Sadie was picked up as a stray and turned over to a shelter, they in turn notified CWVRG. Her age is estimated at about 2 yrs. It was discovered that Sadie had multiple, and I mean multiple buckshot wounds over her entire body, including her face and ears.

She loves to sing to Patsy Cline, running, going for long walks and riding in the car. As is the case with a lot of the dogs we get into rescue, Sadie did not know what it was like to be a Vizsla, play with toys, and have people love her to death. She learned all of that while being fostered by Polly.

Sadie was adopted by Eric & Victoria on November 14, 2004. Here is their account of their first days with Sadie: “First of all.... What did you get me into????? ha ha ha ... I tell you what that first night that we brought Sadie home was a nightmare... She would not mind anything we would tell her, she jumped completely over the back side of the couches, she ran underneath the coffee tables, chased the cats, dragged you when you walked her, refused to go into her kennel.... barked and whined for about an hour and a half before she stopped. We really were wondering what we had just done. The next day I was sooo exhausted, but came home to a wonderful little girl! Everyday since she has been getting better and better.... She is now the joy of my world. All it took was a little time to adjust, patience, training, patience, training, patience, training, and more training. ha ha ha She really has made an enormous difference in just three days. She is so willing to listen (if you have a treat) being food or a toy. She now sits, lays down, stays, and is beginning to know "OFF". She still likes the kitties, but is learning that they are off limits for the time being. She is getting better at heeling on our walks, and 95% of the time will come when you call her. I still have her on a 20' lead. I haven't had the trust to let her off leash for an off leash run yet, but it will come in due time. Every morning we get up around 6 a.m. and go for a hike in the field for about 20 minutes, then we go for a run through our neighborhood for another 20 minutes. When we get home we make her sit and stay before we feed her, then we have 30 minutes of fetch and playing before we begin to settle her down. She does GREAT with fetch. She LOVES it!!!! She will bring the toy back every single time and I make her sit and (NOT JUMP) before I throw it again. She is sort of getting the "LEAVE IT" command. She is so excited, that she doesn't always want to let go, but she will get it in time I am sure.

She had her first day of doggie day care yesterday with great success.... She wasn't so keen on playing with a bunch of other dogs... she is really shy for about 30 seconds then she is bouncing around like a little bean. She plays in the play pin which is pretty much an entire warehouse with stuff to climb and toys, and best of all other dogs. There is even a little area where they can go outside and lay in the sun or get some fresh air. We are planning on taking her at least twice a week. She really seems to enjoy it. She rides in the car like a perfect little lady. She has her own seatbelt harness and enjoys car rides. We go into the field every day at lunch and then play more fetch. Then in the evening we go on another walk around the neighborhood and then of course some more fetch. By then she is ready for her second meal, and of course more treats for training. This is now couch time for her. She takes my spot every night before I get there and thinks she is sooo sneaky doing so. She is out like a light and NOTHING can get her up after that. I have to literally pull the blanket that she is laying on up and off the couch to get her to go to her kennel. No more whining, no more barking. She is our "close" to perfect little angel. I already don't know what I would do without her. She is what we look forward to at lunch time and after work. Thanks so much for all you have done. We will keep you updated with more pictures, stories, etc.....Eric, Vicki, and Sadie!!!
 

