Let The Training Begin

The dog training DVD that I ordered arrived today...YAY!!  I put the first part, "The Basics" to the test with Ralphie.  I watched, then we did.  We covered sit, down, stay, come, heel.  Our training session was done indoors with no distractions.  I am so proud of Ralphie...he did so well.  Ralphie seemed so happy to please me during the training.  He mastered the command, 'sit'...excellent, I should say.  We do need to work on 'down'.  He gets too excited and jumps from the sit position.  We'll continue to concentrate on that.  Oh my, Ralphie was excellent at 'stay' and 'come'.  He walked on the leash, 'heel' very well ... inside.  I'm sure outside will be a different story with all of the distractions. 

I'm also thinking of getting a 'gentle leader' so Ralphie stops pulling.  The other day he almost pulled me to the ground.  He's getting stronger and stronger as he's growing.  The 'gentle leader' has hundreds and hundreds of positive reviews on the internet, so I'm going to give it a shot.  But in the meantime, we will continue our basic training. 

I honestly believe Ralphie will be a well behaved, well trained dog some day...it just takes time.  He's so smart!

Leave It

Eating sticks.  Eating leaves.  Eating berries.  This is what Ralphie has been doing recently.  When I take him on walks he picks up sticks and other debris.  I try to stop, stick my finger in his mouth and fish it out.  But many times it's too late and eats it.  Then in turn it's making him very constipated.  The other day he threw up sticks and palm tree berries.  I googled this problem, seems common; I've read it's a puppy behavior which he'll outgrow.  But I feel I need to start training instead of waiting for him to outgrow this puppy stage...for Ralphie's health and well-being.

I found a youtube video that teaches "Leave It".  Seems doable and the training will begin tomorrow after work.  I also ordered a dog training DVD...I really need to start some serious training.  This way there will be a happy puppy pleasing his mama and a happy mama to see a well-behaved puppy!!

This is the technique that I'll try...they make it look so easy...we'll see.

This is the dog DVD I ordered...it was rated almost 5 stars on Amazon.com.

The Vizsla Pretzel

How can Ralphie be the least bit comfortable sleeping like this?!

He looks like a Vizsla pretzel?! LOL Still snoring away!

Dirty Dog

Ralphie didn't have a chance to go to the dog park for fun and frolic this past Tuesday and Wednesday, and I knew he would be crazy full of energy today.  Luckily Erica was off today so I dropped him off at Erica's this morning before work.  Erica already scheduled a play date with Ellie May and Mason to meet at the dog park to burn that energy.  Rain or shine, it was a date.  Well, it was rain today but it didn't matter.  Erica met her friend with Ellie and Mason, the German Short-haired Pointers along with tons of other dogs with their owners to play in the rain and mud.  Erica said it was the most fun she ever saw these dogs have.  Ralphie ran and ran.  He had fun with his BFF, Ellie and brother Mason and Gus the Weimaraner...they ran, they jumped in puddles, rolled in mud, simple having the time of their life.  And boy did he get dirty....

 Here's Ralphie ... mud from head to toe!  His brown nose is black! LOL

 On his way home ... so tired ... soon bath time ... but all so worth it!

After bath, snoozing on Erica's lap.  Ralphie just loves Erica soooo much!!  And Erica is sooooo obsessed with Ralphie...LOL

The Vizsla Bark

I remember when I had my last Vizsla, Jazz, her bark had the most ear-piercing pitch.  We would just cringe when she started barking and  hold our ears to block the noise.  But we figured she was just blessed with a high voice after all she was a girl and girls usually have a higher tone voice than a boy.

Now I remember a conversation I had with Rusty in the car when we picked up Ralphie as a puppy.  We were reminiscing different memories of Jazz and the topic came up ... her bark!  Rusty absolutely could not handle Jazz's bark...the shrieking tone would just go through his veins.  Rusty, looking down at puppy Ralphie in his arms said, "I hope Ralphie has a deeper bark."  I assured Rusty with no doubt, "Of course he will because Ralphie is a boy!  Look at Ollie, he's a boy and he has a deep voice."  Well, Ollie is a Yorkie. 

Every evening before Ralphie falls asleep after a few hours of playtime, he goes into a barking binge, annoying poor little Ollie. I think he does this because he's so tired and he's just winding down.  When Ralphie starts barking, I know within five minutes he will be out cold.  However, I believe I was wrong...boy-girl, it doesn't matter...this is a Vizsla Bark...

 

Exhaustion

Ralphie plays hard...very hard.   Erica always takes Ralphie to the dog park to burn that Vizsla energy when she watches him for me.  Here are a couple of photos of today's playtime at the park...

