Dog owners that work outside the home full-time?

[Debra L]

RE: Colleen

Colleen, I believe the rescue group is based in the Bay area. Or at least my mother's contacts w/ the group were. A lot of show horse people in the group.

I agree w/ your older Vizsla, the 2 breeds have similar physiques. And since some RR's are ridgeless, it can get confusing. Sometimes I wish I was handling a couple of 50# females, instead of 2 sleek & powerful 80# females! So a Vizsla may be in my future.

My nearly 7 year old RR was bounding around the house w/ a squeaky toy when I read your post so I got a good giggle about the mellowness. Actually they ARE pretty mellow as long as they get a good workout at dawn & dusk. With t-storms here, they didn't get that dusk outdoor workout so mellow is out of the question this evening.

We tried agility training when the older dog was young. She didn't take to it. Didn't like the low stuff. They are agile (but not as agile as a whippet!) and great leapers. Agility work is great. Keeps the dogs learning & challenged; makes owner & dog work on communication & pack order; & it's great exercise. Love to watch it!

Debra

 

[Debra L]

RE: Colleen

Sunny, you must be a sight hound lover. Whippets have the moves but the RR's do have the speed. And both move like dancers. Our girls are wonderful companions & inspiring athletes.

Have you started to get all the "facts" from people that have never owned Ridgeback's? So many have asked if my hounds are "part Ridgeback" because they're so "small". They're at the top of breed standard so it's a challenge not to get a bit defensive. I could go on, but it would be a long post.

You are right. Dogs are fun! Any dog.

Debra

 

[sunnyside]

RE: Colleen

DebraL, I researched Ridgebacks for a long time before I got one. So I was prepared. LOL! Mine is about 75lbs. right now. People always think she is a Vizla!LOL! Or they ask if I shaved her hair on her back. LOL! I'm thinking of doing the agility thing. I think she'd love it. She is much more enthusiastic to do things than the Whippets were. I do love the sight hound group. I've also had two Afhgan hounds. They won't do any thing for you, but make you chase them after they've escaped. LOL!

Colleen, I'm laughing at the mellowness comment too.
My dog is very high energy compared to the Whippets. She needs a good 2 hour bike ride every week to keep her sane. She could go running everyday if I had the time. Maybe a Visla would be to much for me too. LOL!

 

[Stacy-MN]

RE: Colleen

Hi Colleen:

This is great to see people with Vizlas. My parents were breaders and did many feild trials when I was little. I now have a male that is 8 years old going on 6 months. We have a blast with him. We also have a 3 year old female Sheltie that he really enjoys playing with. Our two young sons love watching them play together it's great fun for all.

Stacy-MN

 

[Fitstick]

All I can tell you is to be careful what breed that you get and do your research. There are certain breeds that do not like to be alone during the day while there are other breeds that are very independent. We had a Samoyed who would go insane while we were away from the house-- he was always destroying things or getting into trouble while we were gone, even if it was for a short time. We had to kennel train him. On the other hand, our smaller dog is very independent and does not mind being alone. From what I have heard about the Samoyed, they love being with people and can not stand to be alone. So just take caution and be careful what you get.... Also if you are not an active person there are dogs out there that do not require as much exercise (French Bulldogs for example).

Do your research! Hope I didn't lecture too much but I have seen way too many people get dogs that they could not handle.

Good luck to you!

 

[RhiannonW]

My husband and I both work fulltime. We got an 10 week old puppy. For the first 4 weeks we confined him to an area in the main part of the house so he had some light and windows. At that young age he slept alot and didn't try to get out of the confinement. In that confined area I paper trained him. I covered the whole floor with newspaper. At the end of each day, I'd remove all the clean paper and replace soiled paper with clean. Slowly we used less and less paper. After only a week he was going on one spot of paper. I put clean paper there every morning before we left for 4 weeks. Then I went to crate training - he was getting older and bigger and I didn't trust that he wouldn't get out and explore during the day. I put the crate in the same spot in the house though. Also, I felt at 14 weeks his body may be developed enough to hold it for longer stretches. Hubby left at 7:30 and I got home from work at 3:30. That's the best we could do. I'd take him out the second I got home and he did great. For us the key was lots of petting and loving on him when we were home. Gave him security. Also taking him to obedience school was important. Most important though was practicing with him. Since we've had kids he's lost alot of attention, but his security has helped in that area. Please don't leave your dog outside. They get stolen so easily.