Purpose Bred Dogs

Today I wanted to talk about why I have chosen to purchase purpose bred dogs vs taking on a second hand dog or rescue.

I want to start this post by saying that up until I purchased Stuck this year, I had never actually paid for a dog before - not even in adoption fees. Every dog I have had has been given to me. Every dog that I have had until this year has either come from a rescue or has been acquired secondhand.

My issues with rescues and shelters are as follows:

The No Kill Movement - Most shelters have moved to "no kill". While no kill does not mean that euthanasia doesn't happen, it does mean less dogs are being killed. That said, dogs with poor temperaments are taking up house in shelters and even rescues, they are not being euthanized, they are being adopted out to people. People are adopting a story and putting up with dogs who have horrible personalities.

Shelters warehouse dogs - I'm sure you have seen the posts "This dog has been in the shelter for 2 years, find her a home!" I'm sorry, you've been warehousing a dog for 2 years and you don't understand why the dog isn't getting adopted. I can tell you that it is either lack of exposure, a severe behavioral problem, or the shelter is too picky about the person adopting the dog. There are dogs rotting in shelters for years while other shelters are EMPTY!

Importing dogs from other countries - How is it that we supposedly have a pet over population problem here, but rescues and shelters can accept dogs from Spain, the Middle East, and Mexico?

Not keeping dogs long enough - So I know I just complained about dogs staying in shelters for too long, but here is the other issue I have. Shelters do not keep dogs long enough! Rescues aren't keeping them long enough either! We all know the general two week rule. "Generally" it takes two weeks for a dog to start feeling comfortable in a new home. However if you've had enough dogs come through your house you know that it can take much longer than that. But it's a minimum of two weeks for you to start seeing the dog's true colors. Many shelters are only required to hold dogs a maximum of 3-5 days before putting them up for adoption. I scanned in paperwork for a dog that came from my local humane society who had been there for a total of 9 days, from intake to adoption! That is simply not long enough to determine a dog's personality and where the best fit is.

Lack of support - I've seen multiple situations where people have purchased dogs from shelters in particular, and when the dog has severe behavioral issues - such as biting- the shelter offers no support. In one scenario a shelter worker told a friend of a friend that the dog could be taught not to bite when it had gone after the woman multiple times over a ball. The advice did not go beyond that and the woman ended up returning the dog. The dog was listed almost immediately again with no mention of a bite history on the petfinder ad.

We are not doing dogs any favors by randomly placing them with people. More often than not it is a bad match and the dog will end up in another shelter or will be rehomed via craigslist.

Another blogger said it best (I wish I had a link, this post was excellent!) that shelters should be the place you go to pick from the best of the best. They should be weeding out dogs that require mass amounts of behavior modification and training in favor of dogs who just make good all around pets. If you choose to take on a challenging dog - good for you! But the truth is average joe dog owner is not prepared mentally or financially to deal with a dog who has severe behavioral issues. And in my opinion, you should not have to become a dog trainer to have a dog. Yes, you should research getting a dog and you should expect to take it to a basic dog class, but you should not have to pour thousands of dollars into training nor should you have to go above and beyond just to have one.

What I like about responsible breeders:

They health test- Responsible breeders health test. While it is no guarantee checking hips, elbows, eyes, heart, knees, etc help stack the odds in your favor that you will have a healthy dog who is long lived and has a body that can keep up.

They know their genetics- If you go to a breeder who has been in their breed for a long time they should know a lot about the lines they are breeding. Especially a breeder who has an established line.

They are supportive- If you are dealing with a health or temperament issue a responsible breeder should lend you support. Most breeders will guarantee health and if your puppy/dog has a serious problem, offer a replacement or in some cases a refund. If you are dealing with a temperament issue they should be able to help guide you on what is normal and what is not for your dog.

They evaluate their puppies- This is especially important for those of us who do sports. A responsible breeder will watch their puppies closely to determine which puppy should go to what home. Not every dog in a litter will be a sport prospect and depending on the breed not every dog in a litter will be a good pet. They should expose the puppies to weird surfaces, loud noises, and basic handling such at trimming nails to help determine who should go where.

