Whoop! Whoop! New puppy alert!!!! (Malinois) General Chat

Just 440 miles.

I think she will be a standard coat, maybe slightly plush. hang on for pics I'm just sorting them out

Here they are...







About the size of a small cat





Definitely more like a cat...

I have nothing but praise for the breeder who has put hours of work into Tia and her siblings. Tia is very confident and friendly, loves being handled...by anyone. She was being passed round by three 20 yr old blokes earlier this evening and was snuggling up to them when they put her down.

Aw she's lovely. She actually does look like a cat from behind in the picture 3rd from bottom!

Were your other two impressed or are they doing the whole 'pretending the puppy isn't there' routine?

Pretty much pretending she isn't there in the hope she'll go away. I think Dusty (ESS) has realised she is not a cat but a GSD and is giving her a wide berth.

Oooo black and fluffy! Doesn't get any better than black and fluffy!!!! congratulations she's lovely x

She is totally gorgeous Really pleased she is settling in so well. I look forward to hearing all about her as she grows.

She's wonderful! Sounds like the breeder has given her a really good start in life and she's ready to go from strength to strength. It's a wonderful adventure together as they grow up and I'm looking forward to seeing all the photos as she grows. At the moment though as I look at your photos I just keep repeating to myself MUST NOT GET PUPPY NOW

How much fun can you have with a water bowl?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uos2lykbaNo&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Tia has been carried around the fruit and veg market this morning where she met loads of people, including a GSD enthusiast who said she was an amazingly calm puppy. She has been hand fed her lunch by my visiting daughter, played with the water bowl and is now fast asleep.

I just love black or black and white dogs, not that you'd notice!

She really is gorgeous, inside and out. I spent 15 minutes clicker training with her breakfast kibble this morning and she was recalling to a sit in front of me at the end.

Thank you! I have had numerous pups over the past 30 years and can see what a huge difference a really good conscientious breeder makes to the pup you bring home. She knows "ahah" means stop and if she pounces on someone's feet, she stops when told and is easy to distract onto a toy. She also has an off switch when she goes into her crate.

Progress so far:

We do clicker training in the morning with her breakfast when she's really hungry. First day was recall and sit and she's got that nailed, in fact she will do that for anyone now. Today we started down. Initially she would not lure into a down, just stayed standing and followed with her nose. When I held my closed hand on the ground she went into a down to wriggle her nose under my hand...so that's going well. She is rarely pouncing on feet now and is falling in love with her rope toys.

Yesterday we only had 2 accidents in the house, which were both because she fell asleep outside of her crate in the house and I didn't notice she had woken up. She's now in a strict routine of playtime, pottering time, feeding time or chew time in the crate followed by quiet crate time and then straight outside for the toilet.

The crate is in the kitchen which is where she sleeps next to the other dogs. She yapped for 10 minutes the first night when we went to bed and last night she made no fuss at all. She doesn't mind being in her crate in the kitchen on her own.

Her bite inhibition is superb thanks to the breeder. She is gently mouthing on invitation only.

I was a bit anxious about how Oliie (my large 44 kg GSP who is not renowned for his patience) would cope with her. He was very stressed yesterday as he didn't know how to deal with her. I have been rewarding every interaction he has with her and being within grabbing distance of him at all times. His grumping has been limited to a growling lunge and pinning her momentarily to the floor. He has grumped at her about 4 times now for crimes such as bouncing into his bed when he was in it, running at him and biting his leg. Each time she has done the crawling on on her tummy and licking his mouth thing. The result is she is now VERY respectful of him so he is much more relaxed and even wags his tail if she walks up to him to sniff his nose.

Anyway after her adventure with the water bowl I'm off to buy her a paddling pool. I took her visiting to some friends this morning and they had a large plastic trough which they filled with water and it amused her for about an hour on and off. I was very impressed that when we arrived, my friend went off down the garden to get the trough, and Tia just followed her as if she'd known her all her life rather than just 5 minutes.

She really is gorgeous and looks like she has settled in very well What a clever girly.

Helen

Thank you. It feels as if I'm operating a piece of quality German machinery.

Congratulations, she is a lovely puppy and the breeder has done a sound job with the pups. You're going to have such fun with her.

The breeder is fab, when I'm in the market for another one I will go straight back to her. I just hope that Tia isn't lulling me into a false sense of security! It can't continue being this easy I'm sure.