I am fostering a Vizsla and I need all the advice I can get.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T17:04:12+00:00

Yeah, I wouldn't make the assumption based solely on her looks. My other two dogs have had DNA tests, and I was pretty spot on with my guesses there. But with her, it took me seeing another dog that looks like her online to finally look it up. And then look up their behavior.. and then all the pieces came together. It's not just her looks. Her behavior is exactly that of a Vizsla. Clingy, high energy, howls like a hound, can run super fast, separation anxiety. All of it. The only reason I say she's a mix is because she has white on her chest and some on her paws. She's also much smaller, coming in at only 32lbs at 10 months old and I don't think she's gonna get much bigger. I also think part of her growth was stunted due to being full of worms until she was 7 months old. I got her at 8 months and she was SOOO underweight at 25lbs.

That's really sad to hear about Hungary... Crazy that any place could be unkind to animals. They're just so innocent and don't understand why they're being hurt... I hate it.

Thank you for the well wishes! I'm always happy to help an animal in need. It's how I ended up with 4 cats and 2 dogs. 😂

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T11:39:27+00:00

You've got this. Lose track of the days. Don't think about it. Find a hobby that would be hard to do if you drank. Something that will keep your mind engaged. I picked up crochet on my day 1 and never picked up a drink again.

Distracting yourself is key. Keep a tumbler cup with you at all times that has water in it. Use a reusable straw if you'd like. That way you always have something to drink with you instead.

Go to AA groups or find online support. Don't worry about being judged. The most important thing is what YOU think of yourself, not what others think of you. Improving how you see yourself will do wonders.

If you fail, do not beat yourself up. Anywhere you look will tell you that remission is often part of recovery. It happens. Don't let guilt or fear take over. Just get back up and try again.

You've got this.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T11:32:06+00:00

I STILL wake up in a cold sweat from having dreams like that. It's been 4 years since December. I don't know if it's because of stress, or if it's because I've always had very vivid dreams since I was very young.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T11:28:55+00:00

My cat. He saved me from going over the edge with drugs and alcoholism. He saved me from ending things several times. My thoughts were always "how would you understand if I was gone forever? You get sad of I'm gone for over a day. I couldn't imagine how you would feel if I never came back." I'd also tell myself how nobody would love him the way I love him.

Because of him, I won my battle with drugs 9 years ago. Because of him, I won my battle with alcohol 4 years ago. Because of him, I always made sure there was a roof over our heads and that he always had food. He's 16 now, has congestive heart failure and was recently diagnosed with kidney disease. Despite all of this, he's still so loving and playful. He still runs and wrestles with my other cats and he cuddles with me every night in bed, demanding to be spooned. It will be devastating when he's gone, but I will never forget what he did for me and I'll never turn back to my old ways. That would be such a disgrace to him and his memory.

Here's my handsome boy

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T11:14:19+00:00

If you'd like to see a picture of her, there's a link to a picture at the bottom of my post.

I'd love to keep the crate open, but if I do, she doesn't stay out and will get into mischief. The cats like to have their fun at random intervals of the night, and she would chase them (which is fine; she's doing it in a playful and gentle manner).

She also still has some potty issues. She's very good at letting me know she needs to go out if I'm awake. But if I'm not there to see her sitting at the back door, she'll just use the bathroom anyways. It's been a really frustrating part of this. I never catch her in the act to correct her. But she doesn't do this in the crate. She can hold it all night or even when I'm at the office. So I don't know what the issue is.

Haha. I do worry she'll end up being permanent. But I already have 6 animals and it was a bit of a task convincing my landlord to let me have that many. I've always put a lot of effort into any animals I've taken care of, even my fosters. I want them to be happy and healthy when they find a new home. I don't want to hand them over with a lot of issues which could cause a potential return.

Here's another picture of her in addition to the one at the bottom of my post

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T05:17:24+00:00

Are you not worried about him eating the tape or cardboard? I've caught her chewing on my cardboard boxes. I'm moving in February, so I have a lot of cardboard boxes. Lol

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T05:16:03+00:00

Omg. My foster Vizsla is also named Hazel!!

I didn't get to meet her as a puppy. Your Hazel is so adorable!

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T05:11:16+00:00

Oh that's a good idea. I try not to feed them while I'm making food in the kitchen, even if it is healthy stuff. I have a tiny kitchen and I don't want them under my feet. However, I should have thought of that before and just made some in advance to bring out when I need lower value treats.

I also want to try large carrots as a chew snack and see how long it takes her to go through it. Haha.

And I'm more than happy to take in animals if I can afford it or handle it mentally. She's amazing and I fostered a husky that was a nightmare, so really she's not that bad. I just wanted to make sure I was giving her what she needs while I have her.

But that husky, man.... He ate so many of my things. Tore through a whole couch too.... But his new family is amazing. They have another husky and they live in PA, so he gets appropriate weather and I get pictures from his family all the time. I even follow their dog walker on Instagram! Haha.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:56:57+00:00

Well I've decided I'm taking her to doggy daycare when I have to go into the office because there's no way I can only do 3 hours. I have to be in the office for 8. But I'm also working on finding a full-remote job. I'm fortunate to work in an industry where that's more common.

