# Our Little Lady- Contemplating a Vizsla?? DO IT- Here's why...



## Ella-The-Visla (Dec 29, 2020)

Hi Everyone, we (husband, two kids and myself) picked up our beautiful girl on 12/30/21. I have never owned a dog and was in fact known for not liking dogs at all. My husband had a dog before we got married (years ago). He has always like the breed Vizsla or GSP. On a whim, on black Friday, we made the decision to look into getting a Vizsla. My son, who is 11, has been asking for a few years if we could get one and of course, I said no way! My husband was not totally against it, but would prefer not to have any pets (we have a cat and two hamsters as well). 

So, I started to research breeders in upstate NY and came across a couple, contacted them and one got back to me and would have one available soon the next month! I put my deposit down and said well, I guess we are getting a puppy! My son was super excited and for some reason, so was I. We looked up 100's of names, I researched tons and tons, feeding schedules, bodily fluid schedules, sleeping schedules, activity levels, general information, we watched youtube videos and I scoured this site for hours. It's like having a newborn for the first time! I was ready! The day came, my daughter (almost 18) and I took the almost 4 hour trip to pick her up. We were the first so we got to pick the little girl that we would bring home.

Breeder suggested getting a laundry basket to put her in for the way home, with a pillow and blanket, check! We spent an hour at the house, they were all inside puppies and mom and dad. The puppies parents were gorgeous, the dad was noticeably larger than the mama, great size! I melted like butter and wanted to take them all home. We decided on the "purple" collar girl. My son had decided on a name a couple weeks before getting her, she would be Ella. (ironically we didn't think about it at the time, our daughter is Isabella, so of course she has the perfect excuse, oh I thought you were calling Ella and not me... HA!). Little 8 week old Ella. Put her in the basket and about 2 minutes in, we were throwing the basket into the back seat and my daughter held her the whole way home. She was having no part of that!

Everything I thought I knew, all my planning, thought I knew what I was going to do, wanted to do, out the window, Ella had other plans. I'm not a dog person, but I am a Vizsla person and just LOVE this girl, like she's my baby. Crazy. I still can't believe it, but that is just how she is, her funny disposition, her cute looks, her smart ass attitude, her cuddly ways, her sweet sharing heart (I'm tearing up writing this), her high intelligence, her quirky looks she gives you when she's confused and the love that she inherently has. 

For anyone thinking about taking that leap and getting a dog, first get a Vizsla and second, get a Vizsla, you won't regret it. This is coming from someone who would run away from a dog and make fun of those "dog people". Yup, I am now certifiably a crazy dog lady. We weren't prepared for the nipping/biting, but she's a baby, she's teething. Wear long tight fitting pants and long sleeve shirts, that helps some. She especially liked chasing and biting my son most (at first). She is now almost 16 weeks old. We've learned so much, their temperament especially. If she got too wound up, too aggressive (could be scary at times), yelling, saying no DOES NOT WORK (for her), she just gets more aggressive and wound up. Distractions! Training as soon as possible, which is a form of distraction, when you say sit and they are mid "attack", drop in place and she sits. lol.... but we had to learn. She still has the "zoomies" "crazies" at night... especially if she is over tired.

She has learned quick on some commands, sit, stay, jump, up/down, lay, shake. I'm currently working on crawl and roll over. She does know how to retrieve and release, but if you don't have treats, she will retrieve and then not release and play tug of war cause she knows you are not going to reward her lol... very smart! She also learned the order I did them in and after awhile would just go from one command to the next without me saying anything, so I had to switch it up HA! I also used hand gestures and can do the hand gestures instead of saying "sit" "stay" "lay" "jump" and she'll do them just the same.

