Three years, WHAT?!

I have done a terrible job of keeping up with this blog.

It turns out malinois ownership isn't all that exciting I guess.

Stuck has been in my life for three years now. It's kind of mind blowing, it doesn't feel like it has been that long.

We have actually accomplished quite a bit together and I am really proud of us.

It hasn't all been easy, if you read through this blog the struggle has been real. I haven't been bashful about sharing my struggle with her food drive or a lack of. Last year I discovered that her food drive drops significantly when she goes into season. It stays that way pretty much until her cycle is complete - like the whole cycle, the things we don't see happening that are happening. I talked to a repro vet and tried treating her for nausea during that time. But honestly the greatest success I have had is topping her dry food with canned. It doesn't even have to be a lot and she eats every meal without fail. That aside her food drive has grown significantly. She eats a lot of human foods she wouldn't eat before and she will work for food. A toy is still her jam but I even showed her in conformation with food rewards. I would describe her food drive now as moderate, if she's stressed she will not eat. When we travel I just bring canned and she eats without issue. I would never want a dog without very high food drive again, but she has taught me a lot about problem solving and how to work without food.

Other than that everything has been going really well. Stuck is the perfect malinois for me. She has enough drive that we have been able to compete in various sports and title, but she has an excellent off switch and is good in the house. I really enjoy having a dog who can go anywhere and do anything. Her temperament is bomb proof, she's stupid friendly with everyone.

Let's see - her name is currently as follows:

Int. Ch UKC Ch URO1 UCD Athos Bellatrix CGCA, CGCU, Spot-ON, RATI, DS, CD, BH, AD, IPO-VO, IPO3x2

We got our feet wet in AKC conformation last year, she had 6pts towards her championship. There haven't been many opportunities for majors and the few times there have been, she doesn't get put up. I'm told we just need to keep showing and find judges who like her type but it's a lot of money and time so I am not sure if we will pursue it. I think for a working dog she's nice in both body and temperament and I think she is deserving of an AKC championship, but I am not willing to play the game really seriously. There's too many things I want to do that I know she can be really successful at.

We have also been taking AKC Obedience lessons. I am really fortunate to have access to an amazing obedience trainer who is very talented and accomplished. She is preparing us for a CDX and maybe to go as far as a UDX or even an OTCH. I feel pretty confident we can get our CDX in both kennel clubs, but the jury is out on going further. I had planned to enter a trial at the end of this month but I am expecting Stuck to go into heat then, of course.

I feel like we accomplished quite a bit together even though I am a novice malinois handler. I never really thought I would ever put an IPO3 on a dog, I mean, I got her for that purpose but I never really thought we would get there so quickly. The last three trials we entered were championships. While our scores are not AMAZING, I believe it is amazing that we were able to pass at that level. I feel like all of this says a lot about her character as a dog.

I have plans to title her this year in AKC Obedience, we entered DVG Regionals which will be in May for one more 3. I hope to also do more barn hunt and dock diving with her. I also want to finish her CA title - she only needs one more run.

If the stars align and everything falls into place I am planning to breed Stuck in the fall. I know breeding is a crap shoot but I really love Stuck's temperament and can't think of a better way to get another dog like her than to breed her. I have a male picked out - an IPO world champion. I expect that this breeding will produce stable, solid nerved dogs who can rock it on the IPO field but who are also not a pain in the ass to live with. I want to produce dogs who can do all the things, but this breeding is heavily focused towards the sport of Schutzhund. The male produces high food drive consistently as well as solid prey and toy drives. I believe their temperaments will compliment each other really well.

I am so thankful that Stuck came into my life, I couldn't have asked for a better partner. I didn't see it at the time but I am also thankful she was here when I lost Seppel. I know it wasn't easy for her to deal with me, all up in my feelings. But I think having her helped me to get through that time. Here's hoping for many good years and many more adventures together!

My Schutzhund Life

I haven't updated since May after AWDF, oops!

A lot has happened since then, I feel it's worth updating because my dog is now IPO3 x2.

