Varazs Vizslas

14 Years Young

2012-02-02T14:00:00.002-05:00

Happy 14th Birthday to Amber (CH Varazs On Point at Blackbullet) and Bartok (Varazs Bartok Bluebeardscastle), the two remaining puppies from our 1998 litter born 14 years ago today, Feb. 2 (Groundhog Day). This was the last litter out of our beloved Nekah (Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD CGC).

Amber (CH Varazs On Point at Blackbullet)

Amber at about 7 weeks

Amber

Amber in 2003

Bartok (Varazs Bartok Bluebeardscastle)


Bartok at 8 weeks

Bartok, 13 yr old

Bartok, 13 yr old in July 2011

Memories

2012-01-22T15:43:00.001-05:00

BPIG Am/Can CH Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Can CDX, FDJ, AKC RE, AKC RAE, TT, CGC, CGN

Dec. 31, 1992 - Jan. 22, 2008

Three years ago today, we said goodbye to our beloved Sasha. Although he is gone, he is never forgotten and lives on in the memories of many people who met and loved him and in all of his get. Thank goodness for digital photos and video!

Happy New Year!

2011-12-31T01:01:00.000-05:00

Best wishes to all my readers, followers and puppy owners for a happy, successful and fun-filled 2012!
Below is a photo of Quest and Vadasz, two male dogs I bred who belong to Gary Krammer. The photo was taken by Gary on Dec. 31/11.


L-R: Quest (3.5 yr) & Vadasz (8.5 yr)

And on this last day of the year, I always remember our beloved Sasha my all-time favourite Vizsla who was born Dec. 31, 1992. He is dad to Vadasz, pictured above. Words just can't describe how wonderful and loving Sasha was. He would have been 19 years old today. I still miss him so much.

Merry Christmas & Happy Hannukah!

2011-12-25T19:14:00.001-05:00

Merry Christmas & Happy Hannukah

We've had a very busy 5 weeks since coming to Arizona but I hope to be blogging again soon.

It never feels like Christmas without snow but I understand much of Canada is experiencing a green Christmas this year so I would be feeling the same way there as I am here. Today the dogs got a walk in the desert. They didn't range too far and pretty much avoided all the cacti except for a few small pieces which I successfully extracted. This is usually as winter as it gets in the Phoenix area although we have actually had snow before - but not this year (so far).

Diva by a blossoming shrub - yes, it's Dec. 25

Miska, looking dapper in the desert

Miska, Tyro & Diva against the desert backdrop

Miska relaxing with her BFF

Poppy pin mystery

2011-11-16T07:00:00.000-05:00

potential disaster.

This past Friday, Remembrance Day, was the last time I remember seeing my poppy in the house. It fell off once and Tyro 'found' it and so I grabbed it from his mouth and stupidly put it back on my vest. After that, I don't know what became of it. I searched high and low inside and outside and never found it. After a panicky call to the vet, he told me to bulk all 3 dogs up with plenty of bran as it would most likely pass. "Are you kidding me?", I asked. "Pass a 2 inch stick pin? You're joking?" "No", he replied, he'd seen far 'worse' things and all manner of things pass through dogs.
So they got lots of bran for several days. No dog was showing any signs of distress or upset bowels or passing blood and I was checking what came out their back ends except for the first day when I was sure I was going to find the poppy somewhere in the house. However, today while at the vets for other things, I decided to get some peace of mind and x-rayed 2 of the 3 dogs most likely to ingest something like that. Nothing, nada, zip. What a relief! And I will never, never, ever, ever wear a poppy around my dogs again. So let this be a lesson to the rest of the world! Learn from my stupidity!!

Bath time!

2011-11-15T12:01:00.001-05:00

Owning hunting dogs can be a mixed blessing at times. The other day just as we were almost home from a long walk/run in the woods, Miska and Diva disappeared into heavy brush and wetlands, I could hear them barking and by their bark, I knew they had cornered or treed some type of animal. However, they weren't responding to my frantic calls, screams and whistles to come so I had no choice but to try to track them down. Unfortunately where they were was extremely wet and so heavy I could barely crawl through the downed trees and heavy cover; plus it was wet, soggy and very soft underneath and all I had on were running shoes, not boots. Thankfully, at long last they reappeared, soaking wet and totally covered in mud from their nose to their tails.

L-R: Miska & her daughter Diva

Love the letter Q

2011-11-13T12:30:00.001-05:00

I love the letter Q. Why?

Because in dog-competition-speak, it means a qualifying score. It probably means the same thing in human-competitions too but instead of a P = Pass, we use Q and NQ if our dog did Not Qualify.Anyway, at the Poodle Club of Canada's all breed rally and obedience trials on Friday and Saturday, we got a few Q's! Tyro finished his CKC Rally Excellent title with a 93/100 so he's now officially known as CH Varazs Napkelte Tyrone AKC/CKC CD, AKC/CKC RE, CGN. (Only the highest levels of titles are shown in his official name.)

Miska also got Q's in both Rally Excellent and Advanced classes to earn her third RAE leg in Canada (7 more Q's to go for her title). And she had great scores - 100 / 100 in Excellent with 2nd place on time and 99 / 100 in Advanced with a 4th place, again on time - she was the fastest dog with a score of 99.

Miska with her 2nd & 4th place rosettes for rally excellent & rally advanced.

The sweetest Q came the next day (Saturday) when Miska competed in Open obedience. After a heartbreaking NQ in the morning trial when she failed to drop on the Drop on Recall exercise (there is no forgiveness; if they fail to drop, it's an automatic fail regardless of how well they do in the rest of the exercises and she had done the rest really well), she finally Q'd in the afternoon trial!! And not only that, her score of 193 was good enough for First Place or High in Class!! Rather than giving her a hand signal for her drop on recall in the afternoon, I gave her a verbal command and she followed suit and did it! Her nemesis of late has been the broad jump when sometimes she walks through it rather than jumping over it but she did it flawlessly in both trials. It helps that the Cdn Kennel Club's rules allow veterans to jump lower heights so she only had to jump 16" for the high jump and 32"for the broad jump exercise. This means there is less space between boards in the broad jump.

But it's never over until it's over and she still had to perform the 3 minute out-of-sight long sit and long down before we knew whether she qualified. Boy those long stays seem to last forever at that point when you've qualified up to that point. Before the long stay exercises, I promised her a ~~Big Mac~~ steak if she qualified. Did she understand? I dunno but it worked and I gave her some steak for supper as her just reward.

Miska with her High in Class (1st place) rosette in Open A

Miska's well deserved steak!

Varazs Vizsla mini-reunion

2011-11-06T22:59:00.000-05:00

L-R: Ruby, Tyro, Diva, Miska. Quest, Vadasz, Piper, Bodi

Today a number of Varazs-bred dogs gathered together at Burns Conservation area just down the road from our house for a walk and mini-reunion. We had representation from 4 litters:

Miska and Vadasz from our Nova-Sasha litter born 2003;
Lloyd, Ruby and Tyro from our Nova-Hudson litter born 2006;
Piper, Quest and Diva from our Miska-Ozzie litter born 2008
Bodi from our Miska-Brick litter born 2011

We could not have asked for better weather. While it started off rather chilly (6C), by the end of our walk through the woods it had warmed up to our forecast high of 13 deg. C, with glorious sun and no wind. A near-perfect day for this time of year! And since my birthday is tomorrow, it was a great birthday present to see my 'grand-furkids', a couple of which I hadn't seen in several years. THANK YOU for making my birthday so special!!

L-R: Ruby, Tyro, Diva & Miska

Lloyd with his family

L-R: Quest, Tyro, Diva, Miska & Vadasz

8-year old littermates, Vadasz (L) & Miska

Bad dogs or bad owner?

2011-11-05T22:00:00.002-04:00

Hubs is away and so I decided to give the dogs a little more freedom in the house so instead of being crated at night, they have been sleeping in my office on Bowser Beds. And occasionally while I run errands or go to work out at the gym, I have left them loose in the house instead of crating them. I am rethinking the latter part of the strategy now!

After our long walk in the woods with Bodi earlier today, my 3 Vizslas were plenty tired out (or so I thought). I left them loose late this aft while I went to exercise at the gym but made sure all the freshly baked dog cookies I'd made in the morning were set well back out of their reach. After about 2.5 hr, I returned home to find this:

Shredded plastic bags and flour were everywhere and the dog cookie recipe book was found on the floor. Obviously I had left this stuff, neatly packed away in another bag on the counter, waaayy too close to the edge. The dog cookies hadn't been touched because none of the dogs is able to jump right up onto the counters and none is able to reach that far back where the cookies were cooling but one Vizsla DID reach the bag containing some whole wheat flour, wheatgerm, oatmeal and garlic powder used for baking their cookies.

By the time I returned home from the gym and shopping, it was almost 7 pm and I was cold and hungry and the LAST thing I wanted to do was clean up this big mess. So I kinda lost it. I did what I am NOT supposed to do - I yelled at the dogs for making the mess - long after it was done. I yelled at everyone even though I know it wasn't Tyro who was responsible and I am 95% certain it wasn't Diva who pulled the stuff off the counter. Well, that leaves only MISKA. And I am 99.9% sure it was she because I do catch her cruising counters and she hasn't had the same intense 'It's Yer Choice" [Susan Garrett] training as the other 2 have.


Miska trying to look innocent with "evidence" (shredded plastic) on the Bowser Bed

And what exactly is that hanging out of your mouth Diva?

I ~~suspect~~ know Miska was the culprit and Diva joined in because they were doing a lot of lip licking after I returned home. Tyro was trying to stay right out of the picture. So I 'punished' them ALL by making them wait a LONG time for their dinner although I threatened them by saying they would go completely hungry tonight. (That was just to make me feel better.) I made my dinner first and lingered over it, cleaned up the kitchen, and only then did I get around to getting theirs ready. By then, Miska had disappeared to the family room - probably with an upset tummy from eating the raw oatmeal, wheatgerm and flour, So in fact Miska didn't have any supper but Diva and Tyro did get theirs.

OF COURSE IT'S MY FAULT!! I KNOW THAT!!! I left out something that I didn't think would tempt an 8-year-old Vizsla and being a dog, she took advantage of the situation as she was hungry and couldn't reach the cheese biscuits I'd made her!! BUT I'M HUMAN! I MAKE MISTAKES TOO! So I will punish myself by admitting on this Blog that I was a BAD, BAD OWNER.

PS - what I was really more upset about was that I was going to make more homemade dog cookies tonight for the Varazs Vizsla meet-up tomorrow and so that's obviously out of the picture because that was all the flour and oats I had. Oh well, the dogs will have to make do with what I made Friday night and Saturday morning. They won't know the difference but I will.

Beautiful fall day

2011-11-05T15:40:00.000-04:00

Bodi (from our May 31, 2011 litter) came to visit today for a "pawdicure" and then a long walk in the woods. The air was very, very chilly but the sun was shining brilliantly. Following our returning, we took pictures of the 4 dogs in our garden - after Miska went on a beautiful, classic point. What was she pointing? Diva who seemed to be on point.

Miska in a classic point with Tyro behind her

Diva, Miska, Tyro & Bodi

Handsome Vizslas! Uncle Tyro and nephew Bodi

Shower door shower

2011-11-04T22:53:00.002-04:00

The other morning I was rudely awakened by the sound of a very loud crash from our ensuite bathroom. I couldn't figure out what the hell had happened so quickly got up to explore but couldn't open the door to the bathroom. So I called Hubs who had already arisen and was somewhere else in the house and he was able to enter from our walk-in closet. What had happened stunned and shocked us. One panel of our double glass shower door had completely shattered on its own and glass was everywhere!