They take them back- If for some reason you cannot care for your dog or it is a bad match, a responsible breeder in most situations will take them back.

Stuck, my Malinois, is the first dog I have ever paid for. Stuck came from a breeder who health tests and actually does IPO with their dogs. They are breeding for working ability and sound temperament and body. Stuck is everything I could have asked for in a dog. She can turn it on for working but she can be a reasonably decent house dog. I can take her to public places and trust that she will be on her best behavior, she is reliable off leash even in the presence of prey. She is healthy, she has passed her OFA hips & elbows as well as a cardiac and eye exam. Stuck is an extremely stable dog. I couldn't have asked for a better Belgian Malinois, especially for my very first one!

I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to likely be getting a puppy. Meet Atlas!

Atlas is the epitome of why I push going to a responsible breeder. He is super environmentally sound:

He loves people and so far I haven't found anyone or anything that has actually scared him. He is fine around loud noises, he has been on the treadmill. He is super food driven so he will do anything for food.

I got into contact with Atlas' breeder the night before his mom whelped him. His breeder contacted me when the puppies were on the ground and sent me updates as they grew. I was specifically looking for a male and was given the opportunity to have pick of the three males that they had. Every week they sent me videos and pictures and kept me updated about each boy's personality. They exposed them to weird loud noises, different locations, crates, car riding, and general handling. When I went to pick him out we met at a location they hadn't been to before which was awesome because I could see their personalities in an unfamiliar place. I chose Atlas because he was the only puppy willing to go through an agility tunnel - by himself without coaxing - and he was super chill even though he was in a weird place. His other brothers were fine too, but one of them was more laid back than I wanted and the other was too intense.

Working pit bull litters just don't happen. Most pit bulls are chain warmers in the backyard. Atlas' dad has his IPO1, his grandfather on his dad's side is a weight pull champion, his great grandsire on that side almost finished his weight pull championship and had a mondio ring brevet. Further back there is an IPO3 dog, two SchhB dogs, and multiple conformation dogs as well as some dogs with AKC OB titles. While his mom's pedigree is not filled with performance dogs she was a good match pedigree wise.

We drove to Michigan to pick Atlas up and he did great the entire trip home. He was super easy to crate train and is good for his nails to be trimmed. He takes everything in stride and loves any and all people. At this point I couldn't ask for a more stable puppy. Even if he isn't great at IPO he is a great dog to have around. I don't personally feel that I could have found a puppy like this in the shelter, especially not a pit bull. Given the state of the no kill movement a lot of the dogs in our shelters/rescues here have poor personalities. A dog with poor nerves is not going to be successful in IPO, period.

To get back to the main topic of this post, I will probably always choose to go with a purpose bred dog. It isn't that I will never have a secondhand dog again, if the right dog found me I wouldn't say no, but I do not feel guilty about going to responsible breeders to find dogs who can do the sports that want to do.

While I do feel that there are definitely rescue dogs out there who can do performance sports I think for high level competition they can be hard to find. There is so much to be said for good training foundations in puppies. I found this out when I was training my previous pit bull Seppel. He was a great dog and he tried his hardest to do the things I asked him to do but we played a lot of catch up because he did not have a good foundation for the sport we were doing. He also did not have quite the temperament that Atlas has, he had some hangups that I think were mostly genetic. There are a lot of pit bulls out there with sub-par nervous temperaments in shelters. In my opinion they should not be adopted out because they are not how the breed should be.

The breed standard says:
"The essential characteristics of the American Pit Bull Terrier are strength, confidence, and zest for life. This breed is eager to please and brimming over with enthusiasm."

Pit Bulls should not be nervous or fearful. They should not be a bite risk to people. Unfortunately a lot of the pit bull type dogs in shelters are dogs with anxiety and nerve issues. At least this is my experience here on the West Coast.  

Another issue as well is dog aggression. While I did it once before bringing Seppel home I was very leery of taking a shelter or rescue pit bull type dog into my home. My biggest worry was that the rescue or shelter would not be able to determine level of dog aggression and that I would bring a dog home who would kill my cat or seriously injure my other dogs. Seppel just fit in so perfectly into my house I have a hard time believing I could have that again. He was high drive but he got along smashingly with everyone in my house.

