It’s a huge tragedy which is hard to recover from, but we are not broken and we are still sane. The best thing we could do was to just leave it for a while. We expected the first little baby for October 2009. It was the middle of September already, the husband worked a lot and I was at home alone a lot, with way too many thoughts. I was pondering over it a lot, and finally I came to a decision: we shall have a dog at our house. The husband came home, I presented my idea to him, I wasn’t asking for permission, I just kind of announced him that we are going to have a dog He told me OK, but if we are going to have a dog, it should be a Hungarian vizsla. Amen. I adore vizslas. I started searching on the net, but as I came to know later – I’ll come back to this later – I wasn’t searching hard enough. The thing is, that I found a group photo with 4 little wrinkled vizslas, with an address in Pest, for a very little price. I immediately called the number, a lady answered, she told me the address, we arranged a meeting, she told us she was waiting for us, since there are 7 more puppies.
We were just so extremly excited. Wow, we need then a bed, a dog-lead, a dog plate and aaam, and a name for the dog. As we were going there, we found so stupid names. There were names such as Aladár and Ottokár (because we chose a boy), even Stake and Clutch. But then we decided to get to know the dog before we seal him with a name. So we arrived, the lady let us in the court, she opened the door and a pack of dogs crowded in. I clearly remember that I kissed them all, and there were continuously at least two of them in my arms. There were two boys left, a skiny one and a chubby one. It was big, even though it was only a puppy, with huge paws, moving clumsily. Oh, and with huge ears. We needed those wings, that’s our dog, we want to spend the next 15-20 years with him!

We got into our car, he wouldn’t say a word. No whimpering, no crying. He slept in my lap, like a cocoa bun. Our first ride was to the doctor, got a vaccination, a vermifuge, and a basic checkup. The doctor just praised the dog and he foretold a huge vizsla, but we just laughed at him. Come on, how heavy can a Vizsla be, maybe 25 kgs? Well, now he’s 35 kilos… We made him a bath, because the young gentleman had a kind of strong smell, but he didn’t mind having a bath. He was a bit surprised, that’s all. We wrapped him in a towel and put him on his place, but he just gazed, as if he was saying What’s coming next? And I already adored enthusiastically that little bastard. Seeing his club-footed little legs, his droopy body, the shovel-size ears, the intelligence on his muzzle, we gave him the name Döme. And if we are angry at him and want to underline something when rebuking him, we shall call him: Dömötör.

He wasn’t allowed to come to our bed, he was his only forbidden zone. So because I worried too much, I spent a week bent on a couch with him, so that that poor dog wouldn’t sleep alone. Döme put his head on my neck, and so he slept on those nights, calm and snuffling. I think it was there that we truly sealed each other and it was there our relationship became so deep and close. That’s how my first vizsla baby boy came just in October, when the first baby was supposed to come. That’s how I got a vizsla son.

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Well, the starting point was a 5,5 kg skin-and-fur mound, I had to teach it discipline and order. Of course. Have you ever tried rebuking a little puppy? There’s no point. At least for me it was worthless. Whenever Döme did something wrong, he knew from my intonation that he was in trouble, so he just sat there scared, with his shovel-ears folded behind his head, staring at me with big fawn-eyes, and on his forehead, the skin became smooth. Even if I started scolding him, as soon as I saw his stupid innocent face, I just bursted out laughing, I hold his head in my hands and kissed him wherever I could, and I kept saying: “You little bastard, you’re driving me crazy!!!” Well, this is absolutely not recommended, unless you don’t want to teach your dog anything. Because if we scold, we should do it firmly, and do not forgive because of an innocent look.

I was so lucky with Döme when it came to clean habits, because he has never defecated in the house, not even in the beginning. There was one single little berry on the first day, but even that was on the diaper. Only urine. But it was everywhere. It was as if he deliberately didn’t want to pee on the right place. If I wasn’t right there where and when it happend, I didn’t yell at him, because he wouldn’t have known why I was doing it. But when he shamelessly peed on the couch, on the rug, on the wardrobe or on anything right in front of me, I always shouted: “What are you doing??!” and I chase him to his place. Of course, since I had plenty of time, we went out for a walk around five or six times a day. Whenever he pooped or peed outside, he got huge praises and something yummy as a reward.
Once I spanked him a little, when he was 8 weeks old, he was stretching on the couch like an emperor, he just leaned a bit to the side, and simply peed in the middle of the couch, watching me entirely calm, not worrying about what’s coming next. It was such an unbelievable scene, that I bursted out laughing, but than I knew what I had to do, come on, it can’t be regular.
All in all it took us around 3 weeks to get familiar with clean habits, and there haven’t been a single accident ever since, he rather stood up in the middle of the night, even when that poor dog wanted to mate. He’s a smart vizsla…