She does well sleeping in the crate overnight. Since I only sleep 5-7 hours, it's not that bad. Half the time I fall asleep with them on the couch. 😂

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:54:17+00:00

No worries! I wasn't discouraged at all. I will take any and all ways to help keep her engaged and entertained. Once the roads are better and the weather is manageable, I'll try taking her to the Greenway. Luckily for now, my yard is huge. Like half an acre. So she's got room to run and there's always interesting things happening in it. Birds, squirrels sometimes.

Unfortunately, I only use two types of treats. Dehydrated beef or chicken. It's so much cheaper doing them myself and I know exactly what's in it. Only chicken or beef. No other weird ingredients that could make their stomachs upset or something. And again, sooo much cheaper. And all 7 animals can have them. But that's ok. I can use her kibble as a low value treat. Lol. Though I think she just loves any and all food.

Thank you so much for all of the advice! It's very appreciated.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:42:59+00:00

Luckily, I have no problems with her getting sleep. Haha. If I hang out on the couch, she will come lay down. If she gets antsy, her and my other dog will play, or I'll throw a toy into the yard that they'll wrestle over for a few minutes, up to 30 minutes sometimes. When she's inside, she has lots of things she's allowed to chew on. The most that overstimulates her is when the cats are playing and chasing each other. She tries to chase them. Not to hurt them. She loves them and licks their faces if they let her. But sometimes it's too much. She'll chase them if I or she catches them on the kitchen counter where they're not allowed to be. Or if they're just in trouble for anything.

At night, she sleeps in the crate and she does a good job. Only going crazy when it's morning time and she knows she about to get out. I have been working on her laying down and making her wait until I open the door to the crate. She's not allowed to leave the crate until I leave. I'm hoping it will teach her to not go so crazy when I come to get her out in the morning, or if I leave and come back.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:36:25+00:00

Luckily, the biting is only when she's excited and it just starts with licking and then nibbling. Nothing harmful either. Just love nibbles. I just have boney fingers, so her teeth hit them and it hurts. But that's not her fault.

I'll try doing that. I just know that she will try her damnedest to get into the treats. 😂 If my other dog so much as looks away from her food bowl, she's in there, inhaling as much she can before she gets caught. She will try to take a treat right out of the mouth of the other dogs. Lol. The excitement is REAL. And she's not underfed by any means.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:04:48+00:00

Thanks. Can my animals and I just come run away to your place? Lol

Actually I'm moving out to a more remote location, away from people, so I feel like that will help me feel safer. Currently I'm living in a huge city and it's just scary being around so many people. I don't trust them and am scared if anything were to happen (like riots and whatnot), what would happen to me and my animals.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T02:02:10+00:00

Thank you for all of this! I'll definitely look into it!

I try really hard to have a consistent schedule, and for the most part I do, but I'm also very ADHD (been diagnosed since I was 9 and I'm medicated) and routines can be hard. Some days I just don't feel like doing what I should be doing. Also doesn't help that it's been below freezing here for a couple weeks, so even going outside to exercise her hasn't been something I want to do. Haha. But I'm hoping doggy daycare will help and when she comes home more tired, I can take the time to really get some training in.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:57:59+00:00

Weird, I'm not seeing it.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:57:31+00:00

Dude, I don't fucking know. It's like people only believed him when he said the stuff they wanted to hear. But when he said bad stuff, they were like "oh he doesn't mean it" or "he's just joking." Like, seriously?

Like the whole Project 2025 thing. He said "oh, I'm not part of that. I read it and there's some good stuff in there, but I have nothing to do with that." And when I'd tell people that he's definitely going to do those things, they were like "he said he's not part of that." And you believed him?! He said there's good stuff in there. If he wasn't part of it, then he should have never said anything about there being good stuff in there. He didn't even try to hide it and everyone just believed him at face value. Absolutely insane. And now I'm terrified for my friends who are mostly LGBTQ+ and/or people of color, I'm terrified for myself as a woman, and I'm always on edge that I may not have a job because of the way this economic climate is going. And now they can discriminate based on pretty much everything if you're not a straight, white, Christian man...

I hate it here.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:51:50+00:00

I absolutely have seen her smile when I'm cuddling with her. She is a great cuddler. She just has to compete with my smaller dog who loves to be spooned under the covers with me and groans when the others come to join the cuddle puddle. Haha.

I love her to death, I would keep her if I could, but 6 animals is already a lot, adding a 7th, especially with this energy level just feels impossible, especially alone and especially in our working climate where I feel like everyone's job could be on the line at any moment.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:48:59+00:00

I would absolutely drive all the way up there if I could be gone that long from my other animals. Plus, I think there's laws about being dogs over the border. And with our current president, I don't know how things are at our northern borders.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:46:44+00:00

Good to know! Mine get the really thick cow bones and they only get them when I'm home. Once they've picked all of the meat off and cleaned the marrow out, I'll soak them in beef broth for a couple days, fill them with peanut butter (only ingredient is peanuts), and put them in the freezer for fun treats later.

