Red Fox

Awwwww . Are you going to take on another one? Perhaps a Maligator next time ;) . Thinking about it - might be a good way to try before I buy ..Or torture yourself for a few months

oh goody you can clear something up for me! friend and I were talking about malinois. I pronounce it 'mal-in-wah' and my friend thinks the correct pronunciation is 'mal-in-woo'. She is actually Belgium though so I am inclined to think I must have it wrong? Mal - in - wah http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/audio.pl?malino01.wav=Malinois I've never heard it pronounced malin- woo by any european friends either. Though they do pronounce the other three types of BSD's in ways that I could never get my tongue around .

Awwwww . Are you going to take on another one? Perhaps a Maligator next time ;) .

We go out to the school a few times a week. She's allowed a little contact with the kids (not a huge amount) but once she starts getting tired and/or over-stimulated I scoop her up and move away. The kids aren't allowed to crowd her, one at a time only. The school here is divided into seperate junior and upper primary so we tend to stick with the older kids for now. They don't tend to squeal as much or rush up to her and are generally pretty good at listening. So far she's been to assembly, part of the school concert, fitness training a couple of times and visits before and after school. eta: forgot Toyworld. She loved that! Got herself a pink elephant toy

Getting bigger! :D

My son misheard Weimaraner as "bite your arm off" And I got ripped off with my Malinois pup - she's looks nothing like a Malamute, must be a GSD cross. Errrrrrr......

De-gas tablets from memory. You can buy them from the supermarket but I'm not sure on the dosage..? Hope all is okay? **eta, found the dosage in another thread If you do a search on "bloat" or "degas" there is some more info.

Provided the wings are not too small and/or the dog doesn't gulp them without chewing it's fine.

Growing like a weed . She's constantly amazing me with her confidence and energy (oh the energy!!). We've started with some basic tracking and obedience work, all coming along slowly. ....and I have 'blender hands' big time

Prix is awesome. His little sis has some BIG shoes to fill!! I'd be happy if she turned out to be half as good as he is.:D

This may help explain it somewhat http://felixho.be/en/sacraalHart/index.html IMO the term "high drive" is overused and misunderstood. A lot of people who think they want a high drive dog would go mad if they actually owned one. High energy and high drive are not the same thing. Drive is intinctual and has a very specific end goal. I would consider a high drive dog to be one that has a good combination of the primary drives (as described in the attached article). Sorry, don't have time to go into more detail as I'm on my way out the door . Watching this topic with interest though.

Sounds great! Could you post a pic?

That's true too Kavik. I like dogs with a bit of "grunt" in them.

I can't put mine into 5 words, but the most important thing for me is balance - both mental and physical. Confident, biddable and stable are qualities that appeal too. A lot of people seem to like "high drive" dogs, but to different people that means different things. Personally, I wouldn't be happy with a dog that had a high prey drive but no real "substance" or seriousness behind it, where-as others might?

I found the article interesting. My older dog is reactive, soft and nervy. He becomes anxious when left alone, even in the backyard, thrives on routine, is very sensitive and is extremely attatched to me (as I am to him). My young Malinois pup has been different from day one. She is the most confident, outgoing, adventurous, persistant, energetic little pup I have ever met! She is incredibly independent and will spend hours 'exploring' everything and anything. If she falls down she gets right back up and tries again. Both are polar opposites, raised in the same house from the same age. The pup has only been with me for a little over two weeks so I can't say how she'll turn out - but the differences between her and my older dog as a pup are so clearly evident already. I'm not sure either is "normal" though. o_O In the wrong homes it's likely that they'd both be considered a nighmare for different reasons.

Yep, I need her perky. I've changed the appointment for the day after we get home.

Nice

This.. I'm presuming the pup was bought as a companion..? And no wonder they are complaining! My idiot neighbours leave their dogs home whenever they go away and the bloody things bark all night . Unfortunately there's not much I can do apart from complain to council, but you can bet your arse if they were home I'd be bashing on their door demanding they put a stop to it. This is the reason why so many dogs are baited. It's your responsibility to fix the problem. Bring the dog inside.

Don't worry about paper towel, just buy a mop Unless you plan to confine the puppy indoors for long periods then don't bother with pee pads/doggy toilets as it will only confuse them. If you crate trian and take the pup out regularly then you won't have a problem. You do need to worm your pup for intestinal worms. Usually the breeder will do this at 8 weeks, then you worm again at 12 weeks then 3 monthly after that (or as needed). You also need to use some form of heartworm prevention starting at 3 months of age. There are monthly chews available for this, spot on's or daily tablets. You don't need to treat for fleas if you don't have them, but if you're in a paralysis tick area you might want to look at some form of protection for that?

If you plan on trialing your dog in obedience (or any other sport) then just have seperate formal and informal commands. I don't like to let others train my dog, but any member of the household can tell him to sit, drop, out a toy, go in his crate, wait at the door, play games with him, etc - basic manners. They just wouldn't walk him through a heel pattern, use my "formal" commands or attempt to teach him a behaviour that I'd want to use in a trial.

You could always get yourself a portable aircon.

Ignore them ;) If you're that worried chuck a cover over it, a nice blanket inside and a couple of toys and tell them it's a kennel.

What about swapping it around a little? - Tinnahwarra

Okay, thank you. I was under the impression that the pup was also more vulnerable to infection during that time?

My thoughts too Dasha. Her first was on 23.10.11, so technically I could bring it forward a few days to a week. But I'm not sure that I'd be offering her any greater protection in doing that. It also means that I wouldn't be able to see my prefered vet.