So, one of the biggest changes I've gone through is that I quit my IPO club. It wasn't an easy decision, I agonized over it for quite some time. It's always scary to step out of your comfort zone and I was worried about succeeding on my own. I decided to quit my club because I wasn't happy with the direction the club was going and I also wanted to work with other helpers and trainers outside of the club. At this point in my IPO journey I want to be selfish and do whatever I want to do without my choices having an effect on anyone. I don't think that mentality is very team player or well representing of a club. So, I quit.

Before AWDF when my TD & helper were out of town I worked with Kevin Coombs of Schutzhund Washington for trial prep. I also asked Kevin to take a peek at Atlas. At the time I was considering washing him from IPO. Kevin was up front with me that he had never titled a bull breed before but he was willing to take a look at him. Typically Atlas would go into avoidance, sniff the ground and ignore the helper. His first session with Kevin he was barking and chasing and tugging on a bite roll. I started working Atlas on Kevin and every week was more and more successful. Kevin has been working Atlas for 4mos, he has most of a hold & bark, he can do an escape, and we are starting to heel for bites.

Since we've switched training programs Stuck's confidence has grown. She's not concerned about me anymore, her grips are calmer, there's less growling. Kevin has been doing different things with Stuck to help give her more exposure and build her confidence by helping her overcome weird scenarios. It's really cool to watch her evolve into a more confident dog.

Which brings me to my main point for updating -

Stuck earned her first and MY first IPO3 on September 22nd at the USA Boxer National Championship with scores of 81-86-92. Tracking was a MESS but she never gave up. Obedience went okay, we had issues in practice two days prior with the jump and a-frame, so she did the retrieve over the jump but when she did the wall she came back over the jump. Protection was good, she put on a really good show but she was super naughty - forgey in the transports and she blew her blinds.

Since we titled at the boxer championship I decided to enter the PNW Regional Championship which was the following weekend. I knew Stuck was thinking about going into heat, wouldn't you know, she went in the day before practice! Stuck being in heat was a blessing and a curse. The positives were that we got to practice right before we went on the field, and I also think it's cool that she got to complete two phases in a row, like it says a lot about her as a dog if she is successful. The negative was that the sun came out and she was completely gassed after practice and then had to go out and complete two phases back to back! Stuck earned her 2nd IPO3 at Regionals under the director of judges Nathaniel Roque with scores of 84-83-90. We finished 4th out of 10 IPO3 dogs and we were only a few points short of the podium.

It's really wild to me that we are here. When I first started in IPO, roughly 6 years ago, all I wanted was an IPO1 and it seemed SO OUT OF REACH. And here I am and not only have we competed, we've competed at really difficult trials. I am not bragging because we are not podium all-stars, but even I am amazed that I was able to overcome my nerves and enter some championships. People get weird about "just trialing at club level" but honestly, that's all I've ever wanted to do.

I'm not really sure where we are going to go from here. I have said multiple times I don't want to put an IPO3 on my dog twenty times, but I am not sure that I am ready to completely pull her from IPO. I am thinking of trialing her in December, try to clean up some of our OB and make sure her blinds are solid. Of course with every IPO3 that means we have to track too which I am not excited about. There is someone in WA trying to make PSA a thing up here and I definitely want to get a PDC, MAYBE PSA1. They are having a trial next year which would be an easy drive, I think Stuck could get a sleeve PDC now, but I would like to train for the suit.

I'm also hoping to breed her before she's too old to get my next sport dog. I would love another dog like Stuck with a little more drive and a little less handler sensitivity. She's the perfect dog for me otherwise and the perfect partner. She's been everything I could have asked for in a sport dog and in a pet. We've had some struggles but I have learned a TON from her. I am really excited that we made it here and cannot wait for future adventures.

