# 1 Year on.....Would I change a thing? NO!



## charl0111 (Oct 2, 2013)

Rubi joined our family almost a year ago and I can honestly say our life would not be the same without her!

Watching her grow and change from a tiny 10 week old puppy into such a loving dog has been amazing! Before we took the plunge and got her we did alot of research, and nothing we read prepared us for the adventure we were about to embark on!

My partner and I have a little house together, I work in an office and he works away during the week, we chose to get a dog because we are both huge dog lovers and have always had dogs in our lives. We got told on a number of occasions that we were making a mistake, it was unfair on the dog to be left alone while I was at work etc...Despite all these comments we still wanted one, we believed that even though i worked providing a dog with a loving home was the most important thing to us.

We went on holiday, talked nonstop about dogs and decided when we got back we would start looking at breeders. We were willing to travel any distance to find a Vizsla but to our surprise a litter of puppies had just been born so we went and met them. Instantly I fell in love! Who doesn’t??! Not only did I fall in love with the puppies but the mum and her sisters! What an amazing breed! We put down a deposit and visited weekly until we could take Rubi home!

Now I am not going to say that when we got her home it was all fun and games because it wasn’t! It was HARD work! We decided not to take time off from work because our breeder had advised us to get her into our routine as quickly as possible. So I went back to my office and my partner left for the week. Rubi was fine! she adapted quickly to being left alone. Our house is only small so she was put in the kitchen with a stair gate in between so she didn’t feel closed in. We thought about crate training but decided against it. She became toilet trained very quickly which was brilliant! Then it came, my partner had to go away for a month with work. Throughout this month Rubi obviously got a bit to settled in the house and became a nightmare for me, literally reducing me to tears. All I could think about was 'have I made a mistake?' or 'what am I doing wrong?' After a while I managed to sort her behaviour out and we were ok again!

I came home from work one lunch time, walked to the kitchen to not receive my usual hello....Rubi had gone! My heart sank, I was shouting her name (bearing in mind my house is small) nothing, i checked the door to see if I had locked it. I ran upstairs to find her sprawled out on my bed wagging her tail. The little madam was now big enough to jump the stair gate! I wasn't ready yet to let her have run of the house, but decided for her safety I would take the stair gate down. From that day she has had full roam of the house, and I wouldn't change it! She has been brilliant, chewed the odd photo frame, but she just usually spends the day either chilling on my bed or her bed! 

Everyday she fascinates me, she is so amazing with everything. Walking off the lead just came to her, she never goes far in front, constantly stops and turns to see if we are still there, comes back when called. She is amazing with other dogs and she loves people!! especially kids! She follows my 1 year old nephew wherever he goes, he pulls her ears and tail and she just licks him!

As I mentioned earlier, Rubi and I are alone during the week, I have a best friend in her, we have a routine between us and we respect one another. She has a bed by the side of mine but she usually sleeps on the bed (on my partners side when he is not here) with her head at my feet facing the door. She is one of the most loving dogs I know and loves nothing more than a cuddle with mum, or anyone else! ha!

These are the most beautiful dogs in the world inside and out! Now even though she is only 1, I cant imagine how I ever coped without her. Best decision we ever made! I have been working 9-5 then 6-12 for the last 2 days so Rubi has been on holiday to the in-laws who are also infatuated by her - hence the reason for this post. I felt like expressing my feelings towards my best friend and how much I miss her! Spending this year with her has been amazing and I hope we get to spend many more years together! 

If anyone reads this who is thinking about getting a vizsla pup or any pup for that matter my advice to you would be GO FOR IT! I don't regret anything for a minute, she is and always will be a very important part of our family and we love her!


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## Rbka (Apr 21, 2014)

Great post! We've had Nico only 6 months and can't believe life without a vizsla ever existed!

We were very nervous about getting a v due to what we had read and the best advice we got about owning a vizsla was from Nico's breeder: "Everything you've ever read about vizslas will probably be true at one point or another. Maybe not every day but at some point." It put into perspective just how much personality and versatility these dogs have!

I wish you and Rubi many more happy years together


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## mswhipple (Mar 7, 2011)

charl0111, Rubi is a beautiful girl... and now you know what it really means to fall in love!! ;D ;D ;D


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Dharma is 16 months old now and I can't imagine life without her now. Anybody who knows the story of what happened to us when we were getting her knows just how much more difficult having a vizsla was at that point. Only now Dharma is part of our therapy.( Even if she is still "The Dharmanator")


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## Sharrich (Jan 9, 2013)

Totally agree Vizsla's are the best but they are very much hard work to begin with, My Indie is 2 now and he is the most gorgeous dog you could ask for so well behaved, he is left at home for around 6 hours 3 days a week, he goes on very long off lead walks when I get in.
At times when he was a puppy I said to my self oh god what have we done, but so worth the hard work.


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