She goes outside to do her business and still has accidents (pee)- usually at night. If she gets overly excited she will pee just a little, but that's not her fault. We don't punish for accidents, we redirect (we also have a potty bell, which she will play with as to say take your bell and shove it lol) and we reward for going outside. We started rewarding again and that has helped her "tell" us she has to go. We know when she has to poop because she gets very "mean", barking, low to the ground, aggressive and she won't let us put the leash on her, like she's mad! Get the leash on, go out and yup she goes... again rewards have helped this behavior some.

We crate trained her from day one. She sleeps in the crate every night. We tried to put her in there during the day and she would sleep, but we tried just letting her jump in the recliner when she wants to snooze and she does that now. We are all currently home, working and doing school remote, so she is very attached to all four of us. This could be an adjustment when this all changes and she's home with me only, but hopefully she'll be older. We do crate her if we leave the house and have all purposely left so she would be "alone" for an hour or two and we tape her, she just cries a few minutes and then goes silent. She sleeps usually at night from 9/10 until 5/6 in the morning. She does beautifully! I'm sure she's not getting as much exercise, but must be enough for her to zonk out (I hope). She gets crazy and runs all over the house (super fast) at night, after her last potty break before bed. We have found that our zoomba (electric vaccum) when turned on, calms her down and she gets a little excited and will watch it go around the living room. She "saves" her baby (stuffed raccoon) from it... lol

If she hasn't seen you in awhile, when you first appear, she will bring you one of her stuffed animals, it's the cutest thing ever! This morning I got her big unicorn she got for Valentines day, my son got the long legged frog and our daughter got little racoon. She has such a big heart. If one of us is missing during the day, she just gets a bit sad and will check the door once in awhile or look out the window. She knows. When we are all together, all is right with the world again.

We tried three different flavors of food and she wouldn't eat anything. Finally, since I love to cook anyway, she gets special meals, mixed into her food. An egg with chicken or lamb dry food, steak with her beef dry food and chicken with chicken dry foods. She also gets healthy snacks and I'm sure more than she should since we all spoil her, she loves apples and bananas, small amount of mangos, she loves crunchy cucumbers and fresh and particularly frozen raspberries (must feel good on her gums). She really loves peanut butter (low salt, all natural kind). BUT she will eat anything lol.

I've wanted to post for a long time, so I know this is long. As I sit and type, she's sleeping next to me in the recliner. She will lay with anyone in this chair. She likes to go exploring outside in the snow, although when she was a real little pup she did not like the weather outside and even now, if the wind is ridiculous, she will run out, pee and back in as quick as possible. We keep her on a leash for now at all times until we get fencing as we are on a country road, but the cars fly fast! She's been out back in the woods, exploring, but right now the snow is up to my knees back there. We also take her on a little road trip down the road and take her walking on a trail. That usually wears her out. I have my husband make tracks around the house with his snowmobile, so we can walk her around more, that has helped. She likes to visit family across the street, but we have learned she now wants to run across, so we are trying to teach her to stop and let us carry her across at the end of the driveway. They are smart and remember! She goes sledding with my son down smaller hills, and sits with him in the sled and jumps back in to do it again! We can't wait for when the weather starts to warm and we can go hiking with her! Take her to all the places we went last year.

Anyone ever seen the movie Marley & Me?- she's a little bit of Marley, she will run from you when she has something she's not supposed to and really loves taking the socks off my sons feet... he's lost many, many pairs. 

The Cat... she's 12. They have met. They smell each other every time Ella goes out to pee (our cat is an indoor/outdoor cat so she stays in the breezeway and comes and goes). So far, so good, Sprinkles (cat) has swatted and hissed a couple times because Ella gets super excited and runs over and is all over her haha.... but over all, so far so good, we'll see once Ella is older... we are hoping they will either be friends or just stay out of each others way LOL... Sprinkles is an old kitty and doesn't put up with any crap. Ella has not met the hamsters, I'm pretty sure that won't go well..... so they are gated and off limits. 