Here is a video of her protection routine at regionals:

Stuck tracking at regionals. Photo Cred: Kevin Coombs

Stuck's send-out at regionals. Photo cred: Kevin Coombs

Stuck working on helper Mark Pellon at regionals. Photo Cred: Kevin Coombs

2018 AWDF Recap/ Stuck got her IPO2!

Oh man, I am so exhausted! What a crazy wonderful weekend!

Where do I even begin?

We ended up leaving earlier than I had intended because my friends were peer pressuring me to get in some practice tracking and training. We left Tuesday in the late afternoon. We got down to California around 3:45am. We had a hotel room reserved but they cancelled our reservation which left us calling around to find a room. Long story short we found another hotel and ended up booking the whole stay with them instead.

I had to get up around 9 Wednesday to make it to tracking, so I only had roughly 5 hours of sleep. Another long story short - I drove an hour to tracking practice only to arrive and find out the field was covered in fertilizer. I couldn't afford to have a bad tracking experience so I followed my friends out to a field that was 2 hours away. The tracking went okay. The alfalfa was super tall and the field was dry. Stuck found 2 of 3 articles and managed the track okay. She did miss her corners so I was mildly worried she would bomb them in tracking at the trial.

Thursday I needed to be at stadium practice at 9:00am. Someone I train with booked the time after me (we only got 5 minutes to practice!) so we had 10 minutes total. Practice sucked. Stuck didn't want to go over the jump, she ran into the wall, and I wasn't convinced she would do her send out. Protection went pretty terrible too, we spent our 5 minutes running the blinds.

So you can imagine by now I am REALLY tired, Thursday night after practice wrapped up we had to go to draw night. It's where you find out the order you'll get to go in for stadium and you turn in your score book. I didn't get out of there until 9:30 and had a 30 minute drive to the hotel. To top is off I drew #2 in our "flight". Which meant I would be second up on the field. (My anxiety went up ALLLLL the way!) I'll tell you what, I was soooo tired and so cranky. I called my dad on the drive home and was just really down on myself and my dog. I felt like we should have never entered the trial. We didn't belong there. I felt like I have been training super hard for weeks and we are going to walk on the field and it will look like my dog isn't trained at all. I was even questioning whether I wanted to continue IPO with Stuck. At the OB practice it seemed like she didn't even really want to be there with me. I was so stressed out about everything and needed to be at the stadium by 6:30a so I could prep my dog. Everything really just sucked that day.

Friday morning rolls around, I am second on the field so my dog did her long down first. She did the down like a boss. No surprise there. We go out onto the field and wonder of wonders, she's heeling with me! She totally got her crap together and was a willing teammate. I haven't seen the video yet, I know it wasn't beautiful but - she retrieved over the jump, she got all of her out of motion positions, and holy heck, she did her send out! I was so pleased. Then we had protection, I couldn't believe my eyes she ran ALL OF HER BLINDS! She didn't even think about running immediately into 6. Her routine was good but she blew her back transport... as in she walked 4ft ahead of me. I was like "Who are you?!" but there wasn't much I could do about it.

Sunday was tracking. Of course when we went to draw I drew #1. Of course. I can't complain too much though, it was nice to get tracking out of the way. We had to walk a million miles through an alfalfa field... I don't know the real distance but it was a hike. We checked in and I told Stuck to track and... SHE TRACKED! She was slow, she took her time, she nailed the first corner, found her first article, her second corner was more messy but she found it, and then she found her last article. What a relief that last indication was.

Stuck earned her IPO2 at the 2018 AWDF National Championships with scores of 84/78/77. Who knew that our worst phase would be our best score. The numbers are not amazing, we didn't get a place on the podium or a trophy, but my dog passed at a HARD trial. The judges had super sharp pencils.

So many emotions were felt this weekend for me. I am so proud of us, I am so proud of my dog. She really came through for me when I didn't think she would. In every phase. Our hard work really paid off in the end. I can't believe I put an IPO2 on my dog, when I got into the sport to just have an IPO1 was my goal. I never thought we would try a championship - although this is first and maybe last. I am 100% okay with trialing at and hopefully being successful at just club level. I am so glad that I went to this trial. I feel like it has boosted my confidence greatly, I am sure I will still have trial nerves, but after this experience I can handle the rest. I survived a really big trial, I didn't forget my routine, I didn't make a big mistake. Not only that, but I succeeded in titling my dog. This experience has just been invaluable, traveling, trialing somewhere new. Sharing a trial field with some really big IPO names. We survived and we came out on the other side. Now to start prepping for that IPO3!