Once again to go back on topic and then bring this to a close - I could not be happier with my decision to go to a breeder for both of my purebred dogs.

***No judgement to those in support of rescue. I know that there are many shelter and rescue dogs who have been successful in sports, I've done sports with my own dogs who don't have pedigrees. I mostly just wanted to share why I chose to go with a breeder instead of going with a shelter dog and to share my issues with the shelter/rescue system. This is based off of my own personal experiences.

Stuck got her BH!

So...

My club was struggling for trial entries and on a whim I decided to enter our fall trial this past weekend. The AWMA was able to send me a score book right away which made everything possible. I did not have much prep time, we did go to a practice the night before but I literally had only been teaching a recall two weeks prior and she learned to finish from a front in 3 days.

Here is the BH video with judge's critique at the end:

Stuck came to me with very good foundations in all three phases of IPO. Stuck came to me with good engagement and a nearly finished heel. I've spent the last six months working on teaching her a finish to the left, a left about turn, and heeling with some duration. However the BH was the longest I have ever heeled her without giving a reward. She does get flat at times in the video but perks right back up. At the end when I go to leash her she thinks I have dropped a toy for her :p.

While I cannot take credit for the heeling I am extremely proud of myself for stepping up to support my club and I am proud of the relationship I have built with Stuck. I don't believe she would have performed as well for me if I hadn't invested the time that I have to try to train and work with her. I can take credit for her awesome recall and her turns (which aren't too bad actually.). I am proud of myself for last minute entering a trial because I have really bad performance anxiety and it would have been easier not to do it, especially since we didn't have much time to prep.

I honestly couldn't be happier with our routine. Seppel's routine was nothing like this one. This BH with Stuck is probably the best obedience routine I have ever had and it was super cool to be in between two trainers I really respect and be included with them in a really nice critique. It felt amazing.

I'm hoping to try for our IPO1 in the spring. We have no protection routine, no send out, and no retrieves. Hoping I can pull it together by then and be decent enough that it is worth trialing. After this past weekend I know the dog can do it and I know we can be a good team.

It's hard for me to believe this is the dog that I felt like I couldn't train. We are currently working on the jump for the retrieve and I think teaching the exercise will be a breeze. I finally feel like we are starting to understand each other and it is super awesome.

Update

A post a month is okay right? Haha. I have been super busy and because things have been very up and down I haven't felt like posting.


Stuck's food drive or lack thereof has been a BIG struggle. It is hard to teach her simple things like perching for our Relationship & Engagement class when she refuses to lure. I guess 'refuse' isn't the word, she might try but if it is 'hard' she doesn't have the food drive to want to keep trying.

It's also been difficult because she bit a bee in tracking and will no longer track for food. I honestly was panicking this past weekend that I was going to have to give her back to her breeder. Initially I thought she had a personal problem with me and tracking but my friends that I train with watched her and the issue mostly seems to be food/food on the ground. My training director from club showed us how to start tracking for a ball. Stuck's entire body language changed, she was actually excited to do it and completely loosened up. If I ask her to track for food she goes into complete avoidance.

I was mostly panicking because long-term deprivation is not something I want to do. I can't tell you how many times I've left from training her and come home crying lately because of this whole issue. I just have no desire to continually starve my dog to get them to do something be that food or attention. It made me start questioning if I was really cut out for this sport - if that is something I have to do to participate. But it's actually not. I mean for some dogs and some trainers, yes, but it's actually not the whole of IPO to have to do these terrible things to your dog to make them work.

When I saw that she could track for the ball it made me feel hopeful and after thinking and talking with a close friend I decided this was something I wanted to continue with. Initially I was very torn because Seppel was my project dog and Stuck was supposed to be my IPO dog, but I also felt if I couldn't train her how could I train another dog? Other dogs will have challenges, training is hard, IPO is hard, if I can't get beyond this challenge, how will I get beyond others? That thinking isn't entirely realistic because low food drive is a very hard problem to have, but a big part of me was like - if I can't do this, how can I train another dog?

