Stories from Malinois rescue (long!)

[draggar]

Influenced from here: http://www.customerssuck.com/board/s...t=14810&page=2 I've decided to post a group of stories from Malinois rescue. My wife and I do a lot of work with Malinois rescue (shameless plug: http://www.malinoisrescue.org ). It is hard, expensive, and we had to pick up the slack where other rescue organizations refused to do their job but the job initself is extremely rewarding especially when you hear of the great stories from families who were lucky enough to "rescue" one of the dogs out of rescue and into a permanant andloving home. Right now we're fostering a very sweet (yet chubby) malinois, Cindra.

I'll warn you now, some are happy, some are sad, some will make you want to smack someone, and others will make you cry (sadness and joy). If you'd like to read a story that will give you happy tears, feel free to read about Jax, the malinois who took the phrase "gentle giant" to a new level ( http://www.malinoisrescue.org/fostering-jax.shtml ). The puppy in the pictures was Sedonna (renamed 'Sunny') who was also being fotered at the time, also has a happy ending). Feel free to read about other fosters: http://www.malinoisrescue.org/adopted.shtml

Well, to start off, we directly dealt with a shelter that has probabally the highest euthanasia rates in the country, the Miami-Dade shelter. Their numbers are so high that they were investigated by the ASPCA and other organizations due to their numbers but were found to be doing nothing wrong due to the catastrophically high number of animals coming into the shelter. They were very accomidating to us and even allowed us to 'adopt' out animals after-hours. Their rescue coordinator who was often stressed and tired never skipped a beat when helping us pull dogs our for rescue. My hat is off to her as she did a damn good job helping us get dogs out of the shelter quickly so we could put them on the road to a second chance at the best life we can get them.

Now, so I don't get hopes up too high, none of these are realted to people returning dogs because they had an accident, but some are close. No matter how good of a dog is, there WILL be accidents!

One of the suckiest is this family who pulled 3 dogs out of the shelter to adopt (seperately) but returned them all because they "were sick". All 3 dogs had diarreah (sp?) and they started to bad mouth the shelter because of it. Of course, it wasn't the shelter's fault. Normally, when a dog goes to a new home this can be normal as they adjust to the new food, water, and as they get over the high-stress factor of being in the shelter and moving here, there and all over. This adjustment can last as long as a week. Of course, this family never thought they should take the dog to a vet since they just got it (from the shelter) the say it should have been in perfect health. Yeah, right.

Sedonna

First, let me tell you a little about malinois. They're an intense breed. They're extremely intelligent and the top pick worldwide for working (police, military, etc..). If any dog is more in demand for them in these fields its the German shepherds, but the malinois is usually the first pick. They're excellent with their families, but they should not be left with children unsupervised since children LOVE to ace like prey and very dominant towards dogs.

I pulled Jax and Sedonna the same day out of the Miami-Dade shelter. I stopped at PetCo to get (a lot of) shampoo to give them baths, Jax needed 4 baths with lea and tick shampoo, and he was still infested. Sedonna only needed a quick bath.

I got a call from a family who wanted to adopt her out of the shelter (Sedonna was officially in rescue now, so i can't just give her out). They said they wanted a dog for their kids to play with and they heard that a mal is a good breed for children. She didn't want to listen to me and from the screaming in the background I knew if we adopted the pup to these people one of them would end up getting bitten. I suggested for a family dog a mild tempered GSD, a collie, even a greyhound but they wouldn't have it, they wanted the mal.

I decided to get them off the phone so I told them they had to go to the website and submit an application. Sure enough, my wife did get the application and she quickly rejected it. Sedonna went to a family who worked their dos (obedience, schutzhund etc..) in northern FL.

Kiri wants to play, so more to come.

[Catwoman2965]

I think that's awesome that you take the time to work with the rescues! I think they are beautiful dogs...every year when I watch the Westminster show, i always look forward to the Malinois...of the 3 belgian shepard breeds, they are my favorite. But I also know if I am ever able to have a dog, I would probably choose maybe a more laid back breed, knowing how I am - I had a mastiff growing up, so even a malinois is on the small side to me! I'm very stubborn too, so having a dog that's smarter than me probably wouldn't work too well...

Good for your wife for rejecting their application; some people just shouldn't be allowed to have pets at all! Its like when 101 Dalmations came out, and EVERYONE had to have one. But of course they don't know or do their homework, to find out that they can be stubborn, and somewhat high strung and tempermental, oh no, the kids saw the movie, and just HAVE to have one.

