Oskar & Zsa Zsa

As the owner of two Vizslas and a German Shorthaired Pointer, I dispute the claim that the dogs don't bond as well to you. I call bullshit. :laugh: I've also had several different breeds over the years and none ever suffered from bonding issues because I had more than one dog. However, if you want another cruisy dog like your current BC, you will be lucky to find a chilled out GSP. They are rarely anything but energetic. I have a cruisy Vizsla, but it's a rarity also. Not common.

I'm a little embarrased to be part of a forum where members can be so callous, vehement and at the end of the day ignorant. The OP has explained their comments and yet those who jumped to conclusions have made no apologies. Just shameful. To the OP, don't judge the majority by some minority comments. Most in here are fair and reasonable human beings. Yet again, others with the benefit of knowledge have become sanctimonious, self righteous and aggressive. I think you have been incredibly level in your replies to them. I personally would have made it very clear what I thought. I hope things work out with your pup and that you stick around so you can share some of your previous dog experience for us all to learn from and also take in anything else from some of the very knowledgeable people in here.

I go to Golden Beach on the 90 mile beach shore a few times a year. A couple of times over christmas and January/Feb and again at Easter. Paradise beach has an RV park, where you can stay for 72 hours which has toilets and showers and a little camp kitchen. It's dog friendly. Dogs are supposed to be on the lead, but as long as your dog is under control the ranger is OK. Golden Beach, camp sites marked 1 to 6 are designated for dog camping. There are drop toilets at C1, C3 and I think C5 now. There are no showers or other facilites. In peak times, you can still find a space, but out of peak times, it's almost dead. I've been there a few times and had the entire campsite and beach completely to myself for days on end. Insect repellent is a must. Both for you and for your dog. Apart from that, it's awesome. I spent Christmas down there with my two and we all had a ball. There were only three sets of campers in our site. which meant that we all had our own space and privacy. You had to walk 50 metres or more to the next campsite. Take your own water if you camp at Golden beach, as there are no taps in town to fill up from. I had to grab some from the service station in Sale when I went in for a day trip for something else, as I couldn't find a tap anywhere. I think the locals are wise to people knicking there water.... For me, Golden beach is brilliant. Very few people, endless beach to walk and explore. Interesting stuff to see. There are some wrecks a few klms walk down the beach. From the late 1800's I believe. The Trinculo is one I remember. An iron hulled ship which ran aground there in about 1882. Amazing that it's still there and still clearly visible.

Vizsla GSP Weimeraner Rhodesian Ridgeback Cocker Spaniel

I think what the OP was eluding to is spray coolers. Basically a jet of water atomised in front of a large fan. They do work well for large under cover areas which have a lot of ventilation or open doors and windows. They are used a lot in the U.S. They are inexpensive in electricity usage terms, but they do consume a lot of water. Not a big deal at the moment with water being so abundant, but not brilliant in terms of economic use of water. They do work well on low humidity days like we have had of late, but if it is humid, you just end up warm and wet.

FYI, I checked the prices out today and waggle is selling them for $45 plus $9.95 postage. That's competitive with the O/S offers. http://waggle.com.au/thundershirt-b38/thundershirt-p565?gclid=CJaMh7yfsK0CFQZLpgodGFVynQ

The fireworks started about 8.45pm last night and didn't stop till about 3am. It also included some smart people throwing a big one into my back yard at about 1am. It sent the dogs off as the light show throughout the house was incredible. I thought someone had tossed one into my loungeroom it was so bright. The dogs handled it OK. Zsa Zsa curled up under my arm and stayed there, Ozkar took post at the doorway and stayed there barking whenever a new one went off. Astro didn't give a rats and kicked back on the empty bed with me and snored.

Mmmm... I know Ray... and his daughter very well. His photography is stunning, not just his bike pics. Have you seen some of his holiday pics. Just brilliant. I poured through albums one day with them with my jaw on the floor with each page turned. Krislin, great shots once again. You do take some very crisp shots. I may have said this last time, but the corner your taking the pics from is the last left onto the straight and apart from catching the wheelstands coming out of crash corner, it is the best place to take pics. If you can position yourself on the inside of the exit a little way down the straight, you will get pics of the fast guys that look like this below. I can't enlarge it, as I never bought the full pic and now can't remember who took it. But the point is, that in that position, you get them at the maximum lean (Which every rider wants a pic of) for the entire track and you are 3/4 from the front, so it looks very spectacular. I had a mate up there on an all green bike with black leathers. He was in the novice group, but any chance you took some of him?

