Sleepy Ralphie

Exhausted Ralphie found a comfy place to sleep!

Every evening this is what Ralphie does...sleeps on top of me!

Vizsla Bath Time

It's a rainy day in Florida.  But lucky Ralphie got to the dog park early this morning before this rain rolled in.  There were only two other dogs at the park, probably because it was early and it rained last night so dog owners anticipated mud puddles.  And they were right!   It doesn't matter to me if the park was a little wet, after all that makes it just more fun for the pups.  A German Shepard was there that played hard with Ralphie.  They wrestled, rolled around, running FAST, Ralphie being chased. LOL They both had a great one-hour workout!  It's time to cool off ... plop in the big mud puddle!  Yes, Ralphie knows how to cool down...doesn't matter how muddy, how icky the water is ... it feels good!

I only bathe Ralphie with soap and water about four times a year.  Bathing a V too often will dry out their coat and it won't have that beautiful silky look.  Vizslas are very cat-like keeping themselves clean.  Between baths he is hosed down with plain water or I use baby wipes to keep him fresh and clean.  But today was a true-blue bath day ... in the tub, soaped up, and scrubbed.  It's not his favorite thing to do but boy he loves getting out of the tub and rubbed down with a soft fluffy towel!

This pup has the life (and so do I)!

In the tub all soapy!

All clean!

Random Weekend Pics

I have no idea what Ralphie was thinking... standing on the
 back of the sofa...naughty boy!

Running at the dog park.

Let's play ball!

Hunting mode.

Running + ball = FUN!

Do I see a lizard??

There's gotta be a lizard in here!

Over the bridge he goes...time to go home!

Foggy Head

I'm sitting in my car during my lunch break wondering why my head is so foggy...I'm so dead tired at Noon!

Ahhh, I remember so clearly at about 4:30am in bed I feel a paw on my face. Then I felt a big cold rubbery nose nudging my face.  Poking and more nudging.  Half asleep I start petting Ralphie's ears trying to soothe him back to sleep.  Nope, didn't work.  Ralphie rolls on his back, legs straight in the air, squirming around ... Yep it's playtime for Ralphie at 4:30am!  I gave in, took him outside with ball in hand and we had a play date at 4:30am!  

Is this tired body and foggy head worth it?  It sure is!  That's what you do for love!

Today

While doing yard work I caught a few moments ...

Ralphie always looking out for his older brother, Ollie. <3

My handsome boy relaxing on a beautiful, sunny day.

My boys!

Yawn...this is the life!

Vizsla Facebook

I really like Facebook.  I know there are mixed opinions about social media, but it gives me the opportunity to "keep up" with family and friends that would normally be difficult to do on a daily basis.  I do 'like' several different pages; but my all-time favorite is the Vizsla page.

The Vizsla page is a group of people of over 6000 Vizsla lovers from all over the world.  No matter where each of us live with our Vizsla, we all have the same love and know our V is most unique from any other breed.  I look forward to reading the lifestyles that all of the Vs live in.  Today there was someone who posted pictures of their pup watching a kangaroo from their front window...something Ralphie will never see from our window!  I see pictures of Vs in the snow ... something Ralphie will probably never experience living in Florida.  However, Ralphie has the ocean waves to dive in!  I love all the photos of our Vs ... V babies, naughty Vs, senior Vs, silly Vs, happy Vs, frisky Vs, hunting Vs, cuddly Vs, I can go on and on.  I'm really impressed with the emotions of this group.  When someone's V passes away, you read numerous condolences from people all of the world showing there sadness, love, and empathy in their comments.   Being a part of this 6000+ V family, you also read disputes, strong opinions, and just some "not-so-nice" argumentative comments...but I guess just as in any family, that happens.  But then we move on.

But in the end this is a very supportive group of people having one thing in common ... our LOVE for our V pups!

24-Hour Bug?

It was a real struggle getting through my work day today.  I was thinking of Ralphie all day long.

Normally Ralphie loves his crate ... his own space.  Before I leave for work each day, I'll say, "Okay Ralphie...go to your beddie-bye" and he just runs right in his plush cave and waits for his treats.  Well, it didn't happen today.  He didn't have anything to do with his crate.  I threw a few treats in there, but no way, he didn't want to go in.  So I left for work just worrying about him all day.

