# Adding a Second V



## Shannon89 (Apr 7, 2010)

Hi everyone! I currently have a 3 year old male Vizsla named Bauer and am thinking about getting another puppy. What are some suggestions on how to make this new addition to our family go as smoothly as possible? I don't want Bauer to be completely stressed out and really want to do this the right way. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!


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## redbirddog (Apr 23, 2010)

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2009/06/bailey-joined-our-family-last-year.html

Each dog is different. Bauer will accept the pup if you don't make a big fuss about it. Just another pack member and not a threat.

Lots of time out doors where the dogs can be closer to natural settings for them and not stuck in a "man made cage" (read house or apartment) no matter how comfortable.

Let them be dogs. Let them find their place in the pack without a lot of interference from you.

How they get along will have more to do with their personalities then what you do. 

Find a good breeder who understands Vizslas. Introduce Bauer to that breeder so they can find YOU the right pup with the personality that will compliment Bauer.

http://redbirddog.blogspot.com/2011/02/teamwork-brother-and-sister-vizsla.html

I'm a fan of one male and one female Vizsla. Less competition.

Hope that helps.

RBD


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

Great post, *redbirddog*! 

I recently added another Vizsla to our household. They are 1.5yrs apart and get along great. My oldest, Sophie, is 2yrs now, and the youngest, Pacsirta, is 5 months old. 

They both are females, and if you do some research and read about gender picking when adding another dog to your household, you will see it is suggested to pick opposit sexes. We didn't. We like girls. However, we also knew our oldest V is a very non-dominant, submissive dog. When she is in a pack of dogs, she doesn't mind to be the subordinate dog. So, we felt pretty comfortble adding another girl to our pack. 

Here is the trick though. I had long discussions with Pacsirta's breeder about her character and temperament. Yes, you can tell some things by looking at how puppies interact with their litter mates, but you will never know for sure what they will be like when they reach adult age. 

I first introduced Sophie and Pacsirta out on an open field, then let them play by the house in the yard, and only then brought them in. It was fun to play, but Sophie couldn't understand why that little thing is not going away! So, it tok some time for them to adjust to one another. We didn't interfere much, just observed. But really it wasn't love at first sight! 

Now they're great with each other. Pacsirta definitely is the leader in the pack and Sophie respects that; however, Pacsirta is not a bully. She doesn't bully Sophie into something just so she can get it her way. It's just Pacsirta's presence and the way she communicates with Sophie that makes Sophie understand she's the pack leader. 

Remember, no matter what their pack order is, you are still THE pack leader in the house and they have to obey you first! 

I bet you are so excited! I wish you good luck in finding the best match to add to your V family!


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## RubyRoo (Feb 1, 2011)

Suliko - great post and very interesting.

We eventually would like to get another V. We want a female as well. Ruby sounds very similar to Sophie in temperament. Should we assume that if you already have a submissive V that they new addition will take over the pack? Or could your submissive dog switch to that role.

We want to wait until Ruby is 2 or close to 3 yrs old before adding another and will work with our breeder to find the right fit.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

Congratulations Shannon! Best of luck to you. 

Flynn, our male was 6 yrs when we took home our 7 week old female, Luna. We specifically got a female the second time around at the suggestion of a trainer who worked with Flynn and thought there may be some issues with 2 males in the house. 

When we first took her home we had them meet outside and we held her and let him sniff her. He didn't like her and he did the "lip curl" warming. No contact, just that look that says "If I wanted to, I could bite her." We weren't completely surprised given his nature, but we were a bit upset. He had never really liked puppies so we knew it would take a little while. One of two other times in the first week, he growled at her when we were paying attention to her. We disciplined him by making him stay in a "down" position and basically let him know that was not acceptable. 

For the first month we only had them together for on-leash walks and he was fine with her. Or, if they were both hanging out on their beds in the living room, they were each tethered to a piece of furniture so they couldn't reach each other. We wanted him to get used to having her around. 

After about a month, we took the plunge and let them mingle off-leash. They played and loved it. Since then, they've been the best of friends. There was the occasional warning bark from him when he wanted something she had, but I think that's just natural dog behavior. All he had to do was give her a look and she'd back away.

Now, she's almost 1 and he's almost 7 and we have no trouble at all. It's a dream having the 2 of them. My profile picture is of the 2 of them playing when she was about 6 months old.

I'm sure for a lot of folks, it's easier to introduce a new Vizsla to an existing one but I've said before on this forum: Our male is an absolute love, but he has a bit of an edge to him so we knew it would be tough at first. But, it has been the best thing for him having a little sister. He seems so much more stable and confident. 

