# Grendel the Mal came home today!



## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Look at this little goober!

So far he’s showing exactly what we’d hoped for and breeder told us he’d be, very balanced pup. He’s taken to us like he’s always been ours and he’s doing well with our GSD, mostly taking things in stride.

He wolfed down his dinner like a vacuum, I had to take it away from him and stick a couple tennis balls in there to slow him down. He’s resting in his crate next to me as I type this and hardly made a peep before going to sleep. Little guy is tuckered OUT!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Let’s try this again


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## Jpage24.87 (Jan 19, 2018)

What a cute pup!


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## marycrft (Jun 1, 2009)

He’s adorable!


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

What a gorgeous puppy! Congrats!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

@tim_s_adams @marycrft @Jpage24.87

Thanks, guys. We're smitten already! :grin2:


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## Mareesey (Aug 25, 2016)

What a gorgeous little guy. I love Mal's but I don't think I have it in me to keep one of them busy!


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

Beautiful pup!


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

Mal police puppy attacks>


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

He seems to be okay with this whole “crate” thing :grin2:


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

What a handsome little guy he is. You are going to have SO much fun with him! 
Now that I have both a GSD and a Mal, I can't imagine life without one of each.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Beautiful pup!



MyHans-someBoy said:


> What a handsome little guy he is. You are going to have SO much fun with him!
> Now that I have both a GSD and a Mal, I can't imagine life without one of each.


How does your mal do with colder winter weather? I'm giving them serious consideration down the road, but most appear to have such a short tight coat I'm wondering how they do in the frigid stuff. One of my gsds has a very tight coat and she does fine, I would think mals would be about the same?


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

I have long-coat malinois (tervuren in Europe... should be here but I digress), and also a short coat malinois. My short coat does really well in the cold, even below zero. I've never seen her shiver and don't use a coat. The plus is her feet never collect snowballs like my long-coated dogs do under certain conditions (new, cold snow tends to do it). 

I love the long-coats, though, and am importing a really nice female pup out of a working terv kennel this summer. Her Dad is a working K9 in the Netherlands (PH-1), and her grand-dad is also (PH-1). Such beautiful dogs, and I'd recommend a working line tervuren (that is just a long-coat malinois) if you want a really cold-tolerant malinois. The long-coat gene is sorta recessive- not complete in my experience, so they often pop up in malinois litters especially in certain lines. 

My female long-coat malinois:


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

I would think a physically fit short coat Mal would resemble my first own dog after I moved out of my parents house. He was half Greyhound and half GSD. His ears stood and he was brindle like a tiger. Do such Mals exist? My dog, Netty Bumpo, had the very soft temperment of the Greyhound. A Mal would not have this


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Nigel said:


> Beautiful pup!
> 
> 
> 
> ...


When I first got him, in February 2017, he was NOT amused by the change of temperature from the breeder in Florida to his new Indiana home, lol. On the plus side, when he was being potty trained and we were out at 2:00 am, he did his business quickly and we went right back inside. 
Now that he has grown up and gotten used to the weather here, he does fine outside even when it's cold and windy. I've never seen him shake or act cold, but he does have a dog house in his outside kennel if he should need it.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

MyHans-someBoy said:


> What a handsome little guy he is. You are going to have SO much fun with him!
> Now that I have both a GSD and a Mal, I can't imagine life without one of each.


Thanks! We’re really excited, our GSDs definitely my wife’s dog now and he’s mine. 

It ain’t easy at the moment, so it’s nice to hear we aren’t the only ones crazy enough to try this :rofl:

What kennel do you have? I want to get one for him.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Muskeg said:


> I have long-coat malinois (tervuren in Europe... should be here but I digress), and also a short coat malinois. My short coat does really well in the cold, even below zero. I've never seen her shiver and don't use a coat. The plus is her feet never collect snowballs like my long-coated dogs do under certain conditions (new, cold snow tends to do it).
> 
> I love the long-coats, though, and am importing a really nice female pup out of a working terv kennel this summer. Her Dad is a working K9 in the Netherlands (PH-1), and her grand-dad is also (PH-1). Such beautiful dogs, and I'd recommend a working line tervuren (that is just a long-coat malinois) if you want a really cold-tolerant malinois. The long-coat gene is sorta recessive- not complete in my experience, so they often pop up in malinois litters especially in certain lines.
> 
> My female long-coat malinois:


