Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Counter surfing and bed sharing Vizsla stories



Things Vizsla Owners Most Wish They Had Known
in Advance of Getting Their First Vizsla

(from a poll of VizslaTalk list members)

VizslaTalk@YahooGroups.com

We're on our second V, and we've learned to keep the bathroom and office trash cans on the counter (guests wonder what is going on, but oh, well). Also, during puppy stage, the toilet paper is never on the holder, as that is an invitation to decorate the house with streamers. We have to leave the roll on the counter out of reach (because just gnawing on the roll is fun, too, apparently). Our first V got to an entire Costco sized bag of chocolate Halloween candy that was pushed WAYYYY back on the counter... thankfully for her health, but not for our carpet, she threw it all up in about 10 or 12 piles all over the carpet. There were candy bars still in their wrappers covered in chocolate goo. Can't believe she(and we)lived through that one.

We got our first V in 1968 when I was 5 years old. At that time no one had ever heard of the breed let alone seen one. She was given to us because she was the runt of the litter. She immediately took over the house and ruled her humans with the love and affection that only a V can administer. One of my favorite memories of her involves Hershey Kisses. My mother would always keep a bowl of them on the bookshelf in the living room. Many times mom would find wrappers in my sister's room on the floor and in her bed, all nicely opened but not in the garbage can where they belonged. Of course, my sister was blamed for this bad habit... until my mother happened to see our V steal a kiss by using a chair that was 2 1/2 feet away from the bookshelf to reach the shelf where the kisses were. She then watched as our V, Gypsie, then went into my sister's room, jumped up on the bed, and proceeded to use her paws to gently unwrap the kiss (never getting chocolate on her bedspread!). My wife and I now have our own "Gypsie" and she is everything my old V was and more!

I think I lucked out--between a trio of nutbar dobes (including the first one), meeting my first V in puppy class (somehow she managed to break into the cabinet under the sink and was VERY lucky I think, but came to class with a VERY hoarse bark), etc, I was as ready as I could be--then again, my V puppy was NOT the monster (grin) I had braced for.

Of course, that might all just be the selective memory that allows us to get a 2nd puppy.

I never knew that they would lick you clean after you just get out of the shower. We have to close the bathroom door or put her in her kennel while we shower otherwise she tries to hop in with us and will lick us clean while were in the shower. She doesn't seem to care if she gets soap or not (I do however...) I know she doesn't have a lack of water. The water bowl and food bowl is always filled.

Another thing she has a fascination with smelling armpits and licking mine? I had no idea dogs did such a thing. When I had my springer growing up she never did that. I hope since she's a puppy she will outgrow that.

I do love owning a Vizsla... she's such a goofy girl. I love watching her grow and change. She hasn't slept in our bed yet except every now and then at nap time. She goes to her kennel every night before bed so we haven’t had the chance to get our bed taken over... I do await the day. At least we already own king size bed. She gets lots of attention wherever we go.
People love to pet her and adore her and her color, even the vet. And of course she loves the attention right back with the tail going wild at the site of people. She always greets you when you come inside and jumps on your lap the minute you sit down.

I am looking forward to lots of years of joy. She has been such a joy already and we have a long time ahead. I do not think we will own another dog for a couple more years so for now it’s just her and the cats but she is a pretty spoiled pup getting all the attention she can manage to get.

That it doesn't matter how big the bed is, two Vizslas take up all the room!!




That they prefer to sleep IN the bed with you, UNDER the covers, preferably splayed out at right angles to you so you effectively have no bed at all. We had to buy a king size bed when we got our second one!

I laughed out loud with this one. We bought a king size bed after contracting multiple viszla disorder and no, we do not have enough room. They sure do though. Especially Teddy Brewski, under the covers.

We got our first Vizsla when he was 9 mos. old. After about a week we thought we lost him. We looked everywhere for him, thought maybe he escaped somehow. After looking around the house for a while we found him, in our bed, under the covers.

We looked in the bedroom several times but never thought of looking under the covers in the bed. Needless to say he moved right in and took over. He is now 13 and still claims ownership of the bed, even though he needs to be helped in most of the time now.

We have a beach house with many frequent visitors and family members, and I can't tell you how many times I have had teenage girls horrified at the sight of their used sanitary pads dragged out into the living room and shredded... and every single time I come home, there is a shredded kleenex on the floor beside every single wastebasket... cold and flu season is a veritable shred-fest!

As for counter surfing, I have had entire sticks of butter vanish... entire loaves of bread, hamburger and hot dog buns disappear, with just the plastic bag found in the yard days later, and just recently an entire chunk of veryexpensive Emmenthaler cheese just vanished. To take the cake, Sophie has learned to open our pantry door, snatch the peanut butter jar, open it somehow with her front paws and teeth and lick as far down as her tongue will reach. We had to get special locks for the pantry door to keep her out and put a baby gate in front of the kitchen every single time we leave the house. She also learned how to open the freezer drawer and ate an entire key lime pie.... and when she learned to open the refrigerator door and started to forage every time we left the house, we had to devise a lock for that also. She is the single most resourceful dog I have ever had!

Gosh...mine have a full point on WITH the drool! They are WAY too funny, cute and lovable! Molly also does the low whine thru her nose like she is being abused!

Now does anyone have any clues on how to train an old man NOT to walk away

leaving the steaks on the counter, the butter out, or the loaf of bread sitting?

How can you train the dog if you can't train the human?

I knew very little about the breed when my first V came to live with me...actually “nothing” is a better description! Javaro loved to counter surf and I only discovered this after considering mental health help. My memory was at issue until I found the plastic bag from a loaf of bread fluttering in the breeze in the backyard! That was my "Ah-haaa" moment with this breed. My current V takes counter surfing to new heights! Takoda is the reason for the TWO locks on the garbage cupboard. We had to fashion a bar lock on the pantry after his degustation of an entire can of Ovaltine in his favorite spot... the living roomsofa! His consumption of contraband is legendary but his most expensive no-no ishis love of footwear. I believe he favors Old Navy flip flops but Crocs, Nikes, Reeboks and Reefs will do in a pinch! I've lost track of the shoes I've had to replace! But I think the biggest thing I wish I had known before owning a Vizsla is how incredibly and utterly infectious they are. MVD is one condition I hope to "suffer' from in the future.

The rest of the eight pages of the story at:

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/VizslaTalk/message/72965

















2 comments:

Nursery Road Bridge Blog said...

We have our 3rd and 4th Vs right now, pets, ahem, excuse me, family members...if you haven't already seen this, check out the V Dictionary...our dogs to a T, and probably yours, too!!

Nursery Road Bridge Blog said...

And here's the link to the dictionary...http://www.vizsladogs.com/ARTICLES/vizwords.htm