If only you lived on a mountain hillside, if only you had 100 sheep to keep together and bring into a pen, then this dog wouldn't seem so hyped up and pent, so out of place in a back yard contrary to its hundreds of years of breeding. I'm seeing a dog who needs sheep to nip at and is responsive to whistle and vocal commands from half a mile away.
Sunday, September 16, 2018
Do you want a rocket for a dog?
The title is actually, "Do you want a malinois?" Over a thousand viewers found this interesting enough to comment, 8.2K voted it up and 366 voted it down. What's with the down votes? I don't understand that. Something they saw in it, some little thing triggered them, like maybe tug-of-war. Who knows?
If only you lived on a mountain hillside, if only you had 100 sheep to keep together and bring into a pen, then this dog wouldn't seem so hyped up and pent, so out of place in a back yard contrary to its hundreds of years of breeding. I'm seeing a dog who needs sheep to nip at and is responsive to whistle and vocal commands from half a mile away.
If only you lived on a mountain hillside, if only you had 100 sheep to keep together and bring into a pen, then this dog wouldn't seem so hyped up and pent, so out of place in a back yard contrary to its hundreds of years of breeding. I'm seeing a dog who needs sheep to nip at and is responsive to whistle and vocal commands from half a mile away.
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Okay, it falls to me to ask the stupid non-dog owner question: what's the difference between this dog and a German Shepherd?
One's right foreleg goes stiff if you play, "Deutschland Uber Alles".
Malinois sounds like a Jack Russell, the Pepe LePew of dogs.
My black and white dog is part Border Collie, and as for that "calm down at age two" thing, yeah, right. My dog is 10 and she still runs like the wind, wants to herd anyone and any thing that shows up at our place and I would grow very concerned for her health if she calmed down. Calm is not in her nature. Bite your hand and nip your heels - totally. Bite your face off? Maybe, if such a thing is warranted.
Ricpic, they're very similar but not difficult to tell apart.
Belgian's stance is square, their hind legs shorter. A German shepherd's stance longer, more stretched out, they're heavier, and they are a lot more powerful. They can plow into you and lift you right off your feet. Belgians are more agile. Lighter. They can jump up high and twist around in the air and land on all four feet facing the opposite direction. There is a difference in their ears. Belgians are more responsive to training, more high energy, more high strung. The long coated types have much fuller collars with seemingly triangular ears perched on top, but when shaved they appear closer to German Shepherd type ears.
The Tervuren type coat is even more similar to German Shepherd.
The first thing to notice is Belgians are lighter.
The guy at the park on the 4th of July told me that I am the first person to identify his dog properly. Ding .I win. Everyone else guesses it's a fluffy black German Shepherd. I told him I identified it by seeing only the hind legs and tail. Then confirmed when I saw the front legs and collar. I told this to the people sitting next to me and they confirmed my brag. I was sitting on a bench the whole time. The dog sat curled at my legs. I didn't notice that. The owner then said, "You have good energy. This is the first time she's ever done that with anyone except me." And I'm sitting there thinking, "You sound like a hippy."
Then again, he sounded like Cesar Milan.
I offered to photograph his dog. I'm convinced that with Photoshop I can get all the mid-tones of black so the dog doesn't show like a black blob as they do when photographs are optimize automatically. (The card he gave me has an interesting photograph of himself and the dog by a lake, but the printing shows the dog as silhouette.) He returned with a whole bunch of photos taken by cell phone, and I must say, they're all impressively good. Those little phone cameras are excellent now. It managed to get the sheen and silky texture of the dog's incredibly luxurious coat.
So then, the differences between German and Belgian shepherds is in their conformation and their coats. Their behaviors are distinctly different. And their trainability is wildly different.