 It's hard work digging holes!  Wow, what a mess he is...dirt from head to toe, goopy eyes, dirty nose! Notice he's still sporting the jingle-bell collar...well that's not his every day collar;  Erica made it his dog park collar.  The park is large and wooded so Ralphie can't hide with the jingle, jingle, jingle.

 

 Exhaustion!!

Leash Training Update

I've been practicing with Ralphie to walk properly on a leash without pulling.  We train in the backyard where there are no disturbances and I can honestly say he's doing quite well.  Okay, he's doing quite well in the backyard where there are no squirrels,  no dogs, no people, no cars, etc.  Then I try everything he's learned in the back yard to the front yard.  It's a total different story...he pulls and pulls, stalking and chasing all the squirrels, jumps into bushes after the lizards, pulling to sniff whatever he sniffs, pulling to meet the dog walking by or to grab a nice pat on the head from walkers out and about.  I'm following instructions from a youtube video that I posted in a previous entry.  The video makes it looks so easy...it's not!  I will continue to work with Ralphie but for some reason I can't imagine him not wanting that squirrel or that lizard or that frog...after all he IS a hunting dog!  But we will train, train, train!

Vizsla Puppy Pointing

One thing that I find so amazing and impressive is seeing the natural instincts of a Vizsla.  As a 5 month old puppy, Ralphie naturally stalks his hunt.  It happens every day when taking him for a walk around the neighborhood...Ralphie lowers his body, points his tail, just like a cat he walks slowly, so slowly, very quietly, step-by-step approaching his 'bird', well actually it's a squirrel hunt in the neighborhood.
 I just may look into a field training group for him...not to hunt bird, but to use his natural instincts practicing with decoys.
Here is a video of an every day walk around the neighborhood and Ralphie spots his 'bird' (a squirrel). This shows what a Vizsla is made to do...

Mange Update #3

Ralphie had a vet appointment today to follow-up on his mange problem.  He wasn't retested because a couple of new bare spots appeared within the past week or so.  So it really didn't make sense to be retested when it's evident he still has the mange.  They weighed him in to see if the medication needs to readjusted.  Ralphie weighs 34.2 pounds now and his medication will stay the same at .7ml daily.  The doctor said to continue giving him the medication until he has no bare spots.  Then stop the medication and if in the future I see another spot develop, restart the medication.  Personally I think Ralphie looks really good now.  At one point he was a mess with a lot of balding.  All of his hair grew in nicely.  He just has a tiny spot on his face and a little thinning hair between his shoulders.  No one would know he has any kind of problem by looking at him.  His coat is smooth, shiny and very healthy.  I asked the doctor if this is going to be a life-time problem for Ralphie.  He said absolutely not; it's very common in puppies.  His immune system will eventually mature and be able to conquer those mites. Ralphie will be retested in about two weeks.  I also need to schedule his neutering very soon...he's becoming very frisky...if you know what I mean. ;)

Ponytail Playtime

This video is just too funny...Ralphie playing with Erica's ponytail....he is just stinkin' cute!!

Happy New Year!

I looked back at my 2012 New Year resolutions yesterday, and OMG...I didn't do not even one of the 10 resolutions!!  I came close with a few of them, like running a half-marathon.  I trained very hard in 2012 reaching double digits for the first time ever, with 12 miles being my max.  Sadly a heel injury kicked in and never did run that half marathon this past November.  :(

Do I look at myself as a failure when my 2012 New Year resolutions just fizzled throughout the year?  Not at all.  Although I wasn't quite successful keeping my 2012 resolutions, I learned or should I say, I re-learned a few things in 2012.

I re-learned:

1. You never know what happens behind closed doors.  We all know this, but we forget.  I had a few eye-openers this year that taught me, 'you never know'... don't assume.

2.  Desperate people do desperate things. 

3 . Life is extremely fragile. Live, Love, Laugh...you never know when it's your last breath of air.

Although not keeping any of my 2012 New Year resolutions, there are a few things I did that impacted my life making me feel more fulfilled, happy, and content:

1.  I prayed more.  Prayers got me through a few hurdles this year; which I'm so grateful.

2.  I observed the 'little' things more and very thankful for those 'little' things.

3.  I added a new member to our family...Ralphie.  Ralphie has brought such joy to my life.  He makes me smile...he makes me laugh...he keeps me active and busy!!  Ralphie changed Ollie's life too.  Before Ralphie, my little 'ol Ollie was very inactive, a loner, crickety.  My goodness, the way he was acting, I had that poor little guy dead and buried. LOL Then Ralphie came and revived my Ollie.  Ollie is a different dog now...no more hiding in my closest all day, just sleeping...now he's social, more livelier, loves to play, and is so loved by his baby brother Ralphie.

2012 was a great year and I know 2013 will be even better.  
Happy New Year from me, Ollie, and Ralphie!!