I’ve got an 8 month old wirehared vizsla. He’s absolutely awesome. I have to run him 20-30 mins every night or he’s even more crazy than normal (which is already pretty crazy!) How long does it take before they calm down even a little? I got the WH because I read they were just a little more subdued than the smoothies, but I have my doubts now.
Anyway, to the OP, the breeder recommended Diamond Naturals and said that’s all they use. It is a little hard to find, but we’ve had good results so far.
once the V is a year old… they can run! In peak IM training Mako runs 40+ miles a week. I don’t run him over 2 hours. Most of our runs are on trails, which is better on their paws. They need a lot of running- so have a back up plan when you taper. Heat is the issue in summer so we try and run in trails with water.
Not to side track the topic too much, but that’s not really true. Sporting dogs need time to learn lead pacing and to build some endurance, but they are perfectly fine to run from a young age. It’s not uncommon to see 8 week old puppies doing 3-4 miles on bird drives, 16 week pups at 9+. I think I have a file (collar gps) of ours doing nearly 12m at 6 months on a bird run. And he still comes home with a ball in his mouth ready to rock.
You never want to force the dog to run, and you want to be careful about road heat etc, but the claim of it being bad running them young is false.
Be warned though: They are capable of setting a ridiculous pace if you let them…
My viszla, Brett Favre, had an issue with Blue Buffalo and the high protein content after a year. So I switched him to “Simply Nourish” food because it is another limited ingredient food. I feed him the Sweet Potato and Salmon flavor.
Don’t have a Vizsla but do have a small terrier that trail runs 16 mile+ runs with me - I feed Solid Gold (Hund-n-Flocken) - recommended by two other triathlete friends with Weimeraners. It’s great - very high quality. Also feed NutriSource too. You may want to also check out both of these options if you’re doing some research. I have 3 very close, long-time veterinarian friends and I have checked with them a couple of times on these food options to make sure this is appropriate/adequate (esp during times when the dog is running very high mileage with me) - all three confirmed these as great choices, and that the main thing was that the food be of high quality. Based on all these recommendations, looks like you have lots of great options to choose from along these lines. Good luck.
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I’ve got an 8 month old wirehared vizsla. He’s absolutely awesome. I have to run him 20-30 mins every night or he’s even more crazy than normal (which is already pretty crazy!) How long does it take before they calm down even a little? I got the WH because I read they were just a little more subdued than the smoothies, but I have my doubts now.
Anyway, to the OP, the breeder recommended Diamond Naturals and said that’s all they use. It is a little hard to find, but we’ve had good results so far.
Mine never really calmed down. He slowed down when he hit 3 and then again at 8 or 9, but even at 10 I could do a 2 hour trail run with him where he ran 2 or 3 times what I ran. Good luck they are awesome dogs and I can’t wait to get another one soon.
Not to side track the topic too much, but that’s not really true. Sporting dogs need time to learn lead pacing and to build some endurance, but they are perfectly fine to run from a young age. It’s not uncommon to see 8 week old puppies doing 3-4 miles on bird drives, 16 week pups at 9+. I think I have a file (collar gps) of ours doing nearly 12m at 6 months on a bird run. And he still comes home with a ball in his mouth ready to rock.
You never want to force the dog to run, and you want to be careful about road heat etc, but the claim of it being bad running them young is false.
Be warned though: They are capable of setting a ridiculous pace if you let them…
Here is what I was told by my breeder and vet. Running in a field or hunting is different than running with people on a leash. On the leash they run basically one speed for long periods of time. In the field they might run more miles or longer but since it is spurts of running followed by some rest it is easier for dogs since that is what dogs have been breed for.
I suppose every breeder and vet will have a different perspective, but our breeder and vet endorse the introduction of run training early and our trainer downright encouraged it - starting slow and increasing mileage modestly. The common theme among them was to exercise vigilance in regards to fatigue and dehydration. But as they said if the pup wants to run, let him run. (It’s a great way to practice leash work, btw)
I have a border collie and he runs 30+ miles a week with me along with numerous other activities, the only reason I cant run him more is his paws get pretty trashed and boots make him too hot. I make his dog food and it actually saves me money in the long run. Its not that I think commercial dog food is bad I just think what I make is better. If this route interests you at all shoot me a PM and I can point you to some of the resources I found useful.
The dietary needs of our dogs are really very simple and my dog thrives on a primarily raw meat and meaty bone diet.
If I were to go the commercial route, I would just buy whatever is cheapest that doesn’t have grains.
Stella’s been eating Pro Plan for a few years and it seems to have worked out well for her. She’s helped me train for just about every race over the past five years, although sometimes she needs a little coaxing to get out. Once she’s out she can run circles around me. When I start to get a really good pace going, I’ll look over and she’s just trotting along pretty effortlessly. Other than runs, she likes to guard the back yard from the villainous squirrels that are the bane of her existence.
Don’t have a Vizsla… but we believe in quality dog food for our boy Ollie. He gets a rotation of Earthborn, Holistic Select, and Canidae Pure. All 3 are great IMO.
We used to do blue buffalo because he was having skin issues and to keep him healthy. It didn’t do a thing so we switched to costco salmon and sweet potato and give him fish oil pills. The fish oil does wonders and the costco food is actually rated A+ along with blue buffalo.