This is not the first time I've struggled with thinking of giving Stuck back. A few weeks ago we went to a seminar with Forrest Micke and I contacted my training director and friend for some advice. She suggested sticking with it but also getting a second dog to take some of the pressure off of Stuck.

I got Stuck to help take pressure off of Seppel and to also have a "real" IPO dog. Now that Seppel is gone all of the pressure is on her. I don't want to jinx it so I won't go into detail but I am getting a second dog hopefully in October. When it happens, if it happens I will definitely share more info because it's not set in stone yet. For IPO Stuck is my primary focus, the second dog will be training relief - so I can rotate between the two, and is also for my personal mental health.

Some realizations that I have made:

• I know that Stuck is capable of getting an IPO title but it is going to be a challenge and take a lot of work. If it gets to be too stressful we will just focus on OB and protection, we can get titles in just those things and that is okay. My next dog can go all the way.
• Stuck fits my lifestyle well especially for her breed. I took her to the fair for dock diving this past Sunday and she handled the crowds super well. She was touched by multiple people and was super chill being in such a crowded venue. I was super impressed by how well she handled everything. We did some OB in the crowds and she was awesome which made me feel fabulous. 

It was suggested to me because the conflict was with the food in tracking to feed Stuck on scent pads only. It took 5 days(I almost gave up!) but Stuck is finally eating off of the scent pad. She's done it two days in a row. I am trying not to hold high expectations so if she doesn't eat I am not disappointed. Yesterday she did it without hesitation so I am feeling really good that this is repairable.

This has truly been a ridiculous emotional roller coaster and I've struggled a lot but I am finally feeling really good about everything. Things can only go up from here and I'm ready to actually be part of Stuck's journey. I am still battling some emotions over the loss of Seppel but this is a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders.

Food Drive Saga & Beach

Well... hand feeding was short lived. I did it for several feedings and a few days but did not feel like there was a huge improvement in her food drive. She also wasn't finishing a complete meal (about 3/4s through she would get less interested and I could feel it/see it).

Breakfast is the worst time for her in terms of eating. I think it has something to do with not really being hungry even though she has fasted all night. Dinner time is usually not a struggle and I think that is because she has been active throughout the day and has worked up an appetite. I posed a question to dog friends/dog people asking how much I could feed in one sitting. Stuck needs 3-4 cups of food a day to gain or maintain weight. It's been a struggle to keep weight on her because of this food issue. She maintains for a while and then starts refusing meals and drops again. Anyway the general opinion and experience seems to be that it is okay to feed 3 cups of food in one sitting.

That being said, for two meals now I have fed Stuck 1 cup in the AM and 2 cups in the PM and so far she has eaten every meal. I am going to give this a try and if it doesn't work I will switch to feeding her once a day.


We are starting a Relationship and Engagement Class through Harmony Canine and I decided to boil some chicken for bait to see if she would eat it with more enthusiasm. Well, knock on wood, she really likes the chicken! She is luring and pushing into my hand and has even bitten me a few times trying to get the food (Hahaha, who knew I'd be happy about that?). I'm hoping this trend continues because it makes training a heck of a lot easier for me. I used the chicken today to work on chin rests, takes/holds for the retrieve, and also for working on teaching her to stand.

In other news, we went to the beach on Tuesday. I honestly cannot thing of a time I laughed so much. It ended up being Seppel's birthday that day (I hadn't planned it that way), I thought, what better of a way to celebrate my dog than to go have a fun day at the beach. Stuck had a great time. At one point we went to a beach that had a lot of logs/rocks to climb on. She didn't hesitate to get up onto things for me, it kind of made me feel good that she was willing to do those things for me. It's a very slow process but I feel like we are headed in a good direction as far as our relationship goes.

Half brother Detour

Stuck's sister Livid

Seriously, eat your damn breakfast!

Enough is enough and I am changing the way I do things when it comes to meals and Stuck.

I have always felt like meal time for my dogs is their time. I have never felt a need to make them work for their meals. That isn't to say I've never done it. A few times I have had them work for their dinner, but for the most part I let my dogs eat their meals in peace.