I have been keeping the dogs closer, but still off lead of late. However, after this morning's walk, it's on lead till we get to the oval now. I came across a very fat Tiger snake this morning. Only a baby one of about 4 feet in length, but bugger me it was fat. I havn't seen a young Tiger with as much excess in a long time, possibly my entire life. It makes me think this season's snake sightings will be more prolific, as there appears to be an abundance of food for them. Luckily, when I spotted the snake, it was a split second before little Astro did. I called a very sharp "NO.....LEAVE IT" and thankfully, he did. He watched it very interested in what it was and what it was doing, but to his credit, he held and waited. I put them both straight on the lead immediately!!! Bloody snakes, I can handle spiders and other stuff, but snakes really bother me. Growing up on a farm has instilled a decided hatred of the nasty buggers. BTW, the area I was walking in is the Eastern end of the police road paddocks in Endeavour hills. It was on the path along the Wetlands Walk. We were nowhere near the water either. Matter of fact, it was probably the place I would least have expected one. Bugger, we had a ball in there over winter.

I changed channels right at that point. It made me sick, violently angry & broke my heart as even though they never showed the footage, they showed the lead up & the soundtrack.

Speaking with a fellow dog walker in my usual dog walking haunt the other day and she mentioned that there is actually a dog pool in Doveton, which is in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne and only 10 minutes from my house. I am going to check it out some time soon, as all the creeks and waterholes on my usual walk are all drying up quickly, so my GSP is missing her swimming. Although, today, I took both my GSP and my Vizsla out and the torrential rain over the last 24hrs has caused them all to fill up overnight. Ozkar took a full on run off the bridge across one waterhole and straight into the water. I have never seen him do this before, so i was excited to watch him. He took off legs extended and landed in deep water and paddled to the shallows, then leap frogged his way out like A Vizsla does in long grass. Very cute. If I find this place in doveton, I will post up some info for others. Although, it's more than likely there is a thread in here somewhere already.

Police Rd Paddocks in Rowville/Doveton have them out and about too. I had to stop Zsa Zsa from chasing one into the grass two days ago. Our walks are all now on the open fire trails where visibility is good enough to give a warning. Thankfully, Zsa Zsa will walk by my side when asked, so we can still use the area, just have to be careful. Someone mentioned that Vitamin C injections will assist in snake bite with a dog? Anyone heard of this? I may have some half baked info, but I thought there was some sort of kit with it in it??

Hey Dant, it is a little frustrating living in the year 2011 and STILL experiencing prejudice regarding your sexuality While I am a completely heterosexual male, for some reason, I have a lot of gay male friends, so I guess my prejudices have been bitch slapped out of me by them long ago. But, unfortunately, some people won't become accepting until they are almost forced into it. I know a good friend of mine who was very homophobic. That is, until one of our really close mates came out of the closet!!! We had all been friends since school and this really opened his eyes and helped him understand that our mate is still the same bloke. Hopefully, that breeder will be the reciever of some "education" at some point in the near future. As for your little pup.....WOW!!!! Alwyn is gorgeous. I love dachshounds and would have one in a heartbeat. But with two teenage Pointer breeds (A Vizsla and a GSP) it's not safe for a little one in the backyard unsupervised while I am at work. Not they my dogs are aggressive, just they are large and even when being gentle, their sheer physical size can cause injury if not careful. Even playing together, they will sometimes bash into each other and I will hear a yelp and sometimes a short period of limping! I can't wait to see pics of little Alwyn as he grows up. Hopefully the ignorant breeder who shunned you will be watching and reading and regretting not allowing one of theirs pups into your loving home! That would be poetic justice!

Travel is the reason I don't want a huge dog. Though, I do like quite alot of the larger breeds but for the moment at least, it really isn't an option for us. We've been researching breeds for over a year trying to find one that is suitable and that we agree on. We always seem to come back to the corgi. Well..whatever you do, do not go an meet any Vizslas!!! You will end up with one!! A Vizsla is the most engaging dog I have ever owned. (Mind you, I had a half corgi half lab which was also a brilliant dog! The milkman ran him and nearly me over and he broke his pelvis. In those days it was PTS time unfortunately. But, yeah, he was an amazing dog. We lost him in the bush for 6 weeks and found him again.....a little skinny, but he survived-He jumped off the back of the ute somewhere out the back of Western NSW, probably chasing a roo or a Rabbit.) Go the to RMS this year and walk through the dog area. You get to see a whole stack of different breeds all in one place and sometimes, when the owners are OK with it, you can interact with the dogs and perhaps gain some insight into a breed you may not previously have considered.