Left panel shattered

Glass on the shower floor

Thank goodness no humans or dogs were in the shower at the time of this spontaneous explosion of glass because it would have been one very nasty and bloody scene. (OK, it's tempered glass but still, there were lots of sharp-edged pieces.) In fact, it was only about 2 days before this had happened that I had just showered all 3 of the dogs (at once) in the shower. Can you imagine trying to deal with 12 paws, 2 bare feet, multiple bodies and limbs and all this glass????? I don't even want to begin to imagine the horror scene. I am just so grateful Hubs wasn't in the shower at the time (because he uses this one all the time whereas I use another bathroom in the house) because he is on a blood thinner. That would have required a call to 911. Very scary stuff.

Diva in the shower on a previous occasion

New home, new name

2011-11-04T06:30:00.000-04:00

Mr Black - 15 days old

Well, after a couple of months of searching, the male puppy born May 31, 2011 known as Mr Black (aka Tunder) has found his new forever home. And he now has a new name - Charlie. Interestingly, the pups in this litter were given more "people" names as call names than any other litter we've produced! We have Elsie, Stella, William and now Charlie. No doubt Freud would have a field day with this!

4 weeks & 2 days old

Almost 5 months

Charlie with his new hu-mom

And Charlie now lives with a kitten - named . . . Pete!

Pete relaxes while Charly chews

Parting with a five-month old, adorable, loving, smart puppy was definitely hard. The longer a pup / dog stays with me, the bigger the bond we develop and the more love is exchanged and Tunder / Charlie had really bonded with me. And it sure wasn't hard to love this puppy because he has such a sweet temperament and is such a 'softie', as most of the boys are in the Vizsla breed.

Why didn't I keep him? Well, if it were solely my decision, I most likely would have because I have wanted a really nice male to show in conformation for years and years. However, I have another ~~better~~ half who gets more stressed with multiple dogs in the house than I do and I have to consider his feelings. As we know, marriage is all about compromise and one partner can't always have her own way all the time. Darn!!

Mr Black stacked at 8 weeks

Plus the reality is, with us traveling back and forth between two homes in two countries is harder with 4 dogs rather than 3. Well, what's one more when you have already have 3? It's simply a lot more dog stuff, especially crates, to transport in our van and to shlep into/out of hotels and some of the hotel rooms barely have room for 3 crates, let alone 4. Hubs already complains that our van is filled mainly with dog stuff when we drive back and forth to AZ, and he's right!! And when we travel without dogs - which we want to do ~~a lot~~ more of - boarding 4 dogs becomes very expensive or trying to find places where our dogs can stay is far more difficult. The boarding kennel I use in Arizona costs about the same price per night for 3 pooches as an expensive hotel room costs for us and that sure adds up!! And I don't like to impose on my dog-owning friends and clients too often by asking them to look after our dogs while we're away.

They say as you age you should downsize and I guess that's what I'm starting to do with dogs by not adding any more to our menagerie.

So (Tunder) Charlie, I know you will be loved, cherished, adored and well-taken care of by your new family and you'll be the star attraction in your house - well, at least when Pete the cat isn't upstaging you. But I sure miss you!!!

Staying warm

2011-11-03T07:00:00.000-04:00

A dog's gotta do what a dog's gotta do.

Here's a very heart warming (pun intended!) video that I want to share. I like this dog's approach. He (or she?) is one smart cookie.

My dogs, on the other hand, simply curl up as close as possible to the front of an electric heater to keep warm or snuggle together in a bed or on top of each other or atop a human's lap. Any way - a lot of BTU's are generated and even I value my dogs as non-electric blankets when I need warming up.

Tyro, Tunder & Miska

Tyro & Tunder

Tunder

Monster Match

2011-10-31T09:59:00.000-04:00

This was my second time entering my dogs at the annual Hallowe'en Monster Match at Companion Dog Training where I take my dogs for competitive obedience and agility training while in Canada. I entered Miska and Tyro in rally-obedience (excellent) and Miska in Open obedience.

Miska getting ready to do the heeling pattern in Open.

Last year Miska went as a bunch of grapes but this year I didn't have time to make any creative costumes so my good friend and fellow Vizsla owner, Corrine Sellars, loaned me some stuff. This year the dogs dressed up as marathon runners. I tried to dress Tunder up in a cheerleader's costume but he kept tripping over the skirt part so I removed it & left only a lei around his neck. Sheesh - the things we do to our dogs!!! No wonder they sometimes turn around and bite us!!

Tunder, Miska, Tyro

Disappearing puppyhood

2011-10-28T16:41:00.001-04:00

Tunder (aka Mr Black) who was born May 31, 2011 is growing up - fast! Just seems whenever I look at him that he's added another pound or two. My prediction is that he will be a very good looking male with a gorgeous head. He's already got a wonderful temperament so no worries in that department. Anyway, it won't be long before he's all grown up. These photos were taken in the last week when he was 21 weeks of age or 5 months old.

Tunder at class with his bro, Bodi in the distance

Tunder, big sis Diva & Uncle Tyro

Tunder - nice, nature stack

Tunder with Uncle Tyro, mom Miska & big sis Diva

Tunder's face & head at 21 weeks

Flying nun ears

2011-10-27T07:00:00.000-04:00

Unfortunately I am old enough to remember the TV series called The Flying Nun which starred Sally Fields. The series originally ran on ABC from September 7, 1967 to September 18, 1970. Besides the comedic nature of the program, the most memorable thing about it was the habit worn by Sister Bertille (played by Sally) and specifically the heavily starched headpiece called a cornette seen in the photo below. These cornettes were especially popular in the 15th to 17th centuries and also worn by married women of the urban middle class and adopted by the Daughters of Charity nuns and worn until the mid-60's. The ends of the cornette were either turned up or down.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:S%C5%93ur_Jean_Gabriel_Batke.jpg

Anyway, the whole point of this post is that sometimes when our Miska holds her ears up really high as in these photos, she reminded me of The Flying Nun. And so I was surprised and delighted to see her daughter, Stella, born May 31, 2011 exhibiting the same trait and ability. I call them their Flying Nun ears.

Miska as a young puppy; the tongue just makes this photo even funnier.

Miska (L) with her brother Hudson, 5 months old

5 mo-old Stella, Miska's daughter

Miska about 1.5 yr of age

2010 Rally & Obedience standings

2011-10-26T06:30:00.000-04:00

Well, I never thought to check Canuck Dogs (canuckdogs.com) for anything other than conformation standing until today. What a surprise I got when I checked the rally-obedience standings for 2010! Tyro (Ch Varazs Napkelte Tyrone) was #1 Vizsla in Canada, Miska (Ch Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem) was #2 Vizsla and Miska's sister, Shandy, Ch Varazs Artemis Vizsandy was tied for #5. And in obedience for 2010, Milo (Varazs Mokany Ficko was #8. Well done to our Varazs-bred Vizslas!!

What a great finish!

2011-10-25T09:42:00.003-04:00

This past weekend in Camrose Alberta, Blaze earned his last point for his Canadian Championship title. Blaze was Mr Blue in our June 2008 litter between our Miska (BIS (Veteran) Am/Cdn/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FDJ, FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, Am/Cdn CD, Am/Cdn RE, Am RAE, CGN) and an Australian import named Ozzie (CH Hubertus Quality Control FDJ). Not only that, Blaze also took a Group 4th placement in the Sporting Group under Puerto Rican Judge, Roberto Velaz-Pico! Taking a group placement is like having icing on a cake. It was a great way to finish a championship weekend! Congratulations to Blaze's owners and to Blaze.

Blaze is almost 3.5 years old and it took a while to complete his championship because there are very few Vizslas being shown in conformation in Alberta and one needs to beat other Vizslas in order to pick up championship points. Well, technically dogs can become Canadian champions by never seeing or beating another dog of the same breed but they would have to always get group placements and that's tough in our breed at the best of times. The other reason it took Blaze a little while to get his points is that he is a slow maturing dog. Males need more time to mature and develop physically (and mentally) than females but this is actually a good thing. One noticeable feature with Blaze, however, is a lighter eye colour. Although all the puppies in this litter developed a dark ring at the outer edge of their irises which supposedly means their eye colour will darken when become adults, it doesn't always happen and sometimes it just takes a long(er) time. I usually expect our Vizslas to have a dark eye by the time they are two years of age but Blaze is still showing a lighter eye colour. His irises may never darken completely but one never knows.

The owners don't have a show photo of Blaze earning his Group 4th or Championship yet but here is an earlier shot of Blaze in the ring with a pro handler. I have always loved Blaze. He's got very good bone and structure; good forechest and depth of chest; a correct tail set; nice topline; and strong muzzle.

So Blaze's official name is now: CH Varazs Kedves Quaser NAVHDA NA Prize III. And kudos to his mom Miska and dad Ozzie and this litter of puppies born in 2008, ALL six of which are now CHAMPIONS and four of which had group placements:

Am CH Varazs Kedves Quizmark "Andras" (M) (Mr Red) - Multiple AKC group placements
CH Varazs Kedves Quester "Quest" (M) (Mr Green) - Group 2nd
CH Varazs Kedves Quinn "Piper" (F) (Miss Lilac/Purple)
CH Varazs Kedves Quasar NAVHDA NA Prize III "Blaze" (M) (Mr Blue) - Group 4th
CH, Int'l & UKC CH Varazs Kedves Quickstep FDJ JH "Diva" (F) (Miss Yellow) - Multiple group placements CKC & UKC
CH Varazs Kedves Quincy "Gunner" (M) (Mr Black)

Postscript: At the same Camrose shows, Blaze's daughter, Sydney (Blackbullet's Waltzing Matilda NAVHDA NA) was also being shown. She beat Blaze on Saturday and took Best of Breed and a Group 4th placement and then Blaze beat her on Sunday with the same win. So it was a wonderful family affair at this dog show.

Fido Casting Call - VOTE!

2011-10-24T06:30:00.000-04:00

Fido Solutions, a Canadian cell phone company, is donating $1 for every Fido Casting Call vote to Lions Foundation of Canada Dog Guides, up to a maximum amount of $200,000. A Vizsla named Clay that I know has responded to the Fido casting call. Please click on the link below as it will not only push Clay higher i nthe rankings but every click will help to add $1 towards a great cause.

Please VOTE!

http://www.fidocastingcall.ca/dogs/6731

Darling Diva

2011-10-23T22:20:00.000-04:00

Today was a beautiful fall day to take pictures. This is Diva, our 3-year-old female whom I snapped in our garden.

Miniature Vizsla?

2011-10-16T16:18:00.000-04:00

Bentley's owners (Bentley is out of our Brick-Miska breeding born May 31) sent me a recent photo of him with his family and their other Vizsla, Jasper who happens to be related distantly to Bentley. They had visited beautiful Jasper, Alberta for a few days and took this photo there.

As his hu-mom wrote, "Bentley is doing wonderful, he remains the world's cuddliest Vizsla and we are sad to report he is growing up!! (we were hoping to keep him little for much longer!). He is quite attached to Jasper our 11 year old (from Rex & Rose) and has a hard time keeping up to him.....he is a VERY fast runner and no walk is ever long enough. Bentley remains an easy puppy, he frequents all laps in the room on a rotating basis and never shies away from the kids unending mauling of pets and kisses."I think most of us would love that our almost 5-month old Vizsla puppies stayed this small size (around 25 lb.) for quite a while longer. Of course they will grow bigger but thankfully, they never outgrow their cuddly, kissy personalities which is wonderful.

Dog cookies

2011-10-15T11:48:00.000-04:00

Today, the weather is miserable - cold, wet, rainy and windy. A good day for baking. Since I was almost out of dog cookies, I decided to bake some. This is the second batch I made up this week. Unfortunately 1/3 of the cookies got burned in the first batch when I set the oven at the wrong setting. (Our 23 year old, convection oven is very iffy and we do need a new one.)

