Teddy
Diane and I got our first Vizsla in 1993 and three years later our second. Another year later a third and then we stepped in to "rescue" a Vizsla that was no longer wanted with the intent to re-home him. Well, Cognac let us know that he liked it with us just fine, thank you very much.
We had shown our first dog, Gibson to his show championship and also got to training for obedience. Then came agility (we HIGHLY recommend it for Vizsla owners!) as well as Rally-O (obedience). When Cindy, our second one came along, we got introduced to what Vizslas are all about: hunting. So, we trained for that, as well (and got our hunting licenses and firearms permits that are required in Canada). We also produced 3 litters over the course of time and along with keeping some of the offspring and taking back dogs that owners could not keep, at one point we had 13 Vizslas in the house. Yearly vacations consisted of taking the gang grouse hunting in the wilderness of Quebec.
10 years ago, our circumstances changed and Diane got sick. Since then, most of our activities have been much curtailed, but not our love for the breed and the companionship, fun and love that they offer. We put the word out that we needed a rescue, as we were down to only 2 from out formerly very large family. Our friend and mentor Diane Shearer (Legacy Vizslas and rescue coordinator for the VCA (Vizsla Club of America) put us in touch with Stephanie Shein Fischer. Stephanie told us about a "kennel dog" that had just become available and after talking with us, Stephanie just knew where "Teddy" (formerly known as "General") had to go.
Stephanie had her work cut out for her, however. The transport I thought I might be able to arrange fell through. Stephanie did not give up: to make a long story short, Teddy was delivered (from the US to Canada) to within about 40 miles of our door! I've posted many updates about Teddy's progress since Valentine's Day (which is when we got him), but to put it mildly, he has done amazingly well: within an hour of coming in the house, he was on a perfectly behaved "down stay" while Diane and I had dinner! It took only 6 days to "house break" a nine-and-a-half year old dog that had only known life in a kennel. At first, he was afraid to go outside to even pee (near as we can guess, he was afraid he would never be let back inside the warm house). I literally had to drag him off the back deck and SHOW him what to do. (Our property is well shielded from the sight of neighbors - lol).
Within a couple of weeks, I was comfortable enough to walk Teddy off leash for short distances. There is no limit to how much Teddy will try to please. WE are the REALLY lucky ones that Stephanie did not give up on getting Teddy to us. BTW: we use only positive reinforcement and "soft" training methods. I don't think he has heard the word "no" more than once (by mistake!). It's either "uh-uh", or - in the few cases that doesn't work - a slightly more forceful "hey".
He now looks forward to his daily hour-long "walks", which are mainly romps in the neighboring farmer's field. It's even MUCH more fun when there are "friends" along, sometimes our 13+ year old, sometimes friends' dogs. We have never really had any trouble with any of the rescues / "re-homes" that have come to us (and we have had 4 others that basically grew up in a barn!) But we really could not have even imagined an "easier" dog than our Teddy. PS: we never like his former name, General, and had already decided to change it before we even laid eyes on Teddy. He got (earned) his name because his lower lip is pointy like a bear's lower lip. So, he is our Teddy Bear! Thanks again to Stephanie, Diane Shearer, as well as Bonnie Kelleher and Ana Toro (who generously offered to transport Teddy).
Warm regards,
Peter & Diane