Are you fit enough for a Vizsla?

"A Vizsla is a very special dog, full of energy and therefore not the easiest one! Please be absolutely sure that you are able to offer him almost all of your free time (...and the right occupation...)" Sharing a Youtube video posted by wwwmagyarvizslalu

I think it's so important to give a Vizsla a 'job' because for scores of decades, they have been bred to hunt and these genes are still present and strong in this breed. However, since so few of us hunt for our food these days (sorry but taking your Vizsla to the store and hunting through the grocery shelves for the food you want doesn't qualify as hunting), you can take the dog out of the hunt but you can't take the hunt out of the dog. Therefore, they have energy to burn. Get your Vizsla involved in dog sports whether it's agility, rally obedience, rally, tracking or field work and they will not only love you for it, they will eventually become tired out and as we all know, a tired dog is a happy dog! (Look closely at the caption at the end of the video.)

Nasty deer flies

Our cool, wet summer weather this year is good for deer flies but really bad news for our dogs and us. "Deer flies are vicious painful biters that are relentless in their pursuit of blood to the point of a meal or death" is what one website states, also calling them "black flies on steroids". And I can attest to these statements. They are horrible and they sure hurt when they bite me. Unfortunately, they really pester our dogs.

Here are photos of Tyro with his reactions from deer fly bites from the walk we took through the woods today. He tends to react more than Diva or Miska but they all have reactions although his are usually larger. Poor boy!



Other than staying indoors over summer and waiting until winter sets in - which begs the question - why do I live in SW Ontario with its 6-month winters, bad mosquitoes/black flies/deer &horse flies/wasps, usually sweltering summers of high temperatures and high humidity which drives everyone indoors, and about 2 weeks of decent weather out of 52? - I don't know how to prevent our dogs from being bitten as these flies tend to prefer animals over humans. I welcome suggestions and advice!

10 years young!

Susan Scobie's Sasha-Lucy breeding turns 10 years old today (July 25, 2009). Susan celebrated last week with a dog walk along the beach in Vancouver, BC. Sasha, their sire, is my beloved Vizsla from our first Vizsla litter, who passed away January 22, 2008 in his 16th year.

The weather was perfect for the birthday bash and there was a good turnout of Vizslas and their humans. Three of Sasha's kids from this breeding came out for the fun: Susan's Mila as well as sister Kosmo and brother Elliot. Plus Chrissie & Jens Diron who own another Sasha daughter, Shandy, from my Sasha-Nova breeding, make the long trek from Vancouver Is. with Shandy and their 3 other Vizslas, including a Sasha grand-daughter, Pia. I wish I could have been there to have seen everyone but instead, the photos will have do. Thanks to Susan for sharing these wonderful pictures of the Sasha-Lucy gang and of Mila's kids (more of Sasha's grandkids).

Happy 10th Birthday to Mila, Kosmo, Elliot and the others from that litter
who couldn't make it to the party. May you live as long and
even longer than your dad, Sasha.
Much love from Sylvia & the Varazs Vizslas.

A view of the beach

The spread for the humans and dogs

The birthday Vizslas: L-R Mila, Kosmo, Elliot

Mila and her kids. L-R Luna,Uma,Zuzu,Gypsy,Mila and son Milo

2 generations: Gypsy (Mila's daughter), Mila, Shandy & Pia (Shandy's daughter)

Many of the birthday party participants

Chrissie with Sasha's grand-daughter, Pia

Miska's visit to Georgetown

While we vacationed in Vermont for a few days, Miska went to Georgetown, Ontario and stayed with her friend, Misha, another 6-year old Vizsla. Next month, Misha will come stay with us for a few weeks. (Yes, having 2 dogs with virtually identical names in the house does get a little confusing!) Here are a few photos of Miska and Misha, taken by Tracey Craig.

Miska on her donut bed.

Miska - "I'm being a perfect Vizsla!"

Bookends (our Miska is on the L)

Miska fetching her toy

Great grandpuppies

Jewel (CH Blackbullet Varazs Legacy NAVHDA NA PRIZE ll) is a grand-daughter of our foundation bitch, Nekah (Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD CGC). Jewel was bred and is owned by Sherryanne Farr and Wes Daniels of Blackbullet Dalmatians and Vizslas in Alberta, Canada. Jewel was recently mated with Am CH Jaybren's Heart's Desire, Am RN Am CD and produced 8 puppies (7 boys and 1 girl) on July 5, 2009. This was her second litter and her puppies are great grandkids to our Nekah. Thank you to Sherryanne for sharing these recent photos of Jewel's puppies with me.

Zsofi's back!

Zsofi has returned for another few days of dog sitting & I am so thrilled. What a sweetheart Vizsla she is. Her parents are Sasha & Nova, so it's no wonder she's such a sweetie. And Zsofi is so playful. It's easy to wind her up & get her so excited, just like I could do with her mom Nova.

Here are two videos from Zsofi's last visit not very long ago.



In the video below, Quest is wearing the green collar. He leaps into the water first; his Aunt Zsofi follows & then proceeds to steal the stick he's worked hard to fetch. Zsofi is 6 yr and Quest is 13 months old.

Family reunion

L-R Zsofi, Miska & Vadasz (6 yr old)

Vadasz, Quest (Miska's son), Zsofi & Miska

Zsofi (L) and Vadasz (R) playing tug with a stick. Quest is in the middle, being an annoyance.