Suzanne Loegel’s Athos Bellatrix pushing into helper Atilla Takacs at the 2018 AWDF IPO Championships going on in Galt CA this weekend #awdf2018 #lovedogsportphotography #ipo #imaginationframedphotography #hellskitchenschutzhundclub

A post shared by Micky Adams (@micky.adams) on May 19, 2018 at 9:26pm PDT

2018 AWDF

I really suck at this blogging thing. I haven't posted in here since October of last year, yikes!

I felt the urge to write today as I am getting ready to head down to California for the 2018 American Working Dog Federation's National Championship.

I am REALLY freaking nervous.

I've been training really hard but I have a HUGE fear of failing and even though I thought I had enough time to fix some things... it wasn't enough time at all. I don't want to embarrass my club. I don't want to embarrass myself.

Current feels.

I am really worried, as always, about tracking. Tracking has been going okay, but we had a really bad track last week. The tracking at the trial will also be on alfalfa, I had one opportunity to practice on alfalfa and it went okay but it wasn't great. I think if she can make it to her first article it is possible we could pass.

I am also worried about obedience. I'm worried about her being flat, I'm worried she won't do a send out. I think it will go okay, I am hoping she is just correct in all of the exercises even if she's not as animated as most judges prefer.

I feel really good about protection. My club helper Denis put in a ton of work helping me teach Stuck the back transport as well as fine tuning everything else. While he was out of town we also went up to Washington to train with a guy named Kevin who I was able to do run-thrus with. He put some pressure on my dog and also helped problem solve an early take off issue with the escape. We also had a chance to train with a club down in Eugene and their helper Chris did a full run-thru with us and it went well. I have no doubts we will pass protection.

Something someone said the other day really resonated with me, I am not a professional trainer, this is my first 'real' sport dog. I have to keep reminding myself of this. If we fail it isn't because I suck, it's because we aren't professionals at this and this is my very first dog.

Another thing I was reminded of is that the worst thing that can happen is failure, but if we fail it's not like I am going to die. Life goes on.

It's just so hard to not be nervous about everything! I am excited to go out of town and I think the event will be a lot of fun stress aside. I am hoping to meet up with some friends down there and maybe meet some people I haven't met in person.

My hope is to pass our IPO2, that's the big goal.

My small goals for the trial are: Tracking - I hope she doesn't give up if she gets lost. I hope she keeps trying even if stressed. Obedience - I hope she does all three retrieves. Protection - I hope she puts on a good show and outs when I tell her to. Oh and, as for me, I hope I don't forget the OB & protection routines.

Collecting all of the titles.

So...

A lot has happened since I last posted specifically about Stuck back in April of this year.

Stuck is now:

Int. Ch. UKC Ch. URO1 Athos Bellatrix CGCA CD BH AD IPO-VO IPO1

In May Stuck earned her URO1 with a score of 99pts and High in Trial.

In June Stuck earned her CD title. (195-188-196) She also got her CGC.

In September Stuck earned her IPO-VO (89-84-97) and got her AD certificate.

Photo by Grace Wang

In October Stuck earned her International Championship thru IABCA, her CGCA, and her IPO1!

Photo by Grace Wang

Photo by Grace Wang

It's been a busy year and I have done a terrible job of documenting what we've been doing.

I love having a dog who can do all of the things. Because of her I've been able to try a lot of different venues, in 2018 we're going to try AKC conformation. My goal is to have an IPO3 dog with a triple conformation championship.

Yesterday we earned our IPO1. This is the first time I've ever put a real IPO title on a dog, I can't believe we did it! Our scores were 92-73-91.