And as far as taking an animal to the vet once you adopt it, I've adopted cats from shelters, and even when they say they are healthy, they TELL you to make sure your vet checks them over, etc.

So how many do you have, or do you just rescue and foster?

[Catwoman2965]

Just read the story about Jax; and that reminded me of something I saw one time. I was at my town pool a few years back, and there was a woman with a beautiful GSD seeing eye dog. What was so amazing, is when she tried to get in the pool and swim, and the dog got very upset, barking, pacing back and forth, and trying to jump in after her. The people with her tried to lead the dog back to where they were sitting, but the dog wouldn't have any of it.

The woman finally had to get out, and then sneak back in the pool when the dog fell asleep! I was just amazed at the bond the dog had with her; like she felt she wasn't able to keep her safe while she was in the pool, and felt like she had lost control when she couldn't go in after her!

[draggar]

Good for your wife for rejecting their application; some people just shouldn't be allowed to have pets at all! Its like when 101 Dalmations came out, and EVERYONE had to have one. But of course they don't know or do their homework, to find out that they can be stubborn, and somewhat high strung and tempermental, oh no, the kids saw the movie, and just HAVE to have one.

We spent more time talking people out of malinois than into them. My wife usually had a backlog of at least 15-20 applications wanting to adopt one so she could easily pick and choose what dog went to what family (she was the southeast coordinator for a while).

So how many do you have, or do you just rescue and foster?

Right now, our permanant pack includes 2 Belgian malinois (4yo male, 9yo spayed female), 1 9 year old rough collie (male) and 1 8 month old GSD puppy, female. All are show and working dogs. All but the female mal are working service dogs for my wife, the male belgian is ranked (I think hes #9) nationally in the AKC show ring.

We also have 2 more malinois, both female. One show lines who we are watching to improve her temperament and to do some training, the other is inrescue (the chubby one).

My wife's first malinois, Mango, was that protective. She would bark at the water if you dove in and would yell at you as you were getting out. I'm sure she was thinking, 'what are you doing? You're not supposed to go under there!!".

[Catwoman2965]

Wow, they must all keep you busy! I love dogs, but I also know that if and when I am able to have one, I will do my homework, and choose one that's right for me, not what I THINK I should have. It's people like your wife that avoid a lot of bringing back dogs, and dogs being put down for so-called "behavoiral issues" - by carefully screening and educating, and ensuring that they go to the right owner and home.

I remember my boss when she got a dog for her daughter; about 2 years ago, she wanted a dog for her birthday (she was 11 at the time). So the boss went to a couple of shelters, and talked to people there as to what would be suitable, etc. She had previously had yorkies. Her daughter had her heart set on a boxer, and one shelter had one that had just come in. So they went to see him, and while he was friendly, was very strong, and hyper, and was, um, how can I say this nicely? Doing inappropriate things to her daughter's leg - and was so strong, almost knocked her over. So she decided that this particular dog would NOT work for them, and the guy at the shelter agreed. I still remember her telling me how her daughter was in tears, because she really wanted THIS dog.

They ended up going back to another shelter, and adopted a 2 year old yellow lab mix, who is just a doll. MUCH more suitable for the family, and aside from having lots of energy, and needed lots of walks, is just a great dog. I cringe when I hear people say "oh, i want THIS breed" but don't bother to do any research on whether or not it would be a good one for them. THey shouldn't be allowed to have a dog at all...

[protege]

I was just amazed at the bond the dog had with her; like she felt she wasn't able to keep her safe while she was in the pool, and felt like she had lost control when she couldn't go in after her!

Hehe I thought it was just my aunt's dog who was like that. While coming home from the beach one summer, we stopped at their house for the night. My parents and my aunt and uncle went to run some errands, and I was left with the dog. Murphy, a playful springer spaniel, wanted to play, and since he liked to swim, I didn't think it would be a problem.

Turns out Murph gets a bit freaked out when people jump into the pool...and don't come up right away. Needless to say, he pounced on me!

[Emmeileia]

They ended up going back to another shelter, and adopted a 2 year old yellow lab mix, who is just a doll. MUCH more suitable for the family, and aside from having lots of energy, and needed lots of walks, is just a great dog. I cringe when I hear people say "oh, i want THIS breed" but don't bother to do any research on whether or not it would be a good one for them. THey shouldn't be allowed to have a dog at all...

