# camping with v and roaming , snakes



## fullscale (May 26, 2012)

hi all
We have just come back from 4 days on a property camping beside a creek,introduced her to a cow which blew her away the first day but just sat and stared in amazement the rest of time which was good as we were worried she might chase and bark at them, fantastic fun for us and our 6 month bitch.
A couple of questions we have is with the way she has to search and smell every square inch of the place how do Vizsla,s go when confronting a snake, do there instinct's let them know to stay away or will she think its a new toy to play with, it is winter here and snakes are very docile this time of year.
2nd on the fourth day she was wandering out of sight about 150 feet away maybe more seemed to get more confident each day how good is there homing instint in the bush as all i have read is they will keep close while hunting not this far away, a bit worried we might lose her.
thanks


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## dmp (Jan 23, 2012)

what fun!


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

fullscale said:


> 2nd on the fourth day she was wandering out of sight about 150 feet away maybe more seemed to get more confident each day how good is there homing instint in the bush as all i have read is they will keep close while hunting not this far away, a bit worried we might lose her.
> thanks


She is reaching adolescence and you are in for a treat. My boy Mac would stay nice and close until about 5 months then wham! He was off exploring and no amount of calling him back or whistle training worked. If you haven't started whistle training your girl I would do so straight away. There is nothing wrong with them going out of sight. I allow my pup who is no 14 months to explore when we hit the woods but he will always come back with in 20 to 30 seconds to check in and if I call him with his whistle he is about 80% unless he is into something he shouldn't be or has found another dog to run around with. He just starting to get very good at coming back. So moral of the story is no that she is hitting her teenage months you might want to go back to a long line and work on her recall and whistle training. I 

I think all dogs have a natural radar. Some have different distances that the radar will extend. For Mac in an open space this is about 1/2 mile in woods or grass land maybe a 1/4 mile. Your girl will have her own natural distance but you can bed down the behavior with a long line. At 14 months we are still working on it. Our trainer said it could take until he is 2 or beyond before we get to near perfect on it.


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## flynnandlunasmom (May 28, 2012)

Our boy once encountered a snake and he was skittish and jumped away from it. Luckily, there was no incident. Even years later when he sees a stick that resembles a snake sometimes he approaches it very cautiously. 

PS - Lucky dog you have there.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

Judging by the looks of that ute and those trees, I would take a guess at you being an Aussie. 

If so, where are you camping??? Looks like a nice spot.

I can only answer from my own Vizsla and Pointer experiences, but i do a lot of camping and spend a lot of time in the bush hunting and walking with my three dogs. (Two male V's and a female GSP) 

Firstly on ranging from camp on her own, from my experience, they won't go far. Zsa Zsa my little GSP is a more rangey dog than either of the two boys. Not sure if it is because she is a girl, or that she lived in the bush on her own from 3-6/7 months, or that she is a GSP or that she is just a different personality, but she will wander 100-200 metres from camp exploring stuff. Sometimes a little further if something catches her scent glands. But she never goes far and always keeps an eye, ear and nose on where I am.

The boys don't range quite as far as she does, but they will still wander around the familiar parts of the camp ground. Often wandering down the other end to where the drop loo's are which is a couple of hundred metres. I wouldn't worry too much at this point. V's are very human linked normally, so they tend to hang around their human family regardless of where they are.

As for the snakes. During winter I wouldn't worry much. We've been pouring through the thick scrub up in the mountains a few hundred feet from the snowline, right down to the high plains and have not had an issue. During the warmer weather though, it is something that you need to be wary of. 

I spent a lot of time early on with mine, teaching them that anything reptilian was to be left alone and also trained into them a strong "Leave it" command. Mine will rock on the point forward and back if they see one now. I didn't teach them to rock forward and back, they did that themselves. I guess they know it's got to be left alone and probably know it's to be feared, but are still intrigued by them.

If it's a Red Bellied black it will normally just leave, but a Brown will hang around. They are buggers. One was hanging around a campsite we were at last summer. Just sitting a few feet from the campfire for hours and wouldn't go away. got nasty every time we tried to move it on, so in the end it was moved on in pieces.......  

But, they need to know that ALL snakes are to be feared and that even a Frill Neck or a Blue Tongue can cause a painful bite. If you are not comfy with reptiles, or don;t have access to any, try googling for some Snake Aversion training for pup. I am sure there would be someone local to you who does it. 

Great pics, got anymore???


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