Zsofi, wearing 3 collars

Zsofi leaping out of the water.

Zsofi, Miska and Vadasz had a brief family reunion, taking a nice walk and swim at the conservation area across from our home. These are 3 littermates and offspring of our Sasha-Nova breeding. I sure love these dogs; they have fabulous temperaments and great looks and conformation. Whenever they visit or get together, I have to get my camera out.

First points for Blaze

Blaze (Varazs Kedves Quasar) (above, Right) did very well this weekend at dog shows in Alberta, picking up his first 4 points! And he was owner-handled which is another nice achievement. Congratulations to Blaze and Iulia!!

Blaze has really matured and filled out a lot in the past couple of months and his family has also become more confident and experienced at show handling. And it has paid off! Woo-hoo Blaze! For more photos from his show weekend, click here.

Show weekend

Both Quest & his aunt Zsofi are staying with us this weekend. Zsofi is here for boarding & Quest is here for shows in Woodstock, Ontario. Both Quest & his sister, Diva, are entered in dog shows all 3 days. Yesterday they didn't pick up any points but were "in the ribbons" as we say. Quest was being handled by a new handler with not much time to get used to her so he was looking around for me. And he's still on the thin side. As a result, he placed 3rd in his class.

Diva fared better. She's looking great! In fact, we were in first place in her class but on the last go-around, the judge moved another bitch up to 1st so we had to settle for 2nd place. I think the reason was that Diva was limping a little. I had noticed it before we went into the ring but she seemed to improved while in the ring. However, her limp showed. Fortunately, I had already scheduled an appointment with Gloria, our doggie chiropractor, for later in the afternoon. Gloria did find some inflammation and a lot of tightness in Diva's withers. Then I remembered that Diva and Tyro had been racing around the yard the day before and I heard a yelp. I didn't know which dog it was at the time but now I know. I didn't notice her limping then but sometimes it takes time for the pain and stiffness to come about. Of course, this has to happen just before a show! After her adjustment, Diva was a little better but she's being rested in her crate now. She's rather be playing with her brother Quest and her aunt Zsofi but she does need to recuperate. We'll see how today and tomorrow go. Today there are thunderstorms and heavy rain across all of SW Ontario so likely we'll be showing in the pouring rain - if that show isn't canceled because of lightning. That happened once before several years ago at this venue.

Missing Nova

One month ago today (June 8), we had to say farewell to our beloved Nova. The sorrow and grief are still very strong and it's hard to believe she is never coming back. I try to cheer myself up with looking at videos of her. At least it makes me think part of her is still alive. The first video captures much of her goofy, fun-loving essence which is what made her such a huge and endearing presence in our house. Nova, I love you and miss you so much.



Nova had a unique (amongst our Vizslas anyway) habit of humping beds. The video below shows her doing just that in 2006. Our beloved Sasha is standing by, wondering what all the fuss is about.

Protest use of Cesar Millan as spokesperson

Please sign a petition protesting the use of Cesar Millan as a spokesperson for Merial, a veterinary healthcare company and leader in this industry.

Link that provides a copy of the letter from the American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior http://www.petitiononline.com/AVSABCMX/petition.html

Link to sign the Petition http://www.petitiononline.com/AVSABCMX/petition-sign.html

An excerpt of the AVSAB's letter and reason for their petition

"The executive board of the American Veterinary Society of Animal
Behavior is deeply troubled to learn that Merial, a leader in the
veterinary healthcare industry, is using Cesar Millan in a
promotional campaign for Heartgard and Frontline. We are even more
disturbed to find that Merial is cross-promoting Mr. Millan's
behavior video as part of this campaign. Merial's executives may not
be aware of the fact that the American College of Veterinary
Behaviorists (ACVB), the American Veterinary Society of Animal
Behavior (AVSAB) and the Society of Veterinary Behavior Technicians
(SVBT) have uniformly spoken out against the punishment-based
techniques employed by Mr. Millan on his television show "The Dog
Whisperer." "

About the ACSAB
The American Veterinary Society of Animal Behavior promotes and supports veterinarians who treat behavioral problems suffered by their animal patients and serves to educate both veterinarians and the general public on matters regarding animal behavior and welfare. AVSAB derives its humane behavior modification techniques from the field of applied animal behavior where veterinary and behavioral science professionals specialize in applying scientific principles, learned from the study of domestic and wild animal behavior, learning theory, and counseling, to companion animals.

Chloe

Chloe at around 8 weeks of age.

Chloe, 1 year old

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Chloe, Varazs Chloe's Spring Cantata, on July 2, 2009. Chloe had recently celebrated her 12th birthday on June 5, 2009. She had just been diagnosed with kidney disease and with an extremely elevated creatinine level, was not expected to survive for long. Chloe, and her owner Lana, lived in Manitoba and British Columbia. I had the opportunity to meet Lana and see Chloe again, many years ago when they lived in BC and several years later, they returned to Manitoba. When she was younger, Chloe looked so much like her sisters Keira and Tasha. All the dogs from this breeding are now gone, as are their dam (Am/Can CH Maritza of Kezdet Nekah Am/Can CD CGC TT) and sire (BISS Am CH Emerald Legacy's Prime Time).

Rest in peace, sweet Chloe.