Ella wants to be everywhere we are... right now we have the hallway to the bedrooms gated until potty trained. She sleeps in her crate in our bedroom at night. Eventually, the plan is to have a bed in our room and our son's room and she can pick. I have a feeling, she will end up in my son's bed.... so be it.

See the pics of our beautiful baby! Some when we first got her and then all the rest are recent!








































































ANYONE trying to decide, do you want a Vizsla? First, make sure you know how active and energetic they are, second that they do get attached and like to be with you all day, every day, are VERY smart (which can be used to their advantage haha) and if you want a companion for life.... DO IT. They love you unconditionally. Be ready to shell out some coin, because you will want to spoil them!!! Swap out their toys when you bring new ones home, tuck away older ones and bring them back out in a few weeks... and see how excited they get all over again!!!


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## Gabica (Jan 20, 2018)

Started reading your post while waiting in line for my lunch salad and I had to stop as it brought tears into my eyes. Then I managed to read it at home and enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks for the honesty and the not blaming the pup for challenges type of attitude. 
I too am in love with this breed and feel blessed and privileged to be able to share my life and love with them. Oh, they are like popcorns, cannot have just one.


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## gunnr (Aug 14, 2009)

She's a beautiful little girl, and she's gonna be strong girl when she grows up. 
Take lots of photos and have many,many, happy days.


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## Ella-The-Visla (Dec 29, 2020)

Thank you Gabica and gunnr!

I'm afraid of wanting another one!!! She is so precious. We have our days... and when I put my hands on my hips if I'm upset, she gives it right back to me! (barking as to say WHAT? I don't know what your problem is...) lol My phone is over capacity of pictures, 1000's already of her! Kids are getting jealous lol


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## Dan_A (Jan 19, 2021)

Great story and I love how upbeat and positive it is! I wish we had that same attitude in the early weeks as they were trying times for us as a family, especially on our 8 y/o daughter's interactions with the puppy feeding into sharkies. We also have a hard time with the 5am wake up call where you simply brush it off. Maybe having 3 kids has hardened your constitution more than us lol  ! All that being said at 18 weeks we're completely in love with our Ellie, all the hard work is already paying off!


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## Ella-The-Visla (Dec 29, 2020)

Hi Dan_A! It's not all fun... but I try to remain positive as my husband's having a fit, my son is crying because he didn't think it would be this hard... I have my moments! Especially when I'm trying to get some work done and it's almost impossible because I don't want to put her in the crate and she's just barking at me because she wants attention and wants to play! (her newest thing). Every day is different. Some are fantastic while others... can't wait for bedtime. Having kids definitely has provided me with a lot more patience I think than I would normally have. I pick and choose my battles and try not to sweat the small stuff. I figure someone in the house has to remain positive! My son has taken the brunt of the biting. We took the advice I read on here about using a spray bottle with water. After a couple sprays, she now knows if we reach for it, she better stop what she's doing! She does and she'll lay on the ground (which makes me feel horrible), but she is learning! So that's the important thing to remember and it's not hurting her, it's teaching her. Just have to find what works for your pup, took us awhile. We tried just about every other advice on her for unwanted behavior, to include using a muzzle, pinning her down to show her who's boss, a tap on the nose or rear end (not hard), timeout in the playpen... nothing worked but the spray bottle! I actually returned the muzzle yesterday because we only tried it twice and decided that wasn't an option for us. She's just like a baby, if she's hungry, over tired or has too much pent up energy, she takes it out on us and goes crazy. So we try to be consistent with a schedule, but we don't wake her from naps or anything just to feed her, kinda just follow her schedule, listen to her cues that we are picking up on (her I'm bored bark, I'm hungry bark and I need to go to the bathroom bark)... ok I'll be honest they all sound about the same LOL but as soon as I hear it, first I bring her outside, then if it's around meal time, I'll see if she's interested in food, if not... on to playing and usually one of those makes her happy (or all three LOL)..... she just turned 16 weeks... looking forward to the next 16 years!


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