LC are beautiful but a bit more work imop. We've had two LC's until recently, now it's just our coated WL male. I prefer the wash and wear of a stock coat. I know of a couple mals from our club with a little thicker coat, not all that different from my stock coat female GSD, but most mals I've met look very tight and it got me curious about them. I know there are some dobes that are not fond of the cold and wasn't sure if this would be true with some mals as well. 

Sorry for the off topic OP.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Nigel said:


> LC are beautiful but a bit more work imop. We've had two LC's until recently, now it's just our coated WL male. I prefer the wash and wear of a stock coat. I know of a couple mals from our club with a little thicker coat, not all that different from my stock coat female GSD, but most mals I've met look very tight and it got me curious about them. I know there are some dobes that are not fond of the cold and wasn't sure if this would be true with some mals as well.
> 
> Sorry for the off topic OP.


Not at all!!

I was just going to say that our pups sire is what I'll call a "rough coat". Living here in the South we have the exact opposite concerns and wanted a Mal specifically because of the short coat. Our GSD get's so hot in the summer we feel terrible and it's a pain to manage. 

Here's the parents & one of the "rough coat" pups, might be some Lakenois blood in there? I dunno he's from KNPV lineage so it could be a bit of anything.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

Tennessee said:


> Not at all!!
> 
> I was just going to say that our pups sire is what I'll call a "rough coat". Living here in the South we have the exact opposite concerns and wanted a Mal specifically because of the short coat. *Our GSD get's so hot in the summer we feel terrible and it's a pain to manage*.
> 
> Here's the parents & one of the "rough coat" pups, might be some Lakenois blood in there? I dunno he's from KNPV lineage so it could be a bit of anything.


mine are no fans of hot weather either, but I wilt just as fast as they do so its all good. For our "generally" two months of hot weather it's swimming, early am's, and going up in elevation to find relief, lol


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Nurse Bishop said:


> I would think a physically fit short coat Mal would resemble my first own dog after I moved out of my parents house. He was half Greyhound and half GSD. His ears stood and he was brindle like a tiger. Do such Mals exist? My dog, Netty Bumpo, had the very soft temperment of the Greyhound. A Mal would not have this


Look at Dutch Shepherds for brindle coats.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

What a gorgeous puppy, he looks ready for anything. LOL. Congratulations!


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

cloudpump said:


> Look at Dutch Shepherds for brindle coats.


Do Duchies have tucked waisted like Mals? 
Aren't there brindle coated Mals?
I would like to try to recreate Netty Bumpo without the soft timid temperment of the Greyhound.


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

Yup, you can get dutchies and malinois in the same litter with a lot of KNPV lines. Also, you get malinois and tervuren in the same litter often.


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Nurse Bishop said:


> Do Duchies have tucked waisted like Mals?
> Aren't there brindle coated Mals?
> I would like to try to recreate Netty Bumpo without the soft timid temperment of the Greyhound.


https://www.avoxrottweilers.com/single-post/2017/05/22/Malinois-vs-Dutch-Shepherd---FACTS


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## cloudpump (Oct 20, 2015)

Muskeg said:


> Yup, you can get dutchies and malinois in the same litter with a lot of KNPV lines. Also, you get malinois and tervuren in the same litter often.


But in fci lines its different.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

The OP you lucky dog to have one of these puppies.

This picture is what my half GSD half Greyhound looked like except he had black stripes on him.

oh heck the picture won't load. Its the forth one down in the above link.









My GSD is young and shes the best dog I've ever had in my life. But I think my next dog will be a Mal. Its not just the way they are built, its the energy.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Nurse Bishop said:


> Do Duchies have tucked waisted like Mals?
> Aren't there brindle coated Mals?
> I would like to try to recreate Netty Bumpo without the soft timid temperment of the Greyhound.


