Introducing Captain Bitey!

 Most of the time I have a sweet, gentle mannered puppy. Some of the time a second personality emerges from my pup who I am less than fond of. I have named this alter ego/evil twin "Captain Bitey."

Captain Bitey never closes his mouth. He runs around, jaw wide open, hoping to bump into something he can chomp on. Captain Bitey has crazy eyes and energy equal to drinking a gallon of espresso. I hope to someday defeat Captain Bitey and banish him from Earth...unfortunately, that day has yet to come.

Smarter than I thought

Laszlo got a rawhide bone from the vet today. He was super excited about it and kept flaunting it in front of Ginger (his older step sister). Sure enough, she took it from him and he spirit was crushed! She took it, lay down and chewed it right in his face. I thought he would get all growly and try to take it back but instead he lay down nose to nose with her just a few inches away, head down on the ground, with super sad puppy dog eyes. Since Ginger's jaws are much stronger, she quickly had the rawhide in 2 pieces. Laszlo stuck out a paw and grabbed the smaller piece. Ginger let him have it and the 2 of them lay side by side chewing their tasty treats. A dog barked in the alley and Ginger got up to check it out. As soon as she walked away, Laszlo ran and got her piece of the rawhide and hid it in a rain boot I had given him to play with. He swiftly returned to where he had been laying and proceeded chewing away on his little piece, pretending nothing had happened. When Ginger came back, sniffing around for her nugget of rawhide it was nowhere to be found and Laszlo, seemingly innocent, chewed away...

I am a big dog!

Little Laszlo is growing every single day and although he is 4 times bigger than when I got him a few weeks ago, he is still under 20 pounds. However, he thinks he is 200 pounds and about 4 feet tall. He has this amazing confidence and struts around like he is the top dog in all situations. Yesterday I went over to my friends house where 5 adult dogs were running around playing in the yard. The dogs ranged from small (an adorable Scottish Terrier named Monty) to super huge (a gorgeous Rhodesian Ridgeback mix named PJ). Even though Laszlo has only met his house mates off leash, he walked through that gate and started running with the big boys.  Laszlo really wanted to hang out with PJ - follow him around, lie next to him, lean on him, chew on his foot. PJ's head was about the size of Laszlo's body but I am pretty sure that when Laszlo looks at him he thinks, "That is exactly what I look like."

I have to admit that when I was thinking about getting a Vizsla I was nervous that I would get an anxious, neurotic dog. The breed can be very clingy and afraid. That is one of the reasons I am working so hard to expose him to everything I can - fireworks, trucks, kids, storms, etc.  When I see him trotting around with his head held high, all independent and strong I am really proud and happy. I know that his strong will is going to cause other training related challenges but that is okay in my book. As my father would say, "He is turning into a manly dog."

I am waiting for the day when he finally realizes that he is not the king of the world. Today on a walk a large, aggressive German Shepard was lunging and growling at him. Did he crawl in between my legs and cower? Hell no, he stood his ground and growled right back, lunging toward the dog who could eat him in a heartbeat. I know running toward danger is not a good thing and he does need to learn that there are some things that it is healthy to be afraid of. We will have to see what finally knocks him down a peg...

Equally rewarding and challenging

The reason I picked Laszlo out of all of the other puppies in his litter was his personality. He had this attitude about him - the little tough guy. He wasn't aggressive or a bully to his other siblings but he definitely had a confidence about him that I fell in love with immediately. I knew when I made the choice to take him as my pup that I was setting myself up for a challenge.

Laszlo's sweet side is just as big as his tough side. I think this balance will help me to deal with our battles for dominance which will be coming in the near future.

I am amazed at how much work it is to have a puppy. I understood, on an intellectual level, all of the things I would have to do and deal with but in reality it is so much harder! There are so many things to work on - house training, crate training, bite inhibition, obedience, socialization, leash walking, etc. The list is endless and feels incredibly overwhelming. I am trying to just focus on a few things at once and take it one day at a time.

It is harder than I thought I can honestly say that I am completely exhausted mentally and physically but when I look at him and he looks back at me, right in the eyes and tilts his little wrinkled head it is so worth it.

How it came to be

I have wanted a puppy for as long as I can remember. I always had dogs growing up and I wholeheartedly believe that life with a dog is exponentially better than life without.  Last fall I met my first Vizsla during my job walking dogs - her name was Sadie and I just fell in love with her. She was this velvety cuddle ball just bursting with love! I decided that if I were ever to get a og, this would be it for me. Then I realized, during a conversation with friends, that the only reason I didn't have a dog was because I was waiting until later, like when I was all grown up. Well, I am 31 years old so maybe that wasn't a good reason anymore. Besides life is too short and if I wanted a puppy, what better time than the present!
I visited the fabulous breeders at Busch Farms back in February to meet them and their amazing dogs. I was overwhelmed by how gorgeous the dogs were and by how knowledgeable the Busch's were. I stayed for about 2 hours and they answered all of my questions and took me on a big tour to meet all of the dogs. While I was there I put a deposit down for a puppy for the summer.
Next, as anyone who knows me will tell you, I told everyone I came into contact with about my upcoming puppy. I talked about it to my friends, family, yoga students, people I met at the gas station (seriously I did). I couldn't believe I was actually going to have a dog! I started reading everything I could about dog training and dog psychology. I was trying to educate myself so I could raise the best little puppy I could.
Then just 4 days ago I finally brought him home.  And he is perfect. A perfect little creature who is filled with curiosity, complete trust, a huge sense of adventure and so much affection that he can barely contain it.