My German shepherd was trained in a lot more things, obedience, tracking, obstacle course, jumping, searching, but that was because we spent every hour together and I trained the dog constantly. Things that took a few weeks to train were picked up in five minutes by all three of the Belgians who all got a lot less direct interaction because by then I was no longer a boy and we did a lot less things together. With the Belgians the training was somewhat reversed. They trained me how best to train them. They trained me how I best talk to them. To Belgians, training is a mere faint suggestion, and their responsiveness is always way WAY WAY overdone. So most training amounts to calming the dog down, slowing it down to keep within acceptable parameters. With the German Shepherd training was a matter of getting him to accept a new game.
I was sitting on a bench the whole time. The dog sat curled at my legs. I didn't notice that. The owner then said, "You have good energy. This is the first time she's ever done that with anyone except me." And I'm sitting there thinking, "You sound like a hippy."
OK. So that's what you were sitting there thinking about the person and what he sounded like. In retrospect what are your thoughts now regarding that dog's response and approach to you? To what might you attribute such a noticeably different (from the owner's perspective) "first time" response?
The earlier story about the energy that wasn't wanted being returned with a bang is what comes up for me. Only this time, I'm wondering the honor, valuing, and regard that resides within you and flows out in this post (and past ones) based on lived experience with dogs in general and this breed in particular, may have been recognized and received on a level that is beyond words and gesture.
That said, I didn't particularly enjoy and/or like the video and wondered what her point in making it might have been? Was the paper grabbing/tearing scene spontaneous or a set up?
From my viewpoint grabbing a paper or letter out of an owner's hand, and ripping the paper to shreds is not acceptable dog behavior.
Do you want a paper shredder for a dog?
She tells you: The Malinois is a German Shepherd on speed!
Beautiful dog but that’s a LOT to handle!
Mama, I'm thinking now that the dog is lucky to have such a great owner.
The man told he he had never heard of Belgian sheepdogs before. He researched dogs from library books. Looking through breeds he picked this one. The one I pick. So I knew at least on the level of dogs that he and I have lot in common. It's just that I rarely hear anyone speak in terms of energy like that. Exactly how Cesar Milan does.
The man is young and athletic. He likes to go to the mountains, hiking, fishing, camping. His photographs show a dog in thrall with its companion. The man has the energy required for this type of dog. The type energy that I used to have but no longer do. Enough energy to wear a dog out. Please, please, can I just rest at your feet? The 4th of July, the dog had a very long day. It was actually worn out. The dog's companion and the man's girlfriend were still standing. The dog calmed down and rested with me. I was pleased that dog was not threatened by my sticks. I think it picked up on our conversation. While our conversation was about the dog. I think dogs know when you're talking about them.
In this video the woman is talking to us. But there is nobody there. So the dog thinks the woman is talking to her. The interaction of the dog is largely due to the dog thinking the woman is talking to her. All that yakity-yak-yak with nothing solid to go on. No task. No command. No indication of play. Just talk. The dog keeps thinking of things to play. Keeps trying to climb on the woman and be petted, or scratched, or roughed up. Something must connect with all that talking. Surely all that talking is about something to play, this frond, let's go, this leather purse, come on, let's go, this paper you have, let's go with it. The end of the video the woman stands up and the dog whips into brilliant heel position. My German shepherd would never do that. Heeling was not his favorite thing to do. But each Belgian did. Every Belgian I've seen does this. It's one of their favorite things because it puts their shoulder dug right into your leg and they're with you every step that you take. They want to climb in your pocket and be part of you. They want to be part of everything. Being left out is devastating.
Earlier this year I approached some folks walking a German shepherd dog. I have been working on how to interact with dogs who don't know me and that particular day I was in the zone. After the dog sized me up he let me pet him and the owner commented that her dog never let anyone do that. Well, some days one's mojo is working, and that was one such day. I'll take it, thank you very much.
The end of the video the woman stands up and the dog whips into brilliant heel position.
I saw that and was surprised by the quickness, immediacy and intensity as it was in contrast to earlier rambling and looseness. Your explanation of talking taking place without a connect point makes sense. Any time a bond that strong and clear is present, owner and dog are both lucky to have the other in their life!
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