(as told by his foster, Mel)

12/31/2003 - Buddy slept in a warm, soft bed last night. Buddy was our first foster Vizsla. At almost 2 years old Buddy had a rough start on life. He was purchased from a pet store in Northglenn and brought home to spend the next 500+ days in an outdoor kennel roughly 10 feet long by 7 feet wide. He shared the outdoor kennel and a small dog house with his companion, a cocker spaniel. Buddy was never allowed inside of the house so he had no house training and no obedience training. He was 8-10 lbs underweight and his feet were swollen and had sores in between his toes. We're guessing the sores came from the pea gravel that covered the floor of his outdoor kennel. The old sores never healed as new ones would form. As we loaded Buddy into the car we realized that he was essentially a 47 pound 10 week old puppy.

We watched Buddy watch the world unfold before him. We weren't sure how Buddy would handle being indoors much less all of the details that could traumatize a Vizsla with such poor socialization. Would our hardwood floors terrify him? Would the Christmas tree send him into a panic attack? Would he be afraid of our herd of Vizslas? And then there were all of the details that we didn't even think about that Buddy found fascinating, and could have scared him. The printer printing, the big screen TV turned on, the broom and mop, the telephone ringing. Background noise from our red trio, but front and center to Buddy. Everything was new to him and he would approach each wonder with his tail up, nose sniffing and his eyes alert. As we watched Buddy absorb this new world, it became clear that his Vizsla spirit had not been broken.

There is no doubt that Buddy has the heart of a Vizsla. We wondered if our own pampered crew could have survived Buddy's situation and still have much love to give. He hadn't been bathed or ever known the joys of cuddling on the couch with a human. Because of this lack of human contact Buddy wasn't content with just following us from room to room. He needed to be touching us and grabbing us with his paws. Relief would wash over him as we would gently pry his paws from around our waists and sit with him calmly stroking his head and chest telling him he was a good boy. Buddy had almost two years of affection deficit built up and he wanted to give it all to us in five minutes.

When we took Buddy outside to our small yard he wouldn't leave our sides. Our Vizslas, as well as a couple of others who were visiting immediately engaged in play. Chasing each other at top speed, wrestling, barking, tugging on toys. They would try to engage Buddy in play but it seems he didn't know how to play like a Vizsla. I fought tears as I watched Buddy observing these five crazy Vizslas. I saw that he wanted to join in, he just didn't know how. He didn't know that fuzzy toys had squeakers in them or that he could run loops around the yard until he was exhausted. He didn't know that he could grab the other end of the rope toy that another Vizsla was shoving in his face and a game of tug would ensue.

Within hours of bringing him to our home, Buddy's new dad was calling wanting to know when he could meet Buddy. We asked if he was sure he wanted this Vizsla. We told him that Buddy would be a lot of work since he had no house training, he was the neediest dog we've ever met, and the kennel is a scary place to him. Buddy's new dad didn't care. He had lots of love, patience and understanding to give Buddy. How ironic. Only several hours prior Buddy had sat neglected and unwanted in an outdoor kennel. We decided Buddy would stay the night with us and would meet his new dad the following morning. Throughout the evening we practiced cuddling with Buddy. I now firmly believe that Vizslas have a cuddling gene in their DNA. Once Buddy knew that we were ok with him being on the couch and bed his cuddling gene kicked in to high gear. When it was time for bed we all piled into the Queen sized bed. The more experienced Vizslas dove under the covers and claimed their spots in the bed. Buddy slowly climbed in bed and found the last available spot right alongside me. I hugged him and covered him with the blanket. Right before he fell asleep I heard him give a long and content sigh.