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Just perfect. They keep a dog that barely goes walking or is just in the garden. And since Döme was not welcomed so warm-heartedly, and our parents asked why on earth we needed a dog, especially a vizsla in our house, and what if we won’t have time for him, blablabla, they haven’t even thought of the facts that 1. I thought it through, 2. if any problems occur, I’m going to solve them.      We wanted them to get used to each other, so we went to my father’s house. The name of their domestic monster is: Zsamo. Behind the funny name there’s a lout personality. Zsamo is a puli and he’s fantastic in housekeeping, tracking and herding. But it’s not always nice, and it doesn’t tolerate well the rules and boundaries. And as we saw, he doesn’t tolerate little intruder puppies either. Döme stood on stilts when he was around 10-12 weeks old, which made it obvious, who was the higher one. But Zsamo was the older one and it is his home. I am not the kind of person who takes dogs in her lap (today it would be impossible, with my dear who’s 35 kg), when it comes to fight. I don’t let them take the fight to blood, but I let them fight for the order of rank. Well, the puli  immediately overcame the vizsla. Döme didn’t know what to do with it, he was a bit scared but he didn’t panic. He went a bit further and found a ball. The dog of the house was running about my feet and he demanded my attention. But then he realized that the little new one is not a possible source of danger, so they started loosening up, they even ran together. That’s how he overcame the first obstacle.

    After the third vaccination I thought about something more: let’s go to the dog ground. I had no idea about what I was supposed to do here, who and when goes there, how many dogs there are, if they are cool or if they are going to kill my dog, etc. For a day or two we haven’t really met anyone, we had no luck. But then, on an afternoon in the fall Döme found the real one. Right in the front part of the dog ground there was a guy standing with a beautiful, smooth-haired basset hound girl, Rozi. Döme started courting and I was astonished, he was jumping, running on the spot, he held up his pretty little bottom, he waved his tale, it was nothing but a fertility dance! Rozi returned these passionate feelings, and they started an incredible tag. The two of them were running in full harmony, as if they had been fellows for a thousand years, and there hasn’t been any bad groanings or an ambiguous move ever since (they have become husband and wife). Well, one couldn’t have disturbed Dömötör, because he became deaf, blind and apparently he had no owner, because he passed near me as if he had never seen me before, even though I was shouting at him.
I got to know the walking times, so now there was something to hold on to. We needed company, both the vizsla and I. The little one got socialized and I heard good pieces of advice.

We went out in the evening again, and by then, all the dog owners were there. What a noise!! There were around 10-12 dogs playing at a time, running, barking, jumping, mumbling, with balls, sticks, with each other, and in fact with everything. My little one immediately went through the initiation rite, on the one hand because everyone adored him, since a puppy is seldom ugly but normally cute, and on the other hand, the dogs let him into the pack of dogs. The dog called Lady bet him a bit, letting him know that one shouldn’t insult older spaniel ladies… It turned out quickly who is who in the pack, Döme accepted it and he accomodated to it. Things changed with time, but as a puppy he did not protest against the order of rank.

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In our flat it worked perfectly. But as we stepped out on the door, all the knowledge acquired so far by Döme seemed to be forgotten. It was all the same what kind of reward snack I had with me, if he felt like it, he came back, but if not, he just kept running around. He was really gallopping, just like a clumsy little foal. In November, when he was 3 and a half months old, we decided that despite all our flaws we were going to participate on the next vizsla trip. This “program” consists of a group of enthusiastic private persons, who organize such days once in a while on different places in the country, and on these events, there are around 70-100 vizslas running around for hours. In an organized way, let me add. Since the number of participants is so high and there’s so much interest, they nominated some leaders, and there are groups of 10-15 people that set out in different points of time, in order to avoid a great turmoil or chaos. There was a registration tent, because one could apply beforehand, and they were spreading cute little brassards to the dogs, with the name and with the owner’s phone number. For those who needed it. We insisted on it, since Döme was not easy to call. I have to mention one more important thing, there was a stand next to the registration tent, the stand of saving the breed of the Hungarian vizsla, with Duncsi on the top, who was raising money for vizsla orphans, for the Futrinka Street Dog Protecter and Dog Freetime Sport Organization. Not only do they save vizslas, but dachshunds, German mastiffs and dog mixes with no chance too, far beyond their strength. So that's why I should have searched better on the internet. It's not that I would change Döme for anything, but I could have adopted a dog, unfortunately, there is a huge selection. I talked a bit to Duncsi, and I offered my two hands and my free time as a help, so I promised to send an e-mail and we’ll discuss the details there.

