SL, how old is your Malnois? We just rescued one about 8 months ago. Mine is 1 1/2. She is such an interesting dog. I've never seen a dog quite as playful and constantly active and her. Smart as a whip too.

We were spoiled, the Shepard is brilliant. My wife is a Dog trainer by profession and uses her for classes to keep order and do demonstrations. THe "maligator" isn't so far behind and I think has potential to be even smarter than her older, wiser sister. I'm interested to know if they calm down, like the Shepard did or if they remain as high strung for a while.

I'd never heard of a Belgian Malnois before and I must say, I'm very, very pleasantly surprised.

I'll try and find some pics when I get home tonight.

Mike

Its interesting what you said about knowing very few Malnois who can be left alone. That is exactly how we came to be in posession of ours.

My wife had the dog in her class and per the previous owners description, she was a terror. They didn't mistreat her or anything, they actually went above and beyond the call of duty in trying to figure out what they needed to do to give this dog a better life. Short story is that the dog A) would not have naything to do with a kennel, and B) would destroy their house when they left for work, the store, the garage, etc. Basically, they bit off more than they could chew in having this dog. It was great with their kids, and a very loveable companion, but they couldn't deal with the destruction.

My wife, after weeks of training and tears on their part, decided that we would see if having Bindhi (thats the name she came with) interact with our dogs A shephard and a Golden Retriever, to see if that helped with its seperation anxiety (personally, I don't think its sep. anx. just the breed, but I'm not really sure)

LOL, I went out of town on business for a few days, didn't really want to be there when this dog was here and I figured that it was my wifes bed she could lie in it if there were destruction problems for the three days the dog was supposed to be here. When I came back 5 days later, Bindhi was still there and she's been with us ever since. The German Shepherd really made all the difference.

I have the exact same experience you do with yours, shen I come home, she won't leave me alone because I'm the play partner. In all the years I've had dogs, I've never had one that was quite this excited to see me when I come home or walk into the room. Shes a sweet heart and she is really good with the other dogs and people that come in. with the exception of the jumping and nipping (which I don't think is ever going to stop) I'm really surprised the turn around she has made and I honestly, after being hesitant to take her, wouldn't trade her for the world. I've always been a German Shepherd guy, but I'm deffinitly converting.

In terms of her lines, she came from a Malnois rescue out of Missouri and is supposed to be some a mix between a greman Shepherd and a Malnois (but now that I think about it she might be part dutchie instead, because she really bears no resemblance to a shepherd. I'll have to look into it, I'm not at all familiar with that breed of dog)

I'm going to assume that by "old school training" you're talking about schutzen, which is a dirty word in my household (anctually just learned what that is 2 days ago) and it really is a credit to my wifes ability to work with dogs that she is as well behaved. You're absolutley right, the timing needs to be perfect, but I'm still absolutley AMAZED how smart she is, especially next to Lola the shepherd, who I'm convinced is writing books as we speak. but I'll stop being a proud papa.

My wife is going to be pleasantly surprised that I'm actually using the wrestling board to talk about something she thinks is interesting and not "waisting my time", I'll make sure to pass along what you said to her, it confirms a lot of my/our suspicions and this breed is rather rare so we don't get an opportunity to talk about them very often with people who understand what we're dealing with.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by architeuthis

I'm going to assume that by "old school training" you're talking about schutzen, which is a dirty word in my household (anctually just learned what that is 2 days ago) and it really is a credit to my wifes ability to work with dogs that she is as well behaved. \

!

By old school training, i mean training systems that don't use markers (e.g. a clicker or "yes" for reward markers and non-reward markers as well) and use a lot of compulsion to teach behaviors.

I assume you are referring to Schutzhund, i am sad to hear that is a dirty word. I understand the bad connotation because there used to be and to some extant still are trainers out there who use brutal training methods. But that really has changed quite a bit, and the top competitors are all heavily motivational. A guy who gave a seminar up at the Schutzhund Club I train at (i also am training my dog for Urban Disaster Search and Rescue) is on the World Team and told me 1 correction a day for his dogs is uncommon. He could not remember the last time he gave more than one in a day. Another guy I know has titled his dog in schutzhund without ever giving a correction, everything was motivational to the point he wouldn't even use a leash to teach heeling.

The relationship the handler has with her dog is judged now, and unless you are building a lot of drive and use motivational methods you are not going to find a lot of success.

Watch this video.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=gANBkfS5zN0

Realize the dog is working his butt off because everything in the OB is judged -- including how happy he looks to heel, speed of the returns on the retrieve, how fast he downs, sits, etc. and tell me you can get that routine without having a fair, motivational relationship with the dog. Not brutal at all.

Sorry for the rant.