This post is part of our series on raising our Vizsla puppy, Zooka.  You can use our posts as a guide to help raise your own puppy, regardless of breed. Keep in mind that different breeds might develop at different rates, so while you can do these things with any breed, your breed might need certain things at slightly different stages or ages.  Click here to see our list of all updates.

Zooka's tenth month of life (February 2020) happened to be a very snowy month for us here in Colorado. Fortunately, Zooka loves the snow! Since Vizsla's have a short coat and not much insulation, we do have a winter coat for him when we need it. First time using it was not his favorite, but once we got going he didn't seem to pay any attention to it.

While he seemed content enough wearing the coat, we did have to take our time getting it ON him. If dogs are not accustomed to wearing coats, or boots, or a harness, or whatever piece of equipment it is that you are adding in, you might need to be patient and take a little extra time to acclimate them to it. For some dogs, they don't like wearing something new or different. Some are ok wearing it, but are not fans of it being put on them. Take your time and make it as pleasant as you can.

We continue with our training. We continue with things like Sit, Wait, Stay, Heel and all the usual or “basic” stuff. He does well. Most days. One thing I have found with Zooka's training is that he takes a bit of time to “get going” if he's just been napping or relaxing.

Our morning usually starts around 6:45-7:00 am. That tends to be when both of us are waking up and getting ready to get going. (I might prefer to stay in bed a bit longer than he would, but this time seems to be a good compromise for us at this stage.) While he will sometimes “complain” a bit before I get up, he usually is pretty quiet and patient.

He sleeps in an ex-pen. (All of my previous pups slept in a crate, but I started him sleeping in an ex-pen instead.) At this stage, though he sleeps through the night just fine, I still want him in the pen for sleeping so he is not able to get up before I want him to. Some people wean their dogs off sleeping in a crate/pen at night before this, and that's fine. I choose to wait a bit longer.

When we first get up, Zooka does not want or need to go out right away. This is different from most of my previous dogs. Before Zooka, we always let dogs out to potty right away when we got up. Zooka prefers to snuggle with me on the couch for a while before we get going. Since I love snuggling with my dogs, I am perfectly ok with this! It gives us a little time to bond and hang out before the rest of our day gets going.

Much like he prefers to ease into his day, he also seems to need to ease into a training session or other things if he's been napping or relaxing just prior. So I understand this about him and sometimes need to adjust my breakfast training session if he is still a bit sleepy. Don't be afraid to make some slight adjustments to your training regimen if your dog indicates he would do a better job with a slight adjustment or two.

For example, we often start our training sessions with some Heel work. He does very well for the most part. However, some mornings, I notice that he's very sluggish and not Heeling well. I will shift to working on Sit, Down, Watch Me or some easier less physical stuff at first until he gets warmed up.

One of the things we've been adding in to his training vocabulary is Around. At first, I tried starting it by going around a chair. I am in one spot, I want him to go around the object and back to me. He seemed to be struggling with this concept a bit, so I decided to adjust our training by starting going around ME. So, from Heel position, I have him cross in front of me, circle around me clockwise, and then back to Heel position. He seemed to catch onto this much better so that's where we've been focusing for now.

We will begin moving Around to being able to go around objects nearby and then farther away. With our previous Vizsla, Romeo, I could point to some scrub oak a hundred yards away, point to it, say Around and he would run all the way around the scrub oak and back to me. I plan to work up to similar understanding with Zooka – eventually!

Zooka is continuing with group training classes. This month he has been participating in a Distracted Dogs Class in which we are helping dogs learn how to better focus on their handlers despite whatever distractions there are. Better tune in with the handler helps the dogs to better handle ANY distractions.

He is also continuing with the Polite Pooches in Public Classes. He does well in some of these sessions and not so well in others. He has always struggled with paying attention with other dogs around. Plus, since we don't walk much on shorter leashes like we need to in public locations, he still needs lots of work on a 6 or 8 foot leash. I wish he were further along with this, but that's our fault, not his.

His regular walks include a lot more off leash time. They still include long line work as well. He is getting more invested in “bunny hunting” than he was. We have noticed he struggles more on some days with staying tuned in. He is definitely hitting a more independent streak. We just need to keep working on this so he learns how to stay tuned in AND have fun at the same time.

One of the things I have been working on with him in training is using his feet for things like using a scratchboard to file the nails on his front paws, Shake, put paws up on an object, push an object with his paw, etc. Zooka is very clearly “left-pawed” as he naturally uses his left front paw for most things. And early on when he started lifting his leg to pee, it was almost always his left leg that he lifted at first.

Now that we've differentiated a few things with his left paw, I have shifted and am now able to get him to use his RIGHT paw for things now too! So, for Shake, I hold up my right hand for him to shake with his left paw. And I hold up my left hand to have him shake with his right paw. He's doing wonderfully! (His mom is a Lefty too, so just one more thing to love about him!)

We continue to work on his Fetch. When training, he is getting good at returning the toy TO MY HAND. We only do a handful of repetitions on this so he does not get bored, but he's doing very well with a variety of toys.

His hormones are raging on some days at this age when he is around his peak testosterone levels. That means on some days, he is looking for something to hump. Fortunately, he has not tried to hump any of his dog friends. I do appreciate he at least uses some discretion in his choices! So his two choices are (1) his large stuffed dog; and (2) my leg.

We humans get a little hung up on this whole humping thing. Don't. If it's inappropriate, we redirect it. If it's on something like a favorite toy, what's the harm? I prefer he have an outlet for that energy and those hormones that he is not quite sure what to do with. I would prefer he not attempt to hump my leg. But I also do not make a huge deal out of it.

NO, he is not trying to “dominate” me. He's wound up. He doesn't know what to do with himself. I redirect him and get him doing other things or remove myself from his reach. It passes quickly. I do not get angry or frustrated with him. I help him find ways to cope with it until the urge passes. It's a phase we're going through. It will pass.

And no, we are not getting him neutered yet either. Would that decrease the humping behavior? Perhaps. But it's manageable and there are more important things to worry about.

We have done some more outings to public places, mostly dog-friendly stores since it's been very icy outside due to the snow, partial melting, freezing over, then more snow, rinse and repeat. He has good outings and mediocre outings. We have not had any so bad that I give up and go home. But he still struggles with making the best choices. Again, that's on us for not getting out as much as I would like. Harder to do in the cold/snow/ice but still needs to be done!

We did not have much for scheduled “play dates” but Zooka had plenty of play time with boarding dogs this month, so he is doing great at keeping up with his appropriate play behavior and social skills with other dogs. We are fortunate to have a steady stream of play mates for him with boarding clients and friends/clients with appropriate dogs to play with. Very critical to keep up these social skills at this age. From puppyhood through adolescence.

We mentioned counter surfing started last month. While he still does a bit of it, it has not been much of a problem. He does put his feet up still to explore a bit here and there, but it's not bad. He has not acquired anything of value since that one incident. We're not making a big deal out of it – AND we're making sure that Ed does not leave any cooked chickens on the edge of the counter. . . this behavior should eventually disappear without any major disasters!

What antics will we see next month?!