# new puppy



## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

so we saved a puppy, 9 mos old shepherd mix (one of the volunteers at the shelter said he looks more like a belgiun malinois) male from a local shelter here in vegas.

he is getting fixed today and will come home tomorrow.

my question to all is, has anyone had any experience with malinois? i have been reading up on them and they seem to be on an even keel with gsd other than the facts that they are smaller, have a higher drive and are faster and need a gentler hand when training. all in all, all the same loyalty and intelligence seems to be the same as a gsd. 

we are just wanting some tips on training him. he was picked up as a stray so we are truly not sure if he was a stray for all of his life or if he just got lost. we are not sure if he has any training what so ever, so we are just needing some tips on training him at 9 mos. old.

thanks for your help.

also, we have an almost 2 yr. old female gsd that we have had since she was 3 mos. old and my fiance trained. she is very laid back with spurts of puppy nature.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

well some say some malinois are like gsd's on crack)

I have quite a few friends with malinois (and would love one myself) they vary..they all tend to be quite reactive, easy trainers, zoom zoom zoom all the time, good with family, and are , not sure the right word, don't like a hard hand? Postive approach. 

A former trainer of mine, told me that a german shepherd will think about jumping off a cliff, where a malinois will jump first and ask questions later)


Congrats on your new addition, can't wait to see pics of him !


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## unloader (Feb 16, 2010)

To echo the above, 10 years ago we got Bella, our Malinois. 

Malinois' always need a job to do, otherwise their job will be to ruin everything you like...shoes, furniture, pens. You get the picture  

They are truly a GSD on Crack! They need a gentle hand when training, they seem to be adversely affected by corrective training more than many dogs. 

Go read about clicker training, it will work wonders for you! 

Congrats on the pup and thanks for saving him!


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

thanks for the great responses. i'll look into the clicker training. my fiance has always trained with a "firm" hand. our gsd has done well with it, but seeing as how malinois are more sensitive, we might change our ways.

and gsd on crack, great thats all we need. our gsd acts like she is on crack when she gets all amped up, but all the time, oy vey. oh well, guess i'm going to take up running just to run him ragged so he isn't so crazy.

and our fun is, we also have a cat. our gsd chases him a bit, but has gotten tired of it for the most part. i have a feeling the puppy will be all for chasing him. great, all i need is a cat, malinois and gsd running up and down my stairs. i'm sure if the mal is chasing, the gsd will jump in on the action!!

here are some pics i took while me and my gsd visited him at the shelter when we were deciding if they would get along:



















i'll post up some more pics once we get him home.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

hmmmm...are you sure he's not a sable? He's a cutie! I love that dark face!


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

i don't really know. like i said, one of the volunteers thinks he is more malinois than gsd. if he was a sable that would be awesome. once we get him home i'll be able to take a better pic. the only thing i've been told will tell us is the shape of the back/butt. the gsd's slope down and the mal's are more flat. can anyone help me figure out the difference physically between the two?


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

heidismom said:


>


Gorgeous dog! I can't wait to see more photos! Reminds me of my Doerak who was part GSD, part Dutchie/Malinois. 

Clicker training will be great! Think about doing agility, too.  I think you will enjoy it as much as your dog. 

And, if you didn't notice, I have Belgians.

....Try to get a good photo of the face and eyes from the front with him looking at you.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

here are a couple other pics of his color. not good for viewing his stance though.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Now he's lighter. 

Try to get a good front and a good side like these of my Boaz. (I took them for the UKC.)




















This is my Malinois when she was young. See how light weight she is.


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## Virginia (Oct 2, 2008)

From his face in the first pic you posted he looks more Mal to me. He's cute!


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

It's hard to say without seeing a side shot and a face shot that's not so dark. But the color definitely could be Malinois, even if it's not the traditional red with the black mask. This pretty girl is ALL Mal.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

thanks for all the help. as soon as he gets home tomorrow night i'll snap some pics of him. he is quite a bit lighter weight. although he is only 9 mos. and our gsd is 21 mos. she only weighs about 70 lbs. and he is shorter and much smaller than her. so i'm guessing he is mal with maybe a little gsd. who knows. i'll let ya'll be the judge of that when i get pics up.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

JKlatsky, is that your dog? Nice!


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

No! No Mals here...I know I look insane with 5 dogs...but I'm not THAT crazy!  

