Malinois

AdrianneIsabel

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#21
I always get confused when people say their dog 'has no off' switch. I think it get thrown around a lot and people mean different things by it. If going by the above criteria then Mia 'has no off switch', even though I think she does. If she's lying still and I so much as move, squeak a toy, or make like I'm going to say something, she's up in a flash, tearing around the room screaming. It takes about a split second to get her from completely at rest to mach10 screaming papillon. But I don't think that means she doesn't have an off switch. She just 'turns on' (for lack of a better word) easily.

When I think of 'no off switch' I think of the dog that paces or spins or is doing something all the time. Am I just using that word totally wrong?


Honestly even my pit bulls get up if I stand up, that imo has nothing to do with an off switch. They also get up if I touch a food bag or squeak a toy, etc.

IMO after owning Backup a lack of off-switch is really the inability to truly just chill until further notice.
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#24
LOL yeah, they have paint on them there because we'd just moved.

I really, really love him but he's not an easy dog to tolerate when it comes to just hanging out at home.
 

monkeys23

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#25
Foster pup has a great off switch too and is a pretty easy puppy. To me anyway. He's wild and never quits when playing, paces the fences line when he's excited but happily lays around the house and grooming shop when nothing is going on. And he sleeps in :)
He is so cute. Want to meet him so badly! ;) :)

If these excite you and don't annoy you then think about it, but if these make you at all uncomfortable then I'd walk away.
Your dogs make me laugh really hard with their insanity. Especially the put upon looks the pit bulls give Sloan and the Lemur when they are being well Mals.

Love the video of Pan killing the hose!!! Hilarious!

My little mini Aussie foster had no off switch, he would circle and pace for hours if left to his own devices. I essentially had to make him down to stop it, except instead of his regular down command I termed it "settle in" and he would lay next to or behind my chair. And omg I wish I had a video of me cleaning my mom's office with his help. He was so in love with the shiny reflective Electrolux vacuum from the 70's. He would try and pull it out of the closet if the door was open... even though its a LOT bigger than him. And he would follow me with his little tink tink tink of his collar to and fro from every room while I empty trash and stuff. I kinda miss the obnoxiously following boy dog! Even though small dogs are very much not my thing, I definitely got attatched to the little crackhead. He was a lot more level headed and focused on me than Scout is when high in drive too, despite being barely started in foundational training stuff. Scout can be kind of an airhead though.
 
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#26
After watching many of those videos... I think I'll never be getting a Malinois. ever. Unless someone can come up with one with an off switch. The pacing seems like a major pain to deal with. I know I never would be able to deal with a dog like that. Like I always say, I'll stick to my German Shepherds. :)
 

stardogs

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#27
Pacing def seems to be a breed trait to some extent. Aeri is no where near BackUp but she will pace if left out in the yard alone (and has done it for hours on end when I was trying to see if it would extinguish - it takes between 4 and 6 hours to do so) and when she wants something (go outside, water, etc.).
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#28
Once in a blue moon he lays down on his own, only in the bedroom but if I flinch (not talking get up or get a toy, etc) he's in my face.



Literally the movement of silently lifting my phone and he's up. After the second photo he's standing here staring, panting, assuming I have something awesome to offer.



I love this dog, I just have to remind myself of that a lot. lol
 

jenv101

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#29
The bathtub video is the best :rofl1:

We've always enforced mats/beds in the house and there are no toys allowed so my two are pretty good in the house. They will pace and wrestle with each other, but must go lay down if we tell them to. Aura needs a lot of reminders, she gets up at the very slightest movement or even if I talk or breathe the wrong way, or like you said, pick up my phone. Riley prefers to sing in a high pitched whine if he doesn't know what to do with himself. If anything moves outside the window, Riley goes nuts.

Outside is a different story, Aura acts very much like Sloan with the ball and is very obsessive and persistent. Neither of them lay down or stop moving outside unless its really hot.
 

SaraB

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#30
As much as I say I love Backup and want my very own crazy lemur, in reality he would drive me absolutely batty. I HATE with an extreme passion any sort of pacing, non-stop panting or repetitive motion. Hence why I will never have a mal. So I will continue to love Backup from a far and laugh at his silly antics. :D
 

monkeys23

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#31
Dang he is a cute lemur. Which is probably a good thing for his well being LOL.