OK, but let’s get back to the excursion. Dömötör was so incredibly excited seeing all his pals of the same breed that he didn’t even wave his tale, but he shook his entire bottom, he almost fell apart. He was twisting around the dog-lead, mumbling, muttering for the others, he pulled the dog-lead just like a billy-goat. And there I was, the worrying one: don’t let him go, because we’re going to lose him. The husband: there won’t be anything wrong with him, he’s going to run around, play, have fun, and he won’t get lost. Me: yes, he will. But I lost, he let him go, and we just saw the line after Döme, as he ran off. I got pale, wow, how good masters we are, we couldn’t even watch for a dog for two months! In the next second there was a desperate call: Dömeeeeeeeeeeeeee, Dömeeeeee, Dömcsiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii. Around two kms from us, a guy waved back and shouted back: he’s here, he’s playing! We ran there fast, and there he was, playing with a girl at the same age as he was, and without even thinking of… Maya was a really good match to our dog, they were playing tag, they were bantering each other. As far as Döme’s concerned, it wasn’t until he was around 6-7 months old that he started barking. He hadn’t had much to say before. But the girl, on the contrary, was continuously barking for the young man, she was calling him to play.
I kept shouting for two hours, because I could hardly see my own dog during the excursion on the bank of the Danube. I think all 90 participants learned the name of our vizsla.

Since it was November, the weather was chilly. When the itinerary of the excursion reached the river bank, most of the vizslas jumped into the water right away. How good it is, I said to myself, that my vizsla is running around in the grass. Yeah, sure! Out of the blue, Lord Attentive jumped into the ice-cold water just like a bullet. Wow, what are you doing, come out, you’re going to catch a cold!!!! Well, I faced here another case where calling in didn’t work, because he didn’t come out, but in addition to it, he didn’t even turn to me. The leader of the excursion was a nice guy, and as he saw my eyes twitch because I was so nervous, and that this excursion was not at all a relaxation for me, he came to calm me down: It might sound unbelievable for you, but this is a beagle, which endures hard circumstances, likes water, and which is not, I underline, is NOT going to catch a cold… They’re all moving, they won’t get cold, don’t worry. OK. Cool, I shouldn’t worry, what a silly request. Of course, he was right, the dog stayed healthy, he didn’t even sneeze.

After the excursion I started practicing calling him in more intensively. I realized that Döme can be motivated better with a ball instead of reward-snacks. He makes some faults sometimes, but hardly if ever, now my word became more important and the two of us became a really clever pack of dogs

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The next solution. Fortunately, I got a cute Boss. I mean, really, there’s no one like him. I told him the story and that I’d have to go walking a little bit with my vizsla during lunchtime and that I lived just around the corner, so if the general staff didn’t mind, it would be fantastic. And it didn’t mind So the doggie has got his walk during lunchtime ever since, his daily routine became fixed, he’s waiting for me in the window at noon during the peal of bells, but when I open the door, he sits still on his place with an expression: me? Well, I’ve been sitting here all the time, I haven’t looked out of the window for a day or so
I have to mention the unpleasant details, too. Leaving Döme alone didn’t go that smoothly, as far as destroying concerns. There was not a single bark or whimper. How could there have been, since his mouth was full of shoes, flowers, furniture and everything that wasn’t his toy and that was forbidden to consume. I can’t even think about how many shoes of mine he destroyed. Anyways, that’s irrelevant. All those things are replaceable, but this little bastard is not
 

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The teenager endured the cold relatively well, mainly because I kept him training according to what I learned on the excursion The first snow was a huge parade. He was quite enthusiastic that morning, because we were to go walking, so I put on him his equipment, put the ball in my pocket, and let’s go. I opened the door of the staircase, and he was astonished. I could tell from his face: Oh my God, where did everything go? Where are colors, the grass, the sidewalk, and what is this white stuff on it? And how cold it is! And can I lick it?

As we arrived to the dog-ground, we reached the level where he didn’t walk as on hot lava any more, or as a cry-baby He dared walking on this wonder, but then a problem arouse: where should he poo. Döme respected snow so much that there was no way he would dirty it. He was looking for the right place for loooong minutes, he was toddling as a pigeon, he was watching me helplessly, saying: where is the grass, what sould I do now??? I dug a little hole, here you are, there’s grass under it, come on, do your   thing before you explode It was all he needed, he calmed down, he shed his inhibitions, he inaugurated the snow and the fun began. After the relief he started running so that even a little foal would envy him. He pushed the snow before himself with his nose, now that he got to know that everything was under the white thing. I laughed a lot at this puppy