She belongs to a friend that we train with. She is a nice dog. She has a lot of personality.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

hard to say from the pics,,he is one gorgeous puppy tho !!!!! 

Can't wait to see other pics,,


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

JKlatsky said:


> No! No Mals here...I know I look insane with 5 dogs...but I'm not THAT crazy!


now you got me concerned....ya i've heard mals are gsd's on crack but are they that crazy?


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

heidismom said:


> now you got me concerned....ya i've heard mals are gsd's on crack but are they that crazy?


Depends on the dog. At best they are happy active dogs. Since you've already met your dog, you would know best what he is like. Just make sure you get him a job. Herding dogs need something to do. That's why I suggested agility, but obedience is good also. My female only does obedience now and she loves it when she gets time with me to do just that. She also like hunting for stray baseballs at the sports fields. 

Oh, if you don't get him a job, he will probably think his job is to destuff your sofa or decorate your house with toilet paper.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

This was a typical afternoon at my house after work. The black dog has arthritis, so he moves slower. He is GSD and Dutch Shepherd which is pretty much the same as a Malinois. Before his arthritis and cancer, I never saw him sleep and all he wanted to do was chase a kong. 

My Malinois has the big fluffy yellow toy in her mouth. She can literally keep that up all day long. You can not exhaust her. She is from French (Ring) working lines and is very light-weight. 

The little guy is Balto as a puppy, also a Belgian.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

lovely!!

well our gsd is energetic, she likes to chase our cat every now and then. i've decided i'm going to start taking up running and taking the mal and maybe the gsd with me. the only issue is we live in vegas so it will have to be multiple short runs cause of the heat right now.

as far as redecorating our house.....we will keep them crated up during the day when we are not home and they will sleep in our room with the door closed so they have to stay. we keep the cat and dog seperated at night cause there is nothing but chasing going on while we are trying to sleep. our girl is great at going to bed and sleeping there all night. she'll even go back to bed on the weekends when i tell her to so that i can have any chance of sleeping past 6 am, which is when i get up during the week. with the mal in the house, i'm kinda scared. 

i have met him and he is still a puppy only 9 mos old and when i saw him, he was at the shelter all couped up in the kennel so he was of course high strung just from that. it will be interesting to see how he is when i get him home tonight. ya thats another thing i'm stressing over. i have to go alone to get him and bring him home and do the introductions to our gsd, who he as already met at the kennel, and to our cat alone. my fiance is taking his youngest to soccer practice tonight so its up to me to do day one alone. just nervous cause he is the trainer in the family and i just learn what he does and the dog listens to me. i'm never the one that initially teaches. oh well, guess i'll get a crash course tonight.

so if you have any tips on the first night home, i'd greatly appreciate it.


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## BlackPuppy (Mar 29, 2007)

Running will not likely put a dent in them anyway. These dogs could run all day and then run some more. That's why you need to incorporate "thinking" exercises like obedience, agility and games. Don't worry, you'll be fine. If not, just come here and you'll get a lot of suggestions.


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## ruger (May 25, 2010)

Cool looking pup. Look forward to more pics. My mal/gsd was more laid back than a purebred mal, but he definitely was more sensitive than even my GSD puppy is now. He trained really easy though and loved to play fetch, track things and go for jogs. I also used to ride my bike and he'd run along side.


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## AbbyK9 (Oct 11, 2005)

It's difficult to say from the photos you've posted (as others have pointed out), but he looks all Malinois to me. I have a Malinois (the one in my avatar) and a German Shepherd, and the Malinois has A LOT more energy than my Shepherd. 

When they call them "Shepherds on Crack/Speed" they are not kidding. My Mali is always highly energetic - we can walk forever and then train, and she will still be ready to go to do more at the end of it.

Bringing the dog home - I would put your existing dog and the cat up and introduce the new dog to the house first. When I bring a new dog home, we first go into the yard to let the dog sniff and explore and, hopefully, go potty. Then come back inside and let the dog sniff and explore the inside of the house without coming face-to-face to other animals right away. Keep it relaxed and friendly. Show him where his crate is and where the food and water bowls are. Give him some treats.

Later, let the dogs meet in the yard before letting them be together in the house - at least that's always worked well for us. Let them get to know each other. I like to do this off-leash so either dog can get away if they feel they need to - but be aware that if they don't get along, you might be finding yourself needing to break up a fight. 