In my opinion, two is better than one!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Interesting input. We're picking up our female pup on Sunday and bringing Dozer with us into their home. Then making the 3 hour ride home Where they'll enter our house together I'm sure. We recently had a very young pup over which at first Dozer ignored then was just confused why the little thing didn't know how to play. The only thing Dozer has ever tried to do to another dog welcomed in our home is play with it. So I know we must be careful not to overwhelm the pup but I think well be just fine.


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

We were not looking for a second vizsla, when by chance we found our girl, Skyy was not a good match for several families, but turns out she is a PERFECT dog for us!

We met Skyy on Petsmart parking lot, sweet young couple asked if we would take her (they only had her for 2 days)... We returned home with 2 Vizslas.

Both dogs were leashed when first introduced, they spent first night in separate rooms, next morning I took them for a walk and let them off leash shortly after. They seemed to be getting along and although Skyy is VERY submissive, she clearly positioned herself as the dominant one toward Max (she was 16 months old, Max was 4 months old at that time). 

I train them together most of the time - basic training such as "sit", "stay", ect. Sometimes they get separate sessions, my husband works with Skyy, I take Max.

We were very lucky both dogs "clicked" and got along well. I love having 2 v's!!!!

Great advice from Redbirddog - please read his blog, he has a lot of very helpful information:


redbirddog said:


> Find a good breeder who understands Vizslas. Introduce Bauer to that breeder so they can find YOU the right pup with the personality that will compliment Bauer.
> I'm a fan of one male and one female Vizsla. Less competition.


Good luck!


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## Emily1970 (Apr 21, 2011)

We rescued Chuck when Riley was 14 months old and Chuck was just under a year. Basically 2 months apart. Riley and Chuck wrestled like crazy and Riley at first let him know he was dominant. Then Riley has been down for surgeries and Chuck quickly took his alpha spot, but Riley didn't care. Now that Riley is feeling better a little I think he is going to challenge Chuck some, but they never did fight. Just wrestled. Time will tell. I love having 2 V's and it has actually been a lot easier than just 1!


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## Suliko (Sep 17, 2011)

The only issue we had was sleeping/favorite place adjustments. Sophie in general doesn't like to be touched while sleeping. No, nothing aggressive, just would get up and go to a different spot as soon as I moved or if Pacsirta would stretch her legs too much. She's never been a big snuggle bug or a kisser. So, sometimes she would growl at Pacsirta if she came near her spot on the couch and even snapped once or twice but would give it up to her, even though Pacsirta didn't try to squeeze herself in that spot. Just the way my dear Sophie is...fighting her little "demons". Pacsirta would love to cuddle more often, but Sophie is just different.

BTW, Sophie claimed Pacsirta's new bed and her smaller crate, and Pacsirta was very happy to sleep in Sophie's bigger bed in our biggest crate  They have no issue with their beds whatsoever now!

I have to say, Pacsirta has affected Sophie in a very positive way. She's more calm and when decideds to cuddle, she stays still for quite some time. Sophie was almost never still, always roaming, moving, couldn't settle. She's become more calm now, and it really warms our hearts to see her just relaxing  

Plus, I love how they play and shorten their days together. I would never be able to provide so much constant entertainement to both of them as they do for each other. And it is sooo fun to watch them!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

So Dozer hates having penny in our bed with him/us. He's been growling at her when she looks at him or gets close in the bed only. They've started playing together otherwise. Hoping the bed situation gets better as its only been a few days.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

SteelCityDozer, when he does this what do you do? We had a lot of the same issues with the growling etc. I don't know if it was the right thing to do, but if Flynn growled at Luna in this type of situation, we made him get off the bed, or the sofa, or whatever it was he was on. We wanted to make it clear the behavior was unacceptable. We didn't want him to think the sofa or bed was "his" but rather, we wanted to make it clear that it was "ours" and we could invite whomever we wanted on it, especially his baby sister. Flynn had a lot of jealousy at the beginning. He peed on my things a couple of times and once he peed on my leg outside when I was holding Luna up to the fence for the neighbor to meet her. This was all new behavior that he had never exhibited before her arrival. 

It will get better. Trust me!


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Flynn - thanks for the reassurance. It's a little slow going but we see small improvements everyday. Sleeping quarters are the only real problem. At first when Dozer would growl I would scold him but I don't really like scolding for a growl. After all it's nice to have a warning so no one gets bit. I might try to make him off like you did. But I admit that will be difficult to accomplish multiple times throughout the night as penny adores him and tries to inch closer as time goes on. .


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## SteelCityDozer (Aug 25, 2011)

Update...although still a little tense in sleeping quarters they are MANY times better. Dozer even let Penny put his whole foot her mouth while relaxing yesterday. This is what they're going now...


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