# Our new boy Dexter - Tips and Advice



## Sarah H (Nov 19, 2013)

Good afternoon everyone,

I love this forum and have been using it as a Vizsla bible, both in the run up to getting our first V, and in the weeks since we have had him.
Our boy is called Dexter. He’s almost 13 weeks old and is just wonderful!

For the most part he is just a regular vizsla puppy, from what I have read. Loves to be with us, hates even a gate dividing us! Very vocal, extremely loving, and all round fun!
However I have a few things I’d like to put to you all, just to get your experienced opinions.

1.	House Training. He will do his business outside if we take him, no problems. If he’s left in his crate in the day, he is seen at least twice for toilet breaks and a little playing, and has no accidents in his crate. However when we are home and he is out of his crate, he will wee on the carpet, even if the door to the garden is open.
He has occasionally gone to the door to be let out, sometimes even scratched to be let out, but only with my partner, I’ve never witnessed this! He seems to understand it sometimes, then others it’s like he hasn’t a clue!
Are we just to persevere with what we’re doing, and hope he comes up with a signal to let him out when he needs to go?
I’ll just add here that he doesn’t poo in the house. He can hold that until he is outside.

2.	Biting. Again, I know this is a very common V puppy trait! He loves to bite and chew. He hasn’t been given the opportunity to destroy anything in the house. He has a designated area in the kitchen just for him, until he’s housetrained. He’s not allowed in the rest of the house unless supervised! He will also sit and bite his bones and toys to occupy him. The issue is he loves to bite me. Sometimes just mouthing gently, others with more strength, and mostly my clothes thinking he can play tug.
He doesn’t do it so much with my partner as he can boom at him loud enough for him to stop. My high pitched voice makes him think it’s a game! Then we think it’s funny if I try and shout in a deep voice! 
Any tips on this would be gratefully received.

3.	Playing with other dogs. We have a friend with a Parsons Terrier. Dexter LOVES to play with him. Sometimes while we are at work she will collect Dexter and take him to her house. We are very lucky to have such a lovely friend who will do this for us, but the only problem is he will play hard the whole time he is there. Relentless! She has to take him home and put him in his crate to make sure he rests.
My concern is, if he is only allowed 15 minutes exercise at any one time, and isn’t allowed to jump and bound from side to side for the sake of his legs, is this too much for him? He can be there for an hour or more at a time.

I look forward to your replies  


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## SuperV (Oct 18, 2011)

these are my two cents...

1. Potty Training - just keep doing what you have been. Eventually the dog learns the relieving himself occurs outside and not inside. There will be accidents, just act like they are nothing. you could always add a bell to the door, and only have them ring when you go outside for potty. Some dogs learn figure that out and start messing with you, just to get you outside...

2. Biting - when the dog bites you, just get up, say nothing, and walk away. Dog wants your attention, so if he learns nipping at you makes you leave the room and he no longer has any attention from you, then he should learn to stop that behavior...That means you may have set yourself up so that you can leave the dog behind (i.e. left in the kitchen) just leave for 30 seconds or so and then come back like nothing happened. This approach worked for me with biting and jumping up on the gate we had installed.

3. Playing - just my opinion here, but i wouldn't worry about play time with other dogs too much, other than the young pup may try to keep playing with the older dog when he should rest. 15 minutes seems like a short period for play. Puppies are advised not to go down steps a lot or make big jumps (i.e. jump off couches) due to their joints, but i can't imagine them just jumping around on the ground side to side like puppies do is bad - so I personally wouldn't worry about that unless advised otherwise by a vet or reputable source. 

Nate


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## Sarah H (Nov 19, 2013)

Hi Nate,

Thanks for your quick reply.
I will start leaving him when he nips...I knew that making it not fun would make him learn eventually, and to a point knew I was partly to blame, as when I haven't seen him all day I just want to be down on the floor playing with him when I'm home.

With regards to 15 minutes of exercise, I mean as in walking on lead. We have a lovely route through fields that we will eventually be able to take Dexter on, which will take a little over an hour. My partner hinted that he'd take him this weekend (he's 13 weeks on Saturday) to which I said it was too soon.
He then questioned whether his hard play and the pressure put on his young joints while playing with Gerard, would be any different to a long walk. 

I guess that opens another thread of on-lead vs off-lead walking! 

Sarah


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## SuperV (Oct 18, 2011)

The continuous walking/running rules of thumb, are generally relevant to those who take their dogs for a run (especially on pavement) which also isn't advised until 18 months of age..... The dog will want to keep up with you to the point of potentially over exerting themselves. Most will agree that letting your dog run off leash is just fine as the puppy gets to decide how far, fast, and much they run. Walking and Running is a repetitive motion (mostly running) that isn't fantastic for joints...i would be less concerned with walking as long as you aren't forcing the pup to keep up...

My two cents...take the dog on an off leash walk (i.e. let them drag a long check chord just in case you need to catch him), and just watch for signs of fatigue like laying down and walking behind you. Be conservative in your assessment and be ready to call it good at the earliest sign of tiring remembering you still X distance back to the car..... and then work up the distance from there. I wouldn't go into a hike with a mindset of accomplishes a set distance... If the pup is running around on its own having a great time I wouldn't be too concerned as long as you are not forcing the walk.

Nate


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Sarah, try this for house training......

When he wees Inside on the carpet, do not chastise him. Mop it up with a paper towel, pick up pup and the paper towel and take them out to the toilet area. Place down paper towel, place down pup. The instant pup sniffs the wet towel... Praise/reward.


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## Sarah H (Nov 19, 2013)

Thanks Ozkar,

We will certainly try it over Christmas, we're hoping to get it cracked while we are both with him full time.

Fingers crossed


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## Baja (Feb 17, 2013)

1. We used a bell hanging off of the door knob of the door that leads to our backyard. I just kicked the bell with my foot and would take our pup outside. After a couple days of this, our pup pretty much figured out that if she rings the bell, she goes outside. We removed the bell a long time ago, and now she just sits at the door and waits. If she needs to go really bad, she'll cry to get our attention.

2. Biting... or what we call, "shark attacks!" It might be because they are teething or just being mean. Anyways, we rolled up a wet wash rag and froze it in the deep freeze. When she would get mouthy, we gave her this to chew. If we could tell she was "shark attacking" for the fun of it, we would spray her in the face with water (you can buy a spray bottle for a couple bucks at any home improvement store). The spray bottle and icy rag saved our skin and clothes multiple times. They do grow out of this, but you have a while before that happens...haha!

3. Let your pup play until he crashes. At 13 weeks, we were already letting her run off leash at our farm. Trust me, when a pup is tired, they will lay down and it will be obvious when they're done. A happy Vizsla is a worn out Vizsla. Ours would become an insomniac if she didn't get enough running/playing each day. And she's still the same way today (almost a year old). 

Post some pics of you're boy. We all love to see pics!!


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## Sarah H (Nov 19, 2013)

Hi Baja,

Sorry for the late reply, I've not checked my account over xmas.

We have come to realise that Dexter will crash when he's had enough! We took him camping for new year, and he adored running in the fields. This made him lovely and calm when back at the pod.
However when at home, if he is that tired, he doesn't seem to know how to handle it, and put himself to bed. He still wants to use his teeth endlessly! Now we just put him in his crate and he doesn't argue, he knows he's ready! 
And he now only had accidents when he's in this 'exhausted' state. Like he hasn't quite got the energy to remember what to do.

We can see he's almost grasped it now though, which is nice.

Puppy classes start next week 

I've attached some photographs for you.


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