# Some puppy questions from a worried new mommy



## Nat (May 25, 2021)

Hello everyone! This is my first post, we got our beautiful baby boy Bowie 3 weeks ago, he is almost 11 weeks. We've had the best time so far, love him very much and he is hilarious but there are couple of things that really worry me. 

First, he gets into very hyper states every day, sometimes it is in the evening and not wanting to go to sleep, sometimes whenever I play with him and sometimes when I try and ignore him, like now, I am typing this and he is sitting next to me on a bench barking, eating the bench, trying to bite me, jumping down the bench and eating grass then jumping back up and trying to eat anything like my laptop and all that in just few seconds. I have lots of bite marks on my hands and legs, looks awful and is painful, and when he gets hyper like this I cannot stop him and it is hard to get away from his sharkies! Often when I take him up to put him in a room for a time out, he wiggles like a fish in my hands, biting me simoultaneously, and falls down and gets back at biting me at my knees or ankles again. I've lost my patience at this many times now, ending in a big long cry session, as I feel I cannot calm him down or he is not listening, and I also don't want to get angry at him. I am trying the bite inhibition method but not working so far. Can anyone help me and tell me if this is normal and also how long will it take until this starts to work?

Second thing I want to mention is him not wanting to play by himself. He started to be interested in toys however I have to be next to him or playing with him in order for him to play. When I have to work on my laptop or do any housework, he doesn't want to do anything and lays down and most of them time sleeps. He sleeps a lot if he is not occupied, is that normal? I am starting to worry that he is no entertained enough, however I do think I play with him several times a day and we take him out for short walks or coffee break and give him a lot of attention. He now realised that I won't engage with him in that crazy state (lasted over 25mins) sat next to me and fell asleep in seconds. He had a long nap over an hour ago. I read puppies do sleep a lot but just want to make sure that he is ok?

Third matter is his obsession with a grass, particularly with bushes of pampas grass we have in the garden. He just goes at it and eats it until he gets sick. He again does is in manic states, no other way to describe it. Of course, when we tell him no and keep him away, he wants it more... He likes to eat the green grass too, but that is not as bad and it doesn't get him sick. I also think he might be alergic to it, I feel his eyes or around his eyes gets red a lot.

Lastly, he seems to be very hungry, every time I do something around a kitchen counter he is begging for food. I feel sorry as I know I am giving him enough as per the food producer instructions and am giving him plenty of snacks in between but he always wants more. Is this the case of just wanting or not needing or maybe I should increase his daily intake? How would I know that? 

Overall I think he is fine and looks very happy to me, but I overthink a lot and worry too much, so would be good to hear other opinions. He is a lovely puppy with a lot of love and affection, always wants to be next to me or on me, so must love me but it is my first dog and this gets overwhelming sometimes.

Thank you very much for reading such a long post and looking forward to chatting with you all.

Natalia


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

He may still be hungry, or like most pups they like our food better than theirs.
The guide lines on the food, are not perfect for every dog. energetic dogs require more calories. My advice, is to feed the dog that is in front of you. Is it on the thinner side, or look a little heavy? I increase, or decrease food based on the dog.
If your pup is eating all it’s food quickly, you can slowly up the food. If you do it quickly, your likely to cause a upset stomach.

The other things seem normal for a vizsla puppy.
Most of them are bitey little land sharks, and love to test everything with their mouth.
They require a lot of time, patience, and training.


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## Frida010 (Apr 24, 2020)

There is a lot of information on this forum already about all the topics. Searching through all the information you’ll find:

1. Make sure he gets enough quiet time and sleeping hours, will improve his behaviour. Crate him during witching hour because he is tired and needs to get some rest. That’s why he goes nuts.

2. Puppies that age don’t play by themselves. That will take many more months to happen.

3. If the pampa grass is making him sick and hurts his eyes, restrict him from it. Teach him ‘no’ and put him in a crate during witching hour instead of outside.

4. All dogs beg for human food given the chance. Doesn’t matter how hungry they are. If your pup eats his own food really really fast, and is skinny (like any puppy that age) you can give him a little more.

I would recommend searching this forum to find a daily puppy scedule, so that you structure your and his day a bit more.


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## Nat (May 25, 2021)

texasred said:


> He may still be hungry, or like most pups they like our food better than theirs.
> The guide lines on the food, are not perfect for every dog. energetic dogs require more calories. My advice, is to feed the dog that is in front of you. Is it on the thinner side, or look a little heavy? I increase, or decrease food based on the dog.
> If your pup is eating all it’s food quickly, you can slowly up the food. If you do it quickly, your likely to cause a upset stomach.
> 
> ...