As you can imagine, 3 1/3 Vizslas (the 1/3 Vizsla is the 5-month old puppy from our last litter) in the house eat a lot of cookies and now that I am on retired and on a pension, buying dog cookies for a multiple-dog household is expensive. Well, just about everything dog-related is expensive but that's a subject for another Blog post. I usually buy large sizes when purchasing cookies from a dog store but even then, it costs a small fortune. When I calculate the cost of the ingredients I use to make a large batch of cookies, it's probably less than $3.00 in total.

And then there is the time to make them. Creating this batch above took less than 1 hr. Rolling out the dough and cutting the cookies take the longest. I sometimes use a bone-shaped cookie cutter but that really adds to the time so this week, I cut the dough in strips and then cut 2-3 strips at a time into large bite pieces. This really sped up the process. My dogs don't care what shape the cookies are after all. Yummm!!

This morning's recipe made up 4 trays of cookies (exactly 234 cookies). To pay for this quantity in the store would likely cost me $15.00 or more (I am talking about a good quality cookie, not the cheap ones with by-products and other yucky stuff). Two hundred thirty-four cookies between 3.33 dogs will last about 7 days in our household. Not long! I can see I am getting myself into a weekly activity!!

Nifty pet ID

2011-10-15T05:00:00.000-04:00

I just learned about this nifty pet tag, the PetQRTag™, which utilizes a 2-dimensional QR (Quick Response) Code that contains an encoded web address where your pet's information can be quickly viewed and/or shared. It can be read by any smartphone and will link with the webpage that the owner creates with recovery information to be reunited with the pet. Unfortunately (or maybe not), I don't own or use a smart phone but I think it's a great addition to other forms of ID that the pet should wear (licence tag, rabies tag, embroidered collar, etc.). Definitely worth checking out.

Mobbed at the market

2011-10-14T06:00:00.000-04:00

Tunder gets a hug

We have a wonderful outdoor farmer's market in Milton, Ontario. Unfortunately it's now finished for the season but last month, I took 3-month old Mr Black aka "Tunder" to the market 3 times. My purpose was two-fold: 1) to buy wonderful fresh vegetables and baked goods and 2) puppy socialization. This market is almost as good and perhaps even better than dog shows for socializing puppies and dogs. While I've read a few complaints from the general public in Milton about dogs being brought to the market, it hasn't stopped people from doing it. I've never seen a negative incident involving a dog so I hope they (dogs) are never banned from this event.

The first time I took Tunder it was blistering hot and humid and the market was really busy. He showed a little fear when he saw a coloured person but after that, he became confident. Then he was absolutely MOBBED by people and kids stopping to pet him and to say hello. And of course there were other dogs, big and small, black and brown, for him to see, smell and nose. The second and third times, it was 'old hat' for him. What's more cute and handsome than a Vizsla puppy? Nothing!!

After you click on the photo below, you can select slideshow the photos will run automatically on your PC.

2011-09-10 Tunder at Milton Market

Pets on Furniture

2011-10-13T06:30:00.004-04:00

Karen Johnston (one of my puppy clients) long ago gave up on the idea of keeping her Vizslas off furniture (haven't most of us?). While she dog sat my Miska and Diva during our vacation, she snapped a photo of Miska, Diva and Miska's son Will(iam) on one of her couches and submitted it to the Desire to Inspire Blog. Click on the link below and continue scrolling down until you see the backs of 3 Vizslas on a grey sofa (4th photo from the bottom of the post).

http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2011/10/10/mondays-pets-on-furniture.html

Vacations

2011-10-12T10:12:00.001-04:00

When is our mom coming to get us?

Anyone who owns a Vizsla knows this breed doesn't do well when placed in a commercial dog kennel - unless you own multiple dogs and your Vizsla can board with its canine family members at the boarding facility (or dog spa as many call it). When possible, I try to avoid kenneling my dogs when I go on vacation, although this isn't always possible. Recently, we took a 12-day trip to Galapagos (more about that later) and had to find spots for our 4 Vizsla family members.

Fortunately, I was able to call upon two people/families who own one of my dogs who obliged with my request for board our dogs. In each case, they already own a dog from me - in these two cases they had a puppy from our last (May 31/11) litter so I know each person/family knows the breed and they have already been screened by me as responsible owners and I've known them for a long time. Miska and Diva went off to Oshawa, ON to stay with Miska's 4 month-old puppy named Will and 5-yr. old Tyro along with 4-month old Tunder went to visit Tunder & Will's littermate, Bodi in Toronto.

Having my dogs stay with people I know and trust eases my emotions and fears about leaving my dogs for lengthy periods of time. Although I don't know that each of my four dogs was happy about the decision to be left behind, in all cases they had visited these homes before and were left with people they had met or knew and dogs they already knew. And while I know Miska (the oldest at 8 yr.) missed me the most, all four dogs - Miska, Diva, Tyro and Tunder had a good time with their respective vacation caregivers and they were well looked after. So thank you so much Corrine Sellars and Karen Johnston and Doug Wheeler for taking such great care of my dogs while we vacationed! To see more pics of their 'vacation', click:

http://urbanbodi.blogspot.com/2011/10/2-sunny-days-in-row.html
http://urbanbodi.blogspot.com/2011/10/quiet-house.html
http://mosaicworksca.blogspot.com/2011/10/for-love-of-dogs.html

Miska using her son, Will, as a pillow

Diva (top), Will (L), Miska (R)

Tyro, "Why did I get stuck with these holy terrors?"

Rant for the day

2011-09-27T10:50:00.001-04:00

The process to register a purebreed dog with the Canadian Kennel Club is far more complicated and protracted than registering a human baby with the any Canadian province. Seriously?

Well, how do I know that? I know because a few years ago I worked on a mega project to computerize the baby birth process for the province of Ontario and we also researched how other provinces do it and I can tell you, it's way simpler and faster, especially now that birth registration has been computerized here!!

Anyway, to ensure my dog litter application reached the CKC offices in Toronto, I hand delivered it because I've heard hundreds of complaints about paperwork never reaching the CKC. The CKC offices are only about 45 KM from where I live and I was on my way into Toronto anyway so it wasn't a big deal. It still took the CKC about 3 weeks to process that one page application and issue 6 pieces of paperwork for the individual puppy registrations (Miska had 6 puppies in her litter).

There was no information in the package about being able to do individual dog registrations online. In fact the last time I tried to do it online when it involved co-owning and putting puppies on non-breeding agreements, it was NOT possible.

So after completing all the bloody paperwork by hand this year, making photocopies, etc, enclosing payment for the litter registration invoice, I mailed the package to the CKC on September 9. This morning (Sept 27), I thought I had better check to see if my package had arrived because the cheque hadn't been cashed. I was told they never received it!!! And I am NOT the only one as I mentioned. Is it Canada Post or is it the CKC?

So after speaking the client services rep, she tells me I could now do ALL the registrations online! If that's the case, why couldn't the CKC have informed me of this option when they sent me the package, for goodness sake. All they needed to do was to enclose a flyer or put a statement on the individual blank registration form. How difficult is that????

So I spent the morning online, re-doing all the registrations for 6 puppies. It was relatively simple although the CKC says it may require me to send in the co-ownership forms & non-breeding agreements that my puppy buyers filled out and signed in contrast to the rep who told I had to fax them in. How confusing is that? Can you please get your story straight and consistent? And there were also inconsistencies in the date formats between the paper forms and the online form? Just more inconsistencies to make me annoyed. Sheesh!!!

I hate the CKC. I don't think I know of a single person who loves the CKC or who would extol its virtues. It appears to be a necessary evil in the Canadian dog registration world because we have no other choice.

Anyway. that's my BIG rant of the day! Thanks for 'listening'.

Fleeting fame

2011-09-24T13:31:00.000-04:00

The last Vizsla Club of America News (electronic Sept '11) contained an obedience report and I was surprised but very delighted to find 2 of our Vizslas listed in the Top 10 in the USA!! Tyro was #5 in Novice and Miska was tied for 1st in Open. Of course, these standings will change as more results for 2011 are tabulated but it's nice at least to be in the Top 10 even for a short while.This is part of page 10 from the VCA News.

A Breeze is stilled

2011-09-23T10:46:00.001-04:00

CH Gardenway Celtic Breeze

August 26, 1997 - September 15, 2011

Bree - multi-group placing Vizsla & Top 5 Vizsla in Canada from 1998-2000

The other morning I received a telephone call from Eileen Wilkes, owner of CH Gardenway Celtic Breeze, or "Bree" as she was known, to tell me that Bree had crossed the Rainbow Bridge on Thursday, September 15th, 2011. Bree who had turned 14 in August, was dam to my beloved Nova (CH Ferngold Varazs Innovation Can/Am CD FDJ, JH, Am/Can RA, Am RE, Am RAE, CGN, and the maternal grandmother to 18 of Nova's kids from two litters, including my Miska as well as great-grandmother to 12 of Miska's puppies (Miska-Ozzie litter born June 2008 and Miska-Brick litter born May 2011) and 11 puppies out of Shandy, another of Nova's kids.

Fortunately I had the opportunity to see Bree a very short time agao - at the end of July when I visited Eileen at her cottage. Eileen knew I always delighted in seeing Bree. who was such a sweet and loving Vizsla.

RIP Bree and I hope you gave Nova a big kiss from me when you crossed over the Rainbow Bridge.

December 3, 2006

Bree with 3 of her great-grand kids born May 31/11 to grand-daughter Miska

Bree with a few of her relatives in 2007
L-R, Miska (grand-daughter), Nova (daughter), Bree, Vadasz (grand-son), Chili/Tucker (grand-son)

Bree taken July 29, 2011, just before her 14th birthday

Bree in her favourite chair at the cottage, July 2011

Beautiful September day

2011-09-19T14:38:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was beautiful!! Lots of sun, clear skies and warm temperatures. A perfect day and my kinda weather!! Bodi (Miska-Brick litter born May 31/11) joined his brother, Tunder for a walk in one of our local conservation areas. Unfortunately Bodi wouldn't do a sit-stay so I wasn't able to capture him with his brother and mom together but later snapped one of Bodi in our garden. This coming Tuesday, Sept 20, the puppies will be four months old.

Tunder (almost 4 mo.) with his mom, Miska

Tunder - I'm all eyes!!

Bodi in our garden.

Varazs Family Blogs

2011-09-16T11:59:00.000-04:00

Stella is the latest Vizsla that we've bred or is related to our dogs to have her own Blog. Here's a list of Blogs and websites featuring Varazs-bred or sired dogs.

Blogs

Blackbullets Dogs features 3 Vizslas (Rex, Amber & Kati) I bred and sent to Alberta, and their offspring bred by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels of Alberta.
Calgary Vizsla chronicles life with and wonderful photos of Blaze (Mr Blue aka Varazs Kedves Quaser NAVHDA NA Prize III) born June 16, 2008 from our Miska-Ozzie litter
Life with Riley and Stella is all about life with Riley, a large black Labrador, and Stella (Miss Red aka Varazs Kedvesem Final Dance) born May 31, 2011 from our Miska-Brick litter
MosaicWorks is mainly about art and design but Karen Johnston also includes occasional posts about Will (Mr Turquoise aka Varazs Kedvesem Final Legacy) born May 31, 2011 from our Miska-Brick litter and past posts about Bob (Varazs Summer Solstice, 1995-2009) and Rita (Lyons Keiralea Of Varazs, 1996 - 2011)
Red Dawn Vizslas was started by Pam Lambros of California and is her Vizslas including Am CH Varazs Sara's Full of Grace MH ("Sara" born 2011) and Pam's other Vizslas and Sara's offspring. Unfortunately Pam is posting on FB now rather than updating her Blog
Urban Bodi chronicles life with Bodi (Mr Blue aka Varazs Mokany Kiralyi Orban) born May 31, 2011 from our Miska-Brick litter.

