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

I'm still being asked if Cuba is a cross and we do have a 5mth old GSP bitch puppy trains with us (ok she has a small hunting flash. }

Sorry meant to add she is black and bred by a local gamekeeper

We just have to humour these ignoramuses!

We did our last puppy Pre-school class today, and did we feel sad? No.....because it was so good we're going to repeat the class before we start our training classes. Tia has been really confident with this group, she was particularly friendly with a male Dobermann. But the next class will be all different pups for her to get to know. We have been doing plenty of basic obedience at home which is coming along beautifully, but I want her to have as much playtime with different pups as possible.

I'm really pleased with how friendly she is with people. If anyone makes eye contact with her she runs towards them wagging her tail.

The most striking black GSD I know is Argonne Bodo owned by Phil Sergeant, lovely looking bear of a dog, fantastically social but very strong in his protection.

Lovely boy.

I'll look him up. Tia looks and feels just like a little black velvet bear too.

He certainly is a beautiful boy ...

http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/dog.html?id=538211

Tia and I went to church this morning!

It was not a conventional church, but one of those modern churches where they have very loud music and lots of kids and young people. The venue was in the cafe/bar area of the local theatre so it was quite dramatic with spot lights and very loud music and people shouting to be heard over the music. We were walking past and thought it was too good an opportunity to miss, so we went in and stood just inside the door. Tia looked at me as if she thought I have totally lost the plot but coped extremely well. A woman walked over to see what I wanted so I explained and she said "there are children in here don't let her near the children". Anyway we started walking about and people ( and children) were drawn to us, I felt like the pied piper. The woman just glared at me from a distance, but Tia was just fabulous and very friendly to everyone.

We went off in the car and did a circuit walking around the local town this morning, but it was earlier than usual so more traffic...and it was pouring with rain. What a difference the wet and the traffic made. Tia didn't enjoy that at all. Something to practise next time it rains!

Just read through the whole thread.

What a fantastic read.

We will have two new additions in the next year, all going to plan, so it was good to hear of your experience with your little star.

She is absolutely beautiful and Ollie is extremely handsome too, and what a good big brother he is to Tia.

You are doing a great job with her by the looks of things.

Thank you! Good luck with your new additions, I hope you have as much fun as we are.

I keep writing on this so I have a record of what I did, or where I went wrong! ;-)

Today my OH had to go into his office so Tia went to visit my 70 yr old mother and her 92 year old mother for the day. She played with their 13 month old Collie x a lot and was the perfect house guest....maintaining her record of no accidents for the past 3 weeks.

Then as a special treat I took her to the station platform and watched the trains and people. She just lay down by my feet about 5 feet from the edge of the platform and watched it all happening. Next time we will buy a ticket and go for a ride.

Sounds like things are still going really well with Tia's socialisation. I don't always comment, but I love reading about Tia's progress.

More piccies wouldn't go amiss though ;-)

I'm glad you enjoy reading about our adventures. My family think I'm nuts, but I can live with that provided it produces the bombproof GSD I want.

I'm off work tomorrow so we are meeting up with Chip the Parson Russell. Weather permitting I'll get some pics then.

Here are some photos of Tia and Chip playing this morning. Chip is a lot less FULL ON than Tia, but he coped well.

Awww lovely pics!! xx

I've been following your thread too - it's actually really helpful to read about the socialisation process as it gives me a lot of ideas for when I eventually get a puppy myself.

She's absolutely gorgeous xxx

Thank you. I'm glad you're enjoying it and think it's helpful.

We went back to the vet today as Tia has a rash in 3 different places. She has a slight bacterial skin infection so has some pork fat flavoured anti biotics. Yum!! She was very laid back with the vet who said she has "a beautiful temperament"

Aww what lovely photos - you can see the fun the pair had together

They had a lovely time and I thought she would be tired! Lunch, a quick nap and she was ready for several rounds of bitey face with Ollie. She has crashed out now though!

We started a new Puppy Preschool Class again today. The was a Great Dane who was 14 weeks and the size of a fully grown working Lab, a couple of Cockerpoos and another black GSD. Tia was very wary of the Dane to start with but soon realised he is so scared of her that he won't splat her with his absolutely huge paws...well not this week anyway! The other GSD was a lovely confident girl and very friendly. They were all good pups, it was noticeable that Tia was much more confident (and vocal) with this group than the last one. She does a good "Settle" whilst we are listening to the instructor, but she knows that off the lead playtime is coming soon so was a bit of a fidget.

She also wasn't particularly tired when we got home so we had a game of "Tug", punctuated with "Leave" which was rewarded with cold roast pork. Yum!! Her favourite game and treat combination!!

Then we had a grooming session which she loves. She gets her ears cleaned with cleaning goo on a piece of kitchen paper, nails clipped, teeth and throat examined, tail lifted and bottom inspected and an all over groom. And she loves it, it's one of the highlights of the week!

She has my mother's 13 month old Collie x pup coming to play this afternoon. I'll try to get some pics.