15/01/2024
In Connecticut
Checking in with my friends... I am not putting this on share yet...
I am putting out feelers for a dog I evaled today.. It is a horribly sad story but despite it all the dog is decent and quite nice...
Malinoi, pure bred, not sure if well bred or not. I don't think parents are health tested.. "breeder" does not wish for the dog back, I have the name. No paperwork that we are aware of, previous owner might have had it, lost it, sold it for drugs..
She is around a year old, and has had very little socialization, has been beaten. Exwife had to stop the husband from pounding her with closed fist at one occasion that she told me about. He also has rolled up a news paper and beat her with as well. This is only what she has seen. For a while this puppy lived in the car when he was homeless with the 12 year old daughter and an older dog. Ex wife has taken all of them in, ex husband ran to rehab and is not taking the dog back or placing the dog accordingly.
The dog has a bite history, only level 2, 4 bites under the belt, 3 to people one to a dog. First bite around 6 months old, a 7 year old was playing with the older dog, and mali puppy ran in and bit her face, no stitches or antibitoics. Since then there has been 2 bites to the face of humans, and one to the older dog (12 year old great dane mix), all three has been over night when she gets startled in her sleep. After crating her over night there has been no such issues, and one time she growled at ex wife and she woke up before the bite happened, soothed the dog and nothing happened. This seems to potentially be a trust issues, can't guarantee it though. Also the first bite was not seen, only the end results. It could been rowdy play or similar nothing like that has happened since.
When I arrived at the door, she was confident with flagging tail, and growling. I had the door open 2 inches. After a couple of treats she calmed down and I could step in, all was in less than a minute I would say, I have it on recording but its not downloaded to my computer yet. She was anxious and didn't trust me, but was ok with me in the house.
I sat down and threw ball with her, she does resource guard but also very trust based. Once she realized I traded balls and treats all around one another she started dropping them close to me if I didn't volunteer to take them. Not once did I feel threatened by her after initial door meeting. She responds to appropriate social behavior from humans, if I had tried to pet her and hug her, she would have bit, but she was happily working with me and warmed up decently.
she growled a couple of times, one was when I made squeaky noises to get a head tilt, I stopped threw her a treat and she was over it. Second time was when I patted the couch and asked if she wanted to jump up, again I stopped, reassured her, and she relaxed and came over for a treat.
She let me pet her after around 20 minutes, but only for short spurts, she would freeze up, but when I moved my hand away she would relax in her body language, sniff, go get a toy, move away or take a treat. She even gave me face kisses and sniffed me thoroughly once more relaxed.
After an hour together, she laid down to nap, so we cut it there. She has a great off switch, she is neutral to most cars except high pitch engines and dirt bikes, easy to redirect with food, has no manners pull on the leash, rips blankets but can be crated if exercised. Has biddability with me as a stranger but not as much as she had with her owner but she is not obsessive crazy at least not at the moment could be because she is partially shut down.
She is what I would call Malinois light on the energy/drive level, so higher than a regular dog, but not so much she will drive you crazy. She is neutral/avoidant of people on leash outside, the owner says that she doesn't lunge. I have not evaled that as she is not that comfortable with me yet.
No resuce wishes to take her because bite history, and you need to understand body language for this dog to avoid incidents. She is not a beginner dog, but not the hardest either. Owner is looking to euthanize which I support if the right home is not found.
I am supposed to take her own for two weeks of evaluation, see if she will do some more sports, look more at her drive, train her in public see if we can undo some of that anxiety the beatings have created. Two weeks is nothing but we would know more after that.
Don't know if there is any interest in a girl like this, she does like other dogs, plays rough, wife's older cat got out, he thinks he is a dog so he was relaxed and confident around her, and she did not go for him. Can't guarantee anything but.. She was raised indoors with kids (based on photos from the "breeders" facebook) and parents looks purebred.
Looking for a fair handler, she has been through enough, and she is smart enough to probably go handler sour if someone don't do right by her. She def likes to communicate and problem solve.
Not spayed, and probably not up to date on shots. I can bet money I will have to sedate her at the vets/muzzle. Don't think she will be good there, just my gut feeling.
She is CT transport can be arranged to the right home.