At least your Mals will play with toys. The Sibe/GSD mixes don't really give a crap about toys... Lily has spastic husky zoomies around the house on a pretty regular basis and now Scout sorta joins in even though she still doesn't really get it (she's more GSD). Scout pants all the time and is always coming up and rooting her head under my arm. Lily just comes up and stares me down. Then there is the wrestling on my head when I'm in bed, lol. I would not leave either loose unattended in a yard ever, they'd find some bad way to amuse themselves. :rolleyes:
 

Aleron

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#32
Pacing def seems to be a breed trait to some extent. Aeri is no where near BackUp but she will pace if left out in the yard alone (and has done it for hours on end when I was trying to see if it would extinguish - it takes between 4 and 6 hours to do so) and when she wants something (go outside, water, etc.).
LOL the yard pacing definitely doesn't extinguish but I always figured it was a perk - the self exercising dog :) Really, I don't give much thought to the dogs obsessive pacing outside. I mean, I guess I thought it was strange with the Black Belgian's fence running for hours on end but now it doesn't seem that strange anymore. Whim doesn't pace too much outside but she chases the dogs who pace while carrying, biting and shaking toys. A dog I got back as an adult didn't pace the yard but ran full force back and forth across the deck while the other dogs paced and Whim chased. Outside time was quite a scene while she lived here :rofl1: Jagger doesn't pace but he will jump up and down, up and down, up and down at the back door until you let him in and once he starts he won't stop, no matter how long you try to wait him out (guess that doesn't extinguish either!). None of them pace like that indoors or act too wild inside. Of course, inside they are also always a little worried about upsetting old Queen Dog. Loki runs a tight ship and I don't think she'd stand for too much pacing or activity in the house. Even Savvy is on his best behavior when he's around her.
 

stafinois

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#34
Harry had no off switch. He paced constantly and never sat still when we were awake. At night we heard him going up and down the stairs and roaming the house. He would stop and recharge for 10-20 minutes, then he was back up again. His recharge dock was the landing between the first and second floor so that he could keep an eye on two floors at once. He was an extremely territorial and defensive dog. Harry's outlook on life was like that of a paranoid Secret Service agent, or Brock Samson from the Venture Brothers.

This video always makes me smile. It really captured Harry being Harry as we went on with life trying to do something that didn't involve Harry. He was like this most of the time.

http://youtu.be/SDL4F0XOsYw

I think Stan will have a better off switch. At 8mo he actually stops to chew a toy occasionally.
 

stafinois

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#36
I love that you of all of my friends can truly understand the state of my household with Harry/Backup vs Grant/Arnold&Shamoo. LOL oh the similarities.

Exactly.

Before I got Harry I was sure I was ready. Grant was from a performance breeder. Dogs from that line were known for being a handful. A guy in my club was an APBT person getting into Malinois and he told me that I didn't get it yet. I didn't believe him. Well, he was right.

Stan's breeder focuses more on agility, obedience, and herding. He's still a really intense, driven dog, but he doesn't have the sharpness. He's got a clearer head and isn't as obsessive.

With Harry, we always said he didn't sleep. He just waited.
 
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#38
Well thanks so much for the info!

Hmm...hyper indeed lol. When out on walks/training sessions though do you find them more scatterbrained/easily distracted or focused on you and the work/task at hand? was curious about that
 

AdrianneIsabel

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#39
Out on a walk sometimes Backup seems downright awkward. He will settle for wandering aimlessly and peeing and what not but he's ever focused on me, always returning to tug on the leash or bark at me, basically walks alone bore him and he wants more interaction from me.

Backup seems more content on walks when allowed to carry something the whole time, I think it satisfies his task oriented brain.









I take a lot of photos of my dog. LOL

Sloan is happily constantly patrolling for her next victim be it a bird, cat, or human who shouldn't be where ever she determines as wrong.

She's a far more reactive dog than he is when it comes to natural guarding. Unless you count the car, Backup is truly dangerous in the car, he's mistakenly almost bitten both of us because he gets so engaged in guarding the car that he forgets we own it, not him. He's not nearly as protective of us or the house.

On the training field they are most at home, no matter the sport, they love to work, they love to train, and they love to play.

I do not believe honestly my dogs would be content as purely pets.
 
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#40
LOL @ the soda bottle in his jaws

Thanks so much!

Well, Malinois are indeed creatures in a realm/class of their own it seems. Nothing in what you posted in the videos really disturbed/shook me up lol. If I did end up getting one I'd be doing alot of obedience and perhaps agility with him to begin with, then schutzhund aiming towards Rally-O and French Ring eventually. Two hour jogs/sprints daily aren't daunting tasks to me and for sure I'd keep him occupied when not at training with little tasks but I'll see where I am in a year from now then go from there I guess...

Katalin's occasional pacing and obsession with tennis balls already gets my parents and brother abit...concerned lol, I don't know what they would be saying about a Malinois that just kept bouncing around!
 

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