[8BelowPack]

Hey everyone!

So a while back a lady on Facebook in my area was posting about how she was going to euthanize a 9 week old Malinois puppy for "aggressive biting" her kids. After some talk, I convinced her to give me the puppy. When I picked her up, she was covered in her own feces. She is absolutely not aggressive and is coming along nicely. For me, she's incredibly driven and loves to work. Super biddable.

She does have one issue though; she lacks confidence around new dogs. Barking at them, bristling, focusing and trying to get away/hide behind me. With some work around them she's perfectly fine and can get sniffed/have them run up to her with no issues (I do not allow on leash greetings), but it happens almost every time we see a new dog. Evaluation under my mentor and a local dog trainer, and she says that my girl is not reactive but lacks confidence.

So we've been doing confidence building. Lots of going out in public for exposure to new things, rewarding her for getting scared but then choosing to re-engage with what scared her, etc.
I travel about an hour away to work with a club that trains in multiple dog sport/working disciplines (narcotics, bomb detection, personal protection, apprehension, PSA, French Ring, etc.) . The head trainer is a sergeant in her county's police department and has two K9 officers that she's trained. Most of the club is composed of their puppies (health tested before anyone worries) with some other dogs mixed in. My girl hasn't been there since she was 3 months old, where she engaged a little but not a lot.

At home and when we go out, she's more than happy to engage with me and the bite pillow/flirt pole/etc. She acts confident, is very friendly with people (we are working on being less interested in people and more on me).
At the club this last Saturday, she was a completely different dog. Skittish and mostly uninterested, she acted like she'd been kept in the house with no socialization since she was born (not true). The head of the club does not believe she will be cut out for protection and French Ring in her current state. She's only 7 months and has a lot of maturing to do so I know that it's possible she'll change drastically, but it's very discouraging.

My gameplan is to take her out more and work on playing with her bite pillow in new/busy settings, as well as work on her being comfortable with other people holding her toys/playing with her. Not a lot of people I know are comfortable with my Mal as they do not have lots of experience with dogs, and I trust even less of them. I have maybe 2-3 people who could play tug with my girl and really help me, only one of them is dog savvy (my mentor).

Does anyone have any tips? Any similar experiences?

 

[kathy henry]

Hey everyone! So a while back a lady on Facebook in my area was posting about how she was going to euthanize a 9 week old Malinois puppy for "aggressive biting" her kids. After some talk, I convinced her to give me the puppy. When I picked her up, she was covered in her own feces. She is absolutely not aggressive and is coming along nicely. For me, she's incredibly driven and loves to work. Super biddable. She does have one issue though; she lacks confidence around new dogs. Barking at them, bristling, focusing and trying to get away/hide behind me. With some work around them she's perfectly fine and can get sniffed/have them run up to her with no issues (I do not allow on leash greetings), but it happens almost every time we see a new dog. Evaluation under my mentor and a local dog trainer, and she says that my girl is not reactive but lacks confidence. So we've been doing confidence building. Lots of going out in public for exposure to new things, rewarding her for getting scared but then choosing to re-engage with what scared her, etc. I travel about an hour away to work with a club that trains in multiple dog sport/working disciplines (narcotics, bomb detection, personal protection, apprehension, PSA, French Ring, etc.) . The head trainer is a sergeant in her county's police department and has two K9 officers that she's trained. Most of the club is composed of their puppies (health tested before anyone worries) with some other dogs mixed in. My girl hasn't been there since she was 3 months old, where she engaged a little but not a lot. At home and when we go out, she's more than happy to engage with me and the bite pillow/flirt pole/etc. She acts confident, is very friendly with people (we are working on being less interested in people and more on me). At the club this last Saturday, she was a completely different dog. Skittish and mostly uninterested, she acted like she'd been kept in the house with no socialization since she was born (not true). The head of the club does not believe she will be cut out for protection and French Ring in her current state. She's only 7 months and has a lot of maturing to do so I know that it's possible she'll change drastically, but it's very discouraging. My gameplan is to take her out more and work on playing with her bite pillow in new/busy settings, as well as work on her being comfortable with other people holding her toys/playing with her. Not a lot of people I know are comfortable with my Mal as they do not have lots of experience with dogs, and I trust even less of them. I have maybe 2-3 people who could play tug with my girl and really help me, only one of them is dog savvy (my mentor). Does anyone have any tips? Any similar experiences?

So often young dogs, when they reach adolescence, go through a "fear" period as you describe. It's typically very sudden & they appear quite afraid of people or objects or places that they hadn't been before. Most of the time - if this is treated properly, it goes away on its ow. I had a Berner who loved everyone & one day was suddenly terrified of men, trying to avoid them & hiding behind me. I'd consult a good trainer with proper credentials or even an animal behaviorist. Do NOT "force" her into confronting the things she fears right now, but place her a distance away where she can OBSERVE. Hand her super great treats from time to time or request that people she is now timid with approach slowly but confidently & throw her treats of hand them to her with open palm if she accepts that. Be upbeat with her & give her time to go to class but not necessarily participate for a while. Fear periods are again common & one dog may have a number of them during development. Lastly, SOMETHING negative MAY have frightened her during the last class that you shrugged off or maybe didn't even notice but she recalls. Approach classes as super fun, full of rewards & advance SLOWLY until her confidence is built back up; she's still a baby.

 

[Bentwings]

Hey everyone!