However, I have also always had dogs who would eat themselves until they exploded.

Unfortunately, that is not Stuck. Stuck will eat her food most of the time, but she is picky about treat rewards, she would rather work for a toy, and more often than not she will either skip breakfast or only eat part of it.

It sounds really stupid, but it drives me up the wall! I'm like, EAT YOUR FOOD!!!!!

SO, that being said, I tried something new yesterday that I am going to run with for a while and see how it goes. I am not going to feed her breakfast anymore. I will soak her food and feed her when I go on my lunch break and make her work for the meal. Yesterday she was extremely happy to work for the food and she ate the entire meal. I did the same thing for breakfast this morning and dinner tonight. Right now I am working on food luring, teaching her to roll over, and teaching her positions. It's a bit inconvenient depending on the day, but if anything I guess it helps encourage me to do even more with her.

I feel like a lot of people poo-poo malinois ownership. I know not every mal is like the dog that I have. I also know that she is a fairly easy dog compared to a lot of other Belgian Malinois, but, that being said, I never had to do this kind of thing with my other dogs. There is a lot that I have to do differently with her. I exercise and train her multiple times a day. My other two dogs Seth and LiLo don't need that. They can go days and days without exercise and right now I haven't been training either of them and they are just fine. They eat their meals without question. They will take any treat that I offer. I also discovered today that she will play on the springpole by herself. Seppel loved the springpole but would only play on it with me standing there watching him... I think it's a testament to the difference in drives and energy level. I am really glad she is willing to play with it on her own because it's something she can do outside while I am doing things outside too. I guess I'm just saying, a high drive dog is a huge commitment and you won't know what you're in for until your experience it. But don't blow off the experiences that other people have to share, because it can be helpful to you, I feel.

Now to go way off topic but I took hip and elbow x-rays on Stuck and sent them to OFA. They came back as good and normal. Today I took her to a health clinic and got her CAER/CERF and cardiac certifications. The CAER testing is only "good" for 12mos, but I did it just be sure that her eyes are totally normal - and they are. If I were to breed her in the future I would repeat the testing. Her heart screening came back normal too. At this point it looks like Stuck can do all the things!

Regroup and Rebuild

It has been a week and a half since Seppel passed away. I have good days and I have bad days. Unfortunately Stuck is caught in the middle of this.

To say it has been hard is an understatement. I battle not wanting to do anything daily. If I could crawl into a dark hole and hide there for forever, I would.

Most people when they lose a dog have time to grieve and think about things before getting another dog. With Stuck I feel like I am living with a new dog before I am ready to have a new dog. That's the best way I can describe it. We don't really have a relationship(because she is still new) and there are things about her that were more tolerable when Seppel was around.

That being said, I have a lot of really good dog friends who have kept me grounded.

Right now I am mostly working on building a relationship with Stuck. We are still training, but I am taking time specifically to just do things with her. It is hard because there are many days where I don't want to do anything but I have to because she needs it. In a way I am thankful for this because it makes me get out and do things. Inevitably we have a good time too, even if I wasn't feeling it at first.

It's not really Stuck's fault that I am in a funk. Grief is a really strange thing. If I were to give Stuck back (not happening) I would not go out and get another dog for some time. I love the sport of IPO too much to just give up. The logical side of me absolutely does not want to do that. However the sad side of me would like to give up a lot of things right now.

As far as Stuck goes, she's doing really well. I taught her a trick ("rewind" or reverse circle), she's getting really good at now. I took her to a dock diving competition where she was called for finals but we couldn't make it that day. We've been going to dock diving practice and she really enjoys it. Last weekend she was jumping 18ft.

Last week I took her to the beach for the first time with her sister and my friend Kay. She had a good time, we all did. I hope to take her back there soon.

 
I took her to 1000 acres park down near Corbett on the 4th of July. We met up with Lauren from Zoephee, they go to that park a lot and I was having a very terrible day. Lauren and her girls showed us around the park. I wouldn't normally go to a large "dog park" like that but Stuck is not dog aggressive and at this point is actually afraid of larger dogs, so everything went okay. We honestly didn't come into contact with many dogs other than Lauren's dogs (all of the girls ignored each other) because she took us in areas that were being less traveled that day. It was a good experience overall and I hope to take her back only because dogs are allowed to be off leash there.

