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

I took my car with the very large boot to the Natural Instinct factory shop in Camberley last week and filled it up. I'm really impressed with the quality and needless to say the dogs all love it. They have bespoke working puppy food as well as all the other ranges. The only kibble Tia is eating now is when I put her treat ball down in the evenings if she is being a fidget.

I shall have to pop out today in my lunch break to replace Mr Caterpillar who sadly met a sudden and messy end last night when Ollie got him. He will be my secret weapon at the WT classes, I'll get a few as Tia loves him. I'm not at all excited about tonight!!!!

I love this last pic it's a proper 'mummy when I grow up I want to be pic..' bless her!

Lol! Yes you're right!

We started our WT classes today and it went very well. To start with I was advised not to use a harness anymore except for tracking, so I clipped the lead onto her collar. It was a big class which included a lot of pups in an indoor school at an equestrian centre. We did quite a lot of heel work exercises, some stays, walking close to the other dogs and then being called away and started the retrieve. Apart from digging in the sand rather a lot, Tia did very well.

Whilst I was at work yesterday, it seems there was a bust up between Oliie and Dusty over Tia. My OH was aware that Tia and Dusty were playing and it was getting a bit manic. You could argue that he should have intervened at that point but as it turned out I'm glad he didn't. Ollie decided that he wasn't happy with what was going on so he intervened. He usually just walks between them or snaps at Dusty if he won't stop. On this occasion Dusty snapped back so Ollie decked him by flipping him upside down and flinging him around the kitchen by his throat. My OH said he had trouble getting Ollie to stop, but when he did there wasn't a mark on Dusty.

It is noticeable how deferential both Dusty and Tia are being to Oliie today....which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned.

We had a lovely walk this morning. Tia was playing with a very boisterous Lab who knocked her flying. My heart was in my mouth because I have tried really hard to protect her from any bad experiences, but she leapt to her feet and ran after him. She is actually quite used to rough games with big dogs. We met a couple of little Cavaliers later on and she was trying, very politely, to get them to play. They weren't interested and one snapped at her so she left them alone.

Tia and Dusty played a long, calm game of bitey face today. It was as if whatever happened yesterday, didn't. Ollie was perfectly calm and unbothered by their noisy games.

I was so proud of Tia as our class today! She was a star and made me look so good, when I'm not I just have such a calm, willing puppy. We did some beautiful walking to heel and the some livestock work. We were back in with the pushy lambs. They had a load of food scattered on the ground and we stood in the middle. Tia sat pressed up against my left leg watching them closely but not moving. They were even brushing against her with their sides and heads, but she didn't move and didn't make a sound. I just kept posting sausage into her mouth.

I meant to say that when we were at our WT class on Wednesday, we were all standing in a row down the middle of the arena about 6 feet apart. The dogs were then individually walked to heel weaving in and out. Tia didnt do the weaving as it was her first time, but she had all of the other 25+ dogs weave past her and then back. She sat pressed up against my left leg and didn't move, nor did she move when a large GSD growled and tried (and failed as it was being held very tightly) to lunge at her. She's showing good strong nerves!!

I have a friend with a Briard puppy who is now 8 months old. I haves avoided walking her with Tia so far because I didn't want Tia to get overwhelmed and have a bad experience. I decided yesterday that if she can cope with a Great Dane puppy at our COA class then she was probably ready to meet Dinah the Briard.

We met up this morning and it went very well. Tia is much faster and more agile so could outrun her if she felt the need. She quickly realised that she could stop Dinah in her tracks by turning to face her, and Dinah was receptive to a snap if she was getting OTT. They had a lovely game that lasted for most of the walk. Now she is fast asleep.

Tia is getting very boisterous (as you would expect) and the boys sometimes need a break. In order to make her meals last a long time, where possible I put them into an interactive food dispensing toy such as the twister puzzle or a Kong. Now I am freezing them to make them last even longer. Thankfully this works a treat. I don't want my OH, Ollie and Dusty hiding in the garden until I get home from work!

I was more concerned about the different ages/level of development rather than their sizes. The same way as I wouldn't let a toddler rough and tumble with a 10 year old they didn't know. The Great Dane pup was fine because he was the same age, but the Briard chases other dogs and I had visions of Tia bolting over the horizon with a Briard nipping her bottom. Fortunately she is now confident enough to stand her ground so she won't get chased.

Tia's favourite (and most long lasting) meal is half a raw sheep's head. I have being trying to persuade my veggie OH to feed her one when I'm at work because they keep her quiet for such a long time. I was making some progress as we had agreed I could put it in a carrier bag so he needn't look at it, just tip it out into her crate. Then with exquisite timing Tia popped the eyeball and squirted black goo out of her crate all over the kitchen floor in front of him. Ho hum...we will have to stick to heads on my days off.

Sadly we didn't get to our Monday evening class this week as I was working, but we have our WT class tonight. And Dinah the Briard is going to start coming too.

It kept her busy for 3 hours! Even a giant Kong stuffed with frozen tripe doesn't last for half that long.

I took Tia into the office again today. Last time she slept through being passed around like a parcel, this time she greeted everyone and was very friendly and confident. I even left her with a colleague and went for a walk around the building without her. She is so used to me handing her over to the staff to play with when we go into certain shops, she thought nothing of it. Then we left and went down in the lift. Easy!

I have been playing "Find it!" with Tia's squeaky pheasant. She is getting very good at a long stay whilst I go and hide it, she is then very methodical when she is searching for it. She is a naughty girl though, because she makes me waste so much time playing when I should be doing other things.

We had our COA class this morning, which was very noisy and a bit chaotic, but we practised lots of "stays" in the middle of it which went very well. We also practised "leave" in the middle of it, with Frankfurter sausages between her paws. We have outgrown this class a bit as we are going elsewhere to training clubs too and doing a lot at home, but it is a good opportunity to practise in a noisy chaotic environment. The staff are lovely too and I really like their methods, particularly as Wendy is a clicker trainer.

Yesterday evening my brother and his kids came for dinner. My niece, aged 7 is a passionate dog lover even though they have no pets. So she is very keen but not particularly dog savvy. The last time they came she spent 4 hours playing "Find it" with Ollie. Ollie was out of bounds last night because he has a very saw paw, so I did wonder how Tia would cope with the attention. I had defrosted half a sheep's head as a long term distraction/excuse to keep Tia in her crate.

I needn't have worried...Tia remembered her from the last time I took her to their house and Ellie hand fed her roast chicken. Tia followed her around and was amazingly gentle with her. Everything Ellie sat down Tia sat beside her, wriggling and smiling at her, but not jumping up or mouthing. I had thought that Tia's usually brilliant behaviour might take a nose dive because she was so excited to see Ellie.

This time Ellie groomed Tia with a very soft brush and hand fed her some treats, which were taken sooooooo gently. She was perfectly happy for Ellie to put her arms around her and hug her, it really was so sweet.