So a while back a lady on Facebook in my area was posting about how she was going to euthanize a 9 week old Malinois puppy for "aggressive biting" her kids. After some talk, I convinced her to give me the puppy. When I picked her up, she was covered in her own feces. She is absolutely not aggressive and is coming along nicely. For me, she's incredibly driven and loves to work. Super biddable.

She does have one issue though; she lacks confidence around new dogs. Barking at them, bristling, focusing and trying to get away/hide behind me. With some work around them she's perfectly fine and can get sniffed/have them run up to her with no issues (I do not allow on leash greetings), but it happens almost every time we see a new dog. Evaluation under my mentor and a local dog trainer, and she says that my girl is not reactive but lacks confidence.

So we've been doing confidence building. Lots of going out in public for exposure to new things, rewarding her for getting scared but then choosing to re-engage with what scared her, etc.
I travel about an hour away to work with a club that trains in multiple dog sport/working disciplines (narcotics, bomb detection, personal protection, apprehension, PSA, French Ring, etc.) . The head trainer is a sergeant in her county's police department and has two K9 officers that she's trained. Most of the club is composed of their puppies (health tested before anyone worries) with some other dogs mixed in. My girl hasn't been there since she was 3 months old, where she engaged a little but not a lot.

At home and when we go out, she's more than happy to engage with me and the bite pillow/flirt pole/etc. She acts confident, is very friendly with people (we are working on being less interested in people and more on me).
At the club this last Saturday, she was a completely different dog. Skittish and mostly uninterested, she acted like she'd been kept in the house with no socialization since she was born (not true). The head of the club does not believe she will be cut out for protection and French Ring in her current state. She's only 7 months and has a lot of maturing to do so I know that it's possible she'll change drastically, but it's very discouraging.

My gameplan is to take her out more and work on playing with her bite pillow in new/busy settings, as well as work on her being comfortable with other people holding her toys/playing with her. Not a lot of people I know are comfortable with my Mal as they do not have lots of experience with dogs, and I trust even less of them. I have maybe 2-3 people who could play tug with my girl and really help me, only one of them is dog savvy (my mentor).

Does anyone have any tips? Any similar experiences?

Good for you continue good work o your new friend give her love and she will return it many times over

 

[Bentwings]

Hey everyone!

So a while back a lady on Facebook in my area was posting about how she was going to euthanize a 9 week old Malinois puppy for "aggressive biting" her kids. After some talk, I convinced her to give me the puppy. When I picked her up, she was covered in her own feces. She is absolutely not aggressive and is coming along nicely. For me, she's incredibly driven and loves to work. Super biddable.

She does have one issue though; she lacks confidence around new dogs. Barking at them, bristling, focusing and trying to get away/hide behind me. With some work around them she's perfectly fine and can get sniffed/have them run up to her with no issues (I do not allow on leash greetings), but it happens almost every time we see a new dog. Evaluation under my mentor and a local dog trainer, and she says that my girl is not reactive but lacks confidence.

So we've been doing confidence building. Lots of going out in public for exposure to new things, rewarding her for getting scared but then choosing to re-engage with what scared her, etc.
I travel about an hour away to work with a club that trains in multiple dog sport/working disciplines (narcotics, bomb detection, personal protection, apprehension, PSA, French Ring, etc.) . The head trainer is a sergeant in her county's police department and has two K9 officers that she's trained. Most of the club is composed of their puppies (health tested before anyone worries) with some other dogs mixed in. My girl hasn't been there since she was 3 months old, where she engaged a little but not a lot.

At home and when we go out, she's more than happy to engage with me and the bite pillow/flirt pole/etc. She acts confident, is very friendly with people (we are working on being less interested in people and more on me).
At the club this last Saturday, she was a completely different dog. Skittish and mostly uninterested, she acted like she'd been kept in the house with no socialization since she was born (not true). The head of the club does not believe she will be cut out for protection and French Ring in her current state. She's only 7 months and has a lot of maturing to do so I know that it's possible she'll change drastically, but it's very discouraging.

My gameplan is to take her out more and work on playing with her bite pillow in new/busy settings, as well as work on her being comfortable with other people holding her toys/playing with her. Not a lot of people I know are comfortable with my Mal as they do not have lots of experience with dogs, and I trust even less of them. I have maybe 2-3 people who could play tug with my girl and really help me, only one of them is dog savvy (my mentor).

Does anyone have any tips? Any similar experiences?

im not a fan of playing tug . If you combine it with an out commas , maybe tugs were rewards but always finished with out . Plain obedience drills helps get the dog focused on you . rally dog sport is good too as it realy takes strong focus to do well Mals actually do well as they are very fast in their feet if you have control R ally is a timed event to do a number of exercises larger fast dogs can be very tough to beat with smaller dogs My Aussie was super focused and very fast moving you have to make correct moves too at good speed turns jumps and recalls are important . Ring sport will let the dog stretch her legs but it is a demanding sport if you don’t have excellent obedience leave it alone

 

[Bentwings]

im not a fan of playing tug . If you combine it with an out commands maybe tugs were rewards but always finished with out . Plain obedience drills helps get the dog focused on you . rally dog sport is good too as it realy takes strong focus to do well Mals actually do well as they are very fast in their feet if you have control R ally is a timed event to do a number of exercises larger fast dogs can be very tough to beat with smaller dogs My Aussie was super focused and very fast moving you have to make correct moves too at good speed turns jumps and recalls are important . Ring sport will let the dog stretch her legs but it is a demanding sport if you don’t have excellent obedience leave it alone