So, last week a couple moved into the apartment next door. They are from Denver, and have a vizsla. I was excited because I thought it would be cool to have another couple that we could hike and hang out with and do dog things. So the first night they are there I'm out with Dizzy and she comes out with her vizsla. She says, "can they say hi?" I said, "sure!" Well Dizzy barely even sniffs the thing and it attacks him. Thankfully it was mostly bark and growl and not a lot of bite, but Dizzy was crying bloody murder. So obviously it goes in the column of 'other dogs are scary' He has a lot of experiences in the 'other dogs are awesome' category though, so I was upset, but not too upset. And I think to myself that someone should know if their dog is aggressive towards other dogs, and not introduce them!

Fast forward to last night, we are out for our 9:30 walk and I see her with the vizsla on the corner talking to a guy that lives in the neighborhood with a cocker. The vizsla is fine and sniffing the spaniel, but I don't trust it. There is plenty of room for Dizzy and I to walk by safely, so I put him on my left, and the vizsla to my right. The second the thing sees Dizzy, it goes into lunge and attack mode. I was ready for that, and thankfully, said neighbor had a firm hold on the leash, so no contact was made. As I'm walking away, and her dog is still growling and barking at Dizzy, I hear her say, "Can they ever say hi? He's very nice once you get to know him." I responded, "Not after that reaction" I honestly could absolutely not believe her stupidity! I mean seriously? Your dog tries to attack my PUPPY the only two times they've ever seen each other and you want me to let them say hi? That's like, 'hey, I know last two times I borrowed your car, I wrecked it, but I promise I'm a really good driver, can I take it out of town this weekend? '



I don't want to be rude, but at the same time its my job to protect Dizzy, and since I plan on keeping him intact, the last thing I want is for him to develop any kind of aggression. Even this morning, I'm a little blown away at her ignorance and denial!

That's frustrating. There's actually a male intact Visla that goes to our dog park that complete dominates Bode and is aggressive. It's seriously the only time I see Bode be scared submissive. As soon as he sees this dog, he rolls over onto his back. It's crazy.

It sounds like she is in a lot of denial that her dog isn't actually nice.

I would just avoid her dog when you have Dizzy around and try to explain to her that you don't feel comfortable having your puppy around her dog. You could also let her know that your planning on keeping Dizzy intact, so you're trying to avoid as many aggressive situations as possible.

Aw! Poor Bode! Dizzy is really confident, literally jumps on other dogs backs, but thankfully he's meeting some that are teaching him how to politely behave, which is great, but this is flat out aggression. Never seen a dog really go after a puppy like that before. He's been corrected by adult dogs, which I encourage to teach him manners, but this was the first one that wants to rip him up on sight.

Rocio, good idea. I will let her know that for sure!

My roommate has an intact male vizsla that has never been extremely aggressive to either of my dogs. He has started to display more territory issues as of recent, especially if we'e in my roommates room and my dogs are getting attention from her. Any signs of aggression though she just kiddingly says "Oh Boomer stop acting like that".

Like others said I would just keep Dizzy away from him. It's not worth the risk of the dog actually hurting Dizzy at all and you definitely don't want Dizzy picking up any aggressive tendencies, which you already said. There are definitely better behaved grown adults that'll teach him manners that you'll meet out and about.

The only thing I can think of is at least the girl has some idea that her dog doesn't agree well with yours and had a good hold on the leash as you approached. My roommate loves the philosophy that her vizsla can be off leash since he listens so well to her, when actuality he doesn't. Do you have any idea of what age this vizsla is? I'm hoping my roommates doesn't become more and more aggressive...

I'm not sure of its age, but I'm going to stop by their apartment tonight and ask her to grab a coffee or something with me so I can talk to her about him. That's scary that your roommate doesn't leash her dog, how old is he? I'm not sure if her dog is fixed or not. Maybe you could make your room off limits to him.

I mean, who knows, Dizzy might be instigating somehow, or maybe her dog was attacked by a husky or something. Or maybe he just doesn't like Dizzy, I know they seem to have friends and prefer some dogs over others. In any case, I just don't want him to learn those habits.

I'll let you know what I find out about the vizsla tonight. I don't really know anything about them, but they seem easily spooked, so I might research the breed a bit today to see what I can find out.

