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

Here she is getting her lunch out of her new treat ball with a teeny weeny hole!

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-INITX9_g0M

Tia and I just went for a walk around the roads in the dark so she could experience car lights etc. Oh dear! Our calm loose lead walking on the left has vanished as she was quite stressed out by the car lights. Still, we will get plenty of practise over the next few months.

Here are some pics my OH took today

Stunning! Love the first pic

So do I, it must be her bat ears!!

She has beautiful eyes - someone I know has had a litter of Malinois x Groenendael and Tia looks just like the resulting pups

Instead of a romp around the woods and fields with the boys this morning, Tia and I went for a walk around the roads. It was only 5am so there was much less traffic, but she was MUCH better than last night.

I was thinking she looks like a Mali x too. Lovely pics btw!!

Thank you, I'm absolutely thrilled to bits with her.

We returned from our evening walk just now in the dark just as my neighbour 3 (large) gardens away started a firework display. All 3 dogs were in the back of the car, so I had to decide what to do next. Should I leave them in the car until the fireworks stop? Should I rush them in through the front door in their muddy state just to get them indoors quickly?

I let them out of the car and none of them seemed particularly bothered by the noise, so we went into the back garden where you could actually see the fireworks. I expected Dusty and Tia to scuttle into the garage which was open, but no they followed Oliie round to the patio and stood watching the display. I hosed them all down out of sight of the fireworks and dried them off whilst it was still going on. That went well so we went onto the patio and they all sat facing me with their backs to the fireworks eating treats. Dusty (failed working gun dog because he was too nervous) was the only one who seemed slightly anxious, but he sat there munching treats with the other two who really didn't care a jot! Amazing.

My OH couldn't believe we were still out there with all the noise going on. Neither could I!

Well done brave dogs

My gang aren't bothered by fireworks, and when I lived in Lancaster and it was just Flame and I, she used to come up to a good vantage point above the city/castle and watch them with me

Loving the new pics of her, she is losing her puppy look now and is turning into a very beautiful young lady.

Wow - Bijou, Tia does look like those Mali x Groens! Gorgeous!

Ollie has never been bothered by fireworks, it's amazing how his confidence rubs off.

I think she looks very much like a Mali x here, which is ironic as that was the breed I was looking at first but didn't think I could manage a working line one.

She is beautiful.

Looks like she is coming along really well!

We started our first puppy class today at COA. Tia's friend the Great Dane was there and the other black GSD, along with a Leo, French Bulldog, a couple of Cockerpoos and a miniature Schnauzer. They had 2 free play sessions with the group divided into big and small dogs. Tia was with the Dane, Leo and GSD. She was the only one who would play with the Dane, probably because she has Ollie at home who is about the same size and colour. She had a lovely game with the Leo too, but the other GSD is still quite scared of other dogs and thinks Tia is a bit too full on.

Wendy (the trainer) did a sales pitch to try to get the rest of the class into clicker training as it is currently just the GSDs. There were a couple who may give it a try but I expect it will just be the GSDs. We then did some practise sits, downs and general waits with doors and gates.

I took Tia for a very short walk around a park afterwards so she could chill out after all that excitement. There were 2 little boys playing football with their dad. She is so nosey, she walked over to each of them to have a look at them and get a stroke!

Yes, she certainly is.

On the whole she just gets on with whatever I decide we are going to do. She is a really bold, inquisitive puppy. The breeder said that all the other homes had overlooked Tia based on aesthetics and that she was the most confident, trainable puppy in the litter. Being a bit of a cynic I was slightly sceptical at the time, but I'm absolutely delighted with her.