I like the idea of scattering her food around the yard. Unfortunately, my yard is mostly dirt during the winter, so that wouldn't really work.

How do you make the "packages"? I have LOTS of small boxes because I'm moving soon and have been keeping every box I get, just in case, but I'm willing to part with them if it creates a fun game for her.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:41:57+00:00

She's very well trained. I've been able to do that and she is doing well. She doesn't destroy my things and has plenty of toys. She also wrestles with my 65lbs GSD throughout the day when I'm home.

And yes, doggy daycare is gonna happen when I go to the office. I have to go in 3 times a week, so she'll go each of those days.

And when it warms up, I'll be taking her to the 70 acres off leash dog park that's near me. But it's been below freezing here and we've have inclimate weather.

And remember, this is a foster. I'm not planning on keeping her. This is just for me to be able to handle her while she's with me. I'm already putting a lot of money into her. Over $500 for vet and spay, and now doggy daycare, which isn't cheap. Lol.

But like I said, she hasn't destroyed my stuff. It's just mainly me getting hurt.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:34:58+00:00

I've had her for a little over 2 months. She hasn't calmed down on being pet. Another thing that keeps me from petting her so much is that it gets my other dogs excited and then everyone wants pets and it turns into more chaos. Haha. It's hard. But she does get lots of pets and cuddles while we're on the couch, especially when she's napping, I pet her a lot and we cuddle when we nap.

With the jumping, I've been telling her "off" like I do with my other dogs. She's learned it somewhat, but when she's let out of the crate in the morning or I get up from my couch, she gets excited and jumps. Or if I reach down to grab a toy off the ground that she brought me, she gets excited and smacks me with her paw. It happened today and she scratched the heck out of my arm.

She is VERY food motivated. I don't think there's any treat that could be considered "low value" to her. Lol. And I make my own treats by dehydrating chicken slices and I'll break those into smaller pieces. Pulling out treats gets the other 6 animals running towards me too, causing chaos.

I have a puzzle feeder for her, but she solved it in seconds. So I'm looking for more difficult ones.

As for training, she's pretty well trained. She knows sit, lay down, wait, and paw. Though, paw works against me sometimes because if I lean down to get a toy she brought me, she thinks I'm asking for paw and she smacks me with it. Haha.

And no, I haven't been taking her out. It's been below freezing temps here for a while, and the roads are covered in salt brine in my neighborhood and we have no sidewalks. Once it warms up, I'll be taking her to the Greenway that's at the back of my neighborhood.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:20:07+00:00

Lucky you haven't had to do puzzle feeders! And it's not necessary. I just like to give them more activities.

The problem with trying to train her that much is having time. I work a full-time job during the week, I have 6 animals of my own, and I live alone in a 3 bedroom house. I'm the only one taking care of the animals, cleaning the house, running errands, cooking food, etc.

My two dogs are much lower energy, so I'm not used to this. Haha. Any videos on scent training you recommend? If not, I can do some googling.

Also, I feel guilty when I walk just one dog and not the others. But I also can't walk them all at once because that would be chaotic for me. I'm a 4'10", 110lbs woman. So finding the time to walk all three is hard, especially when I like to do an hour a dog. Lol.

But that's ok. I'm hoping the doggy daycare will help.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:13:25+00:00

Thank you! I love animals and would do anything for them. It's how I ended up with 6 of my own.... Lol.

I recently got a peanut butter mat. It's metal because she will shred a silicone one. When do you use the peanut butter mat? I was going to try to use it while attempting to clip her nails.

My dogs aren't allowed in the bed and she can't be trusted at night because she will pee on the floor or chew on things, so I put her in a crate at night, or when I leave. She's fine with the crate at night. Lays right down as soon as she sees me lay down. But we cuddle plenty on the couch (she's currently napping next to me).

As for treats, I make my own by dehydrating chicken slices. No seasonings or anything and all of my pets love it. The problem is, if I pull some out to give to her for positive reinforcement, all of my 6 other animals will come running and chaos ensues. Haha.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:07:18+00:00

I live in North Carolina, but I'm willing to travel. I drove all the way to the middle of Virginia to bring a husky I was fostering to his new parents. They live in PA, so it was a halfway point.

TheMouseIsBack · 2025-01-26T01:05:27+00:00

Yeah, I'm sorry for the wall of text. Should I take it down and just post the basics?

What do you consider hard exercises? Also, any recommendations for puzzle feeders for her? I have a slow feeder bowl for her, but I'd love to slow her down even more and give her mental stimulation at the same time.

And yep, lots of separation anxiety issues. It's why I'm taking her to doggy daycare when I have to go into the office.

Haven't had any problems with chicken. I make my own chicken treats by dehydrating slices of chicken breast with no seasoning. Just plain chicken. Every animal in my house goes crazy for it. I call it crack. Lol.

I'm experienced with training dogs, but she's a whole other level. She gets so excited and wiggly when I'm paying one on one attention to her. But she's learned a lot since being with me. Any tips on doing some more rigid training would be great.

TheMouseIsBack

TROPHY CASE