# Morning Mishaps



## amitai (Jun 14, 2012)

Oh boy, we seem to always have either really pleasant smooth mornings or colossal failure terrible ones. 

Edom often has a hard time in the morning and gets easily Vizsla-crazy, nippy, barky.

[Edom is 9 weeks old today.] 

Everyone in my immediate circle can't hear the word "guess what my puppy did..." anymore, so hopefully I can channel this out to people who know what it's like to be a puppy poppa.

Here is the long-winded tale of three mornings this week.


Sunday Morning:

Around 4am Edom woke up and started crying and jumping. In my sleepy stupor I contemplated whether she was asking to go out to pee or just sick of sleeping and wanting to start the day. She hadn't really ever asked to go pee, I usually pre-empt and take her out often enough that most of our pees are outside and initiated by me. She also, since the beginning, has been waking up early and wanting to play and so I didn't respond. She realized I wasn't going to cooperate, went to the center of the room, peed, went back to sleep, and forgot we ever tried that silly thing called housetraining. The whole world is a big delicious toilet! My fault.

Around 5:30am, the puppy is up again, but this time, it is because she is throwing up yellow bile all over, about a half dozen times. Edom is eating Orijen puppy, but she HATES it. It was hard to find here in Israel and was sold in a 15kg bag and was super expensive and so we're stuck with it. I originally bought her Acana puppy which she also hated, so I gave her the benefit of the doubt and replaced it. The guy at the store said he'd take back the Acana and suggested I give her Belcando (German brand with not-stellar reviews) and I told him I wouldn't return the Orijen; if she didn't like it, it would be my problem. Hello Problem.

So I was trying to do what's been recommended where I place the food down for 15-20min and if she refuses to eat, put it up and offer it to her at the next meal time. I have a very stubborn Vizsla. She refused to eat breakfast, she ate half a portion at lunch, and she refused to eat dinner. It was difficult to hold out and not feed her kibble by kibble by hand on the floor while singing and dancing, just so long as she eats. I was worried about her not eating, but decided to stick with it. The result was however a 5:30am sad puppy throw-up session. Google says it happens to puppies that don't eat for too long.

By that point, we were up, I sat on the floor with her to encourage her to eat breakfast, which she did me the favor of doing.

Monday Morning:

Alarm goes off at 6am. Usually Edom is up and waiting (sometimes patiently, sometimes not) for me to get up. This time, she's sleeping on her pillow next to my bed. I wake her up, we rush downstairs to pee and poo. We come up, eat breakfast (she again does me the favor of eating, while I sit with her), and rest a bit so she digests and then we head for a morning stroll. 

We head down to the dog beach which is about 15 minutes on foot from the apartment. There weren't many people or dogs around and so I decided to introduce her to the ocean. She loved that idea and was very excited when the waves washed up. We were only there for a few minutes, but enough for her to get a positive impression of the beach. Since it is close and dogs are allowed off-leash there, I plan on Edom being a beach bum eventually. After the beach we continue to the nice park above the shore and have some leisure time on the grass. We came home and puppy collapsed onto her bed until her first visit to Park Hayarkon (Tel Aviv's central park) in the evening. Very good day.

Tuesday (today) Morning:

Alarm goes off at 6am, puppy is still sleeping. I contemplate snoozing, but decide for consistency's sake to get us up. We head out the apartment door. Edom learned to walk down the stairs (we're one floor up) yesterday and so I let her walk down. My mistake. When we were near the door of the hobitty-looking grumpy old neighbor who doesn't like us and who we usually see just at these hours getting his morning paper, Edom pees all over the entrance to his apartment. Then I had a dilemma. Do I continue going outside with her right then? I couldn't just leave the pee outside grumpy's front door. I decided I would at least let her finish walking down the stairs. We reach the front door and the three big street cats that are fed by people in the building are all waiting by the door to be fed. Edom sees them and starts wagging her tail and getting very excited. This was too much at 6:03am so we went back up and I went down alone to clean up the mess in the stairwell before anyone else noticed it. Edom was confused. She wanted out, she wanted those cats, what the ****. I went back up to get her and she was in a grumpy puppy monster mood. Edom is not the best morning puppy, she is easily turned into a grumpy annoying nippy little monster. We finally head out again after all of this and walk around the block. Me and my now grumpy nippy monster. We come up. I ignore her when she bites, yells, barks, chases and wait for better behavior to reward with attention. This doesn't really work. Once she's a bit settled, I give her breakfast. She realizes it's the same as it always is, the Orijen, and jumps away from it, disgusted. She's running, she's nipping, she's trying to eat the furniture. The nasty breakfast makes her even more annoying. I attempt to ignore her as much as possible except for some NOs on the really problematic things she's getting into, waiting for her to settle. 

Once she seemed calmer, I sit on the floor, she likes to come cuddle when she sees me there. She came, she mouthed, she nipped and bit and gnawed. I think the words she's heard most often in her life are the Hebrew equivalent of NO-Biting! I laid down on the ground and she jumped too excitedly and either scratched or bit me on my eyebrow which started bleeding. Oh glorious morning. I yelped loudly, she didn't see what the big deal was. 

