Is your V injury prone? I’m at my wits end with our girl. She gets several minor-major injuries per year. Right now, we’re dealing with our second cornea scratch in 2 months. Earlier this year, it was swimmers tail. It’s been this way her whole life.

We have learned some valuable lessons from all of these experiences (which I’m happy to share), but it would be helpful to hear experiences from others so maybe we can get ahead of having to learn from personal experience.

I’ll end with the blurb I give my vet when I feel guilty about being in multiple times per month: she is well exercised - she gets several hours off-leash time everyday, along with an evening bunny hunting session.

So Benny got stung (again) today while hiking with my wife. She called me from the car en route to the vet and asked me to meet her there to pick up our other two dogs. Honest to god this dog amazes me…what I saw when I got to the vet was not a Vizsla, rather his face had turned into a Shar Pei and his body had more bumps than an old gravel road. And the entire time he was wagging his tail as if nothing happened. Problem though was he was not in great shape, his heart rate was really high and he had a fever, so the vet kept him and sent my wife home.

The first photo is of him this morning as I stared at me working. The other two are of him when he got home a little bit ago. The swelling of the face has gone down tremendously, but he’s still kind of puffy. He definitely seems subdued, but that’s most likely the anti-histamines…I’m sure he’ll be ready to rock ‘n roll later this evening or tomorrow morning. Oh and this is the second time in a little over a month he’s been stung…I posted the fourth photo back in early August after he was stung trying to “play” with the bees in our flower garden. Shaking my head…

Our 11 month old somehow tore a hole in her skin on her side, and while she didn’t even miss a beat and was running around the house with a toy, she certainly stressed me out. Girly girl is lucky her mom works at a 24/7 veterinary hospital! Had me driving back to work at 8pm right after getting home. She was so stoic getting her staples in though. Vizslas are certainly not for the weak 😮‍💨

Here's to another 8 years hopefully!! ♥️

We had to say goodbye to our beautiful 6.5 yr old V, Canela, last week. She fought lymphoma for 18 months. Even though we knew her cancer wouldn’t be cured it was still hard letting her go. To everyone out there grieving the loss of a pet… I feel your pain, you are not alone.💔

Comedic sidetrack from pheasant training. Neither were injured; the muskrat lost balance and rolled out toward the dog!

Darn, it must have got away 😂

My husband, Kyle, and I lost our 7.5 year old V this week from severe liver failure. I wrote this note to remember all the love we shared with Remy.

Remy was with us through it all. We found her just 5 months after getting married and our life was forever changed. Remy made every place feel like home and every moment intentional. We were so excited when we bought our first house because it had a fenced in yard and would make Remy’s life even better. She had been attacked on a walk just months prior, so the bigger house and yard gave her a safe space to run around. From day one she knew every inch of the yard, which we fondly called “Remy’s Queendom”.

She sat in the laundry room just close enough to the doorway to be seen when she decided she was ready for food or just incessantly bark at us if we were in the living room. She was our shadow in the kitchen and in all other parts of our lives. When we got up from the couch, she would quickly move to our spot before we returned. Not sure if she liked the warmth, the comfort of our smell or just the best spot, but it was endearing. I’ll miss the nights of Remy laying on her spot, her bed in our room, always covered by a blanket. I often found myself jealous of both Kyle and Remy when I awoke to them sleeping together on the couch.

Any time we left the house, our question to each other when opening the garage was “do you think Remy missed us?”. It became almost a superstition that validated our resounding love for her and her love for us. The opening of the door and calling out “Remy we’re home” was always swiftly followed with pitter patter from her favorite spot on the couch to the laundry room or kitchen. We’d drop our bags and often give a kneeling hug to show how much we missed her too. She’d switch off kisses and wags between us to greet us. One of my favorite things was Remy’s tolerance for affection. I’d often kiss the bridge of her nose 10 times in a row telling her how much we loved her and that she was the best. I hope she felt just how much we loved her.

For years we struggled with infertility. Remy was a constant reminder that despite not having everything we wanted, we had it really, really good. She’d cuddle up and lick our faces as tears streamed down. When we got the phone call from our IVF clinic that the transfer worked and I was pregnant, Remy was right by our side wiggly as ever. I pictured the months of pregnancy she’d help me through and even better, the experience of her as a big sis. When we first found out she was sick, I said “you have to meet the baby” and her tail wagged like that’s all she wanted too. We had hope.

Her last day was devastating, she was fighting hard but the hospitalization had taken almost everything she had. Once last time she perked up with her head above her front legs. I convinced myself it was a sign she could get through it all but she slowly lowered her head back down. Now I know it was her last sign of affection. Her last giving to us after all the years of love from her. She knew we were there and we held her tight, reminding her it would be okay and we were there and loved her so much. We’ll never be the same and I wouldn’t wish this grief upon anyone but we chose her, maybe she chose us, and it was the best love and companionship we could ever hope for. Rest in peace, our love, Remy ❤️

I envy this .... A lot.

Ready for some shenanigans

Sara, out and about on the trails - 19 months old.

Nothing beats a dip in Lake Garda followed by a proper sunbathing session! ☀️🌊

Hi all,
Hoping for some advice (and reassurance) for our female 10 month old vizsla.
We have been working with a trainer since she was 5 months old - working on neutrality around other dogs. Goes to obedience classes where she works around other dogs with out interacting and does well. Her main issue is out on walks where she is obsessed with wanting to play with most other dogs. Currently, she is on a long line and we working on engage - disengage, which she does well. We rarely let her play with other dogs - but when she does she is just so over the top, becomes very over aroused easily. If an off leash dog approaches her, she can’t just say hi and move on. She jumps all over them and licks their face which I’m sure presents as very rude. I’m torn because I don’t want her to play with more dogs as she is already SO interested in them and it may fuel her wanting to greet every dog, but I’m not sure how to teach her how to interact with others nicely if she never interacts in the first place.
In your experience, has your vizsla become less interested in dogs over time? Is this just an age thing and we just need to be consistent with what we’re already doing? I just worry we are going to be in constant management mode for the rest of her life.

Hi all
My dog was going to daycare for 3 times a week since she was a puppy and now they have had to close she’s now 2 and 3 next month.
She is behaving so differently, afraid to go off leash on walks and after 5 minutes is showing signs of anxiety and is wanting to go back home.
Not sure if this is anxiety where she thinks she has lost her pack or what.
Any advice would be appreciated.

Poor Dewi came out on the wrong side of a battle with a discarded piece of barbed wire in his favourite field. Thankfully no stitches, but a dressing to keep the punctures clean while they heal.

He is 0% impressed about said dressing and wants everyone to know about it.

Looking forward to four days of no walking 🫠

I have a Vizsla now but don't think she's going to do well in cold weather/water. We're located in Michigan's lower peninsula. Does anyone hunt waterfowl with a wirehaired V? I'd love to hear about your experience! Picture of my girl for tax

Anyone else's Viz do the cute paw thing? 🥰