"5"

Yup, that is how old Daddy’s little girl is today. It seems just like yesterday that I was driving her home from Western Kansas. I was fully expecting this puppy to get sick and have diarrhea the entire drive home for some reason. After all, it was a 2 ½ hour drive to her new home, and since she had never been in a car for such a long drive, who knew? Quite the opposite; she slept on my girlfriends lap the entire drive home. Oh, don’t worry, it was made perfectly clear that should something ever happen to our relationship, she was my dog. She did, however, play an instrumental role in raising her for the first year or so. For that, I will tell her, thank you. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into getting a puppy, but quickly learned and would not change one thing about it.

Today, she is well behaved, spoiled rotten brat that I am not sure I could ever live without. My greatest fear is, well, lets not even go there.

She is a Vizsla, pronounced VEESH-la, and originates from Hungary. They represent one of the best in sporting dogs and loyal companions and has a strong claim to being one of the smallest of the all-round pointer-retriever breeds. They are a natural hunter endowed with a good nose and an above average trainability. They are lively, gentle mannered, demonstrably affectionate, sensitive and extremely loving. Mine thinks that she is a 51 pound lapdog.

I chose the breed after calling around to many vets. I wanted my choice of a running partner to be a well thought out process. How many people do you know that didn’t do their homework, got a dog and found out that the breed was not right for them?

She is not a hunter, but a great runner. Together, we can be seen running at least four days a week and logging around 25-30 miles. She is well trained and I do not run her on a leash. Yes, I have been warned by animal control that it’s against the law, even as recently as a few weeks ago. Of course I didn’t appreciate being told that, my dog is far more well behaved then most dogs we encounter on a leash.

Well, enough about her, after all, it is her birthday and we are off for a run and some birthday cake.

Happy birthday, Bring! (I'll explain her name another day.)