Vrijheid Dutch Shepherds - Home

Dr. Asheley Lane,dvm owner of Vrijheid Dutch Shepherds is who you want to talk to. She’s breeding sports dogs with an off switch. Vet, titles her dogs before breeding (French ring mostly), trains them herself, been in business for at least a decade, she’s the real deal. 

I was beyond impressed after emailing extensively back and forth, only reason we aren’t getting one of the pups she has on the ground now is my wife just balked on the price with shipping 1,800 + 500 shipping. So she went and found this Mal breeder and after visiting I was impressed as well. 

The long and short of your Mal vs Dutchie question is there isn’t any Dutchies without Mal blood in them. Read here for more info 
Breed History ? WDSAA


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

His ears decided to come up yesterday!

He also decided to fight a bush and bark at shadows when he woke me up to pee at 1:30 in the morning. 

The fourth time he’d woken me up because he kept finding bowls of water I had put in various places for our GSD and drinking like it was the last water he was ever going to get :help:


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

A little bit of that ice cream would be awesome mom.... just saying


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## Dragon67155 (Oct 16, 2017)

I have a GSD mixed with a Mal. She's suppose to be more GSD but I swear she's more Mal lol. He's a very handsome little puppy.


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## MyHans-someBoy (Feb 23, 2013)

Tennessee said:


> His ears decided to come up yesterday!
> 
> He also decided to fight a bush and bark at shadows when he woke me up to pee at 1:30 in the morning.
> 
> The fourth time he’d woken me up because he kept finding bowls of water I had put in various places for our GSD and drinking like it was the last water he was ever going to get /forum/images/smilies/12_help.gif


I had to laugh when you said he decided to fight a bush and bark at shadows. 
Tig likes to drag his dog house around in his kennel and when it inevitably tips over on it's side, he barks ferociously at it like he's telling it off! 
To answer your kennel question, he's got a 10' x 20' at home with wire panels on the top so he can't jump/climb out (say...after a kitty  as well as wire panels on the ground so he can't dig out. A stranger walking by when he isn't present probably wonders what kind of beast I'm trying to contain! He's not a beast at all but boy can he jump!! I never leave any kind of collar on him while in the kennel. All the kennel and wire fencing panels came from Tractor Supply (farm store).
I hope you'll keep updating with pictures...I look forward to watching him grow up!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

If the back of your car looks like this..... you might be a dog person :bump:


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Took Grendel out to training today, he stayed in his crate and got to watch Millie work. Not that he was paying attention, with the temper tantrum he was throwing. Then we got in some basic command, engagement training, and leash work. 

He’s living up to the Malinois reputation, extremely focused and both a hard worker and quick learner. After some impromptu work throughout the week, his first real training session he went from a tugging machine on the leash to sort of getting it. It’s wild coming from the more delayed expectations I have for my GSD.


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## [email protected] (Jan 16, 2018)

Sweet pup, and I like your library too!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> Sweet pup, and I like your library too!


Thanks! Wife and I both love reading so we’ve got quite a few.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Grendel update!

Grendel is better than I could have hoped for! This pup has absolutely stolen my heart. 

I don’t know how he’ll change as he matures but my gosh if I described my perfect dog I’d just be telling you about him. 

He’s got an insane on/off switch. “Off” he’s super calm and is just the sweetest little puppy. It’s all kisses, cuddles, belly rubs and following me around like a shadow. “On” he turns into a mix between an alligator and Viking berserker. 

Food/prey/ball drives super high. Totally fearless, more confidence than is good for him, when challenged he responds with more intensity, gets excited about it actually just like his dad. 

He also loves water for some reason, he loves to play in water, loves to swim, loves to drink water. I should have named him Bobby Bushay LOL

I could go on for days about this guy but y’all came here for pics, right? Gotta give the people what they want!


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

I love it when you feel that click with a new dog.
My car's interior looks like yours. The kids called it the garbage truck. It seems to smell but I don't notice it, except when coming back with two wet dogs but that smells like 'having had fun' to me.


