Haggis Supper

Many many thanks to you all, I genuinely appreciate the time you've taken and for all the advice. In answer to the questions that some of you raised... 1) she's had a couple of incidents when she's been attacked by other dogs, both times were completely unprovoked - once as a pup and the second just a few months ago. 2) there have been a few changes in our life over the last few years...three years ago I was married so my ex was home fairly regularly so she was rarely left alone for long periods. Following separation she was then left home for 10 hours four days a week. Last year I lost my job so I was home for four months so she's had constant company. I'm back at work again so she's alone 10 hours a day five days a week - she sleeps in the garage with access to a very very small back garden. Therefore lots of changes. She's very well cared for and fed and exercised though. 3) I met someone 16 months ago. She has a gorgeous Labrador who is the same age as mine. They get on unbelievably well, playing every time we meet. Lots of rough and tumble and chasing. Never had any issues. Wonderful to watch and she gets excited when she sees the lab. 4) she's always been an anxious dog, hates separation. Any attempted to leave her outside a shop resulted in constant whining until I'm greeted in a ridiculously excited manner, like a long lost son. 5) with some dogs that she meets she's incredibly friendly and playful and it can be a joy to witness. Some she just straight out avoids. However if a dog is "direct" in their approach she backs off. If the dog attempts to sniff her she backs off again. Further attempts to sniff are met with a growl and when that fails she nips. 6) I haven't responded when she's backed off or growled as I've figured that's how's dogs regulate each other and let them know what's acceptable. Initially the minor nips were usually as a result of a persistent dog so I usually have her a minor telling off but usually the other dog owner was more apologetic ! As the last few nips came quite quickly I've moved to a stronger telling off. Raised my voice. Removed her from the situation and put her collar back on. Ive been of the view that she's never really like dogs sniffing her and as her growls are often unsuccessful she's now less patient and nips a littlest quicker than before. Nonetheless I don't want to risk her injuring a dog so your advice is extremely useful. I'll take her to our vet for a full check up and will also seek a behaviouralist. I'm in Bayside Melbourne if anyone has any recommendations ? Many thanks, Colin

Afternoon all, My otherwise terrific vizsla is increasingly showing little patience with other dogs to the extent that the growling has now been escalated to nipping other dogs. Sadly we had an incident earlier today where my girlfriends Mum's lab was on the receiving end of a bite and shake that went on for several seconds. Our vizsla had been fetching sticks from the river whilst the lab just ran in circles. The lab came close a few times and received a growl. Eventually she came a little too close and our vizla launched herself, bit and shook. We've seen quite an increase in this behavior in the last 12 months or so. She's gone from being very comfortable and extremely friendly to being extremely intolerant of dogs sniffing her. Any "intrusive" or persistent sniffing has resulted in a growl or a snap which puts an end to it. However this morning was more aggressive and prolonged and didn't appear to be the result of anything other than the lab getting too close. She's six and a half and gets a good amount of exercise, usually 6-10km walks/runs each day. She's well fed, adored and is in good health. I'm now very concerned that this may result in an injury to another dog. I'd greatly appreciate any feedback, advice, suggestions etc... TIA Col

Another big thumbs up from me. We have a 13 week old Hungarian Vizsla and shopping at the vets, local pet shop and even the larger pet stores has been costing me a fortune - I'm somewhat astonished at how expensive owning a dog is ! I stumbled across Fetch Boy a couple of weeks ago and am now ordering food and treats on a regular basis. I've also bought a couple of toys and some Sentinel tablets. They are considerably cheaper than anywhere else I've found and delivered FREE (I'm in the Bayside area of Melbourne) 24 hours after the order. Its made my life an awful lot easier. Highly recommended. Cheers Haggis

Another thumbs up for Fresh4Paws from me. Our puppy loves it. Highly recommend them.

Morning all, Since we've had our 10 week old Vizsla she's been outstandingly good when it comes to the toilet - wakes us during the night and if the doors are closed during the day always asks to go outside. However we've had more 'accidents' inside in the last 24 hours than the last 2 weeks combined. We came down this morning to a very messy laundry room - two wees and two poos. We don't think she barked in the night to ask to go out. A short while ago as she was stood directly in front of the open door she had another wee rather than go outside. Any idea what would cause this sudden change ? We have changed her from a pure kibble diet to 80% raw - but not sure why that would stop her from asking to go out. Is this relatively normal ? And of course, any suggestions as to how we correct this - do we continue to praise her going outside ? Thanks awfully ! Col

Hi all, Many thanks for your replies, genuinely appreciated. I was very uncomfortable with the advice re banging on the door so haven't done that. It seems that all she wants is to relieve herself and she is going back to sleep pretty quickly. Although its meant getting up in the night its great that she wants to go outside and rarely messes in the house at all. I'm currently working my way through a huge amount of info on feeding, training, grooming, sleeping, health etc etc etc - not sure I put this much effort into preparing for the birth of our children ! A lot to take in but it's helped us be prepared. It's been a huge change for the family but we're loving it. Just can't wait until she's old enough for the beach, park and long walks. Name ? After much (!) deliberation (we have a 10 year old daughter and 8 year old son) we finally agreed on Kelly. We then found out that 'Keli' is Aboriginal for Dog. I'm from Scotland and my wife is from England and we both got Citizenship last week after 5 years in Australia and I recently attended an Aboriginal awareness week in country Victoria last year - so it all seemed to make sense to spell it Keli. I'll post some pics when I get home tonight. Great website; delighted I found it. Thanks again Col

Hi all, Stumbled across this website yesterday; what a cracking source of support and advice. We brought an eight week old Hungarian Vizsla pup into our life last weekend. Whilst she's been terrific so far and the family is loving her being around we're unsure as to how to deal with her night time waking. So far its been very inconsistent, twice slept through from 11pm to 6am but on other nights she's woken at 1am and 4am and then almost always again around 6am. Most times we've taken her outside and she's relieved herself. She usually goes back to sleep (in a bed, in a crate in the laundry room) relatively quickly once she comes back in. Is this relatively normal behaviour at this age ? Are we correct to keep getting up to her ? A couple of friends have told us to ignore it (hard when its waking the kids) whilst another told us to bang the door with a shoe when she yelps, and to do this every 10 mins or so - she swears it worked for her. Apologies for the naivety and appreciate any advice ! Read lots of articles on training and training etc but not sure on this one. Cheers and many thanks, Col