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Responsible Dog Breeders

The other day, my wife showed me a post on the internet of another breeder saying that you should never buy dogs from a breeder who doesn’t do all the testing on their dogs. They said this meaning that breeders who don’t test are unethical and lazy. So here is where I get on my soap box. I know it is a confrontational subject, but I have noticed a few things over the short time I have been breeding dogs. That is all the people who push the health testing super hard will never do a year or two guranteee on any OFA heraditary dieses. They are saying that the testing proves that a pup from these dogs will be good. I believe it is all about marketing. They are trying to make others look bad to push their product. I believe the real reason behind all the health testing is so they don’t have to guarantee dogs. When you sell fifty plus pups a year, of breds that have lots of health problems, and if you did a two year guarantee on pups it would cost a lot of money when you had to return money because of problems.

I might be wrong but I heard that on labs that if a sire and dam pass hip tests, 1/10 pups will still get hip dysplasia in there life. Now, don’t get me wrong we need to be responsible breeders but there are a lot more problems a dog can have than just the things they test for. When someone buys a dog they are looking for a lot of things; Size, temperament, hunting drive, retrieve, easy to train, health and many more traits. According to the “health test” equals responsible breeder mentality, a dog can pass all its tests but be an aggressive dog and the breeder would be labeled a responsible breeder. On top of that I think things can be miss labled because when someone tells me they have a 12 year old dog and it has hip dysplasia no thats called old age brother.

The thing that we forget is that there is no such thing as a perfect human and no such thing as a perfect dog. So in selecting a breeder for your next pup it is good to do your homework. See what their dogs are used for, try to find a breeder that you jive with and like, and that the dogs are in an environment/have the temperament you are looking for. You have to remember, there is a difference between someone who is just having a few litters a year vs. somone who is using it a a main source of income. The truth is that if tommorrow a law was passed that you couldn’t sell dogs in the United States dog breeding would come to a screeching halt. So if someone tells you it is not for the money, they are partly lying. The money makes it possible to give the dogs the food/treatment they need to keep doing what they enjoy.

We all have to start somewhere and when you start a business you cannot do all the upgrades you like but if you are able to stay in business and deliver the product the customer is looking for with each year you make improvments. So if someone is in business, there are people who like there product. If they do it wrong, they won’t last long. Got to love the free-market economy. I might be wrong, but in my personal experience and having been around a few dogs in my life, the best cattle dogs we ever had came out of a pair of dogs that the dad was like 75% border collie the rest mutt. All the other dogs we used, that were supposed to have all these great lines, could never produce the dogs that that combination did. Maybe I am old school, but I put my money on proof rather than some test. If the mom and dad are healthy and live to be old then I believe that holds some credentials. Just look at the NFL combine bigger faster stronger and passing all the tests doesn’t all ways translate to sucsess. Ask JaMarcus Russell. If you don’t know who that is, he was the 2007 1st overall pick by Oakland Raiders. He awwed everyone in the combine by throwing a football like 80 yards on his knee. Then by like his 3rd year in NFL he weighed enough to be an offensive lineman. I believe that testing can be used to help a sucessful breeding program, but that doesn’t mean everything. So, I guess what I am trying to say is find a breeder that you like and go get your puppy, trust your gut, not the internet.

Trigeminal Neuropathy

I have never heard of trigeminal neuropathy until this year. We had a dog get it. One day he was fine the next day his lower jaw was hanging and he couldn’t use it. We took him to the vet expecting the worse and they diagnosed him with trigeminal neuropathy. After talking with the vet they said it happens on occasion but they have no idea what causes it. They assured us in a couple weeks he would regain use of his jaw. After a couple weeks of feeding him by hand and helping him drink he regained the use of his jaw. Everything went back to normal, kind of scary but in the end all was well.

Vizsla Chukar Hunting

Well, it’s January 29th and we are just returning home with our vizslas from the final chukar hunt of the 2021-22 season. This wraps up the 4th hunting season with my dogs. I have learned a lot and we have made a lot of memories. It’s always good to end the year strong. This year has seen lots of challenges as we were late with harvest and early snow and wind made for some tough hunts that yielded very little success at times. On the last hunt of the year, Preacher who has really matured found a covey of chukar and held rock solid on them until we were able to get there and harvest one. It’s always sad to see bird season come to an end, but it means spring is around the corner and I am tired of freezing. With spring comes preparation for next season and we have some plans for that time. Changing our kennel, building a new dog box, continued training of our dogs. And next season we get to welcome one of Tesla’s pups back to our kennel for his first hunting season