Her dog just reached the year mark a couple months ago. He's off leash I would say 90% of times unless he needs to be on leash. He's pretty terrible about walking on a leash since he was never taught how to walk on one at a young age. My room is already off limits to her dog. He's just not very trustworthy in either he eats all the cat food or he find something that he wants to destroy.

Definitely think it's a good idea for you to go and talk with her. If she's going to be your neighbor it's better for you both to be at an understanding that your dogs just can't be around each other instead of any type of animosity between the two houses. She'll be able to fill you in on the dogs history and if he has had a bad experience or not. I know I have met at the dog park a dog that has been attacked by a husky in the past. He doesn't want anything to do with huskies. He'll run away from a husky but if one is too persistent with him he'll turn around and snap and become aggressive. I feel bad though because honestly it's not the dogs fault and he's just acting out in protection, since I don't think they can get over a fear that easily.

But you're right. All dogs like some dogs and then some they don't. Who know's what makes them choose the way they do. Maybe in the long run Dizzy and him can be good friends some day.
Vizsla's are an extremely energetic dog and knick named the velcro dog since they always wanna be on you (the owner). My roommates vizsla does get spooky now that I think of it. Hopefully your coffee goes well and I'll check back later tonight for how it all went

Is the vizsla also intact? Maybe its all turned around from them just moving in and is freaked out its self? Talking with her without dogs is a great idea, maybe he does have issues with huskies... keep us posted

Thank you! I'll let you know what happens.

Jbealer, I'm not sure if he's intact or not. I'm sure he's really freaked out about going from Colorado to the concrete jungle, which I can totally understand, shoot, I was freaked out for like a year, but at the same time, it was silly to suggest letting them meet until he chills out.

Good luck for tonight, I hope the talk goes well

I had no idea what a vizla was so I looked it up. Looks like a red weimereiner. You learn something new every day.

wpskier222 wrote:

Aw! Poor Bode! Dizzy is really confident, literally jumps on other dogs backs, but thankfully he's meeting some that are teaching him how to politely behave, which is great, but this is flat out aggression.

That's how Bo normally is, very confident with other dogs, but something about this one dog that freaks him out.

We have a dog at our local dog park that hates puppies but is fine with older dogs. The first time we saw him when Saphire was about 6 months old, his owner saw us get out of the car he leashed him up immediately and began to leave. The second his dog saw Saphire he started trying to lunge at her and was all growls and fur standing on end. (Mind you he was in the fenced dog park area getting ready to leave and we were just getting out of the car.) His owner calmly explained that he hated puppies and would try to attack them. (The owner wasn't sure why but said his dog was a rescue and they had warned him about that when he got the dog when the dog was 6 years old.)

However, now that Saphire is older they are best friends. It was like she hit about the 12-14 month mark and he decided she was okay. They will play for hours and he never shows any aggression toward her.

Maybe that is the case here if the neighbors dog was good with someone else's dog? Just a thought.

Thats an interesting thought! I'm interested to get more info from her tonight. Thanks for all the ideas and suggestions! It cooled me out a bit. I'm sure you could tell, I was pretty annoyed and hot headed about the issue.

Hi all. Well I sat and talked to the neighbor tonight for a while. They are a couple and i ended up catching the hubby. He and I and the vizsla hung out on the stoop for about an hour. So the dog, Denali (which I find hilarious that his dog had a husky name and mine doesn't) is 3, neutered, and started developing problems about a year ago in Colorado where they have a house with a small yard. He seems okay with most other dogs, except one that has a dominant personality, as does Dizzy (btw I'm not a fan of dominance theory in relation to dogs and humans, but I think dogs definitely have a pecking order). Dizzy is super confident for a puppy his age, and seems to invite a certain response from dominant personality types. Anyhoo, after watching the dog and guy for a while, it seemed like the dog was on totally high alert all the time, the poor thing looked like it was in the middle of a 10 year panic attack. I guess vizslas are pointers so he was fixating on basically anything that moved. So I suggested a behaviorist I know to help him transition the dog to city life... There really isn't a way I can let dizzy meet Denali until he sorts out those issues. But the guy was cool with that and understood. So I'm hoping he calls the behaviorist and that helps. I'll keep you updated. Thanks for all the ideas! It really helped!