Websites

Blackbullet Dogs feature CH Varazs Blackbullets onthe Wing ("Rex" 1997-2001), Ch Varazs On Point at Blackbullet ("Amber" born 1998), and CH Varazs HPR Kata of Blackbullet FDJ ("Kati" born 2002), 3 Vizslas I bred and sent to Alberta, and their offspring bred by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels.

Szuni Registered Vizslas is a brand new website for breeder Susan Scobie of Vancouver, BC who used our ("Sasha" ( Am/Can CH Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Can/Am CD, Can/Am CDX, RN, RA, RE, RAE, FDJ, CGC, CGN, TTas a stud dog for her 1999 breeding to produce M-OTCH Szuni's Shooting Star CD CDX UD FDJ FD FDX TD AGN AGI AGDC AADC CGC ("Mila") who has whelped one litter. Therefore Mila and her offspring are direct descendents of my Sasha.

World's cuddliest Vizsla

2011-09-15T10:24:00.000-04:00

Bentley was Mr. Green in our May 31, 2011 litter between Miska (BIS (Veteran) Am/Cdn/Int'l/UKC CH Varazs Kiralyi Kedvesem FDJ, FD, NAVHDA NA Prize III, JH, Am/Cdn CD, Am/Cdn RE, Am RAE, CGN) & Brick (Int'l BIS BISS Am/Int'l CH Pirok Tegla MH). His owners recently sent me this wonderful update on him.
"Bentley is a great puppy and keeping us laughing. . . He is figuring out his place in the family and is easy to have around...He remains the world's cuddliest Vizsla and loves to put his little nose into your neck and just be loved. He is happiest to play on the floor with his toys and when he is done he crawls into your lap with a big yawn. It is very hard not to kiss him all the time." What more can a breeder ask for??

Bentley and his new family

All ears

2011-09-13T13:07:00.001-04:00

I love Vizsla ears. They are soft like velvet, pendulous and can flap in the wind. With puppies, we usually say they have to 'grow into their ears' since their ear flaps are often disproportionately bigger than their bodies.
These photos are of Tunder (Mr Black) born May 31, 2011, at around 14.5 weeks of age. My camera, set on burst mode, caught his ears in various interesting positions as he was running.

Like The Flying Nun

Curled for take-off


Bat-eared Vizsla

My ears will reach my destination before my body does.


All akimbo

Pets on furniture

2011-09-12T15:11:00.001-04:00

Sleeping on soft, cushy furniture must be in a Vizsla's DNA. After all, they were bred and raised by the nobility of Hungary - although some of the castles I've seen in Europe were furnished pretty sparsely so I don't know about soft surfaces in Hungarian castles. Nevertheless, Vizslas ~~gravitate to~~ think it's their right to sleep on sofas and beds and also think it's below their stature to sleep on something hard,
Karen Johnston who owns Will (Mr Turquoise) from our May 31, 2011 litter submitted photos of Will to Desire to Inspire and the web owner picked two of Will to display. Looks like Desire to Inspire does this every Monday so perhaps I should submit something in future.

http://www.desiretoinspire.net/blog/2011/9/12/mondays-pets-on-furniture.html

Honoring the 9/11 Rescue Dogs

2011-09-11T08:07:00.001-04:00

Today is the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks in the US and this post is dedicated to the four-legged heroes of 9/11 - the Rescue Dogs. Every day, dogs give their all for us but in these situations, they went far beyond the normal call of duty.

Source: http://www.dogheroesof911.com/photoslide.htm

Of the approximately 100 dogs that participated in the 9/11 search and rescue operation ten years ago, only about 12 are still alive today.

Fore more photos of the 9/11 rescue dogs, please visit http://www.dogheroesof911.com/photoslide.htm.

For more about these rescue dogs, go to:
http://news.yahoo.com/ceremonies-art-projects-honor-rescue-dogs-9-11-142600281.html

Update on Will (Mr Turquoise)

2011-09-10T17:53:00.000-04:00

I am like a "mother" when it comes to my fur-kids, i.e., the puppies I am responsible for bringing into this world and so I am always anxious (in a good way) to hear how they are doing, no matter what their ages. Of course, I always prefer happy news but I know that part of being a breeder is you have to take the bad with the good.
Anyway, I was thrilled to finally receive some photos of Will from Miska's May 31/11 litter. Will was originally Light Blue and then became Turquoise once I put collars on the pups. His humans had been very busy getting their 2 lovely daughters, Hannah and Emma ready for school as well as trying to finish their kitchen makeover. That plus dealing with a 10 week old puppy (at the time they got Will) has certainly kept them ultra busy. His human, Karen Johnston who has her own Blog - mainly about house and art design but she also blogs about Vizslas and other important things in her life - reports that Will was labelled "a perfect puppy" by their vet - unfortunately he acquired coccidia parasites from fecal contaminated ground after he went to his new home. Apart from that, he is perfect - well, ALMOST! He did ~~gnaw on~~ destroy Karen's FM red high heels. BIG NO NO Will!! But that's a classic case of "don't blame the puppy", blame the hu-mom-for-leaving-the-closet-door-open-aso-an-invitation-to-an-unsupervised-untrained-puppy-to-help-himself- to-leather-shoes! I see Karen has removed the post on her Blog about that episode! :-)

Will on his new bed

Stella's camping adventure

2011-09-09T06:41:00.000-04:00

Stella was Miss Red in our 2011 litter born May 31. I am getting great reports about her wonderful temperament and great intelligence from her new owner, Teri Martin, who is really enjoying Stella. Admittedly, I still really miss Miss Red but she is in a wonderful home so I can't ask for anything better. On the Labour Day weekend this month, Stella went camping with her humans and her buddy Riley, a very black, black Labrador.
Teri originally shared these photos on her Facebook page and she wrote. "We headed up to Summerland [BC] for the long weekend of camping and Stella did wonderfully. She travelled well and camped like she had been doing it forever. She slept without a crate (curled up with me) for up to ten hours without a peep." Judging from these photos, Stella loved the campground and especially the beach (who wouldn't??). She tuned out to be a good swimmer and a terrific retriever. Stella met another Vizsla puppy on the beach. The puppy was born 1 week before Stella. However, both the mom and this puppy (not Stella) are unregistered. Teri said "the pup was actually fairly timid and when she snarked at another dog in her face the woman grabbed her and disciplined her for "aggression". Too bad the owner of this puppy who is the "breeder" as well, doesn't understand fear behaviour. Clearly another backyard breeder of Vizslas located in BC. So sad. Buyer beware!! Anyway, Stella obviously had a great time and was a great puppy on her first camping adventure.

Thanks to Teri for these wonderful pictures of Stella.

Watching over her

2011-09-08T07:08:00.001-04:00

Bartok, a male Vizsla out of our 1998 litter - yes, he's 13.5 years old - recently acquired a new member - a baby girl named Cosima was born this summer to Bartok's humans, Renate and Oliver Gepraegs. Here is a photo of Bartok taken in July 2011, watching carefully over his new 'sister'.

"If I have to do a down stay, so should she! But why does she get a pillow & I don't?"

The Dreaded 9!

2011-09-07T05:53:00.003-04:00

Blaze, a beautiful male Vizsla out of our Miska-Ozzie breeding in 2008, has been sitting on 5 champion points for the past year. He needs a total of 10 points to earn his Canadian champion title. While that might sound easy, unfortunately, there are very few Vizslas being shown in conformation in Alberta where Blaze resides so it can be really tough to pick up points in that part of the country without other Vizslas to beat.

Anyway, this past weekend, Blaze was taken to dog shows in Kamloops BC with a pro handler (shown above) and lo and behold, good fortunate struck. He had competition!! Two other female Vizslas were entered in the multi-day show. But Blaze had to beat the competition to pick up points - that's the way dog shows work. More good fortune!! Blaze took Best of Breed on two days to earn 4 more points, bringing him to a total of 9! Yes!!! Just one more point to go!

On Monday, only one female was entered and all Blaze needed was to beat her and he would finish his title. But she was a 'no-show' and since Blaze didn't take a group placement (which could have earned him a point), he didn't pick up that last needed point on Monday. Instead, he's now sitting at 9 points. Aaaaarrrrgh!! What we call the 'dreaded 9' in show dog circles. So close but no cigar. While sometimes that last point can be difficult to earn - it's like it's bad luck or something - I am confident that Blaze will earn it. The question is not "if", but "when?". So congratulations to Blaze and his owners for 4 more points!!!

Thank heavens!

2011-09-05T21:10:00.000-04:00

Well, as of September 1, the Canadian chains called PJ's Pets and Pets Unlimited are reported to have stopped selling puppies in their stores. To the horror of many Vizsla breeders, Vizsla puppies were being sold in their stores - YES and at EXORBITANT prices!! Not surprisingly, several of them ended up in Vizsla Rescue. While we still have our fair share of backyard breeders and so-called reputable breeders pumping out 2 and more litters / year, at least the pet store supply in Canada has ended.

http://www.marketwire.com/press-release/national-chain-of-pet-stores-to-stop-selling-puppies-announces-partnership-with-spca-1550102.htm

Kong is King

2011-09-05T08:41:00.000-04:00

Kong makes great toys for dogs. In addition to their Air Dog toys which are Tyro's favourite toys, especially the ring (which I can't find on the Kong website but I hope it's still available because that's his all-time fav),

our Vizslas have several of their trademark rubber toys - the Kong classic - which are great for stuffing with treats, especially for puppies, to satisfy a dog's need to keep its mouth occupied.

One Kong toy I haven't tried with our dogs, but Bodi (out of our May 31, 2011 litter) has tried and enjoys is the Ballistic Ring. He seems to enjoy it so I guess that will be a future purchase for our dogs since it looks pretty durable. (Photos were taken by Corrine Sellars.)

Bodi with his Kong Ballistic Ring

Bodi

PS, when you visit the Kong website, click on the puzzle on the L side of their Fun Games for Pets & Humans menu on their home page. This puzzle contains a Vizsla!! It took me 17 minutes to do, but I didn't look at the photo until several minutes into the puzzle so I didn't know what the image was.

The relatives

2011-09-04T18:36:00.002-04:00

Recently Blaze (a 3-year-old male out of my 2008 litter between Miska and Ozzie) met up with 3 of his offspring - Sam, Ridley and Sydney born Dec. 15, 2010 and bred by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels of Blackbullets Vizslas - at a NAVHDA test in Alberta. Sam, Ridely and Sydney (F) are Miska's grandkids and great-grandkids of our beloved Sasha and Nova.

The photo below is a photo of Blaze and his son Sam taken by Blaze's owner, Barna Tanko in late August 2011. It originally appeared on Blaze's Blog.

L-R, Blaze and Sam

For more photos of our Vizsla relatives - Sam, Ridley and Syndey - please visit Sherryanne's Blog post. And congratulations to two of these puppies for obtaining their NAVHDA Natural Ability titles! They are: Blackbullet's Waltzing Matilda NAVHDA NA and Blackbullet Jewel's Kurri NAVHDA NA.

Early Thanksgiving?

