As "hard" as Bailey is, Chloe is "soft" in a good way. She is not weak or timid, just soft. This is a term often used for Vizslas and I have come to see it in our now three-year-old girl.
In an earlier post about buying a Vizsla, the topic of the "temperament evaluation" was touched upon.
In each litter, there will be a wide range of personalities of each pup. Chloe was the "runt" of a liter of six pups. We first saw all six pups at 4-days-old. We had to wait until week 6 to find out that "black girl" was going to be coming home with us. Each pup is named by it's colored collar and the breeder had to wait for the evaluation by Rita Martinez to see which pup should go to which potential new home. This occurred at about 5 weeks old.
Chloe's personality fit with us well.
BLACK GIRL
A busy, balanced and quick witted little girl. Enjoy - she's going to make you laugh and pull your hair!
Attributes:
Confidence: This girl is able to self entertain and play alone as well as solicit interaction from humans. She is not a bully, but also does not let another bully her.
Agility: She is agile and fast, watches her environment and notices motion.
Activity: This is a busy girl. She will go until she is exhausted and then crash.
Awareness: Nothing much goes unnoticed
Things to be aware of:
- Social Skills: She plays well within the group, but expects some respect from the others.
- Senses: She is visually triggered.
- Competition: She doesn't intend to be last or left out of anything.
- Caution: Not as cautious as I would expect the smallest and next to last whelped to be.
Recommendations:
Puppy socialization is going to be wonderful for her. She will gain a lot from being with other types of dogs of different sizes. She will no doubt be shocked that others are clumsy, since she is anything but.
This is a fast little gal - able to be very good at any dog sport. Always keep in mind that a dog is thinking as fast as it is moving. She will keep her humans busy trying to keep up for quite awhile
Play physical and mental games with her. She is very bright and needs to be stimulated mentally as well as physically. She is much too aware of everything to let her be bored. This is a girl that will self entertain and have a party of her own if left on her own. The quickest way to calm her down will be to work with her on something that requires her to think.
Socialize her to many situations. A dog that is this busy and aware needs to learn early to be comfortable in new places and hear new noises, etc. To avoid that part of her training could cause some fear sorts of opinions on her part. Better to over-socialize than to try to explain that everything is ok later on.
Do not respond quickly to her every demand. Let her be aware that she is not in charge of the world but you are and you are also her protector. She won't like being dominated, but will respond nicely to being a partner.
This is a wonderful little girl with great potential. She will definitely be inclined to ask you "why" on occasion. Make sure you give her consistent guidelines.
Rita Martinez - August 2007
Dog Body, Dog Mind: Exploring Canine Consciousness and Total Well-Being