I rush home from work.  Still not the normal Ralphie.  He was happy to see me, but seemed a little down.  We took our long short walk with Ollie, up and down the street.  Then dropped Ollie off in the house and Ralphie and I headed to the dog park.  He played but not like his normal self.  He wrestled with Bailey a bit.  But had no interest in playing fetch with the ball.  Usually he loves running after that ball and trying to catch it on a fly.  Not today.  He didn't run as much either.  We were at the park for an hour or so.

We returned home and I fed both pups ... Ralphie ate a good dinner ... his kibble with some tuna.  While they were eating, I decided to clean Ralphie's crate, changing the linens.  Then I saw that he threw up in his crate today.  Can a dog have a 24-hour bug?

Later after the dog park and dinner, normally we walk/run about 3 miles each evening.  We only made it halfway through, about a mile and half ... Ralphie just didn't have the gumption to do the three.  After our short walk, he just settled above me on the back of the couch with his head on my shoulder.

As this evening ends, I now see Ralphie perking up...yep, he wants to play ball in the house...here we go...
Good Night.

Vizsla + Yorkie = LOVE

My little Yorkie, Ollie is getting up there in years...14 years old.  I see changes in Ollie each day...yes, another stage of life ... old age.

It just amazes me to see how Ralphie is handling Ollie's older age specifically when the three of us take a walk.  On a good day Ollie can manage to get around the block, but that doesn't happen often.  Usually our walks are up and down the small street that we live on.   Ollie's eyesight isn't the best now and he stumbles occasionally.  He uses his nose to sniff his way around.  You can imagine how slow our walks are.  Ralphie so patiently waits for Ollie.  He moves when Ollie moves...step-by-step...slow.  I would think this would be shear torture for a Vizsla.  Slowness is not a word that describes a Vizsla.  I feel Ralphie knows Ollie is a little old man that earned his place in this world and deserves respect.   If Ollie is slow, so be it.  Why and how can this high energy Vizsla handle this?  I believe it's one word....

Ralphie and Ollie love each other in their own special way ... they leave each other alone, but sleep in the same room, they share each other's bones and food, Ralphie accepts Ollie's crankiness, Ollie accepts Ralphie's craziness ... that one word ... LOVE.

Vizsla Hates Cats

It makes me wonder why Ralphie has such a reaction when we cross a cat's path.   While taking a walk, a cat can be a great distance away and Ralphie stops and...OMG...he goes berserk!  He becomes a crazy wild barking dog at the end of the leash.  He jumps wildly, making it very hard to bring him back to earth.  He chases squirrels and rabbits, but he doesn't make a silly fool of himself as he does with a cat.  Strange.

Now Ralphie can see a little dog, the size of a cat from a distance ... no reaction from Ralphie!  How in the world is he able to know if it's a cat or dog from afar?!  Of course, I had to google this and see if this mystery can be unfolded.

I really didn't find an answer how Ralphie can tell if it's a cat or dog from a distance.  But I read some reasons why a dog and cat don't get along... the difference in their social styles, a dog is playful, dependent, and friendly; while cats love being independent.  This social style difference can create animosity between the two.   Also dogs love to chase/hunt and see a cat as something they can chase or hunt.   A cat's body movement is different from a dog's...a dog's tail wags and wags when he's playful and a cat gets annoyed by that wagging tail and considers it a hostile behavior, thus running, then the chase begins.

But I still can't figure out how Ralphie knows it's a cat and not a little dog or a squirrel or a rabbit.  I guess our Vizslas are smarter than we think.  THEY JUST KNOW.

Sunset

Florida definitely has the most beautiful sunsets!  This evening Ralphie and I went to Howard Park Beach to take advantage of this most perfect evening and savor the orange yellow sun sinking into the water.   Ralphie also enjoyed sniffing all those different smells in the area.

We are so blessed.

Walkathon Today!

Ralphie and I participated in our first fundraiser walkathon today.  We walked for the Southeastern Guide Dogs.  Gosh, what a wonderful organization.  If I only had time to be a volunteer guide dog trainer would be a dream come true.  But unfortunately I don't have the time with work and all.  Retirement would be the answer but that's not going to happen anytime soon.  LOL  In the meantime, Ralphie and I will do what we can to help.

A BIG, HUGE THANK YOU to all who donated and supported Ralphie in his first fundraiser.  I truly appreciate your kind, generous donations.  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!

So proud of my little guy!

Ralphie sporting his fundraiser scarf.

Festivities of all kinds!

Time for a water break!

"I'm so HAPPY!"

"I wuv my mama!"

Beautiful sunny day!

A lot of walkers.

Beautiful view St. Petersburg.

The famous gorgeous St Pete tree.