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

How is he with strangers out and about? I generally do a lot of exposure type socialization with these guys young because they tend to be suspicious. Great with family and friends- anyone they met as a pup they love for life. It's an interesting mix- my girl is great in a crowd but if a stranger pops up unexpectedly in a remote area, she's suspicious.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Muskeg said:


> How is he with strangers out and about? I generally do a lot of exposure type socialization with these guys young because they tend to be suspicious. Great with family and friends- anyone they met as a pup they love for life. It's an interesting mix- *my girl is great in a crowd but if a stranger pops up unexpectedly in a remote area, she's suspicious.*


Really likes people and other dogs, very excited to meet everyone and get pets. 

If he feels threatened though, which so far I've only seen happen on two very legitimate occasions, he gets serious and angry in a heartbeat. 

Bolded portion would be a good way of putting it. 

Am I remembering correctly that you breed Belgians? Either way, if you're so inclined I'd love to get your take on some behavior and how that would look as an adult.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

wolfy dog said:


> I love it when you feel that click with a new dog.
> My car's interior looks like yours. The kids called it the garbage truck. It seems to smell but I don't notice it, except when coming back with two wet dogs but that *smells like 'having had fun' to me.*


Indeed, he bonded very quickly to our older GSD, took a good amount of effort and growth as a handler to learn how to be more interesting than her. 


Bolded - :grin2::grin2:


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Tennessee said:


> Indeed, he bonded very quickly to our older GSD, took a good amount of effort and growth as a handler to learn how to be more interesting than her.
> 
> 
> Bolded - :grin2::grin2:


From your signature I see that both dogs are close in age? So you will have to separate them a good amount of time each day. Maybe you are already aware of this. My dogs are 4 years apart and I did just that. Griff is 5.5 months old and now he prefers me over Deja now. I am happy that I put that time and effort in. Still do it but not so regularly anymore.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

wolfy dog said:


> From your signature I see that both dogs are close in age? *So you will have to separate them a good amount of time each day. Maybe you are already aware of this.* My dogs are 4 years apart and I did just that. Griff is 5.5 months old and now he prefers me over Deja now. I am happy that I put that time and effort in. Still do it but not so regularly anymore.


*About that....*

I am aware, but I probably should be doing more if I want to get the most out of him. Current temporary living situation makes that extremely difficult. What I was referring to though, is that I didn't understand why I wasn't seeing results even though I was doing things mostly correct, what gives?

Well the problem I've come to realize was me! I was boring as all get out to him and he could probably tell I was mad/frustrated half the time. The time he spent with me training was probably the worst part of his day! I've changed how I act during training with both of them and the results have been great. 

Instead of following the manual like a robot and being Mr. Super serious hardcore by the book dog trainer, I've started acting like a silly fool and stopped giving a hoot what I look like to others. If a non-dog person saw me training him they'd probably wonder which institution I escaped from :groovy:


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## Femfa (May 29, 2016)

Tennessee said:


> *About that....* Instead of following the manual like a robot and being Mr. Super serious hardcore by the book dog trainer, I've started acting like a silly fool and stopped giving a hoot what I look like to others. If a non-dog person saw me training him they'd probably wonder which institution I escaped from :groovy:


You should see this one video I have of me trying to get Ryka excited over a tug. I got one comment that I look more excited playing with it and that I probably wouldn't want to share anyways, hahaha. A good rule of thumb I was given is that if your dog is behaving like a 3 or a 4 on the excitement level, then you need to be a 9 or a 10. If your dog is at a 9 or a 10 on the excitement level, then you might need to bring yourself down to a 5 or a 6. 

My first rookie mistake was not realizing that I needed to be exciting, fun, flailing, and energetic during the training process. My girl tends to focus pretty strongly on how I'm feeling, so if I'm subdued so is she. If I'm flapping around like an idiot, she jumps around like a happy idiot too. So don't worry, you're not alone looking like a fool while training your dog. We should maybe invest in T-shirts that say, "If I look like an idiot, at least my dog looks good", hahaha.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

GRENDEL UPDATE!