Dogs and Mental Health

Did you know that dogs are one of the best mental health boosters?
One of the main benefits dogs have on mental health is the fact that they encourage exercise! Getting out for a simple walk can help boost your mood and ward off depression. Getting outside helps your brain get more oxygen which in turn helps all the body’s functions. Dogs open the opportunity to relax and have a minute of peace.
Caring for a dog also gives a sense of purpose and a feeling of being needed. They give us a sense of security and peace of mind. Dogs also help maintain a regular routine, which is proven to help with anxiety and depression. The simple routine of caring for a dog has also been shown to help kids and youth with ADHD and ADD because of the responsibility and method of dispersing energy. Dogs are also known to be amongst the very best listeners and they offer unconditional love.
Getting out with your dog often gives you a chance to socialize with other dog owners and lovers. The confidence that dogs can give their human is astounding! They act as a shield and a window to opportunity. Dogs give us common grounds and makes socializing easier. Plus they are always a good excuse for when the conversation gets dry.
Our canine friends also help our mental health by teaching us a little mindfulness. They show us that the little things are what makes us happy. Watching my dogs laying on the warm cement in the hot sun always makes me happy. Playing fetch for hours on end shows us how simple life can be.
In these hectic days, mental health cannot be helped enough! I am not saying for anxiety, depression, ADHD, ECT all you need is a dog, but I am saying if little things help, a good dog will do wonders. Breathe a little easier, stress a little less, get a dog. @simply.kenzie

Do Vizslas Get Cold

Do vizslas get cold? At our kennel, in Montana, where we sell vizslas, we get this question a lot. Vizslas don’t have a dual coat like labs and many other dogs do. This makes them less tolerable to the cold. When we first fell in love with vizslas that was my biggest concern the last thing I wanted to do was to be out chasing chukar and have a dog with a sweater and shoes on. After owning vizslas, yes they need a warm place when they aren’t active whether that’s inside your house or an insulated kennel with heat. But when you’re enjoying the outdoors they will be with you every step of the way. We have hunted our vizslas in snow, rain, and cold and have never experienced too many issues. There are things to watch for on cold days. Like the tips of their ears, male parts, and if the females had puppies her tits will be the first things to show signs of cold damage. So overall we believe that vizslas are very tolerable to the cold if you take precautions.

Are Vizslas Hypoallergenic

Are Vizslas Hypoallergenic? No. Although, vizslas have minimal shedding. This is because of the fact that they only have one coat of fur. Most dogs have a longer topcoat and a shorter bottom layer. Vizslas only have the bottom layer. Allergens from dogs usually live in the thicker second coat, therefore without that coat, vizslas naturally have fewer allergens. They do still carry those allergens, but with proper grooming, they become very minimal. Therefore if you keep up with cleaning then their shedding is manageable. If you keep up on grooming they are less likely to cause reactions in people with allergies. You should know that if they shed people will be more susceptible to allergies. Because of their minimal shedding, there are some people who consider them to be hypoallergenic. We absolutely love this breed but, we would not recommend people who have extreme canine allergies to buy a vizsla.

Honey Hole

After spending hours in my arm chair, looking at on x maps and Google maps; I found a new spot. I like to call them honey holes. They are always better on paper and while I am day dreaming. Most people will never understand (even my wife doesn’t) how someone can look at google maps for over ten hours a week and still find new hunting holes. Every now and again you see a spot that just calls to you! Most people will say that I am crazy, but more often than not, these spots yield some results. So after finding this new honey hole, I gathered my two hunting partners (who come from the same gene pool as me so they are not the smartest and follow along).

It all started with an early morning of loading dogs,, water, and extra tires into the truck so that we could take off. The first two hours were spent on nice paved roads and lots of talking. We soon turned off the pavement and spent the last hour and a half bouncing around at five miles an hour, trying to get to the canyon rim. Now, the trail was labeled for high clearance 4×4, so with my low clearance chevy with 307,000 miles on it we were making a lot of noise as the foot rails grabbed high rocks. As always. the trusty truck got us to our destination at about 10:30am. We got all our rock propelling gear out ( just a little exaggeration) to get into the canyon. The hunt was only twenty minutes in and the dogs got really birdy, but nothing, so we pressed on. After crossing the creek in bottom we soon had all four of our vizslas on ROCK SOLID POINT and as the covey flushed my brother nailed the first and only chukar of the day. The rest of the day was spent chasing chukar droppings through cliffs to get to the next rock outcropping. We arrived back at the truck well after dark with twenty-five miles on each dog and eleven miles on each of us. What a honey hole! Sad thing is we found enough crap to convince ourselves we were hunting it wrong and we will return for round two in the future.

Do Vizslas like Water

Yes, Vizslas love water. Especially on hot summer days, they like to find a nice pond to cool off in. Vizslas have webbed feet so they are excellent swimmers and can get around really well in water. One thing to remember though is that all dogs can like or hate stuff depending on past experiences. So it is important to make their first experiences with water positive and slowly work them into deeper water. They will enjoy it for their entire lives. The only times I have had trouble getting my Vizslas in water is during the winter because they don’t have a 2nd coat so they get chilled really easily. I would recommend getting that Vizsla in some water!