# Hi All



## Diesel(SSE)

Hello All,
Just wanted to say hi and introduce myself. Another Aussie 
We've just picked up our first Viz pup a few days ago. She's a gorgeous little girl, almost 10 weeks old and her name is Ruby (I hear it's popular for Vizla's ).
Anyway, thought I would join the forum, as we probably need all the help and tips we can get as she's our first dog. Looking forward to getting to know some of you and asking lots of questions.
Cheers
Diesel.


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## redd

Welcome! 
So glad to see you on the site. If your V is anything like ours, you will need some advice or info at some point. This is definitely the first placed I'd look. 
Redd, our first and only vizsla, is now 18 weeks old. He was cute and cuddly the first few days we brought him home, and then..... He turned into the devil!!! Biting, jumping, nipping, whining, zoomies, sharkies, you name it. We were just scratching our heads (with bloodied hands) wondering just what kind of creature had we brought into our home. 
I seriously thought I was going to have to call the breeder and take him back. Then I came across this website, found out it was normal, and learned a few tricks of the trade. 
Now he is a good boy, attentive, smart, cute, loving, curious, silly, crazy, mellow, crazy again, and sometimes the devil. We says he's bipolar or call him Jekyll or Hyde, depending. 
Anyway, your girl may not give you the same troubles. I did read something that helps me endure through the tough times-
Vizslas are notoriously difficult as puppies but fantastic as adults. You just gotta get there. 
Elizabeth


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## Ozkar

Hi and welcome to the worlds best Vizsla resource. There's some very knowledgeable V people in here. I hope you enjoy it. Do a search on shark attacks and zoomies! ;D


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## Diesel(SSE)

Thanks Redd (Elizabeth), you have described my situation perfectly  . Being our first V and also our first pup, I was beginning to think she had a problem. Reading through some of the many posts has put my mind at ease. It will be a long road it seems, but one well worth it as well 8) . I'm like a father with a first time newborn again lol. Like babies, sometimes you wish they could just talk.

Ozkar, already well into reading about these shark attacks and zoomies. No idea they even existed til I joined here. This forum has already helped me out in the first hour, thanks !!


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## number10

Hi Diesel - you'll be pleased to discover that your vizsla does "talk" too, they can be hilariously vocal! ;D


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## Diesel(SSE)

number10 said:


> Hi Diesel - you'll be pleased to discover that your vizsla does "talk" too, they can be hilariously vocal! ;D


Thanks Number10, she does talk now (mostly growls) - just wish I could understand it


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## Diesel(SSE)

Well, it's been a couple of months since I was last on, so thought I'd give you an update....
Ruby is progressing well and growing up fast. She's not the cute little pup we first bought home and is getting bigger every week. Still very cute, but just a bigger version 
She's lost her puppy teeth (except one hanger-onerer) and is maturing as well. Still crazy, zoomie and a little stubborn at times, but her shark attacks have almost subsided and she's happy to replace them with playing tug of war with her rope toys (yay !!). 
She's had a few up and downs in the past month with her tummy and bouts of diarrhea. At this stage the vet has put it down to microbial gastro - probably from the abundant supply of poop she tends to always be chewing on around the place (birds, duck, rabbit, fox, cat and horse). Also looking at her current kibble and changing that (slowly) to something with no grain content. 
Apart from that, she's doing great. Need to really work on her recall, as she tends to ignore a lot when she's running around in the field - I'm obviously not as exciting as all the smells (and POOP) she's finding in the paddock and also want to work on her not eating everything she finds, as we had a bit of an issue with someone throwing petmince and kibble meatballs into our property for some unknown reason  . Fun times ahead 
Here she is at 5 months. Big feet and plenty of loose skin, so still plenty of growing to do....


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## Element

Hi Diesel,
Ruby is a gorgeous girl, I'm gonna have to search shark attacks cause our Element still has them quite often - rope def helps though.
Glad you found this forum, we may have taken Elle back to the shelter had we not found this. It's been one of our greatest time investments we ever made. I wish we would have had her from a puppy so training would be a bit easier. 
Ruby is a lucky girl to have caring parents. We have Elle on a grain free diet also, we've only had her about 6 weeks and had problems with diarrhea in the beginning. Coming from a shelter was little we could do about it, as the food given was mixed contributions - we didn't have a starting ground to switch her slowly. We did find a helpful hint though - we added a couple Tbls of pure pumpkin (not pie filling) into her food to form the stool. Took only a few days of this to help - we did add some plain yogurt for a couple days prior to this to help stabilize her gut. 
Thanks for sharing Ruby's story and pics - love reading about these beautiful, loving creatures.


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## Diesel(SSE)

Thanks for your thoughts Element 

Well, we've made a bit of a breakthrough with Ruby's tummy problems this week. She would have bouts of the runs for no reason we could think of, except for chewing on all sorts of poop she kept finding in the field....
I did however notice that the tree next to her run would occasionally drop it's flowers and buds into her waterbowl when the wind was blowing in just the right direction, so I did a little research. We've been living in our house for the last 3.5 years, so had no idea what trees and plants the previous owners put in around the place. Turns out that the tree right next to her run was a White Cedar . It's flowers, fruit, leaves and basically the whole tree is toxic to both humans and animals. Had no idea myself, so was shocked when I started looking into it. Needless to say, the chainsaw came out immediately and in a whirlwind of sawdust and exhaust fumes akin to the Tasmanian Devil on Bugs Bunny, the tree was removed quick smart. She hasn't had any bouts of diarrhea since, so I'm tipping the tree was the culprit at this stage. SOOO relieved at finally figuring this out, as watching her constantly bent over pooping her little gut out was heart-breaking. Going to call in an expert from the local nursery to help ID the rest of the plants around the place and get rid of anything else that might cause us hassles in the future... Thought I'd share to make others aware of plants/trees that may cause problems for others. 
Cheers.


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## R E McCraith

Diesel - 1 word of advice - never play tug a war - may V fun 4 you and the pup - V's R working dogs - if it is in their mouth - it belongs 2 YOU - feather - fur or toy - they bring it 2 hand - trust me on this - 12yrs from now - life will V a lot easier !!!!!!!!!


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## tknafox2

Hello Diesel, I may have the most unique V on the forum. He is so weird... He was a singleton ( single pup litter) He is totally Vizsla, but has taken 1 1/2 years to come into that reality. 
Your pup sounds perfectly normal. they bite, bark, cry, Zoom, whine, etc. Your dog will mellow out " Promise" We owners can help... If we know what you want to teach the dog... for instance... recall! That depends on if you want to use an e-collar, or NOT. There is so much info in the archives of this forum to help you... if you don't want to research, just ask specific questions. 
For Instance... 

RECALL w/ Whistle... blow whistle... treat. whistle. treat... repeat/repeat/repeat/... send dog away, or ignore... whistle, show dog treat... praise dog when it comes to you for treat, at the sound of the whistle... etc...

The other recall trick I learned form this Forum... 
When you want the dog to join you, or follow, or come,... just turn your back on it ... head the other way, and say " come on lets go"
Guaranteed the dog will follow you , or become panicked that you are leaving. Vizsla's become more VELCRO the older they get, and that starts from day " ONE"

My "Singleton ... Super independent Mr., is just your normal "sit on you, sleep with you, needy, loving, etc. V...


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