We, owners, who come here, are usually less enthusiastic about cold and snow. But  we fought cold quite well with hot wine and rum tea. This little group of people is so headstrong that they walk at least an hour with their beasts even at -20 ℃. Some of us went out in so many clothes that if we had ran into a tree, only our nose would have got hurt But we did everything for the dogs, no matter if we need 3-4 layers of clothes under the ski overall and if we can hardly walk
So that’s how we spent our winters. Döme doesn’t wear anything, but I wear a few people’s clothes

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The salted sidewalk is our great enemy. I’ll never understand why they must throw 5 kgs of salt every two metres, but it will be there anyways. And it withers dogs’ paws. The “mother” of Rozika (the bassett lover) gave a very smart idea: to put vaseline on the paws. And it worked, he doesn’t hastily pick his paws up anymore But since I am over-worried about him, I even put some lotion on his paws after walking.
We also went sledging, one of the best sports for vizslas. With Döme it happened as follows: he came jumping like a billy-goat next to the sledge until we got to the hill, because he didn’t really understand what was going to happen. We sat on the sledge with my sis and the wide-eyed little one was waiting for the continuation with his head turned a bit aside. We pushed ourselves away, and after the first second of astonishment he realized that we “left him there”, so he rushed after us, and of course, he caught us up, he yipped and frisked about right next to us And the point is, that it was fun for us, too, because we put the sledge’s cord round his neck and he pulled it up the slope in about two minutes Who likes pulling his sledge up the hill, heaving??? Nobody So we did it a few more times, with a huge audience, because everyone laughed at my dog, and there were people who just walked there and stood by to watch the programme
I waited for Christmas to come with a bit of enthusiasm. Since we have never had a big tree, I was expecting my puppy to consider the lights and ornaments a challange… But no!!! He was afraid of the tree, he didn’t really know what to think of it He didn’t even think of killing it, since it’s better to be in peace, who knows what this luminous thing is capable of, so he didn’t even go close to it

We had a cozy celebration on the dog-ground, it was really cool. We took there not just one, but four thermoses of hot wines and mugs instead of plastic cups, according to the occasion. And as far as I can remember, we even had some home-made spirit, but I’m not sure any more … 
And then, slowly the weather became more and more mild and the ice started to melt. Those who walk with their dogs, know what it means: wallow. Mud and slob up to your knees. Another thing that only bothers us, dog owners I’m a good parent, I have never restrained my puppy just because he’s might or is going to get dirty. Döme was muddy up to his head, he dug, he wallowed, and he just moulded mud. Yeeaaah, what a great fun it is to find the dog under the dirt Especially because I wasn’t astute enough and we didn’t have the rule to wait in the door until I clean you… We got home and he trotted around the flat, saying showing to the furniture that we’ve arrived I couldn’t drag him into the bath alone, I just wasn’t able to hold him, so I kept running after him with a wet towel, one leg, then the other leg, now let’s see the tummy, and the back, etc. After the walks, we had an extra half hour of chase. And another extra half hour for me to clean up afterwards

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It happened one day, that we were having our regular evening walk, with full headcount, my husband, the dog and I. And we took the car to go to the dog ground right next to us. What a coincidence… Everything went as usual, the running, the game, I already threw back the ball to the little monster for the seventieth time, and I even improved, since I could/can as well play simultaneously with the other dogs
But suddenly one of the dog masters told me that Döme’s leg was bleeding. It’s important to notice, that I just can’t support blood. Not even my own blood, not to mention the neighbour’s, the dog’s or anyone else’s blood. I immediately ran there: Show me, where it is. I didn’t have to look for him for a long time, because he left a little pond there, since his paw was open. I reacted like Oh my God, he’s cut his leg, what’s going to happen now, he’s going to bleed to death. I felt my pulse on my neck, it wasn’t just palpable, but also visible. One could count the frequency of my heartbeats. In the meantime I was wondering how many minutes it would take to go to our doctor who lives 20 kms from us, and how much blood he could possibly loose during this time, is he going to be shocked or if I’m going to be shocked. Dömötör came up to me in the meantime with the ball, he waved his tale, and he didn’t show any signs of not being well at all…