Thanks a million for your time and a supportive response! I do think he is on the bigger side, in 2 weeks he doubled in size, so am afraid to give him more, as I have already upped the amount of food a little bit due to his cravings, but will watch that space. I am probably overthinking this, as I do with everything, but o harm to ask! We are very much spending a lot of time together, I love him deeply and have oceans of patience so need to wait it out  I train him every play time, and he learns very fast so hope I just get more relaxed about it all. Thank you again!


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## PhilipL (Sep 28, 2018)

Nat, Bowie sounds like a perfectly normal 'Vizsla' puppy that at this young age have both the 'sharkies' and 'zoomies'.

Some other breeds of dogs for example some Labradors are notorious for overeating and get fat, not so with Vizslas who are very high energy dogs and burn off lots of calories.

If your boy Bowie is hungry and eats everything in his dish, you need to give hime more. Vizslas are very good at self regulating their food and will generally leave what they can't eat.Guidleines on dog food packaging often don't relate well enough to Vizslas' higher requirements and many posts on here ask about this.

The first 16 weeks are usually the most difficult, they are very young like human babies, their brain functions haven't fully formed to understand what we are trying to tell them, they communicate a lot through their 'mouthing' and need to sleep a great deal too. Zoomies can be a sign they are overtired or overstimulated or both.

It does get easier and you will have the most loving affectionate dog there is. 

Pictures of Bowie please, we love to see the new pups on the forum.


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## Nat (May 25, 2021)

PhilipL said:


> Nat, Bowie sounds like a perfectly normal 'Vizsla' puppy that at this young age have both the 'sharkies' and 'zoomies'.
> 
> Some other breeds of dogs for example some Labradors are notorious for overeating and get fat, not so with Vizslas who are very high energy dogs and burn off lots of calories.
> 
> ...


Thank you so very much Philip, this was very reassuring! I am reading the forum for a while now but with so much information around and everyone from friends to family giving you advice I get quite overwhelmed sometimes. My partner isn't but I spend all day with Bowie so that is why I have so many questions having prepped for our little Bowie for months beforehand 

I forgot they were called the zoomies haha! he had one of those this morning, now asleep, but managed to get onto sofa and then jump off it and hurt his leg!! And yesterday he got sick again from eating something in the garden, so all fun and games here  

Here is our sweet, not so little anymore, boy!


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

What everyone else already said. It took awhile to get used to how V's operate. They will not overeat, keep slowly feeding more until he leaves food behind in his dish. Ellie eats when she wants to and frequently leaves a full bowl in the morning until she's had her run. We thought the same about self-entertainment. Don't worry he'll get there. For now and the next 3-4 months I'm sorry to say that he will need a ton of attention and entertainment. He probably won't self-entertain or even self-settle on his own until around 5 months or so.

As for eating junk outside, also normal. This was one of the more patience-trying things to deal with Ellie on. She was an outdoor vacuum trying to eat everything. Our biggest problem was wood mulch. I think she liked the taste of it more than food. After old enough, some lessons with the spray bottle helped stop that behavior for the most part.

They will always want to try to get human food. Don't do it! We have never ever fed Ellie people food yet everyday she tries to beg for it. She will do this even when her food bowl is still half full. She will even come try to beg for treats while her food bowl still has plenty left. They are crafty little creatures, don't give in to allowing them to train you (well too much anyway!). Have fun!


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## PhilipL (Sep 28, 2018)

Nat said:


> Thank you so very much Philip, this was very reassuring! I am reading the forum for a while now but with so much information around and everyone from friends to family giving you advice I get quite overwhelmed sometimes. My partner isn't but I spend all day with Bowie so that is why I have so many questions having prepped for our little Bowie for months beforehand
> 
> I forgot they were called the zoomies haha! he had one of those this morning, now asleep, but managed to get onto sofa and then jump off it and hurt his leg!! And yesterday he got sick again from eating something in the garden, so all fun and games here
> 
> ...


Great pictures, I can tell from seeing him Bowie is going to be quite a character.

Pleased to have reassured you too. Vizslas are very different to other dogs in several ways, they are harder work as young puppies compared to most other breeds, but then will turn into the sweetest, most loving, 'Velcro' dog you could possibly wish for. 

Their very high energy levels, as they get older, will require 'off leash' time eventually with good recall in order to tire them out, as no amount of walking 'on lead' will be enough, but that is not the stage you are at just yet. They will learn basic commands quite early, they are very clever, sometimes too clever!

It will get a lot easier after 16 weeks or 20 weeks, you will then breathe a sigh of relief. At around 8-10 months old they have a temporary 'teenager' rebellious streak where they will test you as to who is the most dominant, that passes very quickly, but you will have some refusal to obey commands for a little while, despite them doing really well with commands earlier on.

Vizslas are simply the 'best dogs' for lots of reasons that you will discover. Take as many photos and pictures as you can now Nat, because they grow so quickly and won't be a little puppy for long.


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