Finally back in the house after the kitchen fire and Grendel aka Grundels aka Bubby aka Baby Psycho (you ever have a dog you call by their nicknames more than their real name? :rofl is settling in nicely. 

We slipped up and let him sleep in the bed a couple nights, he HATES his crate now. Fights like a mad man to avoid going in unless you've got a high value treat. So we just gave up and let him sleep on the bed LOL 

(guess who's responsible for that since he sleeps curled up in the crook of their legs every night, Spoiler alert: it's the guy who said he'd never sleep in the bed, he can sleep on his bed or in his crate. Who's training whom again? )

Training is coming along fantastically these days, he's all Mal and lives to work (also bite things.... hard.... bonus points if it's soft and squishy like an arm or a love handle, yes my dog has bitten the crap out of my love handles more than once :rofl. 

I'll reiterate what I said in another thread though, if you get a driven but balanced pup they're seriously not that bad. Yes the Malligator nickname is no joke, but neither is Landshark based on what I've seen on this forum!, and yes their energy levels are very high but it's really not unreasonable. He's a little terror all evening, but he does chill out after some training and goes right to sleep no problem at bedtime. One thing I will add for those following along with the updates, I was concerned about his closeness with my older dog but as he's developed it's stopped being a concern. He plays with her all the time, but "his people" come 1st. Period. 

And they're incredibly cool animals, cat like athleticism, incredibly sweet and loving with his family, they develop so quickly compared to a GSD.

Per usual I'll cut myself off, before I go on gushing about how much I love this dog :grin2:

We're still working on our coordination






Looking handsome









PLEASE throw the ball again!










I will do ANYTHING for some of that string cheese 

Fuss! Part 1






Fuss! Part 2 - not the best video but what I'm showing here is how he spins in both directions while staying tight to my side. He'll spin on a dime, I was blown away how fast he got the motion down.






ETA: 

I forgot the absolute freak out I had over his ear not standing up when he was teething, even the wife was saying I need to relax LOL


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## tim_s_adams (Aug 9, 2017)

Awesome update, thanks! He's just such a beautiful dog! Oh, and on the bed thing...Ain't no goin back now LOL!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Dragon67155 said:


> I have a GSD mixed with a Mal. She's suppose to be more GSD but I swear she's more Mal lol. He's a very handsome little puppy.


Wow, sorry I missed your comment!

Very cool! I’d love to see some pics and any stories you have to share about her. 

The differences seem small from an outside perspective but when you live with them, you see all the little quirks that separate the breeds. 

Example: when Grendel gets hot he lays his ears all the way back and stays standing. I didn’t realize that was a “Mal thing” until I saw him do it and realized I’d seen that before from numerous posts on Instagram. 

Grendel is KNPV lines so there’s no telling what all is in his bloodlines.


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

tim_s_adams said:


> Awesome update, thanks! He's just such a beautiful dog! Oh, and on the bed thing...Ain't no goin back now LOL!


Thanks Tim, i think so too but I’m a bit biased Haha. 

I just took another section of my CPA exam so I’ve been too busy to write this up until now. But he’s a hoot for sure, barely scratching the surface of his antics. My hope is that I can end up making this thread a good resource for anyone who’s considering getting one. 

Yeah the beds a done deal. There’s no turning back at this point.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for the update (and good luck with the CPA stuff), but please don't post any more photos of that totally adorable puppy! You already have me wondering whether a Mal would be a good idea for my next puppy. 



Aly


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

Aly said:


> Thanks for the update (and good luck with the CPA stuff), but please don't post any more photos of that totally adorable puppy! You already have me wondering whether a Mal would be a good idea for my next puppy.
> 
> 
> 
> Aly


Thanks! 

No promises, but I'll tell him he needs to tone it down with the cuteness. 

He said, he'll try....


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Tennessee said:


> No promises, but I'll tell him he needs to tone it down with the cuteness.
> 
> He said, he'll try....


Oh man...it is so NOT working!

:nono:

Tell him to try harder.


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## sebrench (Dec 2, 2014)

He is beautiful!


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## Tennessee (Apr 13, 2017)

sebrench said:


> He is beautiful!


Thank you very much. :smile2:


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