Lol, something similar actually happened to me when I went to the shelter for my kitty (though cat breeds seem less differentiated from each other than dogs, in general)

I was set on a tabby. My cat growing up was an orange tabby and I just loved them. But then when we walked into the cat room at the shelter, a little black cat reached out through her cage and grabbed my boyfriend by the hair, pulled him over and gave his ear a big lick. We ended up adopting Valley that day, and she is the best cat we could ever had hoped for, her temprament is perfectly suited to us. Just goes to show that you should not make up your mind too quickly.


Kudos to you Draggar for putting in all the time and effort to help these dogs find good homes.

[Aldous]

Thanks for posting this. I didn't think people actually returned pets because they were "sick" unless it was something serious. Guess I was wrong, and that animals are just merchandise to some people.

[Seshat]

I've volunteered at our local shelter, and yes, people are very weird about animals!

One of the saddest things, and the one that gets me most angry at people, is when people bring us animals with minor behavioural problems, but the kind that mean we can't legally/morally adopt them out.

I listened to our shelter supervisor on one of the worst of these - the dog was a working breed, who'd nipped a family member. Not drawn blood, but enough of a bite that once we knew about it, we couldn't adopt out the dog.

Now, working breeds - especially herding dogs - tend to 'herd' their family if they're allowed to be a dominant dog. And part of herding can be light nips to direct the 'herd' (aka family). These nips do no harm to a tough-hided cow or a wool-protected sheep, but if the behaviour is permitted to continue beyond the soft-mouthed 'warning' nip, the dog can actually hurt someone.

Preventing this is straightforward and easy - learn how to be dominant to the dog, and stay there. Or train the dog to herd without nipping. Both is best.

Our shelter supervisor tried so hard to explain to this person that the dog was just being a dog of its breed, and talk to the vet, get a referral to a behaviour specialist, even just take the dog to obedience school. It's perfectly salvageable, it's a good dog ... all of that. But no, this guy was going to bring the dog in to us.

Now, if you DO have to put an animal down, take it to your local vet. Please. Don't take it to a shelter unless you have no other option.

Bringing the animal to the shelter, especially if we know it's not able to be adopted out, means we take it in, put it in a cage that might not be suitable (if all our suitable cages are already full), and keep it in that small cage for the quarantine period. It most likely has insufficient human attention and probably poor food (we take donations to feed our animals). Then, already traumatised, it gets shipped to another strange place, behaviour assessed even though we already know what's likely to happen, and THEN put down.

I'm not sure why we can't just put it down and let it be over for the poor animal - I think part of it is that we have to cover ourselves in case the person who brings it to us is actually a cranky neighbour or something. The other part being that it just might be assessed as okay - highly unlikely if we know it's bitten someone, though.

Compare that to either of the options if you keep the animal:
Best option: vet, behavioural trainer, obedience classes, animal stays with its familiar pack and learns its place.
Second best: vet, behavioural trainer, obedience classes, animal goes to a new owner either before it learns its place (and new owner is aware of the animal's needs) or afterwards (and new owner is familiar with the breed and knows it needs to be kept trained and obedient).
Acceptable, kind of: animal goes to the vet, and a familiar vet and the owner hold the animal and it goes quietly to sleep forever without ever being traumatised.

[Catwoman2965]

Well said Seshat; I agree with you completely. As I said before, many people either don't care, or don't do their homework before getting a dog, or any pet for that matter, and when it turns out it isn't "cute and cuddly" anymore, and actually requires WORK, they can't be bothered. As you point out, MOST minor behavorial issues can be resolved, IF the owner is willing to take the time and effort to do so.

Another dog story from my past; when I was about 7-8, this dog wandered into our yard; very friendly, collie-shepard mix. As my dad is a sucker for any stray, we kept her, and tried to find out if anyone was missing her, but came up empty. She was VERY well behaved, and had obviously gone through some serious obdience training...so we had her for about 3-4 weeks, and finally figured we'd keep her, as no one had come forward, she was a great dog, and so my parents took her to the vet.

