cheese, and it files the nails.


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## rubicon (Dec 9, 2019)

texasred said:


> Not necessarily a job, but I have taught mine to file their own front nails.
> I used a large cutting board, and covered it in heavy grit sandpaper. They scratch the board for a piece of cheese, and it files the nails.


the nailfiling thing is a great idea! I’m always a little nervous trimming his nails as the first time we did it, it drew a little blood.

As an update, it seems that his training has gone in a more “hunting” direction. Our trainer recently attended a seminar on dummy training and how she has all kinds of different dummy ideas. Now we’ve trained him to “go after” a dummy in the direction we’re pointing. And as gunnr said, his search game improved significantly. It’s hard to hide anything from him anymore. 


Gabica said:


> The retrieving and pleasing instinct is being used in my household for several purposes, like helping with laundry, and alerting for dangers, like food overcooking. Or Bende telling is his little brother Miksa is countersurfing


Haha I’d be happy if he’d just put away his toys. They’re absolutely EVERYWHERE...


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Rubicon. There are some Youtube videos about how to teach it. In summary u teach the dog in steps how to pick up an object and replace it, part of trick repertoire. Then u can finetune it to do several objects in a roll and then do the whole thing. Teaching the dog the name of objects/ toys can be a big help.


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