2011-09-04T07:29:00.001-04:00

Well, yesterday evening I got a ~~BIG~~ HUGE and unexpected surprise. Miska came running out of the bush on our property (actually way too close to the road for comfort) carrying a WILD TURKEY! I was absolutely stunned. I called her to me and she ran with it in her mouth. All I could think to do was run to the house to grab my camera. It was still alive and she carried it all the way from the road to our house - over 400 feet. Wild turkeys are not small birds by any means and they can be difficult to hunt, so for Miska to 'bag' this one was quite a feat! By the time she got to the house and paraded it around a bit, she dropped it; she was tired.
The wild turkey was such a mixed blessing. Since it was still alive but not showing good signs for recovery, we had to figure out a way to humanely end its life. Not an easy task to take a life (except for ants, spiders, flies and other creepy crawlies). On one hand I really wanted to eat it; after all, how often does one get this opportunity? But I've never gutted and feathered - or whatever the label is for removing feathers - a bird before. So we decided to pass on the chance to dine on wild turkey and decided to let nature take its course after euthanizing it.

Thanks Miska. You are the most incredible hunting dog we've ever had - even if we don't always appreciate your presents as much as you'd perhaps like us to. But I know you were proud of your achievement (and truthfully, so am I). Well done Miska.

Miska gently lays her turkey on the ground

Miska and her prize wild turkey

Bodi is Blogging!

2011-09-03T08:46:00.000-04:00

Bodi was Mr Blue in our last litter born May 31, 2011. I'm delighted to learn that Bodi now has his own Blog called Urban Bodi!! Check it out at http://urbanbodi.blogspot.com/ In case you forget where the blog is located, I have it listed under Electronic Vizslas as Urban Bodi.

Bentley (Mr Green) update

2011-09-03T08:02:00.001-04:00

Bentley - looking regal just as his name suggets

Bentley's owners sent me photos of him in his new home. Bentley (born May 31) now lives with another Vizsla named Jasper who is also pictured below. It's another version of "it's a small world" because Jaspar's father is none other than Rex (Ch Varazs Blackbullets onthe Wing), a Vizsla I bred back in 1997 and sent to Alberta to live with Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels. Jaspar was born February 11, 2001 so he's now 10 years old. It's wonderful that Bentley has lots of company to entertain and keep him happy.

Bentley

Bentley looking very sweet

Jaspar

Jaspar looking very aristocratic

Stella (Miss Red) update

2011-08-27T08:28:00.004-04:00

Miss Red (born May 31, 2011) who was given the call name, Stella (L. star) now lives in N. Vancouver, BC along with a black labrador named Riley and a couple of cats. As of this week, she weighs 15.2 pounds, slightly more than 2 of her brothers!!

Her new owner, Teri Martin sent me these photos of Stella, some of which capture Stella's 'feisty' personality. Stella has been given a pretty pink collar now. She has started puppy classes at DogWise training school. Interestingly, Heather Lawson who started DogWise, used to live in Ontario and train her dogs with me at Campaign Dog Academy. Small world! I know that Stella will be able to continue being trained with positive methods and shaping thanks to Heather's expertise and credentials. Thanks Teri for sending me these photos of Stella! She is really missed here but I know she is in a wonderful home with you!

Stella looking very pretty


Stella with her new buddy, black Lab Riley

Stella and Riley

I'm running as fast as my little legs will carry me.

I can fetch!

If I can't fetch it, I'll try chewing it.

Excitement!

2011-08-23T16:44:00.000-04:00

Well, my life is very dull right now because I happened to get very excited when 12-week-old Tunder (Mr Black) went to the patio slider in our family room and rattled the vertical blinds. As soon as I heard the noise, I dashed to the family room to let him outside. Sure enough, he had to 'do his business". To us doggy people, that's a BIG and IMPORTANT development. AAAhhh, the one time I didn't have a treat in my pocket but he sure got lots of happy words and praise from me!

Far more exciting on this day was a 5.8 magnitude earthquake originating in W. Virginia. While it was felt in the Greater Toronto Area and way up in Ottawa an other parts of Ontario, I didn't feel the tremors here. Just as happy that I didn't but so glad Tunder is almost 100% house trained!

12 weeks old

2011-08-23T14:57:00.003-04:00

Today our six Miska-Brick puppies turn 12 weeks old! Three months have flown by already. While they are clearly puppies, they all resemble miniature versions of mature, adult Vizslas. Here's Mr. Black (currently Tunder) with his mom Miska, big sister Diva and Uncle Tyro. Yesterday Tunder and Bodi (Mr Blue) were at the vet for their second set of vaccinations and they weighed 14.6 and 15.6 pounds respectively.

The Mottely Crew (L-R Miska, Tunder, Diva, Tyro) taken Aug. 23, 2011

Self-control

2011-08-23T04:54:00.013-04:00

If you think you can't teach an 11 or 12-week old puppy impulse or self-control, think again. YES you CAN.

Of course, how effective you are depends on how good a dog trainer you are. Using Susan Garrett's "It's Yer Choice" game to teach this Vizsla puppy self-control, I have transferred the principle of self-control with a handful of treats to his food bowl. As you can see in the video, he is NOT lunging at his food.
He is holding back and demonstrating self-control even when he is clearly salivating and licking his lips. He has to wait for several seconds until he hears his release word which in this case is "Break" before he starts to eat, A few days after shooting this video, I am able to get him to almost 10 seconds before he starts to make a move on his own, If he moves towards his food, then the clock starts all over again until I say, "Break."

Here's a video of Susan Garrett herself, in action, to help you teach your puppy/dog impulse control. This also teaches the dog to work even when there is food around and gets you away from lure training. Lure training has quick results but once the food disappears, dogs have a lot of difficulty - and many fail - to perform the desired task. By teaching them this game, they are being shaped and demonstrate behaviours in order to get the treats. A far more successful method of training animals.

Big aaahhh factor

2011-08-22T07:00:00.000-04:00

There's nothing like sleepy/sleeping puppies and dogs to create the 'aaahhh' factor in humans. I actually thought it was Tyro who was sleeping with all 4's in the air but it turned out it was Diva!! AND, she was being touched by her younger half-brother, Tunder!

Tribute to Moms

2011-08-21T12:56:00.004-04:00

Tribute to Moms

Miska with one of her puppies (2011)

Miska contemplating

Mom in this case is Miska. She's been an awesome mother to 12 puppies, six in each of her two litters. But even before she had her own babies, she demonstrated wonderful maternal instincts when her younger siblings (our Nova-Hudson litter) were born in 2006. At that time, Miska was 3 years old and so badly wanted to join her mom, Nova, in the whelping box to help clean and nurse Nova's 8 puppies (even though Miska couldn't nurse at the time). It's really no surprise that she's been a fantastic mother because her mom, Nova, was tremendous, Miska's paternal grand-mother, Nekah was also an extremely devoted mother and Miska's maternal grand-ma, Bree, is wonderful around other dogs. As well, Miska's father, Sasha, was absolutely terrific with puppies and all dogs and Brick, the father of our 2011 litter also has a terrific personality. Adding to the wonderful temperament/fantastic mom list is Miska's sister/littermate, Shandy (2 litters), half-sister Mila sired by our Sasha) and niece Gypsy (who is Mila's daughter/Sasha's grand-daughter). All of these female Vizslas have been wonderful mothers to their puppies. So here's to you terrific Vizsla Moms!

It's so important to breed dogs with good temperaments. I know of a few Vizsla breeders that haven't always done this but they shall remain nameless. If you don't have a good stable temperament in the parents, then you are being irresponsible by breeding them.

Here's a short video clip created by Corrine Sellars of Miska watching over and trying to discipline her two puppies - 11 week-old Bodi (Mr Blue) and Tunder (Mr Black) who were acting crazy in our family room.

Shop t'il you drop

2011-08-20T08:24:00.000-04:00

Every dog's dream! To go 'shopping' in a pet store for all the stuff it loves. This video features a well-trained Vizsla but the German Shepherd kinda steals the show with more air time.

Life is tough

2011-08-19T18:17:00.000-04:00

In my next life, I want to come back as one of my Vizslas and live with a human like myself. I'd love to get 7-8 hours sleep each night, then have my meals served to me, and then have a nap right after breakfast in a luxurious Bowser Bed or on a couch or just have a good stretch with a favourite toy. Life is sure tough when you're a Vizsla!

Mr Black and his mom, Miska

Miska with a stuffed banana

Miska being goofy

Tyro - really chillin' out

Bodi plays an Ottosen dog puzzle

2011-08-19T10:17:00.002-04:00

Corrine sent me this short video of Bodi (Mr Blue) from our May 31, 2011 litter using his brains and his nose (rather than his paws for the most part) to search for treats in this Nina Ottosen dog brick puzzle.

Mr Black is baaaacck!!!

2011-08-18T15:12:00.001-04:00

Mr Black at 11 weeks of age

11-week-old Mr Black (black collar) from our May 31, 2011 litter is back with me now.

For about two weeks, he had accompanied Mr Blue (now Bodi) to live in Toronto with Corrine Sellars. After losing her precious Milo this spring and learning that this was going to be my last litter, Corrine badly wanted two dogs from me. At first I thought she was just joking about wanting two puppies, I warned her of the perils and pitfalls of getting two from the same litter and was very resistant to place 2 puppies with her - NOT because I didn't think she'd make a great owner. Au contraire, Corrine is an awesome owner and a very good dog trainer and did wonderful things and had many incredible achievements with Milo. She's a breeder's dream come true home for a puppy! And she was very serious about wanting two. After deciding Mr Black was not going to go to my co-breeder's home, I thought to myself - well, maybe it will work and if it does, both dogs will have absolutely fantastic homes and I will be the winner too, knowing someone is doing wonderful things with my puppies.

So initially we discussed a male/female combo which is always better but again, there are perils of having two intact dogs of opposite sex in the same house, and moreso if they are brother and sister. No way did she or I want an "oops" litter of such closely related dogs. So in the end, I suggested two males. If two intact boys are raised together, they are highly likely to get along, especially if there are no bitches in heat to deal with. So Black joined Blue (Bodi) and Corrine. During their time with Corrine, she did some awesome training with both. But it was becoming increasingly obvious that they were getting very bonded with each other. So much so that it was impossible for Corrine to have one out of the crate or outdoors while the other was inside the crate/house without the one that was left behind screaming his head off. And scream and scream and scream. One can only take so much of one puppy screaming, let alone two plus Corrine has close neighbours to contend with. So I suggested we separate them and Black came back to me. As soon as they were separated, they were entirely different - quiet and well behaved. It became very apparent that the "experiment' of two puppies living together wasn't going to work. So now, Mr Black is back with me and I am looking for his forever home which I would prefer is physically close to where I live, if possible.

Mr Black is a potential show quality/show pick male with good hunting /pointing instincts and:

is crate trained and loves his crate from Susan Garrett's Crate Games
sits and waits in his crate before being released
has been shaped for behaviour using positive methods
is 99% house trained (the 1% is due to his breeder's failure to pay attention)
is learning Susan Garrett's "It's Your Choice" game
is learning to wait patiently while his food bowl is lowered to the floor being being released to eat his food
is a good car traveler
has been exposed to some agility equipment and frozen birds
must be shown in conformation either by his breeder or by the new owner and remain intact
will have had two sets of vaccinations.

Buh-bye Bentley

2011-08-16T09:43:00.000-04:00

11 week old Bentley (Mr Green) out of our Miska-Brick puppies born May 31, 2011 departed yesterday on a jet plane along with his new family to live in Calgary Alberta. Bentley was a real sweetie, just a typical lover-boy Vizsla. The longer I had Bentley, the more I fell in love with him and it was mutual. While it was sad to say farewell, I know he's going to a wonderful home with 3 children and another Vizsla named Jasper who is 10 years old and also related to Bentley. Jaspar is out of our Rex (owned by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels of Alberta, Canada) who was whelped in 1997. As it turns out, two of Bentley's bigger, older brothers, Blaze and Gunner from Miska's first litter in 2008, also live in Calgary so he has canine family there. It's a small world in Vizslas.

These photos of Bentley were taken in the last few days he was with us.