Introducing the cat is something I would wait with until your husband is home. When I've introduced mine, I've had one of us hold the dog (leashed) and the other hold a cat and let the dog see the cat and sniff the cat, then put the cat down and let him run off if he wants. (Neither of mine will run from the dog, so they tend to just meander away.) Let the dog sniff. If the dog chases, that's a good point to start on (or reinforce) the "leave it" command. Make sure the cat has a "safe place" where the dog can't follow.

Set a routine for your new dog. Routines are great because it helps the dog know what to expect the next day and the next and if you ever travel or move, it will help the dog keep on a regular schedule and make things easier. Routine things I include are when we go outside, when we feed, etc.

Most Malinois I've met have been VERY smart and VERY eager to please, with a good amount of prey and play drive, which makes them a joy to work with. Clicker training is great because any smart dog enjoys to interact and have something that requires them to THINK about what he needs to do to get the click and the reward that follows. If my Malinois isn't sure what I want from her, she will go through all the behaviors she knows, offering them to see what I will click her for. It's great to see them thinking and it's a super way to train, too.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

thanks for the input. i will take much of that into consideration.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

In introducing the new dog I would take it slow. I assume you have a crate to start with? I would let the dogs get used to each otehr being in the house first before I would let them loose for interaction. In that way it really shouldn't be stressful for you at all. Keep in mind that if you're stressed the dogs will pick up on it and it could cause problems. I think this article has some good advice...

Leerburg | Introducing a Dog into a Home with other Dogs


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

so we gotta our little hans home last night. he bonded really well with our older female gsd and even our cat. they chased eachother around the whole time we watched a movie. the sleeping didn't go so well. i don't know if it is cause he is only 9 mos old and has been in a shelter for a month, but the little devil woke me up 4 times last night to go pee. do you all remember how old your pups were till they started sleeping through the night? i don't remember how old our gsd was. i just can't take this getting up every 2 hours stuff.

and i posted pics in the pictures forum so check out the link and go see if any of you can officially classify him as malinois or gsd. i got a ton of shots of him standing and his face. 

http://www.germanshepherds.com/foru...d-belgian-malinois-pic-heavy.html#post1846827


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

congrats on the new HANDSOME addition (I saw the pics!),,he is probably just settling in , first nite jitters, new place and as you say, been in a shelter for awhile, has some energy to burn..

I'm so glad he and your other animals like each other,,keep us updated on his progress!!


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

It shouldn't take long...My pups all slept through the night by 10 weeks at the latest. I would bet he's just not used to being on a schedule. I think with consistancy and maybe pulling his water an hour or two before bed you'll see some pretty quick improvement.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

JKlatsky said:


> I think with consistancy and maybe pulling his water an hour or two before bed you'll see some pretty quick improvement.


i was just thinking that same thing. we'll start pulling his water early and make sure he goes pee before bed. i just can't do this up all night thing all over again.


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

so i promised updates, so yesterday my fiance came home to both pups in their individual crates being all good, the new pup didn't mess his crate in 9 hrs. woo hoo....we were unsure how potty trained he was. guess its true they don't wanna pee and poo where they "live". he did notice him a little sneezy so we took him to the vet for a complimentary check and he is doing all good. we summed the sneezing up to dust and not being used to the cat.

both dogs were a lot more calm last night. they even layed down and slept while we watched a movie instead of chasing eachother around. guess they are getting used to eachother. and i'm happy to report he only woke me up once last night to go potty. we pulled the food and water like 2 hours before bed and made sure they both went out individually before bed to drain their systems.

so, things are looking better. and he is starting to pick up on training. "sit" is pretty much in the bag and he is starting to get the picture on what "down" is. we are still working on "go to bed".

we do have one issue, he likes to bark to come in from being outside and we don't know how to correct it. our gsd just sits there. she won't bark but will kick the closed doggy door we have. any thoughts on how to make him stop barking?

thanks all for looking at my thread!


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## heidismom (Jan 18, 2010)

he finally slept through the night!!! it was a nice thing. although they did wake me up at 6am to go out this morning. who am i kidding, my body won't let me sleep past 6 on the weekends......ugh, oh well. but i'm glad he is adjusting.


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