I've posted about our tracking challenges before, I did a complete 360 and changed how we were tracking. I pulled food completely and started having Stuck track for balls that I bury. It has made a HUGE difference in her attitude towards tracking and yesterday really showed the fruits of our labor. I've been super committed to tracking my dogs, we track multiple days a week. That was the phase I was most worried about yesterday and she did great. It felt so awesome.

Obedience was a struggle. I am consistently told she is flat on the field... she looks good to me (at least she's happy) but she's not like a lot of the mals with super flashy OB and crazy drive. I'm going to try my best to see if I can improve the picture a little bit, but it might be something we always battle. I was the first one up and kind of rushed through retrieves(I've never done them in a trial before!), she didn't go over the jump so we lost 15pts that way. So the rest of our points were lost in the rest of our routine. Honestly, I was a little bummed by our OB score, but I'm over it. I had to remind myself that I was one of I believe 4 people out on the field who is NOT a professional dog trainer. I'm doing the best that I can within my ability, and I think we're doing pretty well considering. She did a freaking send out! We only practiced it twice at that field and that was 2 weeks ago. I thought that she would not do it at all and was preparing for the worst. BUT she did her send out!

In protection she was a bit naughty. She anticipated the call out and was kind of thrashy on the sleeve for the OUT. The best part of the routine for me honestly was her doing the blind search. I wasn't 100% sure she wouldn't try to skip blind 5, she didn't even hesitate. I was really happy with her protection score also.

I'm excited to train harder and try to refine our OB for our IPO2, my goal right now is to try for a spring trial, I think if we can put the time in we can make it happen. I am so completely thankful to be in such an awesome IPO club. Our training director and our helper put just as much time into our dogs and into helping us prep as they do their own dogs. The rest of the club is super supportive and always up for spotting or sharing tips/training ideas. I am so completely thankful for everyone who has helped me get to this point. Without this club I wouldn't even have Stuck. It's been an awesome journey and I am so looking forward to the future.

Neutering is not a lobotomy.

I hope that I can deliver this information in a sound and informative manner.

Atlas, my pit bull puppy is 10mos old. He has displayed some behavior that I now understand to be due to over stimulation. I've now had three people ask me if he still has his nuts, why haven't I neutered him, and won't neutering fix the issue.

Let me just put it all on the table.

• I have absolutely NO intention of breeding Atlas. He is an HUU carrier (bladder stone issue) and it is my firm belief if people stopped breeding carriers we could get rid of some of these issues. Also, while I love him to bits he has not shown me anything that says he is worth breeding. 
• Just because he has balls doesn't mean he will have babies. People can have intact dogs and be responsible. 
• They are finding that it is healthier for dogs to remain intact until they are fully mature around the age of 2yrs old. Here is a study that talks about the health risks associated with keeping a dog intact vs altering; Long Term Health Effects of Spaying and Neutering in Dogs
• This study based off of an owner survey suggests that spaying and neutering dogs not reduce aggression in dogs: Aggression and neutering/spaying dogs 
•  I know of a few people who have seen success in neutering their male dogs in terms of behavior. But I also know the dogs in these instances were being actively worked with on training and behavior modification so I think it is a stretch to say that removing the hormones completely cured them, if anything the continued training and behavior modification probably makes the most difference. (this is my opinion). 
• If a dog is having behavioral issues due to hormones, yes, neutering WILL make a difference. But it is extremely hard to determine what is hormone related vs what is just the dog's behavior.
• I have owned three different dogs who were all altered that marked outside. Altering will not stop a dog from marking. If your dog marks inside the house that is a training/behavioral issue and is not related to having hormones.

A lot of people see spaying and neutering as a cure all for unwanted behaviors. If your dog is displaying behaviors you don't want it is very likely a training issue and has nothing to do with the hormones at all.

