My wife has been after me ever since we got married, this summer, to get a dog. We both love dogs and we're not real particular in what we wanted, but wanted somewhat of a "guard dog", I had my heart set on a German shepherd. I came across an ad that advertised "german shepherd mix", the mix was the unknown. So I was leaving out of town for work the next day and drove down to look at the pup, $160 later and I was on my way home with Tig. She is 5 months old, the owners realized that they did not have the yard room to accommodate her. Their loss, our gain. We now have a high energy, smart as all get out, good listening (but stubborn) beautiful pup, who was part of the family from day one. I thought I had the pics in here!!someone please help, I know the flack that I will catch w/out pics!

The main reasoning in posting this was to get your thoughts on what she "is", my wife is convinced she is a belgian malinois??

She's got some sizable leg bones!

I think what she is, is a wonderful dog. Enough for me.

Larry Sellers
SCI(international)Life Member

Larry pegged it. Beautiful girl!

Look like a German Shepard cross Belgian Malinous. I can almost see it in the ears.

Belgian are usually very dark in the head area as a pup and then they get lighter as they aged.

Good looking dog though.

How does it react around sheep?

Never had her around sheep, she is very unsure of other dogs though..We have been trying to get her around as many different dogs/people as possible. When she sees a dog, it usually goes like this: backs up for about 3 or 4 steps,hair stands up, stops, growls, then on to barking. This usually occurs when she is by my wife,(she just goes and hides when I have her!)while we are glad that she has a "protective" attitude, we wish it would be more directed to the occasional stranger at the door and not other dogs!

Give it time, it's still a pup.
Exposure is the key.

That's the plan!

What she "is"? She's yours, so nothing else matters.

Mals come in various colors. That pup is pretty much standard Mal color and conformation. Nice dog.

mine..

quote:

Originally posted by DTala:
Mals come in various colors. That pup is pretty much standard Mal color and conformation. Nice dog.

mine..

How big are yours? Most of the working dogs I see are fairly small, mine's about 90 lb, wondering if he's a freak or normal.

90#?? Wow, just took our girl in yesterday to get spayed and her extra long/hanging dew claws removed that never got done when she was younger, and she only weighs 35# at 7mos, but I was told and have read that females are significantly smaller/more feminine.

quote:

Originally posted by beaverfever:
90#?? Wow, just took our girl in yesterday to get spayed and her extra long/hanging dew claws removed that never got done when she was younger, and she only weighs 35# at 7mos, but I was told and have read that females are significantly smaller/more feminine.

She'll probably get much bigger. My female is 75 lbs, male 90 lbs. They're about 3 Y.O. Yes, there's more dimorphism than most breeds of dog but my female is WAAAAAAY more aggressive, almost feral like in prey drive. The male usually submits during play but will let her know who's boss if she gets outta line. What's amazing about them is how fast they are and how high they can jump. I've seen the male jump straight up with his back parallel to the ground, rotate 180 mid air and land flat footed on a table like he's a cat. Hours of endless amusement with these guys (unless you're a varmint)

beaverfever: Yep yours looks like she is pretty much all mal. Wonderful dogs..if you can keep up with them!

Doppelganster: Beautiful dogs! My career was in working dogs so I'm pretty much familiar with Mals and GSDs...and got a few scars to prove it


Heres a quick pic of my little boy K9 "Rommel"

quote:

Originally posted by Nyalubwe:
beaverfever: Yep yours looks like she is pretty much all mal. Wonderful dogs..if you can keep up with them!

Doppelganster: Beautiful dogs! My career was in working dogs so I'm pretty much familiar with Mals and GSDs...and got a few scars to prove it


Heres a quick pic of my little boy K9 "Rommel"

Pretty serious looking dude there! Seems the GSD have taller and rounder ears than Mals along with a blunter. wider snout.

I think you pretty well nailed it! Mals are a bit sleeker all around, usually smaller, always faster, hit harder and usually have manic focus.I love them!

Heres a little bit of " Mal Arm Candy" I was wearing training one day

Curious - do yours have dead carp breath on occasion? Man, that breath could melt bricks. Tried all sorts of kibble and cooked meat. Same ole. Like having a sea lion in the room. Weird, they are very clean smelling on the outside, never doggy smelling.

I have not run into that particular phenomena.....by chance are you feeding a salmon based food?

quote:

Originally posted by Nyalubwe:
I have not run into that particular phenomena.....by chance are you feeding a salmon based food?

Nope. They won't eat fish.

You got me on that one....Havent heard of that before. But then I hadn't heard that German Shepherds had nuclear farts till I got one....