I also bought Stuck a collar from Puppy Posh. You can see in the beach pictures her sister has one too. That was completely by accident... I guess the girls want to be twins:

 

I hope that in time Stuck and I will form a real relationship and that she can help fill the giant hole Seppel has left in my heart. All I can do is try. She is so different from having a bulldog. She is happy and eager but the energy is completely different. It's hard to explain without experiencing it for yourself, but she's just not the same. I do enjoy her and I enjoy working with her, but we have a really long way to go in developing our partnership. It doesn't really help that I am in the throws of grief right now, but I am making a conscious effort to try to build us up.

A great dog.

Stuck has been here for 8 weeks!

I can honestly say she is one of the best things to have happened to me as far as dogs go. I recently wrote an entry in my Seppel blog about a seminar I attended last weekend. Things initially did not go so great with Seppel. I had the opportunity to work Stuck three times, twice in obedience and once in protection. The trainer at the seminar told me that we have developed a great relationship for the amount of time I've had her. I wish I could take credit but I think a lot of it is her - from day one she was willing to do things for me. It was so refreshing to walk out onto the field knowing she was going to do what I asked to the best of her ability.

Sometimes with Seppel I don't know what I'm going to get. Sometimes he is super motivated and 'up' but other times he is not really interested in doing what I'm asking. I never really know what I am going to get out of him, especially if we go to a new place.Well, I guess that's not true. I know if we go somewhere new he's likely to be checked out and not really interested. We have been taking an engagement class and our relationship has improved a lot, but he's a bulldog and sometimes he just doesn't care.

With Stuck, there has never been a 'down' moment. If we are doing a thing, she wants to do it! She is willing to work wherever we go. She doesn't get weirded out by going new places and is only interested in me and whatever I might have for her.

It's really freaking awesome.

Don't get me wrong. We have our challenges. Stuck is an extremely intelligent dog, but sometimes her brain is moving so fast that she isn't always thinking and she does things like spin into my car license plate or runs into a closed door. Training is a lot easier with her in some ways - she catches on to new things fairly quickly and she generalizes well. However, in her case (and as I am learning, for a lot of mals) her food drive isn't the best. If she's hungry she is better about working for food, but she is also picky about the treats she will accept. She works the best for freeze dried meat, right now I am going through a lot of dried chicken livers. I took her tracking two days ago and she did very poorly, but the food I used on the track was a treat she will usually eat but not with much vigor. Today I took her tracking and used the livers and she worked just fine for them. I think I am still coming to terms with the fact that I have a semi-picky dog, haha.

Even though I said I would never get a Belgian Malinois, even though I said I would never have an intact bitch(or bitch in general, I wanted a male so bad!), I am really happy being a hypocrite.

Week 6

Stuck will have been here for 6 weeks this week.

Everything has been going really well, apart from my own poor self esteem and feeling frustrated with myself.

Last week I was just feeling really down. I felt very inadequate as a dog handler.  I have tried at various times to teach Stuck things. I have been trying to teach her a 'front' as well as have been trying to teach her to hold a dumbbell. Every time I have tried to work with her on something new, I feel like she looks at me like I'm speaking spanish. I have gone through periods like this with Seppel and Seth. He has been very frustrating at times because I can work with my dog Seth and whatever we are doing, he figures out immediately. With Seppel, it always seems to take more time. Anyway, it got me thinking and wondering if this was all really normal. I know when I got Seppel it took me almost a year to really connect with him, but I credit some of that to us just not having a training focus.

I like Stuck a lot. I can't say that I 'love' her yet, because it's still new and I don't feel like we are fully bonded. I think it is harder for us to form a relationship because she was well started and trained with someone for almost 2 years. We are still trying to figure each other out and I think in a way it's even harder for her because I am trying to pick up where she left off and I am not the handler she has known her whole life. I know that as we spend more time together our relationship will grow and I know it isn't impossible because I have seen it with Seppel.