To answer your question, rather than pass judgement or 2nd guess you, ending up with a Hungarian Vizsla was for me, pure accident. My OH at the time and I had been discussing requirements for a dog for 12 months. I didn't want anything too large, like a Rotty or a GSD. She would have loved something that big or larger. But, for me, it made no sense with travel etc., to have something so big. On the other hand, neither of us wanted a SWF or anything too small. We wanted and active dog which would also be very affectionate. It had to be intelligent and respond well to training. It also had to be independant enough to be able to go 4 or 5 hours alone 3 or 4 times a week when our work schedules crossed over. We also wanted short coated and minimal doggy smell. A few years ago we took the opportunity to visit the RMS. naturally, we went and had a look at the show ring and the agility. We bumped into a Vizsla...literally as it came back in from an agility run. She was very hyped up right at that point and the way she settled quickly and how affectionate she was sold us. We then did some real research on the breed and then, the breeders. There were a few breeders who we would have gladly accepted a pup from. But there was one dog who we loved. We had seen him at a couple of shows and had met and spoken to his owners several times. We got to know them and when he eventually was put to stud, we were lucky enough to be allowed to have one. We had a choice, but also allowed the breeder to assist in finding the right V for us. We listened to her, spent time with the pups as they grew to 8 weeks of age and could not be happier with the match up!!! Ozkar is just a gorgeous little (Well...at 8 months he is not so little anymore!!! ) boy and his temperament is exactly what we wanted. High energy, but with the ability to chill when we need him to. But, I have two puppies. The 2nd one was a totally different story. As Ozkar was a pure breed, I had made the decision that the next one would be a rescue dog. The intention from the start with Ozkar, was to wait till he was 6 months old and get him a playmate. So, as luck would have it, a couple of weeks into looking, I came across a 12 month old female GSP up or adoption. I went up frist to meet her and loved her. Then I took Ozkar up for several playdates to see how the two of them got on. After about playdate number 3 it was obvious to all that they adored each other. So, Zsa Zsa the GSP came home with us. :D Both are, of course, at my feet asleep right now after just returning from a 2 hour walk. I'd love to hear some others stories as to how they ended up with what they did? I bet there might be the odd humerous tale of obtaining a puppy!! ;)

I have had 5 cocker spaniels over the years and found them to play growl lots. Very talkative puppy dogs too they are!!! My Strika would talk to me all the time as well as talk to other puppies!! Pretty normal by the sounds of it. As someone else said....... pics!!!!! :D

As odd as this may sound, looking at the video, I am surprised that people are judging?? It is very obvious that the two dogs do this daily and have probably done as such since pups. How we, watching a short video can judge without knowing the dogs backgrounds is beyond me? The dogs appear to be very confident. Is there a possiblity of danger for the dog, sure, if the right shark got them, but just swimming in what looks like tropical waters is filled with dangers more than just sharks. The stingers up north in Summer will kill you. let alone a shark. But, back to the video, the dogs were rounding up the sharks, herding them into shore and then having a crack at them. To me that is very practiced behaviour. It looked very much like the sharks were the prey in this case!!! The dogs were having a ball and looking at them, they were not young dogs! Suggests that this might be a regular occurence for them!! Would I let my dogs swim with sharks....hell no....but they certainly havn't grown up with them! ;)

I have had similiar experiences this year also. I have been ill with a temporary form of rheumatoid arthritis, which has had me in and out of hospital and bed ridden for the majority of this year so far. In the early parts, Ozkar our Vizsla had only just come home to live with us. I think he was only with us two weeks when I got sick. He was amazing. Sometimes it was like he just knew where I was hurting and would come and lay down on top of whichever of my joints was hurting at the time. Puppy heat packs are brilliant!!!! :D :D :D

With wife, niece, sister in law and mother in law all in tow, poor Ozkar didn't have any chance but to be on someone's lap. We had a four hour return drive with him too. We just stopped frequently to let him have a run and a wee and he was fine. He slept most of the time.

I will probably get flamed for agreeing, but, I also am not a fan of corection collars. I have never had to use one in over 35 years of being around dogs and feel no need to start now. I hate even having to have mine in a collar at all. I would hate to have to have one around my neck all day every day.

I have only recently discovered my little GSP's TV watching. She has only been with me for 6 weeks now. But, last week I was home sick and she was comforting me while I was on the couch resting (By comforting, I mean, making herself comfortable one me!!! ) while I watched the movie. Which happened to be the original 1946 classic "Lassie". Zsa Zsa was totally focussed on lassie the entire time she was on screen. In the early part of the movie where Lassie is a puppy and is lost in the woods, Zsa Zsa was getting most distressed hearing this whimpering puppy!!! Poor little thing!! On a side note, "Lassie" .....made in 1946, is still a fantastic movie!!! :D

Kmart, bunnings, big w all have them, about $20-$30.

Best thing I ever did was invest in one of those little plastic half shell kiddies pools and fill it with sand. Ozkar came home and the first things he explored was his new sandpit. Then, whenever I caught him digging anywhere other than the sandpit, I picked him up and put him in his sandpit and praised him. It seemed to work after a very short period, the sandpit was where he dug. Another trick is to fill the holes with their own fresh poo. SOund yukky, but it tends to stop them diggin in that spot.

I am sure that there are some Rescue organisations who patronise these hallowed pages. But, I can only speak of who I have had experience with recently. I noticed you are in Melbourne, so they might be an option. Blue Cross at Wonga Park. I had a wonderful experience with adopting Zsa Zsa a 12 month old German Shorthaired Pointer with Blue Cross. The staff were all fantastic, the dogs all appeared happy and healthy and most of all, they afforded every opportunity for me to interact with Zsa Zsa prior to making a decision and also allowed me to bring Ozkar, my other dog, up to spend time with her playing together to make sure they got along. We would have spent 4 or 5 hours prior to making the decision and then another 7-9 hours from then until we picked her up.

That's not what there eyes tell you though.....