huski

Hey Teela - all the dogs in the video are either trained in food or prey drive. the dogs are all highly motivated to work (they didn't all start out that way either!) and understand how to earn reward. The handler focus you see is a by product of training in drive, we don't teach a look command, it happens naturally in the program - we just shape it to look how we want.

I noticed K9 Pro have them, but not in red....think I might order mine from them...always get good service & like to support a DOL'er :) They have them in a dark pink. I planned on getting it from k9pro too, but they didn't have the colour and size I need... And I'm too impatient for a back order, haha. The pink is gorgeous! I'm going for orange :) Which size were you after? I just had a shipment arrive this afternoon and you will be able to use the DOL discount too (if you haven't already ordered).

Will he play with toys at home when there is no distraction? What toys have you tried?

My very first dog was Cherry who was bought as a Tibetan Spaniel but is more likely a Chihuahua cross. She's still going strong at 16 years of age! She had to have her eye removed earlier in the year but is still kicking along. She lives with my Family in another state and when I saw her a few weeks ago she was so excited and happy to see me. Melted my heart. :) Because we don't know what she is I wouldn't be able to recommend her as a breed. My first dog as an adult after moving out of home is my Malinois, not an ideal dog for probably 95% of people, lol.

Hi Tazar! I'm not sure at this point as we have a lot on in the first half of next year. If we can get down there we would love to.

We are exhibiting and are really impressed with the show so far. It's huge with heaps of stands and breed stalls and entertainment. We had a full on but awesome day today, everyone we spoke to were having a great time.

Oh please come and say hi HW! Or I will come and stalk you if I get a chance to take a cheeky break :)

No we have decided not to have dogs on our stand this year as we only have a smaller stand. If this year is successful we will definitely look at a bigger stand for next year and then we will have space for some our dogs to come along. Steve will be on the stand from 11am - 2pm each day to answer dog training questions, plus we will have a range of specials on some of our best selling products and some other exciting things we will reveal closer to the day. It should be a great weekend!

The Sydney show starts on Friday, who else is going? I will be there every day on the K9 Pro stand :) Hoping some DOLers will pop by and say hello!

Yeah if I was going to get a working line Malinois I would get a female and cross fingers it is on the smaller side :laugh: There is a lady with a young show line Malinois (who also has Turverens) and her Mal is only as big as Kaos (57cm, so a 600 but not huge), which would be manageable. Some of the show line Mals are smaller than the WL. Wiz isn't small (she is about 30kg) but one of her female pups is slightly shorter and I don't know if she will grow to quite the same height. Wiz has a great off switch too but she is a LOT of dog. IMO Mals are the ultimate sport/working/competition dog, but they realistically have more drive than most ANKC competitors really need. Wiz would have significantly more drive than any BC (for example) I've ever met, but a good BC has more than enough drive to get the job done and be competitive and the temperament is probably more suitable for the average ANKC competitor.

Awww, she's so pretty TSD :)

I definitely agree re Border Collies, I think a good BC is a good choice for someone who wants to be more competitive. There is a reason they tend to dominate agility. If you want something more drivey but not a BC, I actually thought of a field bred ESS when reading your OP, then I saw TSDs post! :)

I have a GSD, but I think I would get a Mal over another GSD. A working line Groen could tempt me maybe (I have heard there are some coming into Australia!), if I could do the hair lol - I do like a black dog :D And I am not a huge fan of heavily coated dogs! LOL I visited my mum the other week and it was lovely to see our Sibe, Micha, but it just reminded me how much I love my short coated dogs!

I know some wonderful GSDs that I really admire as working dogs - still they just don't suit me as well as mals. I prefer the smaller build of Mals too.

This was one of the 'similar' pairs I was thinking of. Also SBT and Amstaff or Pit Bull. It's funny when you actually get to know the breeds in question how you realise what the differences are. I can understand how people who aren't familiar with either mistake them, but on even looks alone if you saw a Mal side by side with a GSD it would very obvious they are different breeds! I have always loved GSDs though, ever since I was really little. But now I have experience with both breeds I know GSDs wouldn't suit me that well.

I don't think they are similar but as my dog is often mistaken for one - I love both GSD and Malinois, but would never own a GSD, they don't suit me as well as Mals :)

It's a long time for adult dogs too, there is never any time I work my dogs until they are tired and check out - I always leave them wanting more.

35-45 minutes is a long time! In the trial ring you'd be lucky to be there for 5 minutes for most rings. For most dogs even 15 minutes of work is a long time. I personally don't see any benefit in classes where dogs are worked continuously for the entire time (usually paddock bashing in a lot of cases) - I might work my dog over a long period of time, but for shorter burst and in between I expect her to relax and switch off. When to work and when to switch off is a valuable skill for dogs to learn, IMO.

Oh my goodness LOL the pot plant!!

So cute!!! They crack me up so much!

I can't be the only one whose dog can be a massive sook and is an expert at pulling the sad puppy dog eyes! Wiz loves to turn on the most pathetic face imaginable to get my attention. Of course sad face turns immediately into this face the second I give in and give her a cuddle... Share your sad/pathetic dog faces :)

I always make sure I have clear access to my front door, my dogs are never out the front of the property (unless with me) and are always safely contained in the back yard. However I also live by myself in a less than savoury area, and while I hope there is never an occasion where someone breaks into my property with the intent of causing harm - I do sleep well at night. ETA: My Mal is very territorial and would be that way without any training, the instinct and genetics are there anyway. Training bite work gives me control of those genetics.

This is my gate sign, hehe

I think the way many people have used the word spoilt in this thread is just different to what it means to me. To me a spoilt dog is a dog that is over indulged and gets what it wants all the time without rules or boundaries. My life revolves around my dogs, I spend almost every spare cent I have on them. Majority of my time is spent caring for them, training them, taking them out etc. But they aren't spoilt - they don't get much if anything for free and work hard to earn what they want.

I agree HW, spoilt to me isn't a good thing at all.