Another link to check out:
Neutering and Behavior
"There is at least the potential for some behaviors to worsen after castration.  Testosterone is known to affect anxiety behaviors; for example, hypogonadal men with lower levels of testosterone are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression disorders.  Treatment with testosterone alleviates these symptoms.   Preliminary studies in mice were performed where mice were presented with stressful situations and their ability to process this fear with both contextual (same environment) and cued fear (an audible stimulus preceded a shock) were tested before and after castration.   The results were mixed and showed that castration did inhibit contextual fear memory processing, supporting the fact that the processing of contextual fear memory within the hippocampus area of the brain is testosterone dependent.  It is established that men tend to develop post-traumatic stress disrorder less frequently and of a less severe nature than women due to this inhibition of contextual fear memory inhibition³. "

Due to some of these study findings I am hesitant to neuter my dog until he is done growing, and even then, I may not do it at all. Atlas is my first intact male dog. Back in April before he turned 8mos old he started to display what I initially thought was aggressive behavior, he would greet people by barking and would nip at them at my house. We don't have a lot of people come over often so I don't think his age or timing has much to do with it. He has always been reliable in public places. The same weekend he nipped at someone I showed him all weekend and he was completely fine being touched by a stranger and was social with people he didn't know. It seemed at the time to be more of a territorial response. Long story short I've talked with friends and trainers and his behavior seems to be more of an over stimulation issue coupled with a stress response. I am working on passive socialization, having him work in proximity to people but not interacting. I am also working on how he greets people, especially people he knows. He now has a "four on the floor" rule and he's not allowed to put his mouth on anyone.

He has also shown a little bit of uncertainty and fear - possibly a phase, but I am concerned if there is fear involved that neutering him could make that even worse.

I am not anti spaying and neutering. I have a 12 year old dog who is and always has been healthy that was spayed at under 20 weeks. I think that because people choose to not be responsible it is something that is necessary. Not everyone is equipped to deal with a dog going into heat, and not everyone even wants to deal with it. I don't fault people for altering their dogs out of convenience. But I do think with new research coming out it is important to educate yourself on the subject and maybe look at things differently. I always said I would never have an intact female, I was very pro-altering. It's only been within the last couple of years I really opened my eyes and saw things differently. I do think it's healthier for dogs to be intact at least long enough to fully mature. When we alter dogs at 6mos of age and younger they are babies and they aren't anywhere near done growing. The differences between a dog altered at 6mos vs a dog altered at 2yrs is huge in terms of development. In the "old days" I remember occasionally hearing people say they didn't want to neuter their dog because they wanted the dog to fully develop. I used to roll my eyes, but it is SUCH a thing! Atlas has changed SOOO much since he was 6mos of age and I think if I would have neutered him his head and body would not have developed as it has, and he's not even done!

But I'm kind of getting off track. I hope if anything this post helps educate those who think that neutering is a cure-all. I hope this opens the door for people to research and educate themselves on altering and when to do it, or not do it.

6mos

10mos

The year of the Malinois

I started this blog to document my adventures in living with a Belgian Malinois.

I did a really terrible job of keeping this blog up to date and a big part of that is that malinois ownership was not nearly as chaotic or terrible as I had expected.

I used to think that I could never be enough for a Belgian Malinois. I thought that I would not be able to commit the time or effort to exercise or train such a high energy and high drive breed of dog. I was also extremely concerned about the handler aggression that the breed can be known for.

I met Stuck at a French Ring seminar. My good friend has her full sister who is a very stable and driven dog. At the seminar they handed me her leash and we did some bites and outs. Initially what I liked about her was that she didn't try to eat me. I had to grab her harness a few times and she didn't get weird about it. I can be an impulsive person but I also just had a very good feeling about her. In handling her I felt like her energy was something I could handle.

As it turns out she ended up being perfect for me. Don't get the wrong idea, Malinois are a lifestyle. I feel the same can be said for any other intense breed of dog. I had to make a commitment to this dog to give her proper exercise and mental stimulation.

Stuck has a very solid temperament. She has a good off-switch and can settle on her own. She is generally friendly with new people and I can take her into public places and she will socialize with strangers. She is neutral/submissive with other dogs.

