# 18 month male Vizsla hates puppies!



## PilotChris (Jan 1, 2015)

My 18-month old male Vizsla, Jamie, is normally a very sweet dog. He LOVES people (I'm lucky enough to live in a very dog-friendly city -- Munich, Germany -- so he more or less grow up in bars and restaurants) and seems to developed some reasonable social skills to defuse most situations with adult dogs as well.

However, I'm seeing a growing pattern where he attacks puppies. He used to get annoyed if a puppy would approach him and not heed his warning signs, culminating with a few loud barks and putting them on their back. These days, however, I see this teenager-like look on his face as he prompts the confrontation, sometimes even running up to the puppies in order to make it happen.

I should mention that Jamie is chemically castrated (local custom -- folks frown on physical modification here) mostly because he was aggressive with other male dogs before. That's calmed down, but this puppy thing has continued to get worse.

If you tell me this is a phase and he'll get through it in a year or two, I'll be OK and can just wait out his teenager phase.. I'm just worried that I'm missing a window to intervene with some conditioning training. At the very least, my need to constantly yell and pull him off of puppies is probably intensifying the negative association.

Appreciate any ideas! Did this happen with your Vizsla? Did it get better?


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Welcome to the forum! I loved Munich. I think I spent half my time there drooling over the art in the Pinakothek der Moderne. 

Positive training methods are my preferred way of interacting with dogs as there is a lot of evidence that when a dog does something incorrectly it's because it didn't know what is was supposed to do. In this situation, however, I think you are very correct to call it a teenage phase. His bad manners with puppies comes not from ignorance, but from testing boundaries and the situation merits a clear, negative consequence. I don't believe that by yelling or pulling him away from the puppies that you are clearly communicating to him that his behavior is unwelcome. Your energy might actually be encouraging him. 

Last winter I was at a Wirehaired Vizsla get-together with dogs ranging from 8 weeks to 6 years all from the same breeder, including at least one male in Jamie's range. This dog had played wonderfully with my 22 month old dog, however he kept warning off the puppies who would get in his face. The owners were embarrassed and would sternly tell him no and make him sit, but it was basically a half measure. Eventually it escalated to the point where he very aggressively went after a younger dog and the dog ran away squealing. Very swiftly and calmly, the breeder stepped in, grabbed his collar, picking him up and throwing him off balance, before forcing him into a down. He fought the down with all his strength, but she didn't relent. Every time he tried to get back up, she reinforced the down in a battle of wills. The whole room was silent at this point as we happy little Americans who had been warned about how soft and sensitive our vizslas are had never seen anyone handle a dog quite like that. Eventually the dog submitted and the breeder explained her method. At the time it was shocking and I fully expected to never see that dog or his owners again.

This past June, the husband showed up to another get-together with a female W. Vizsla they had purchased from the same breeder in the last year. He reported back that his male dog was great with her and since they started approaching his behaviors the way our breeder had the male was a new dog. Happy, obedient, and well adjusted. 

So I guess I tell the whole story because this advice isn't something you would normally find here. I really do feel that in many ways a physical (but certainly never abusive, never done in anger) correction is easier for a dog to understand and for our sensitive vizslas is actually less damaging than yelling at them. My girl will melt under the pressure of me sighing in frustration, but remains quite eager to work after a physical correction. I believe this is because it is closer to their native language. Humans use words to communicate, but for dogs visual cues, gestures, and physical touch are incredibly more clear. 

I would be remiss to not mention that it is even more important to follow up with exuberant praise when Jamie has a positive to neutral interaction with a puppy. You want to capture and build on those good behaviors, too! I would also remove his ability to initiate these encounters in the first place. He needs off leash exercise, but let him drag a long cord behind him, so you can catch him before he runs up to other dogs. Set him up for success.


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## jean (Feb 17, 2015)

I don't have any advice, but I would like to note that my 18 month old (still intact) male has been a little testy with puppies in the last 5 months. We just monitor his behavior around puppies and call him away/off if he starts being a butthead. I'm looking forward to seeing other answers to this thread. Increased training during adolescence has been critical for our boys teenage phase in general, but I hope the attitude wears off with age.


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## cuddlebuglove (Apr 27, 2014)

Why are adolescent male Vizslas angry or aggressive with puppies? Isn't that traumatizing for the weekend ones? How does a caregiver help a puppy who has an aggressive incident with such a dog?

Was the technique described here similar to what Cesar Millan would have done?


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