What a great first day at the Paducah kennel club spring agility trial! Fun courses by Rick Mullen, and now we are enjoying the beautiful fenced exercise yard. After being in crates all day, the malinois really enjoy the time out! Best of all, Cody can finally be loose in this area!! He will come to me, even here!
Cody's confidence is definitely growing...2½ years later and he has become a pretty naughty dog. I found him innocently lying next to the bed (instead on in his pen). Just about the time I think maybe he could be loose in the room with Weego, I found where he marked the cedar chest 😳😭... now to build a stronger pen! 🤣
Life with Cody... while he's still not the first to run up for hugs, Cody is increasingly comfortable approaching me! Sometimes he even forgets to stop wagging his tail when I pet him!! He loves racing around the field with Weego and Redi.
When you're the only one not included in the slumber party during the unexpected thunderstorm - just open the dutch door and walk in 🤣🤣
Life with Cody... in the first video, notice how sweet and perfect he is... lying in his crate, playing with a puzzle feeder (which is actually the same one I have him earlier), being a model citizen...
See comments for the next video.
Mash is still asking "Where's my tribe?" This gorgeous, active, loving hunk 'o malinois is looking for his forever people. 5 years old, neutered, basic manners - kinda 🤣. He is being fostered in Southern Indiana. Mash is exuberant and physically expresses his enthusiasm... plainly put = he's a LOT of dog in a fairly compact package.
Mash was found as an abandoned dog, trying to survive in an illegal dump, bullets holes and heartworms. He's healed, healthy and oh so HAPPY!
Mash met another friend, a poodle! He is learning how to play with dogs, and getting better with each experience. He still prefers human attention, but I think he can safely be with any other dog - at least his size or larger. I'll find a smaller dog that I can test him with soon.
Mash would LOVE to find a person, or couple, that is active. Hiking, jogging, camping, bikjoring, even sledding!🤣 He seems to have a strong sense of smell, I plan to start him in nosework soon. He is NOT a good fit for very small/ young children, nor older/ easily unbalanced adults. He does jump up against you when he's excited, he doesn't seem to understand how easily we bipeds fall down.
If you are looking for an amazing, loving, gorgeous, determined-to-love-life-even-when-the-cards-are-stacked-against-you kind of companion, contact me, or Chris Wood. American Belgian Malinois Rescue website has more info and the application to adopt!
Mash meets another new friend! This is a young, male husky mix - the first male dog I've introduced to Mash. I think he did even better with this boy than the girls... but maybe he's just learning how to "dog" a little better?
I kept him on lead so I could extricate him if trouble started brewing. I only had to remove him twice, when things started getting a little more energetic than I was comfortable with.
These are the first play bows I've seen from him! Isn't he adorable??
Mash is being fostered for ABMR. He's about 5 years old, neutered, crate trained, polishing his leash skills, energetic and loving! He's looking for his forever home, and someone active that camps, hikes, runs, or similar would be the perfect fit for him! He is the most assertively affectionate dog I've met... put plainly, Mash is NOT appropriate for a home with very young, or very old, family members... he's just too rambunctious to consider how frail humans can be!
Cody update!! This has become our new "normal", and I'm so proud of how brave he is. (Read with only a tiny bit of sarcasm 🤣). All 3 dogs are in a yard that is about 90 x 90. The dogs are loose, I'm behind a 24" ex pen. Cody will now approach and eagerly eat treats - if I stay behind the pen. He's getting there!! (It was 2 years this past January when he was liberated from a hoarding/ neglect situation. He is the most emotionally damaged dog I've ever worked with).
For those that don't know him, Cody is the dark malinois... not Weego, the dalmatian. Weego is a social... butterfly. 🤣
And this video shows why he is probably a "few" years from being a service dog candidate... no photographers were (seriously) injured during this photo shoot! 🤣🤣🤣
Look at his tail wag!! 💖🐾💖
On a whim, I led Cody over a jump yesterday and he seems to love it!! It's a terrible camera angle, but I never have a tri pod when I need one🤣.
His little tail wags after each jump - even when he drops a 12" bar 🤣💖
Not every session with Cody is exciting. Honestly most are not, but dog training shouldn't be dramatic. Working with emotionally damaged dogs definitely should not. Here's a typical day with Cody. 15 minutes of him moving around me, but his tail isn't clamped under him and he clearly isn't too stressed since he trots right by me as I'm standing up. 🤣🤣
He didn't want to be touched during this session, but he agrees to have the slip lead put on at the end.
Weego's tail tells it all... he loves doing *anything*... even though he thinks this exercise is silly!
A little bit of heeling, and the left about turn.
After working on straightening his backing skills, I decided to try to teach him how to back under me. It's used in free style and some protection skills, I've personally never taught it and Weego has probably never considered it! 🤣
I am usually hands off during training, but I did stand him in the starting position one time. This is the first time we've attempted this, and he caught on pretty good!! I tried to make it as similar to the other exercise as possible.
Weego still isn't allowed to run agility courses or sequences, so we are practicing other skills. He knows how to back to a foot target, but he had always curled to his right. I am trying to change that so he can back up straight... it's been a challenge, but he's getting it!
It helps that he knows "turn" means back 2 feet on a target, and he knows "stand". I start with a very short distance and work up to the width of the barn. It's also very helpful that he knows "nope" means "you're not going to get paid for that, try again", and that it doesn't deflate him at all.
1 week later, playing with Weego and his new trick of rolling up in a blanket. This is his 4th session, the majority of each previous session is posted earlier. What a good boy is he!!