Update!!! 3/16/05

Hi Rita & Polly - I just wanted you both to know that my Sadie Girl is doing better than ever.  We have broken every bad habit of hers other than the fact that she wants to play constantly, and still chases kitties from time to time! Both, I know, will never go away.... She is so brilliant!  She is extremely good with her crate now, and chooses to go into it when she pleases, or is just plain sick of us!  On doggie day care days, the first thing she does is sprint right up to her crate, most likely out of pure fatigue from playing all day.  She has made several friends at doggie day care and is a "favorite" among all of the employees.  No surprise to me, but she goes 100% non stop from the time she gets there until the time she leaves.  She has a boyfriend there who is a German short hair pointer.  At least she has good taste and sticks to the sporting breed. I was told that they play and go everywhere together. Good thing she is spayed!!! ha ha ha.  I don’t think I could have handled Vizsla puppies.  When we first brought Sadie home,  I really wasn’t sure if I made the right decision, but after a great deal of training and building a bond with Sadie, I have learned that Vizsla’s can be the absolute best friend, family member, and dog possible.  It is all about training; they are so intelligent and will do anything for you as long as you teach them. I am so glad that I stuck through the hard times.  I remember the first night was a nightmare as she barked in her crate all night long.  Now I can hardly get a peep out of her.  She loves to play and has toys scattered all over the house.  Her kong ball and a plush bone are her two favorites.  We are now teaching her to distinguish which toy is which and she is doing pretty well. She LOVES to play fetch and tug-o-war.  She now sits, lays down, shakes, spins, rolls over, plays dead, and stays on command.  She is getting better and better on a leash.  I am starting to teach her Whoa, especially with the kitties.  She still wants to chase them, but they (kitties and my wife) are a little more tolerant of it.  She knows it is wrong and will only do it out of the blue from sheer frustration because the kitties are the only ones who won’t play with her.  I take her out to the park all the time for some fetch, and now for her new favorite game “find the bird”.  I have a few pheasant wings that I clipped off the last time I went hunting, and I will make her sit and stay while I randomly go to different spots and touch the ground, this in turn does not let her know which location I hid the wing at.  I will then go back to her and tell her to “Find the Bird”, and she goes full blast in the field searching for the wing and brings it to me and drops it at my feet.  She is a natural.  I don’t know if I will ever use her as a bird dog because I only go once or twice a year anyway, but I can tell it is in her blood and she loves to hunt for that wing.  So, if it is fun for her, it is fun for me.  That is all for now, we might get her into agility training or something because she really can jump like 5 feet in the air and loves to catch the ball and Frisbee while in flight.  She looks so proud when she does! Hope all is going well. Eric, Victoria, and Sadie

Our Sadie as a real hunting dog....  

February 2006 - Last weekend I went on a charity pheasant/chucker/quail hunt for the Red Cross, Salvation Army, and Silver Key.  I have been working with Sadie on certain aspects of hunting on and off for the past 6 months.  We have her keeping tight and doing figure eights with her nose glued to the ground. We took her out for her first two hunts just as a flusher... and she did pretty good.  She wasn't so keen on retrieving the bird and bringing it back to me after the shot, but it was only because she was too busy trying to get the feathers out of her mouth once she tackled it to the ground. This weekend was different!!! 

We were hunting with some big Lab flushers and she was the only pointer out there.... at first it was FREEZING outside, so she did not have the desire to hunt, and I think she was a little intimidated of the big Labs.  She just kind of "heeled" for a while, which was fine with me.  After she warmed up and got a little more comfortable she started to hunt again.  She flushed a few birds because nothing was holding.  She flushed a chucker (smaller than a pheasant) and I shot the bird over a big drainage ditch.  She went full speed after the fall and low and behold as I made my way over there she ran up the other side and over the top towards me with the bird in her mouth.  It was a beautiful thing.  She even dropped it at my feet.  It wasn't to hand, but hey... it is a great start.  As we were about to leave all of our hunting party started to load up their guns.  I asked them if they would mind if I would run down this one patch of corn that we didn't hit all day.  They didn't care, so Sadie and I went down the patch.  We were almost at the very end, and I was disappointed that I had made the trip for nothing because usually they will run to the end and then pop up.  All of a sudden Sadie turns around and starts to B-Line towards some tumble weeds.  She then got to about 2 feet from the weeds and stayed on point.  I thought she was nuts... there was nothing in there, and so I took a few steps and then this big rooster jumped out.  I was so happy I almost forgot to shoot.  It had made my day.  She was (in my mind) the best hunting dog to ever set foot on this earth. HA HA HA.... Yeah it is parent pride.  She has a long ways to go, but who cares as long as we do it together.  Who says you can't teach an old rescue dog  new tricks?

Anyway, here is the picture, and YES the bird is wearing a pair of Air Force One baby sneakers on it!!! The guide was the manager and the kids who released the birds were playing a joke on him... I thought it was flying pretty low for a rooster?? ha ha ha

 I hope you enjoy this picture as much as I do. Eric

I thought I would include this silly picture of Sadie – hunter by day spoiled baby by night. She sleeps in bed at night, I don’t have any room to sleep, and yes, she is only allowed on my side of the bed!