Bentley, Bodi (Mr Blue), Tunder (Mr Black) with Tyro (foregrd), Miska and Diva (top)

Bentley with his muzzle in Tyro's mouth

Bentley absolutely loves being in a crate

Tyro and Bentley

Bentley (green), Bodi (orange collar) and Tunder (black)

3 brothers sharing a Bowser Bed

Bentley with his new mom, Leah Messenger

Big paws to fill

2011-08-15T14:04:00.001-04:00

Four of our Miska-Brick puppies born May 31, 2011 have gone to homes where the owners previously had wonderful Vizslas. Tunder (Mr Black) and Bodi (Mr BLue) have gone to Toronto with Corrine Sellars who sadly lost Milo in March of this year (yes, 2 puppies to one home which I said I would never do!). Will (Mr Turquoise) now lives in Oshawa with a family, Karen Johnston and Doug Wheeler. who had had 2 vizslas from me: Bob (1995-2009) and almost 15 yr-old Rita who passed away just 2 days before Will arrived at their home. Miss Yellow, now Elsie, went to live with Christopher and Christine Maloney of Buffalo NY who just lost their Vizsla named CSidney in May 2011 at the age of 13. So our puppies have big paws to fill and I am know they will never replace these dogs who were previously owned by these families and individuals but they will create their own unique places in their hearts.

Chris and Christine Maloney with Elsie (Miss Yellow)

Miska saying farewell to Black (Tunder) and Blue (Bodi)

Will (Turquoise) with his new humans and Miska (standing in for dearly and recently departed Rita)

Garden pot fun

2011-08-13T15:24:00.001-04:00

"Small things amuse small minds." Forget the expensive and overpriced dog toys, all it takes is something like a cheap garden pot to give puppies lots of fun.

Bentley (Mr Green) with the pot

About to run into a shrub

Bodi (Mr Blue) and Tunder (Black) play tug with the pot

Tunder lays claim to the pot

Bon voyage Miss Red

2011-08-12T09:20:00.000-04:00

"So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go

'Cause I'm leaving on a jet plane
I don't know when I'll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go"

John Denver, "Leaving On a Jet Plane"

Miss Red, now Stella (aka Feist) departed on a WestJet plane last Wednesday along with her new owner and mom, Teri Martin of West Vancouver, BC. Teri had an opportunity to combine business in Toronto with meeting me and picking up her new puppy so everything worked out really well. Teri brought with her a crate and blanket so Stella got used to them before she had to depart. Stella joins Riley, a black Labrador Retriever and a cat in her new household. Teri, your life will never the same now that you own a Vizsla!

Perfect angel

Kisses for my new mom

Pictures of Stella on her last day with her breeder and dog family.

10 weeks old

2011-08-09T15:05:00.000-04:00

Our Miska-Brick puppies are 10 weeks old today. There are two left, waiting to travel to their new homes out west (Alberta and British Columbia). Here are photos of Bentley (Green male) and Stella (Red female) taken in our garden this afternoon. The one of Yellow girl, now Elsie) was taken yesterday before she left for Buffalo, NY.

Pretty Stella

Handsome Bentley


Elsie (Miss Yellow) at 9 weeks and 6 days

And for a photo of Will (Turquoise boy), go to his owner's blog at:
http://mosaicworksca.blogspot.com/2011/08/im-officially-obsessed.html

Down to 3

2011-08-08T16:57:00.001-04:00

Three puppies have gone to their forever homes now and 3 are still with us but that will soon become two later today. Today was the last day Miss Red (now Stella), Miss Yellow (now Elsie) & Mr Green (Bentley) are together as a family unit as Yellow goes to her new home. I took everyone up the road to the neighbour's farm for a romp to tire them out.

Fun in the field

I call these Muffets because they look like the cereal

Stella watching the others

Bentley looking regal

Stella (Red) 'smokin' a stogie

Bentley likes sticks

Elsie (Yellow) looking pretty

Stella uses Tyro as a seat

Uncle Tyro is very accommodating with Stella

Not much difference in size between Stella & Bentley right now

Beautiful Blaze

2011-08-07T15:09:00.005-04:00

Blaze (Varazs Kedves Quasar) is from my 2008 litter. His mother is Miska who just whelped her second (and last) litter in May 2011. I used a stud dog imported from Australia, CH Hubertus Quality Control FDJ, to produce Blaze. I happen to love Blaze and think he is a gorgeous Vizsla with lovely conformation: a lot of substance, good bone, good chest & forechest, a nice head and topline. Of course, maybe I have 'kennel blindness' and am biased since I am his breeder; however, I think I have a good eye for a Vizsla and I can be, and have been, critical of my own dogs. He is one that would definitely turn my head in a breed line-up.

Blaze being stacked by handler, Larry Clark; photo by B. Tanko

Blaze hasn't finished his Championship title yet but he is extremely deserving of this title. He is sitting on 6 points and needs 4 more in Canada. All of his littermates finished their championship titles very quickly. One reason why Blaze hasn't finished is that there are virtually no other Vizslas being shown in Calgary and to earn points, a dog has to beat members of its own breed or take a placement in the group (Sporting dog group in this case). From what I've been told, the show ring is very competitive in Calgary/Edmonton although the same can be said of cities in Ontario. However, we have a lot more dog shows and a lot more Vizslas being shown in Ontario which is why his 4 other littermates finished their titles (the fifth is in California) because I showed all of them in Ontario. Unfortunately, the dog show ring can be 'political' and sometimes it's the two-legged creature at the other end of the lead that gets noticed more by the judges than the 4-legged one. Recently Blaze's owners hired a very expensive professional handler (wow, I couldn't believe how expensive this guy is!) and Blaze did 'make the cut' in the Sporting Group but didn't get a placement. Anyway, I just wanted to brag about this dog because I think he is a terrific looking Vizsla and is deserving to be labeled a Champion and one day, I know he will finish that title.

Please visit this link to see other photos of Blaze as he has his own Blog.

Blaze the Vizsla: Few photos from the latest dogshow

Flower power

2011-08-06T17:26:00.003-04:00

Our feisty, fun-loving Miss Red (now called Stella) took great exception to a coneflower and decided to attack it. Later Mr Green (Bentley) thought he'd give it a try too, but he was far more restrained. Anyway, Miss Red gave me a very humorous act which I caught on video.

I'm talking to you!!

If you won't listen, I'll eat you!

Crate(r) expectations

2011-08-06T09:37:00.000-04:00

Here's evidence of the power of shaping impulse control in dogs, in this case using Susan Garrett's Crate Games strategy. These Vizsla puppies are 9.5 weeks of age and managing to sit still - unrestrained - in their crates with the door open, waiting to be released. How awesome is that? Pretty darn awesome.

Country fun

2011-08-06T09:26:00.000-04:00

I took Miska, Tyro and Diva along with the four remaining puppies (2 have gone to their new homes) which turned 9 weeks old on August 2 to our neighbour's farm. The wheat or hay had just been harvested so it was possible for me to take them into a large field and keep track of where these little guys went. Unfortunately it was a dull, overcast and drizzly day; otherwise the rust colour of the pups against the golden stalks would have been much more dramatic.

Group transport

Turquoise's ears a-flyin'

New smells

Miss Red and the flowers

Wheee!!!

Turquoise boy

Gorgeous Mr Turquoise

Miss Red about to pounce

Diva

Crate expectations

2011-08-04T16:35:00.000-04:00

I've been "playing" Susan Garrett's Crate Games with the puppies so that they learn to love their crates. In addition, they are now getting fed their meals in their crates so that the crate has become a very positive place to be. Oh, I forgot to mention that they have been sleeping along in their crates for almost 1 week now. Mind you, the crates are stacked side by side but still, they don't have the warmth of another body under or over them for placation,

Anyway, this 'game" (i.e., training) is clearly making a difference because when the food bowls appear at meal time, they now eagerly clamber into a crate with no command. Miss Red, Green (Bentley) and Mr Turquoise were the quickest to learn; Miss Yellow struggled a lot but is almost on par with the others. And that's the whole point of shaping behaviour - you want the dog to make the 'choice' rather than forcing them to do something because you have reinforced the dog greatly for the behaviour. So while the cue of the food bowls wasn't too surprising, what did surprise me was when I reached to get each a little baby cookie to give them, they immediately ran inside their crate to get their reward!! The mere sound of extracting a cookie from the glass container was enough to cue them into a behaviour. Well done puppies!!!

Farewell Rita

2011-08-04T11:09:00.001-04:00

"Rita"

Lyons Keiralea Of Varazs

October 28, 1996 - August 4, 2011

Rita at age 14

Rita (L) in 2000

I just received word this morning that Karen Johnston and Doug Wheeler said goodbye to Rita today. She would have been 15 in October. I imported her in January 1997 from US breeder, Joy Lyons of Lyons Vizslas in Florida and later placed her with Karen and Doug.

Rita at 6 months old

Life is too short for dogs. We get to watch them as puppies all the way through old age. A dog will give its entire life to pleasing its humans.

Rest in peace Rita. You will be greatly missed by
Karen, Doug, Hannah and Emma.

Good hunting prospects

2011-08-03T15:19:00.001-04:00

It looks like we have some very good hunting prospects in this litter. You'd think so since the sire, Brick, has his AKC Master Hunter title and the dam, Miska, carries several hunting titles and loves to hunt! All the puppies were tested with a wing-on-a-string and a frozen quail. Mr Black and Mr Turquoise had the strongest pointing instincts of the 6. Each of these puppies locked immediately on point when they saw the wing and Turquoise even pointed a tiny feather on the ground. All pointed and all were very interested in the frozen quail. It certainly would be nice to see each of these 6 puppies get at least a junior hunting title although I know that won't the case. (And notice the nice tails on these puppies when they point!)

Mr Green (Bentley) on point

Intense pointing from Turquoise

Miss Red has lovely style

Hey, where's the rest of the bird?

Yellow on point

I ain't moving if it doesn't move

Mr Black finds the quail

I think I'll have a little taste

Black thinks the feet smell or taste good

Turquoise likes this sport!

Summer fun

2011-07-31T07:25:00.003-04:00

Last week, the pups and I headed up to the Muskoka lake area to visit Eileen Wilkes, owners of Bowsers and also the breeder of our beloved Nova who is the puppies' maternal grandmother. It was a nice chance for me to relax a bit and for the pups to learn to swim and have fun by a lake. Needless to say, a great time was had by all and all the pups learned to swim although none ventured into the lake on their own. But they were greatly aided by Eileen's 8-year old daughter, Erin, who is half-fish herself!

Great-grandma Bree

2011-07-30T07:58:00.000-04:00

Our Miska-Brick puppies visited their maternal great grandmother, Bree (CH Gardenway Celtic Breeze) who will be turning 14 on August 27! A very happy birthday to you Bree!!!

They were more thrilled to see her than she was to see them but Bree cooperated for a photo with 3 of the pups. The last time I visited Bree at the cottage was when I took her other great-grandpup, Diva, born 2008 to see her and I took a picture of them together.
http://varazsvizslas.blogspot.com/2009/08/divas-awesome-adventure.html

Bree, almost 14 years old in her favourite chair

Bree with 3 of her great-grandkids

Budding agility competitors

2011-07-29T19:26:00.000-04:00

As soon as possible, I expose puppies to a couple of pieces of agility equipment - the teeter totter (or see-saw as some call it) and the tunnel. The teeter is placed on a four-inch pipe so there is a little up and down movement but initially pups are too light to move it. So I let them run along the board and when they get close to the end, catch it so it doesn't move and then gently lower it to the ground. If they continue to stand or sit on the end of the board, then I manually raise and lower it so they can feel the sensation of movement. It doesn't take them long to start running along the entire board and as they get bigger and heavier, they can make it rise and fall, particularly if there is more than one puppy on the board!

