PHYSICAL AND MENTAL FITNESS
Getting the balance right between Mental and Physical Fitness is of paramount importance in the early months of your puppies life. The number ONE rule is DO NOT use 'walks' as the only Fitness route. Mental Fitness is as important as physical Fitness in their early years.
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Physical Fitness
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The general rule is 5-6 mins of Physical fitness for each month of their life until your puppy reaches 10-12 months of age. This is incredibly important for Vizsla's as they are a medium to large breed and are fairly slow maturing breed so their bones do not fully calcify until they are about 10 – 12 months and so there is no sensation for the puppy that he is stressing his body so although they would walk/run for as long as you give them it will be detrimental to their development.
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Majority of Orthopaedic specialists say that puppies should be exercised using common sense and what is appropriate. In summary Physical Fitness example would be (age in months x 5 mins) 3 x 5 = 15 mins (physical fitness).
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Vizsla's LOVE to run and if you follow the advice, they will be your running companion for life once their bones and muscles are fully developed.
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Mental Fitness
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This Breed thrives on Mental Fitness, they enjoy this as much as Physical Fitness. They are super intelligent and will thrive on on the stimulation, it also helps provide a good foundation for successful future training. Some examples of mental stimulation are below, but there are loads of examples across the internet.
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Puzzle Games
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Simple puzzle toys such available nationwide via good pet stores or online, hiding toys in boxes, in tissue boxes. - these are great for entertainment but also teach the pup to deal with a little bit of frustration which is not a bad thing.
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Scent work
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Start by tossing a treat slightly in front of the pup, encourage them to find it by guiding them with hand gestures and words to find it. Verbal reward as the dog finds and eats. As the pups confidence increases you can start to hide the food without the pup seeing placement. You can still use your hand / arm to guide pup to the area but then allow them and their noses to find the food. Increase the area the dog has to search as they become more adept. You can scent up toys for this exercise if your pup is toy orientated.
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Hide and Seek
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Hide and seek (one of The GVP Crew favourites). At short distances and for short periods of duration pop behind a tree or a fence and call your dog. When they find you reward lavishly with food or cuddles depending on your dogs (not your) preference. This is a great game to get your dog searching and using their nose for you but also to help your pups learn to focus on you whilst they are out but to aid recall too!