Luckily, his “dad” was around, and he led the whole process. Got in the car, calming me and the dog down at the same time. He wasn’t hesitating, he went right to the doctor who was closest, 2 kms from us, so that the dog could recieve medical treatment as soon as possible.
The doctor wasn’t a fool either, he realized that I was about to faint, seeing how I was sweating and how I kept wringing my hands. In brief, I was showing nearly all the symptoms of panic and hysterics. He commanded me to sit down on a chair and told me I was not needed in the consulting-room, and that he was going to take care of the dog with my husband, so I shouldn’t worry. Of course I worried, especially because they had to hold down Döme, as he realized quite soon that it’s no fun for him.
The doctor examined the wound, there were no splinters in it, he cleansed it, disinfected it, bound it up, gave him an injection, better safe than sorry. But he didn’t sew it up, because we let him know how much our dog likes to race, and he decided not to do it, because the wound might swell up under the stitching. So it is better if I bind it every hour and disinfect with iodine, and if I watch out where we walk, so that not too much dirt would get into the wound.
Döme became a fashion dictator, because I put real socks on the bandage in order to protect the wound My vizsla son became so sexy, honestly, without any partiality He didn’t do anything to the sock, but still, after the walks he got rid of them somehow. It was a long healing process, and many of my socks became victims of it, but it was worth it. There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for Him

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Let me tell a few words about the organization. The exact name of it is: Futrinka Street Dog Protection and Dog Freetime Organization. Honestly, I don’t even know where I should begin. I got so many experiences from this team, and I’m not just thinking of the dogs, but of the members, too, that my thoughts are just zigzagging around. I don’t want to leave out anything. Nevertheless, I will do so But no problem, I’m going to add more in later stories. I just want others to feel the enthusiasm, fight and joy I got from this position.

Basically it’s about rescuing dachshunds, Hungarian vizslas and Danish hounds. They/We have fought for a long time for mixture breeds having no chance, who were either too old or one-eyed or were waiting for their death, dogs who needed education, dogs of all sorts who were classified as having no chance. As it has turned out recently, there’s no money for saving them. They have no support, no background, no one really wants them, it simply doesn’t work. Even if everyone fights for the dogs exceeding his own limits, there are fantastic rescues, night commandoes, a million miles of travelling for one poor, miserable dog, walking and cleaning up in snow, in frost or in heat, rendez-vous with the vet in the middle of the night…
But I’ll tell everything in it’s own time. Let’s get back to the first and most impressive day. Léna and Orsi were at the hound section, as they adore those giants, and we were with the vizslas. The girls showed us the dog shelter, they introduced us every dog by name, they told us their daily schedule, and we talked a lot. And then, Léna smiled a telling smile, let’s play with the vizslas Zsófi and I stood outside, in the yard, the gate was open, and the dog was supposed to come out on it… One dog??? There were at least 5 vizsla clowns, who were running towards us, simperingly, jumping and being happy. It was so wonderful, that I get goose bumps even now, when I think of it. They were so cute as they fought for a single petting, they carried the ball, they showed their bellies asking us to scratch it. In the meantime the girls told us one by one how did each dog get there… I won’t tell all the details, it was harrowing. But I still remember the first team, which made a rainbow above my head that afternoon: Karak, the funny old gentleman, who was jumping around as if he didn’t have a white moustache. Koma (=Buddy), the king of the swimming pools, who just couldn’t get rid of the ball, and who got scratched all his body parts. Vándor (=Vanderer), who couldn’t find an owner for a long time for no reason, since he was such a cute dog! Venyige, Zoo, Yo-yo, who ended up being my ultimate favourite.

Yo-yo was brought to this place from the dog shelter of Debrecen, in February 2010. It was only his whitish muzzle that showed his age. But in fact it was nothing but a maniac ballplayer and a mutter machine He was my favourite among the old folks, we were in harmony. It became clear to me quite soon that he adores apples. I always brought him some apple cut in pieces, whenever I went there, so we had our afternoon snack together on the yard. He was waiting for the the little pieces sitting, and whenever he didn’t get them as fast as he wanted, he came closer, muttering and slobbering Because we’ve spent so much time together, he felt like it was time to seal our friendship, I was sitting on the floor, he was pacing up and down, and once he got behind me and peed on me. That’s it, now I’m Yo-yo’s. I’ve been waiting for so long for him to find a dog owner, since it is hard to find someone who is willing to adopt an old dog, if not impossible. But as Winter came, he had luck, and a German family picked him, my little soft fur old boy. He got to a wonderful place, and they adore him, and I adore them, too, because they offer him a warm home, just like one he deserves

So we got stucked here, and we became rich in experiences, we fell in love with the whole thing and we realized that we actually loved shoveling shit, sprinkling water, walking, playing in the mud, walking around covered with sulliva up to our necks, and kissing stinky, simpering dogs. So I’d like to say thanks right here to all the boys and girls who’ve been workin full-heartedly at the Futrinka street, to the leaders for their neverending power, with which they lead the whole thing, to Léna and Orsi for the first day and to those many dogs, who presented us with their friendship and love. The pleasure was mine

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