Remember the Chipmunks (Alvin, Simon, and Theodore) from the 1950s? In the cartoons, Alvin was the one who always got in trouble. In the world of rescued Viszlas, Alvin is a well-behaved puppy who hardly ever gets in trouble and does not have an annoying high-pitched voice. Alvin came into rescue as an 8-month old purebred male Vizsla. You can’t miss noticing his tail, as Alvin wags it constantly and he prances around our yard with his tail held high. He does well with our cats (Alvin likes to follow them around the house and sometimes prods them with his big puppy feet or his nose). Alvin does well with kids and our three Vizslas (he loves to play with our 1-year old male by running around the yard while they both hold an end of a pull toy like a team of horses). Alvin likes to chase balls and he usually trots around with a rubber ring hanging out of his mouth. Above all, Alvin craves attention from his humans. He usually follows us around like a shadow when he’s not playing in the yard with the other dogs. When he’s playing in the yard, he always takes a quick break to seek out his humans and squeeze in some more petting.

Anthony and Charlotte adopted Alvin. They currently have a female V, Mori, who fell in love with Alvin right away. We did a slow introduction. Where Mori came to my house to meet Alvin, and then Alvin went to visit Mori at his prospective home. Alvin was afraid of noises at first but Anthony, Charlotte, and Mori have been working with him to teach him that noises are OK. They are following the techniques that Polly suggested and some that their friend suggested who has a
hunting dog that he needed to train not to be gun shy. Alvin is getting better about the strange noises. Anthony and Charlotte have been teaching Alvin some obedience. They are very pleased on how fast Alvin is learning. They sent Mori ahead to Craig, CO so that they could have some alone time with Alvin. Alvin is doing well on his own and they feel he is really bonding to the family. Alvin is going to meet his extended family this week in Craig for Christmas.

Alvin and Mori had a blast together! Whether it was going with us snow shoeing, sledding or running around my parent’s yard for hours they were very active. Alvin is getting much better at strange noises. We still are working diligently at his attachment issues and have incorporated everything that you have provided to curb this. We think that it will be a fairly slow process so we are going into it with a lot of patience. - Anthony