[vanliewd]

Hello everyone,

We are new vizsla parents over here. My husband and I have experience with golden retriever and labrador retriever puppies, but we are quickly learning vizsla puppies are a whole new beast! Our boy Maverick is 20 weeks old. He is getting so much better and my hopes are that we are through the worst of puppyhood. With consistent training, he is beginning to understand the rules and not bite and jump quite as often as he used to.

However, what can we expect in terms of him being able to settle on his own and self-entertain? Currently, he gets pretty naughty if we take our eyes off him/ignore him for even a few seconds. If we want to relax at the end of the day, you can forget about it. He demands constant attention and we typically sit around his bed giving him cuddles, playing fetch, tug of war, and small training sessions. He gets plenty of daily exercise and attention. I understand he is still very young, and the breed is clingy anyways. Just wondering if there will come a certain age when he will learn to play by himself or be able to calm himself if we are not constantly engaged with him. And if there are any useful tips on facilitating this kind of behavior with him?

 

[Dan_A]

For Ellie it was around 4 months before she first just laid down on her own and took a nap while I was working on my computer. Prior to that she was always in motion unless I put her in her kennel for structured nap time. I'd say to truly self settle and be able to keep your eye off, longer than that like 6-8 months.

 

[callagyl]

Hi there! I have a 15 month old Vizsla pup named Jupiter. We got him at 10 weeks, and although he was fully potty trained in a week, and crate trained at night only within a week, he required constant attention at least until six months. I know they have tons of energy, so the way I got him tired was to fully expose him to all of living - he came in the car when I picked up the kids, went to the mall, walked on leash downtown, and on the trails, took him to the dog park (when he was fully vaccinated)....I had to hide all shoes and we lost so many items to his chewing, but, at the end of the day, I had him on the couch snuggling in with me/on me. He's now 75 pounds and still snuggles up at night. He goes to bed in his crate in my room when I go to bed, but is on the couch with me until then..the goal for the day is to get him exhausted. I also for a few months did take him out of the house every 20 minutes to pee/poop...just to remind. Other tips are ten minutes of licking is equal to 30 minutes of running, so freezing peanut butter in a cong is a great way to get them tired out. Mine slept beside me in a little bed by my desk...and now he just sleeps wherever I am, assuming he's had all the required exercise and stimulation. I remember a friend saying it will get 'normal' around 6 months - for me that was hard, as I had never had another dog! But, he did settle down a bit then. In general his temperment is mellow, but the training is important too - my approach was teach him how I want him - e.g. he does not come past the kitchen counter ever, he waits until his food is out (learned through just watching)..takes time but he's pretty good now

 

[rubicon]

6 months was when mine became much more independent and started napping in ten other room. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still clingy. But it’s not separation anxiety. He would really, REALLY rather be with us but can totally do fine alone.