I put her breakfast into the kong. When it's in the kong, she'll eat it. She still makes a face at it, but can't resist the fact that it falls out little by little as the kong spins. She doesn't chew her kong, she kicks it. She is going to be a major soccer player. She likes to paw and kick everything, mostly me.

Now I've waited a half hour writing this entry and letting her digest and relax and she's been sitting on her pillow next to me, finally settled and relaxed. Now I'll head out with her for a nice morning stroll in the neighborhood. 

Once monster puppy settles back down and Dr. Jekyl puppy is back, we're good. Though, most mornings, Mr. Hyde greets me.


The picture is from Monday. This is Edom saying: "I'm done! Take me home right now!"


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Hang in there - it gets much, much better! 

Although, to be honest, it might get a little bit worse until Edom learns the zoomies. I had one day where I was sitting on my floor in tears holding my cat trying to figure out how to deal.

About the breakfast, if she truly hates the Orijen, then buy a bag of something else and mix the two together. Once she starts eating one she likes the less-preferred kibble will go, too. I think it took me about 3 months to go through a less than tasty bag of something, but Savannah eventually ate it all.


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## Oquirrh the V (Jun 24, 2011)

Yes, hang in there. I had to laugh when I was reading about the monster puppy and as I scroll down I see that cute picture of her. Really, how can that cute face become a little, nippy monster?!  It's amazing how quickly they turn "evil", isn't it? I think with the regards to the food, if she likes the kibble in the kong then feed her like that. Oquirrh is (17 months) very picky about his food. I tried a few different brands and finally decided he really wasn't going to like any of them. I now mix raw deer/elk meat in his kibble - spoiled, I know, but he was just getting too skinny. The nipping and crazy moments do become less as they get older. Just keep up with the routine and sometimes step away from your routine. Like, would the street cats have hurt Edom? You could let her check them out a little, I'm sure seeing them was a new and exciting adventure. You could always just hang out and let her watch them, or get a little smell of them. I'm just thinking maybe that approach would have made her a little less over-excited when you took her back in the house. Good luck!


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## amitai (Jun 14, 2012)

jld640 - Thanks for the reply. I'll take your advice and mix the Orijen with something else. I received a small amount of another brand from a friend who has a puppy and she seems to like it. She also ate most of the meal when I mixed the two throughout the day, leaving just the icky Orijen bits on the bottom... Tell me more about "zoomies"... I'm not quite up on my V slang..


Oquirrh's parent - Nice name! what's the back-story? She has her evil puppy moments, for sure. It happens in the early morning, or toward 9pm after she's had a lot of exercise. She just seems to be too tired then and goes kind of bananas. The evening ones end quicker. Sometimes they're cute, other times I feel bad for her. Raw deer and elk is indeed quite the treat. Where do you live? She now refuses to receive the orijen kibble as a good-job treat or eat it from the Kong. She looks at me with this "that's it? no thanks then" face. It's adorable and threateningly diva-like all at once.


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## Oquirrh the V (Jun 24, 2011)

amitai said:


> Oquirrh's parent - Nice name! what's the back-story?


Thanks! The Oquirrhs are a mountain range in Utah, where we live. I do TONS of hiking and I had to have a mountain name for my pup, so he became Oquirrh (pronounced Oaker). I get the deer/elk meat from a butchering shop that specializes in raw feed for dogs also. I have just started buying it and I have found that the raw meat is cheaper than the canned food I had been mixing in his kibble and it's fattening him up quite nicely. 

Oquirrh seemed to get in the nippy stage when he was overly-excited or when he was tired. Oq is very active and very independent for the breed, so he would get excited and nip, then he would wear himself out and nip. Turning my back and other things never worked with him. I had to resort to the spray bottle. One day he just quite nipping, it was a great day!- although, I can't pin point that exact day. 

Enjoy the puppy moments!


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## Hbomb (Jan 24, 2012)

I'm not quite sure what everyone means by 'zoomies' but I think it describes the crazy moments vs can have! For example, sometimes during a walk h will start charging in a figure 8 as fast as he can for about 5 mins, usually when there is another dog around! Hopefully someone will correct me if I am wrong!


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## Oquirrh the V (Jun 24, 2011)

I'm guessing there are a few types of 'zoomies'. I call it zoomies when Oquirrh makes a perfect running course through my living room, he goes full blast for a few minutes in the same pattern and then he is done. ;D Nutty dogs!


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## threefsh (Apr 25, 2011)

The zoomies (from my understanding) are when the V starts running around like a crazy animal with their little butt tucked up underneath them.

http://ltlor.blogspot.com/2012/01/vizsla-water-zoomies.html

Look familiar? ;D


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## amitai (Jun 14, 2012)

Zoomies indeed! At 9 weeks, she's doing them in my Tel Aviv apartment and not breaking anything. If she keeps it up in a few more weeks, that story might change. ???

Oquirrh is a great name! 

Edom is also named after a mountain range  

The Edom mountains in Southern Jordan are the exact same color as a V's coat. Edom is on the lighter side for the breed and matches the mountains pretty well. These mountains are visible from here in Israel. I was hiking in the area often this past year both on the Israeli side and the Jordanian side and feel a strong connection to the area... I'll try to take her down there once the weather cools off. Pictures of Edom with the Edom mountains in the background! That'll be a sight. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edom

Attaching a picture of the Edom Mountains...