Under rather than over the teeter

Mr Black is a real natural

Team effort

Stopping to snack on a leaf

Vizsla pups attack boy

2011-07-26T23:37:00.003-04:00

Vizsla pups attack boy; boy survives

I obviously need to breed Vizslas with better temperaments. These puppies are definitely NO good with children!! Ha, ha!

Thanks to Liza Armstrong who owns Miska's sister, Ruby, for allowing us to visit her son Ethan and her nephews, niece and sister-in-law all visiting from N. Vancouer, BC. Originally Liza was going to come out to my place but when she told me she'd put her back out and couldn't drive, I thought - hey, it would be great to take the pups into Toronto to a completely new environment. We were all amazed at the puppies' great bite inhibition. I don't think they nibbled a single toe and no hands! Since I don't have any young kids or even any grand-kids, I have to 'borrow' children to play with the pups.

Ethan with Mr Green

Liza, wishing she could have another Vizsla!

And for more photos of our horrible puppies mauling more children, please visit this link: http://mosaicworksca.blogspot.com/2011/07/who-could-resist.html

BIG big day #2!

2011-07-26T23:16:00.003-04:00

Yesterday was vaccination day and also puppy socialization day! All the VIP's were called in by my vet to assist, hold, cuddle and plays with the puppies while each was examined and vaccinated. Big thanks to Dr. Wimmers of Limestone Valley Animal Hospital, his receptionist Emma who had her hands full with puppies and managing the telephone, and his 3 beautiful daughters who were all thoroughly delighted to be a part of making the puppies' experience a very positive one. I am thrilled to report that all the puppies checked out A-OK in terms of their health and handled their first needle well. The 'crown jewels' on all the boys have appeared so there are no worries in that department. Puppies also received Sentinel Heartworm medication since we live in a hot spot for this parasite and they all checked out negative for parasites. A clean bill of health! Woo-hoo!

Along with this important visit, they had a very short visit to our conservation area and were introduced to dog crates, 2 puppies per crate during their daytime naps. And on the weekend, they saw an agility tunnel and got to run through it.

Organized chaos in the vet clinic; Miska (mom) gets her once-over from the vet

Miss Yellow waiting her turn for a needle

Now it's Yellow's turn

Mr Black calmly being examined

Emma and Dr, Wimmers' daughters

Emma has her hands very full!

Trying to sneak a drink from the milk bar.

Mr Green is tuckered out

Mr Black's turn to fall asleep

Happy Birthday to the Sasha-Lucy litter!

2011-07-25T07:52:00.000-04:00

HAPPY 12 BIRTHDAY TO

MILA, ELLIOTT, KOSMO AND

THE OTHER SZUNI VIZSLAS BORN JULY 25, 1999

Mila - M-OTCH Szuni's Shooting Star CD CDX UD FDJ FD FDX TD AGN AGI AGDC AADC CGC
Elliott - CH Szuni's Star Gazer
Kosmo - CH Szuni's Rising Star FD ADC CGC

These Vizslas were sired by our wonderful Sasha (Am/Cdn Ch Varazs Kiraly Sassy Sasha Am/Cdn CDX, Am RAE, FDJ, CGC, CGN) and whelped by Cdn Ch Pozsony Csongrad Lucy CDX FDX TD AGN CGC ("Lucy") on July 25, 1999. Their breeder is Susan Scobie of Szuni Reg'd Vizslas in Vancouver, BC. These photos were taken in August 2010 when they had turned 11. Sasha lived into his 16th year and I am hoping many of his kids live to that grand old age too.

L-R, Mila, Kosmo, Elliott

Sasha when he was 12 years of age

More photos of Kosmo, courtesy of her owner Arlana Taylor. What a beautiful senior Vizsla!!

Kosmo looks a lot like her dad in her face

Kosmo keeping warm

Kosmo posing so beautifully

Which is Will and which is Bentley?

2011-07-24T17:40:00.000-04:00

Two families who are getting boys have come up with their call names: Bentley and Will(iam).

Yesterday Bentley's owners visited from Calgary, AB yesterday and their son Trevor wanted to know, "Which puppy is Bentley?". Of course I couldn't tell them which of the 4 males they would be getting yet since we haven't done the evaluation. They thought that Bentley has a nice regal tone to it and I agree. They also have a 10-year old male Vizsla named Jasper who is out of Rex.

And another family from Oshawa, ON who have had 2 dogs from me - Bob and Rita - visited today to see the puppies for the first time. Rita was a Vizsla I imported from Joy Lyons of Lyons Vizslas in Florida and she is almost 15 yr old! She's going to get quite a surprise when a puppy arrives home in about another week. They narrowed their name search down to William or Will - very nice, especially if they were thinking about Prince William, Duke of Cambridge. Here they are visiting our puppies.

Keeping Kool Pt 2!

2011-07-24T17:29:00.000-04:00

The wading pool isn't just for the puppies! After a good dig in the woods, Diva, Miska & Tyro were more than ready to cool off in our continuing heat wave. Fortunately the dangerously high temperatures have done but it's very hot and still humid.

L-R Diva, Miska & Tyro

Family visit

2011-07-24T14:20:00.002-04:00

Miska visited her 3-yr old daughter, Piper (aka CH Varazs Kedves Quinn), yesterday after Miska's puppies from her second litter (DOB May 31/11) got tattooed. Piper is from Miska's first litter born June 16, 2008.

Miska (L) with daughter Piper

BIG big day!

2011-07-23T19:06:00.001-04:00

Yesterday was a big, somewhat traumatic and also FUN day for the puppies. It was TATTOO day! In accordance with the Animal Pedigree Act in Canada and the CKC regulations, each purebred dog must be individually identified with either a tattoo or a microchip. I don't like to microchip and so continue to tattoo my dogs although this practice is dying out in favour of the microchips. After the old fellow in Toronto who used to do tattoos for me retired and sold his business, I had to 'shop around' and finally found the Graham Animal Hospital in Hillsburgh, Ontario where tattooing is done with a tattoo pen (like in human tattoos) rather than a crimp tool.

So after their breakfast, mom Miska and all 6 puppies headed north to Hillsburgh for their tattoos. Except for 1 puppy who shall remain nameless, the rest were quiet through the procedure and while a couple struggled a little, they were very well behaved, aided of course by tasty Zuk's Mini Peanut Butter treats (a higher value treat than mere Nutro's Natural Balance Small Bites kibble that I blogged about recently). The vet staff were wonderful and were so amazed at how beautiful and clean the pups were. I said to them, "But aren't all puppies like that?" Not according to them!

Miss Red. I'm on the hind legs while another tech is at the front & the 2nd tech does the tattoos.

Getting Mr Black settled

Wow, that's almost art!

The vet tech in action.

Tattoo artist, Alysse and her helper

I think I'd like to keep BOTH these puppies!

Then after the tattooing was done, we stopped in to see my dog clients/friends, Cynthia and Greg and their 2 beautiful daughters, Lauren and Rae-Brynn, along with their dog Piper who is Miska's daughter from Miska's first litter. That makes Piper the puppies' half-sister. This is the fourth litter that has visited them after getting their tattoos. In fact, it was our 2003 litter (of which Miska was a puppy) that was the first litter which visited them and that was so memorable because shortly after I left Greg and Cynthia's to return home with Nova's 10 puppies, the huge blackout of 2003 occured just a few minutes before I arrived home and we were without power for almost 4 days with a litter of 10 puppies. It was NOT fun! But the puppies had a blast visiting Greg, Cynthia, Lauren, Rae & Piper and so the 45-minute ride back home was very, very quiet!!

Dad, pls don't replace me with a younger model (thinks Piper)

Piper thinks, "OK, let's play with my half-siblings"

Miska (Piper's mom), Piper & the puppies

Hey, these guys aren't so bad after all!

Lauren with Miska


Cynthia with a bundle of puppies secretly thinking, "I'd LOVE to keep one of these!"

And since it was another sweltering day, Miska, Piper and the puppies cooled off in Piper's wading pool.

Needless to say, the drive home was very, very quiet!

Intruder!

2011-07-23T09:37:00.000-04:00

In the middle of last night, I heard 1-2 puppies barking as well as the big dogs. Our adult Vizslas only bark in the night if there is a strange sound outside - or inside the house. I thought I heard a dog barking outside so thought perhaps that got them started. That in itself would be very unusual because the house is set deep in the woods and far from neighbours. However after about 60 seconds or so, everyone quietened down and we all went back to sleep. Then at around 6 AM, all of a sudden we heard a thud outside our bedroom door and thought, WTF?!!! Had someone broken into the house and that's why the dogs had barked? Or was a puppy lose in the house? I quickly got out of bed & went to investigate. I had absolutely nothing to defend myself with; perhaps if I flashed the intruder that would scare them to death (I'm no spring chicken any more!!). In the dark, I could see a large brown blob in the hallway and my first thought was - puppy poop!! Someone did a big dump! A puppy must have escaped - but how because I distinctly recalled latching their pen? When I turned on the light, I had a big shock. It was . . . . . .

Mr Toad!!

When did it get into the house? I know how it got in because he had been hanging around the back of the house and the patio slider for the past few days and nights - probably wanting to get into the house where it was cooler (we've been having an insane heat wave). In fact, I had first spotted him when the puppies were playing under some shrubs by the patio. He is HUGE!

So most likely when I took the puppies outside for their final pee before bedtime last night, he was by the patio door and just hopped inside the family room without my spotting him. And since the puppy pen is set up right by the patio door, Mr Toad must have made some noise to set them barking last night which then set off the big dogs. So we have good watch puppies and watch dogs!!! Anyway, having a large toad in the house is a first for us. (Thanks to Corrine for taking these pictures of Mr Toad for me when she was visiting.)

Mr Toad being relocated from puppies mouths and noses

Introducing Vacuum Monster

2011-07-22T17:43:00.002-04:00

Our Canadian house has a central vacuum (which I LOVE!) and every litter of puppies gets exposed to it. The puppies have had a brief encounter to the hard floor attachment once before, but not the power head. Well, technically that's not quite true. When Nora, our terrific cleaner, has been here the last three times (she comes bi-weekly), she has used the power head on the carpets when pups have been in the whelping box and in the puppy pen. So they have heard the sound and seen it close up but not had direct contact. In fact, Nora told me the power head seemed to calm them as they quietened down when she was vacuuming close them. Probably they were curious about the noise and the object which distracted them from screaming.

This morning I had an opportunity to bring out the power head since the pups had shredded one of the puppy pee pads. Nora had just cleaned yesterday so I was rather annoyed at the pups but what can you do? Every negative situation is a potential positive so I turned it into an opportunity to get them used to the power head. The results were mixed; 4 couldn't have cared a less and 2 were curious and very interested. Black was so focussed on getting treats from me that I don't even think he realized he was standing on the vacuum monster.

Black conquers the vacuum Monster

Here are the steps I took to introduce the vacuum monster. At each step, I gave puppies lots of treats.

Bring out the hose and place it on the floor. Treat the puppies for walking on/around it.
Plug in and turn on the air.
Move the power-head without the power being on (suction is on however).
Turn on the power-head.
Move the power-head.

As you can see from the video, it was a great success! No one was scared of the vacuum monster and most of them were very indifferent.

Unusual feeding places

2011-07-21T15:18:00.002-04:00

I decided to get creative on the feeding locations for my Miska-Brick puppies born May 31. This was largely driven by the fact that it was getting increasingly challenging as the pups grew and moved faster to try to feed several at the same time - well, more or less the same time depending on fast I could get the bowls down & the puppies to the bowl before one finished and ran to mooch from its littermate. Instead of group or 'family-style' feeding from the same bowl, each puppy has eaten from its own bowl since I started them on solid food. Initially I was able to separate them into 2 groups of 3 but when a baby-gate no longer worked, I had to develop a different strategy.