I generally exercise her for at least 30mins everyday of hard exercise which usually consists of throwing the ball or chasing the flirt pole. I also run her on the carpet mill for 10 minutes multiple times a week. I work on obedience 1-2 times a day. Length of time varies depending on what we are working on. I can take a sick day but she does get antsy. Luckily for me she is not destructive and can handle having an 'off' day. As the weather gets nicer I will start taking her for bike rides and letting her play on the spring pole. I have to make time to do these things and she needs exercise and brain stimulation daily.

I have had to change a lot of the ways that I train. I am not one to beat my dogs but I have been heavy handed before. I don't even have to be outwardly mad at her, just a slight spike in my blood pressure and she gets stressed out. I will admit that I have lost control a few times and have been unfair, luckily for me she does recover and forgives me. We may suffer fall-out for a few days after whatever it is happened, but she recovers and moves on. A lot of our stress has revolved around her lack of food drive. I believe a lot of high drive dogs have issues with food drive, but she is particularly strange. If she is stressed she will not eat at all and she is picky about the foods she will work for. We have had a lot of ups and downs and struggles with tracking because of her food drive and I've been spending the last couple of months trying to repair our relationship when it comes to food.

She's really taught me a lot as a handler. I have had to become a lot more patient and think about how I will handle things. I've had to do a lot more problem solving in trying to figure out how to teach things differently. In obedience training I've hardly used any type of correction and she has never worn a prong to work OB. I have started using an e collar in bite work but she works on a low level (12 out of 127) and usually after one or two corrections (usually for losing focus) she doesn't need another one.

I enjoy that I can usually show her how to do something once or twice and she gets it, where other dogs I would need to do multiple reps. But I will say the sensitivity is a major buzz-kill and can be really hard to work around.

A lot has changed in the year that I have had her. When she first arrived she would not come into the house willingly (especially if it meant she had to go back in her crate). She would steal toys and play keep away. I taught her to hold a down-stay on a dog bed in the house. She spent time outside in a dog run when I couldn't supervise her outside.

Stuck willingly comes back into the house after being outside. She doesn't play keep away with her toys. She no longer has to keep a down-stay in the house unless I send her to her bed. She hasn't spent any time in the dog run.

In the year that I have had her she went to two dock diving competitions, she earned one leg towards a rally 1 title with a score of 93, one leg towards a CD with a score of 195, and she got her BH. She also got her UKC conformation championship, she is the first dog I have ever shown in conformation.

I think what I really enjoy about Stuck is that she is my partner. I can always count on her to show up and be there. With Seppel I never really knew what I was going to get. I loved that dog and it breaks my heart that he is gone, but I could not always count on him to be on the same page with me. Stuck never lets me down when it comes to training or doing something.(Well, except maybe tracking. Another post for another day haha).

As a first time Malinois owner Stuck fit into my life perfectly. I couldn't ask for a better dog and feel like she is just enough dog for me. I think for anyone looking at this breed it is important that you find a good breeder who is producing the type of dog you are looking for. If you are looking for more of an active pet I would strongly suggest looking at show lines over working lines. I think it's important to meet dogs that the breeder has produced. In my situation a friend had Stuck's full sister and other friends had half-siblings so I had an idea of temperament in her line. Her dad was brought up here for breeding and I had an opportunity to meet him (he's 10!) and her mom lives locally up here as well so I was able to see what she was like (she's 10 too!). Both of her parents have aged well and her mom had her litter at the age of 7 which I feel is a great accomplishment.

This year has had a lot of struggles for both of us, especially for me because I have had to really grow as handler and trainer. I am also extremely thankful for the dog club that I am in and the training friends I have made. If it weren't for the support of my club I would not have Stuck, and if it weren't for my club and training friends I would definitely not be where I am at now. I have learned so much and still have so much more to learn and I am so thankful for everything that has happened in the last year - good and bad. I am very excited to see the things that we will accomplish this next year and in the years to come.