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## Oquirrh the V (Jun 24, 2011)

That is so awesome! Those mountains are beautiful and Edom is a great name! I can't wait to see pics of Edom in her mountains. I will have to get some of Oquirrh in the Oquirrhs. I'm trying to find someone to hike to the highest peak in the Oquirrh's with me this year. I have yet to find someone. Oquirrh fits well also, because if people just hear me say his name, they think it is Ochre, like the color that is very similar to the V's coat.  Love it! I feel the need to come visit your mountains now!

The zoomies are a lot of fun to watch. Oquirrh never broke anything and he is mostly out of that stage.


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## SkyyMax (Apr 5, 2012)

Edom is adorable! 
She looks completely innocent and I can't imagine her being naughty 

Vizslas can be very picky, I agree with jld640 - try to mix something else in Orijen, but it might take a while to finish 15kg bag.

Good luck!


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## minihero (Jun 19, 2012)

Gorgeous girl..and name!

We feed Delta Blue Orijen puppy ..at first with a small amount of warm milk and she would eat. She hasn't been sick from it at all.

Yes..you are describing the zoomies. Today she practically ate me alive when I was putting her harness on...I just let her run it out and then resumed. Her biting periods are random and "evil" at times, but from reading all of the other posts it seems that it will end (hopefully soon).

We've got lots of bully sticks, knuckles and soft toys but her favorites are my hands and feet.

She's 3 1/2 months now, does really well off leash and is extremely attentive, she's always looking at me for direction.

If Edom doesn't know her name yet, I would work on that right away. Once we taught her to come when called no matter what she's doing, our lives got much better (that happened at about 10 weeks or so).

Anyway good luck and speak to you soon.


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## amitai (Jun 14, 2012)

Oquirrh's Parent - Here's my suggestion. One of us (preferably me) wins the lotto or other amazing windfall of unexpected money and then we start an exclusive Vizsla-centered club where we meet at various locations in the world associated with dog names we know. I'd love to come out to Utah and see some badlands, etc.

threefsh - very familiar 8)

SkyyMax - Oy, picky! Breakfast today was received with another look of shock and disgust. I mixed in some other stuff, but not a lot, because I ran out of the sample my friend gave me from her Golden pup who inhales all her food. Half of breakfast was eaten through the Kong, though with protest, and the other half she's not interested in. I wonder how long Vizsla puppies can go, eating 0.25 cups of dog food per meal. I will get her another bag of something and mix. I feel like I'll be looking for creative ways to get her to finish the Orijen for a while... it'll work out.

Minihero - She knows her name, she knows come and does it very reliably when not distracted, for the most part. Well, yesterday we were off-leash in a big grassy field and I ran ahead and called her. She was tired and lazy at this point, so instead of responding, she just sat there and looked at me from about 200m away and was basically saying. How about you run over to me instead? I stood there for a few minutes and she eventually did come and receive a lot of praise. She knows what come means and she knows it means lots of praise and some food, but meh, she'll do it if it's convenient. 

She also knows sit, that's her best one, and she knows down. She pees when I ask, when we're in her spot and she has to go. 

I want to teach her: leave it, drop it, off but I haven't found a good way to do those. The ways I've read about haven't worked with her... maybe she's too young? For example, I tried to do leave it: hold a piece of kibble in one hand and a hot dog in the other. After 5 seconds she realizes I have hot dog in the hand behind my back and so she doesn't bother with the crappy kibble, she just waits for the hot dog or tries to go behind my back for it.


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## born36 (Jun 28, 2011)

amitai said:


> We head down to the dog beach which is about 15 minutes on foot from the apartment. There weren't many people or dogs around and so I decided to introduce her to the ocean.


Sounds like you really love your little one and you are doing great.

It might not be related to the food issue but could be due to stress. At 9 weeks a 15 min walk is more than enough. So 15 min to the beach plus 15mins back is 30 mins of walking plus the time spent at the beach. This might be too much for the little pup.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

I was thinking the same as Born - that is quite a bit of exercise for a 9 week old pup, perhaps she is just tired rather than grumpy. I am surpised she has finished her vaccinations yet.

Hang on in there it is early days and you are doing great. You could try adding a little raw minced meat to her food - they love raw meat. It could also be that if it is hot they often aren't too interested in food. You'll get there in the end.

She is so cute


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## jld640 (Sep 29, 2010)

Since she has already started the zoomies, things will definitely start getting better.  

Zoomies let them deal with the puppy energy spikes in a way other than chewing on you. Eventually you should see her zoom whenever she gets over-anything (over-excited, over-frustrated, over-confused, etc). She will still get into trouble and she will still try your patience, but the zoomies will take the edge off. The circles she runs will need to get bigger as she grows. Savannah started in the house, graduated to the deck, then she needed the yard for circles big enough to expend the energy. After a few weeks, you'll be able to tell when she is about to either melt down or zoom. Whenever possible, get her to a zooming place.


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