My solution? They are fed one at a time in places that are inaccessible to the other puppies (at least so far). Hence, the puppies have eaten in a sink, bathtub, countertop, desk, on top of a dryer (with the dryer on) as well as outside on the patio and on a straw mat in their ex-pen. And there are different surfaces in each of these locales too which adds to the list of surfaces they have been on - all part of their socialization. If they can eat with zeal in all of these places, they should want to eat anywhere and also not be apprehensive about being on different surfaces. Some puppies are very finicky or lacking in confidence so that if their food is set down in a spot/place they aren't used to, they won't eat. Not these guys!

Do all breeders do this to their puppies? Absolutely NOT! I am sure there are some who think of doing this but I suspect not many. After all, it does take more time to feed puppies one at a time and to move around to different parts of the house - time that many people don't have when raising a litter of puppies. And of course backyard breeders and puppy mills would never do this!

Blue is almost too big to fit into the laundry sink!

Does my dinner come with clean socks?

Miss Red enjoying her breakfast during the wrinkle-free setting

Green will finish his meal in 27 sec. (or less!) whereas the laundry has 27 min. to go

On a desk

Yellow in the bathtub

Hey, how come she gets to eat in the tub & we don't?

We want a turn in the bathtub!

Black dining a la stainless steel

Puppy training treats

2011-07-21T11:12:00.003-04:00

I discovered a great 'every day' training treat for the puppies - Nutro Natural Choice Lamb Meal/Rice Formula Small Bites. It's the Small Bites (very small pieces of kibble) product that make this treat so great to use. I had started to feed the puppies this food but stopped when they were continuing to have soft stools. The soft stools and diet could have been coincidental but now they are being fed another Nutro Natural Balance product with better success. However, a few of these Small Bites kibble rather than an entire diet doesn't seem to be upsetting their system.

Small Bite kibble next to a regular kibble and a Charlie Bear treat

When I refer to it as 'every day' training treat, it means that I will use something else that's more delectable for situations involving more challenging situations such as getting as having feet and teeth handled or getting nails clipped. For those situations, I have been using very tiny pieces of cheddar cheese. It's important to learn that treats have different value for your dog/puppy just as certain foods are craved/enjoyed (or not) by humans. So just for peeing or pooping outside, I will give the puppy one of these Small Bite treats or when they are moving back & forth on the teeter-totter or when the teeter is moving up/down and they are moving with it. Your puppy (or adult dog) doesn't need a chunk of steak as a reward; very small pieces of food work more effectively because the puppy can swallow it whole rather than having to take time to chew. Since shaping a behaviour depends on the timing and speed of treat delivery, you want something that puppies can inject quickly. These Small Bites kibble do the trick, plus they aren't messy in your hands and pockets!

Mr Green, cool dude

2011-07-20T13:51:00.000-04:00

Photos of Mr Green born May 31 taken over the past few days.

I hate papparrazzi!

Green attempts to nuzzle Diva, his half-sister, who is being extremely tolerant.

Hide and seek behind a rock

Be a COOL dog owner

2011-07-19T12:15:00.001-04:00

Even moderately hot temperatures combined with high humidity can be deadly for dogs because they cannot cool as efficiently as humans can. This week, the temperatures in much of Canada and the US are going to/have already reached sweltering and dangerous levels so PLEASE:

Limit the amount of exercise your pet gets (especially puppies, overweight dogs and dogs with heart conditions & Brachycephalic dogs) even in the cooler parts of the day.
Leave them at home in air conditioned rooms or with fans
Don't take them with you in the car to run errands. Even parked in shade, it's going to get exceedingly hot because of the humidity.

To learn more about the signs of heatstroke, click on this link:
http://www.petplace.com/dogs/be-a-cool-owner-don-t-let-your-dog-overheat/page1.aspx

Miss Red, aka "Feist"

2011-07-19T11:30:00.001-04:00

I have nicknamed Miss Red "Feist" short for Feisty because she has a lot of zip and sass and also tons of dexterity! Although she's smaller than the other puppies, she is the best and fastest climber in the litter, swiftly scaling a barrier that is supposed to keep puppies from entering the family room when I can't supervise them. She's up and over in a flash; just as soon as I 'rescue' her, she's back clambering over the 'wall'. And she doesn't mind sassing the big dogs and keeps coming back for more "punishment" even after they growl at her.

I can be sweet!

I can be bad too (but they GAVE me this box to play with).

Who me?

Learning to tug

2011-07-18T09:02:00.000-04:00

Here Miska teaches her puppies how to tug. While many people used to think that tugging with a dog was 'bad' because it would encourage aggression, we know differently these days! Of course, the game of tug has to be under the human's control. Here's a good answer to the question of will tugging make my dog aggressive from another one of my favourite and respected animal behaviourists, Dr. Ian Dunbar: http://dogtime.com/tug-of-war-with-dog-dunbar-faq.htm . In fact, it's absolutely critical to develop tug drive or toy drive if you plan on doing agility. Here's a link to a great article on creating a motivating toy from one of the world's top agility trainers, Susan Garrett, who happens to live practically next door to me (well, about 1 hour drive) and if you don't know about Susan Garrett and her training, you should check out her blog and her website. And from Susan, here is a list of over 60 tug toy ideas.

Mr Turquoise and his cute faces

2011-07-18T08:15:00.002-04:00

I love the heads on my Miska-Brick puppies born May 31! As the bumper sticker reads, "Life is too short to hunt with an ugly dog." and this sure can be said about Vizslas. Here is Mr Turquoise and some of his many expressions - handsome, cute and silly. (There is supposed to be a soundtrack with this video but YouTube is taking a very long time to do the audioswap so there may be no sound,

On the blocks

2011-07-17T15:07:00.001-04:00

Earlier this week, the puppies started learning how to 'stack' - the term that 'show people' use to describe how their dogs stand in the show ring. Stacking means getting your dog to do a stand/stay with feet and head in the 'proper' position so that a judge can evaluate its structure while it stands still.

The technique is I learned from Joy Lyons, breeder of Lyons Vizslas in Okeechobee Florida who bred and owned some outstanding show Vizslas, is to get the pups to stand on 4X4 or 6X6 blocks of wood. However, in this case I couldn't find any that size around the house so had to make do with blocks of 2X4's that were nailed together by Hugs for some other purpose. (PS - the nails are pointing downwards!!)

There are some rather expensive "stacking boxes" that one can purchase for this purpose but I thought it was way too pricey and opted to use Joy's method which is very cheap, with the same results IMO. The pups have been getting very short training sessions each day (maybe about 30 seconds each). At this point, all I want is for them to stand still on the blocks. I don't care about how their feet are placed or whether their back is roached or whether their neck is stretched out. All I want is for them to experience pleasure (i.e., treats of tiny, tiny bits of cheddar cheese) for simultaneously placing 4 feet on the blocks. After day 2, all had mastered this except Mr Blue who was more into the reward of the cheese without first demonstrating the behaviour! Thanks again to my 'assistant' Corrine Sellars who was on the other side of the camera while I showed her and the pups what the stacking game entailed.

I'm a good girlie!

Please, I want cheese!


Mr Turquoise is almost a pro at this

Corrine put together this cute video of Mr Blue who had an incredible nose for the cheese rather than a penchant for stacking that day.

BIG breakthrough!

2011-07-17T14:39:00.000-04:00

Last night was the first poop-free night! Yippee!!! Puppies went from about 11:30 PM until 7 AM. Good job!

Big dogs with puppies

2011-07-15T14:43:00.000-04:00

It's so critical for puppies to be raised with and spend time around well-mannered and good natured, adult dogs. The adult dogs teach them many important behaviours, one of them being bite inhibition. And the pups learn how to defer to the big guys. Here are our various 6-week old, Miska-Brick puppies born May 31 interacting with their mom, Miska, their 5-year old Uncle Tyro, and their 3-year old, half-sister Diva.

Tyro (male) says, "That's as close as you get to my privates!"

Miska disciplining her kids

Yellow with the big dogs

Tyro, being very tolerant

Here Miska tells her kids off for being brats.

The dog did it!

2011-07-15T08:28:00.000-04:00

If you thought that owning a dog was a contact sport and also dangerous to your health, you might have second thoughts about acquiring one of 'man's best friends' - and I am NOT referring to dog bites! Everyone who trains and competes with their dogs in various dog sports will experience falls, spills, twisted ankles etc. in agility or show ring and in hunt/field tests. Those don't usually involve actual contact with the dog although it's very possible in agility where things happen so fast that sometimes crashes are inevitable.

Over the years I've sustained a torn meniscus, twisted ankles, a broken toe and lots of scratches (from their nails) as a result of doing something with my dog(s). Recently, it was a different type of injury. And truthfully, my dog really did do it. He gave me a black eye! How did it happen? I was reaching down to pick up a puppy and Tyro, my sweet 5-year-old male Vizsla, was milling around me and just happened to do a hop and skip as I reached down. The result was a bone to bone encounter of the extremely painful kind - at least for me! He got me right by the upper corner of my L eye socket. Most dog owners would probably think it was Hubs who did it but dog owners wrote me to say something similar or worse (like chipped teeth) had happened to them. Mine is 'only' a bad bruise and will heal without expense in a couple of weeks.

Day 1, not too bad

Day 2 - getting worse

Day 3 - do I dare appear in public w/o sunglasses?

The nose knows

2011-07-14T14:47:00.000-04:00

The puppies have great noses and Miss Red, in particular, seems to have an amazing sense of smell. She found a bit of snake skin that one of our gartners snakes had just shed (I had seen the gartner snake slithering around in the garden with its shed skin still partially on). Anyway, she immediately snapped it up and was just about to swallow it when I managed to wrestle it from the back of her throat. She didn't want to give it up! Then another puppy found an entire skin in the wood pile where clearly the snakes were hanging out. Later, Miss Red & Mr Turquoise kept sniffing around a large stone slab on our patio and would not leave the spot. Well, our garter snakes hang out there and clearly the puppies could smell one (or more). The photo shows what the puppies found.

Snake skins from their molt

Week 6 - turning point

2011-07-14T08:15:00.001-04:00

I'm an angel!

The devil made me do it!

The start of week 6 is bringing lots of changes in the puppies' development. In fact, it's a turning point. They are turning into hellions on paws!!!

They are now climbing big time. Today Black tried to scale the ex-pen. Yesterday Black & Miss Yellow escaped over a barrier when I was trying to feed other pups. This morning I found all 6 puppies on the other side of a baby gate - where they were NOT supposed to be. How in the heck did they do that? Blue is mounting other puppies; he climbed into a container where we keep newspapers and was having a go at shredding them. Miss Red tries to take on the big dogs and she athletically scales a barrier that is supposed to keep her and the puppies out of the family room when we're not there. Green and Turquoise just follow suit, shredding newspaper when they can get it and screaming their heads off when I bring them their meals. Aaarrrhhhh! I am so glad Miska didn't have a litter of 10 puppies! I would be insane by now.

Pool 'party'

2011-07-13T13:02:00.000-04:00

On July 11, the pups had their first experience with our wading pool which surprisingly had sprung no major leaks since it was last used 3 years ago for Miska's previous litter. For their first time in, I just added about 1 inch of water so they could feel water on all their feet. They were curious about the pool but not terribly impressed with the experience of getting their paws wet. Things will change!

Hmmmm I haven't seen this before.

Should we join you?

Nope, don't like it.

Looks inviting?

Yuck - wet paws!

Not sure about this.

Mr Black is considering it or else he's inspecting the octopus.