A few days later, she's in the yard, with my mom, and a car slows down, and stops, and this woman is looking at my mom, and the dog. Mom knew, and said to her, she's your dog, isn't she? Turns out she lived on the street behind us, and the reason she was so well-behaved is her husband had been an MP in the army, and trained dogs! She apparently had gotten jealous of their daughter and new grandchild who came to visit, and wandered off. So even though it was sad for us, it was a happy ending as she went back to her family.

[Erin]

Now, working breeds - especially herding dogs - tend to 'herd' their family if they're allowed to be a dominant dog. And part of herding can be light nips to direct the 'herd' (aka family). These nips do no harm to a tough-hided cow or a wool-protected sheep, but if the behaviour is permitted to continue beyond the soft-mouthed 'warning' nip, the dog can actually hurt someone.

I owned a herding dog (a Bouvier des Flandres...that's him in the picture in the corner of my post) He was a great dog, and yes, he occasionally nipped me because he didnt like the direction I was walking with him. He seemed to be especially careful if he nipped me...usually he'd grab my hand with his mouth, but he wouldnt bite down. He'd just take my hand in his mouth and then stop walking, which made me stop. I'd look down at him and say "what?!" and he'd stare back at me with this look that said "I dont wanna go that way...stupid human!" and then he'd push me in the direction he wanted to go.

I had a blast obedience training TinyMonsters, and I think he was having more fun than I was. I'd always wanted to train him to shutzhound, but there wasnt anything like that available around here, so I just did basic obedience with him...for years, we kept signing up for classes just so that he would be able to go to school and make doggy friends. It was great for his socialization. He just loved meeting puppies. He'd lay down and let the puppies crawl all over him.

[Shabo]

I *love* Mals! We had a few customers that came into the Petco I worked at with their dogs for extra training practice, and they were sooo good. I'm hugely in love with that breed, but I also know that they are too much for me right now. I would have to start with a less difficult breed and work my way up. I have 3 golden retrievers right now, and they are just wonderful dogs too, but a little attention needy for my taste. I would prefer a dog that is a little bit more independent. I also really like great danes, poodles, and afghans. The long hair is just gorgeous, the poodles have great temperaments but get overlooked far too often, and the great danes are just small ponies .

[MadRocketScientist]

I was just amazed at the bond the dog had with her; like she felt she wasn't able to keep her safe while she was in the pool, and felt like she had lost control when she couldn't go in after her!

My GSD is such a water dog she'd race you into the water.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My ex has a chihuahua, who I sometimes "borrow" . Of course everyone thinks he's so cute and kids want to pet him, which I always let them because he's really good like that. But I always hold him and tell them to be really gentle. Then sometimes parents ask about the breed and seem to think they'd be a really great thing for their little kids, cuz little kids = little dogs, right? No, not really. If you have toddlers don't bring home a puppy that weighs less than a pound and has teeny little bird legs and fits in your hand. And grows to be 4-6 pounds and has little bird legs and fits in your handbag!

But Pablo is the Best Dog Ever and he is coming to visit tomorrow for a week! Yay!!

[draggar]

Now, working breeds - especially herding dogs - tend to 'herd' their family if they're allowed to be a dominant dog. And part of herding can be light nips to direct the 'herd' (aka family). These nips do no harm to a tough-hided cow or a wool-protected sheep, but if the behaviour is permitted to continue beyond the soft-mouthed 'warning' nip, the dog can actually hurt someone.

They don't have to me dominant to want to herd. Kiri and MacLeod are very submissive to the human pack members (like all dogs should be) but get very upset if the pack is split, MacLeod has been known to 'herd' my cousin's daughters back into the family room where we all were (by coralling her and slightly pushing her). She loved it. She's never seen a dog who played 'hide and go seek' with her.

Our shelter supervisor tried so hard to explain to this person that the dog was just being a dog of its breed, and talk to the vet, get a referral to a behaviour specialist, even just take the dog to obedience school. It's perfectly salvageable, it's a good dog ... all of that. But no, this guy was going to bring the dog in to us.

Customer education is the best thing in so many industries, but people still don't want to listen. The sad part is that the dog nips, like they're instinct tells them to, the uneducated owner would claim it was a bite, then the dog has a bite on its record.

The most important thing *any* dog owner is to train, train, train the dog! Find a local and good trainer. Traiers at the pet superstores (PetCo, PetSmart) are hit or miss. A lot of times you'll get duds, but once in a while you'll strike gold. Read books, watch National Geographic wolf documentaries. Learn to read the dog and speak in their language.