I guess in some ways I just thought things would be easier, and in some respects Stuck is VERY easy.

I just worry a lot that I will screw up the awesome training she has or bore her to death when we are working.  I compare myself to other people, feeling like if she were with someone else - someone more capable or with more time, she would know 20 behaviors or something ridiculous.

Luckily I have some awesome friends who talked me back down. They made me understand and realize that just having her in my house is enough. The things she has learned are enough. Tricks are cute, but we are working towards a pretty serious dog sport and just working on those things is enough. They also reaffirmed that 5 weeks is NOT a super long time!

All that being said, today I decided to try to teach Stuck and Seppel 'rewind' or 'reverse circle'. It's where the dog circles you backwards. I don't have video of it yet, but I would say that both of them are on their way to learning this behavior! I am super excited because it is something I can say I actually taught Stuck, and it was something she picked up really quickly.

I'm hoping this is just the beginning of our training relationship developing. She really is a wonderful dog and a great fit for my household, but even though she's a super smart dog and came with some awesome training, that doesn't mean that she doesn't come with some challenges.

A day of firsts.

Wednesday was a big day for Stuck. She got to try swimming and finally learned how awesome the treadmill is.

Wordless Wednesday

Successes and Challenges

Stuck has been doing really well adjusting to my home. This past Saturday friends at my club were asking how it was going. I explained it was going well except for her being really bad about coming in the house with me and that it was really irritating. Her recall needs some serious work too.

Initially I thought I caused this issue because when Stuck first got here, I was so focused on adequately exercising her that I thought, okay, she doesn't want to come in because we do fun things outside.

That thought morphed into me thinking about it and realizing she probably didn't want to come in because she felt more comfortable outside. I can keep a long line on her, but she knows it's on her and she comes in no problem.

Saturday evening, I tried calling her in and she came inside! From that moment she has been coming inside after going outside no problem. She seems to understand that she can come in and she's really good about coming inside and getting on her bed.

She is also really good about going to bed at night. I give all of my dogs a dental treat as a bedtime incentive, I'm not usually one for bribery, but it's pretty awesome when they go flying back there for bedtime. I think it's just nice to have a good bedtime routine. She goes running back to her crate and is excited to go in.

Another awesome thing we have been working on is releasing the flirt pole. Stuck does this hilarious thing where when I tell her "loose" she buckles down and grabs the end with her paws and doesn't always release with her mouth. I was afraid I was going to give her rope burn, so I started asking her to out it and then re-releasing her to bite it.  So far it seems to be working and I am getting quicker outs.

I thought when I was going to write this post it was going to be all positive, but we had a bit of an issue this morning.

Yesterday I was joking about how when Stuck came to me she was really good about waiting in her kennel to come out when released and was really good about sitting and waiting at doorways. I have no been reinforcing these behaviors and progressively she has gotten worse over time about waiting. This morning she flew out of her crate and took off down the hall.

Now, most dogs if you give them a little wiggle room they will take advantage of it but I honestly think it is a whole other ball game with a highly driven dog. I am not saying this is limited to Belgian Malinois, but any intelligent, highly driven breed. I can see how people who are not into dog training can quickly become out dogged or overwhelmed because a smart dog will totally take and keep taking. That said, we are going back to the basics and she absolutely needs to wait before coming out of her crate and she is not allowed to bolt out doors. This is completely my fault for becoming complacent. Something that stands out to me is something a dog friend said, you have to decide if a behavior is acceptable and if it's acceptable today it needs to be acceptable tomorrow. It's important to be clear and fair.

On another more positive note, I took Stuck running with a friend last night, not only was she really great out on the track with a lot of background stuff going on, she did great in the car there. I let her sit in the passenger seat just to see how she might ride in the car. She was really good in the car, I wouldn't leave her in there unattended, but she was very well behaved riding up front so I consider that a good win.

Two Weeks

Stuck has been at my house for two whole weeks! Everyday the transition to having her gets better and better.

I will admit to sharing this article: Belgian Malinois Look Don't Touch

After having a malinois in my house I do feel like most of what people say is true. Belgian Malinois are not for uninvolved pet owners. I also think it is really important to research your breeder and bloodlines because Belgian Malinois seem to vary in appearance and temperament depending on how they are bred.

