Rufus (
CH Blackbullets Varazs Grof Rufus), a senior Vizsla born February 2, 2004 whose owners are now both dead, came to stay with me for several days this past week while I assessed him and helped the breeders find his new forever home.
I am pleased to say he is a wonderful dog! He's in great shape - perhaps a mere 1-2 pounds overweight (I wish I was so lucky!!) and from his records, he seems to be very healthy. Part of one toe - to just above the nail - was amputated, there is one small fatty lipoma on his chest and he has some black spots on his eyelids. I will discuss these with his vet as they
can be malignant, but not always. Rufus was wearing an anti-bark collar when I picked him up. Rufus was, understandably, stressed to have his owner die as he was
living alone with him at the time of the owners death. I hadn't seen
him in about 7 years and doubt that he remembered me at all. His owners
always brought him to the dog shows when I showed him so he never
stayed with me.
Day 1 - At my place, he was introduced to his slightly older cousin,
Miska and our other two Vizslas. Miska and Rufus share the same maternal grandmother (Am/Can Ch Maritza of Kezdet
Nekah Am/Can CD CGC) which makes them cousins. Miska is 7 months older than Rufus; Rufus is now 9.5 yr. I wasn't sure about Rufus' recalls so I kept him firmly and safely on a Flexi to ensure he didn't run away. He didn't really respond well to his name or to a recall command but I chalk that up to too many distractions and stress. Rufus DOES love treats and does love to eat and his appetite certainly wasn't affected. A dog after my own heart!!
Day 2 - Rufus cried a couple of times in his crate overnight. Strange place, still strange smells but he quickly settled until about 8 AM. He was much more relaxed today. Rufus was an only dog so it's taking him a little time to get used to 3 other Vizslas, all similar in size. Rufus was friends with a Cocker Spaniel but Vizslas, as we know, are different. He's had to tell my dogs to give him some space and that's OK.
Day 3 and beyond - Rufus is settling in better with me and my dogs. His only problem is, he does not seem to like my husband very much. This is causing some concern, especially for my husband. From all the reports we received from his family and an acquaintance of mine who owns Vizslas and who occasionally met up with Rufus and his owner at a local dog park, Rufus has always been good with other people, males and females. and dogs. So at this point, I am chalking up this behaviour towards my husband as something that isn't ingrained in him (likely due to the sudden death of his owner and the stress and grief he's going through) and hopefully, he will become positive towards males again. He's a very smart Vizsla (already learning self-control and other new behaviours) so I am very confident his faith in men will be restored.
Here are some photos and videos of Rufus.
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| Rufus at the back, with Diva (L) and Tyro (R) |
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| Rufus with his relatives: cousin Miska, Tyro, Diva |
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| Tyro, Miska, Diva and Rufus |