I think if a person does not plan to do bitey things with their malinois they probably should not be buying working line mals bred from generations of bitey dogs.

Stuck is my very first real working/sport dog. I am a pet owner. My three other dogs run loose in the yard together, two of them sleep in my bed, they pretty much have run of the house but are not allowed on the furniture. 

When I got Seppel, my pit bull, some things did change in my house. He is not left out unattended with the cat. If he cannot be supervised he is crated. He sleeps in his kennel when we are not home. My other two dogs can be loose in the house when we are gone. They don't bother the cat and for the last 8yrs have gotten along fine. I was more strict with Seppel when I first got him, but he can now be outside with the other dogs unsupervised and they all get along fairly well. Having Seppel really changed how I manage my dogs, after my other two dogs (Seth and LiLo) are gone, I will always keep my dogs crated when I am not home. I doubt I will ever have dogs who can be loose in the house when I am gone again.

My experience would probably be different if I was raising a puppy. Please keep in mind this experience is based off of acquiring an adult dog who was used to primarily living in a kennel type setting.

When I brought Stuck home she was kind of wild and couldn't settle. The first few days she spent quite a bit of time in her crate. I took her out for potty breaks/exercise/training but then she would need to be crated again. I decided if this was really going to work I should buy a dog run. I felt bad that she was spending so much time crated. A LOT of people in the working world keep their dogs crated or kenneled all of the time. There is nothing wrong with housing dogs this way, but I would prefer not to keep a dog that way.  I purchased a chain link dog run that my dad helped me set up. I put Stuck in there when she cannot be supervised in the house and when I have things I need to do and need her to be contained. Putting her in the kennel run makes me feel better because she can at least move around, but it doesn't leave her loose in the yard to get into things or try to escape.

My initial plan was to get an x-pen to section off part of our living room, but as it turns out Stuck does really well when I put her on a dog bed. She is to the point now that she can sleep and settle while I am making breakfast in the kitchen or sitting in the room with her watching TV. Generally speaking she doesn't leave the bed unless I release her. She cannot just be left loose in the house because she will not settle down. She is still a little too curious with my cat. I think she thinks he's a small dog (she greets him like she does the dogs) but I have to keep a close eye on their interactions.

The only real "issues" we are having right now is that she will occasionally play keep away with toys which is extremely irritating. She also does not want to come inside when we are 'done' and she will run away if I call her to come in with me. She is not impossible to catch but it is really irritating. What sucks is that she is very intelligent and if I put a drag line on her she won't pull this crap at all because she knows I can catch her.

She has only been here for two weeks and I know our relationship is just starting. I anticipate things will continue to improve as we start working together more and more.

I have to repeat, everything they say about Malinois is pretty much true. Having her is not difficult, but I have had to make some changes to accommodate her in my life. While it might have been different had she been more of a house dog, I know several people who have raised mal puppies who still spend a lot of time crated or in kennel runs. A friend asked for advice on preparing for her new mal and most of the responses mentioned some form of crating.

Stuck wants to do things ALL THE TIME. Even when she is sleeping on her bed near me, she's just waiting for me to be like "Let's do the thing!" She is always ready to spring into action. I thought my pit bull was very driven, but he is totally lackluster compared to this dog. I am not sure anything really could have prepared me for having a malinois, however I feel like Stuck's energy level is kind of mid-way, she is more dog than I have had before, but not so much that I feel overwhelmed. She also at this point has shown me no handler aggression or issues with redirected aggression, which was part of why I was very anti-mal before. She has great nerves and even if something weirds her out she recovers really well. Her world was kind of small before she was brought up here and she has really great genetics to help her get through "scary" things. Stuck seems at this point to be the perfect match for me, I just hope I can be a good handler for her.

Wordless Wednesday

A pointy brown dog.

April 12th, 2016 my dad finally relented and told me I could get another dog specifically for the sport of Schutzhund. I have been pestering my dad for several months, basically since I joined a new IPO club to get another dog.