I have purchased a male malinois from kennel Daneskjold in Denmark. He is now a 10 week old aligator.

Sire:
Bendit Beauté de L´Est

http://www.malinois-holland.de/stamboom-bendit.html

Dam:
Daneskjold Andra (sister of Daneskjold Argon)

http://daneskjold.dk/mit_web-sted_UK/ny_side_1.htm

(direct link does not work, go to our dogs, choose Argon, and scroll down for the bloodline)

Would this bloodline tell you anything about what I may expect from the dogs innate traits? I understand most of a dogs qualities come trough training, but the foundation is genetically based.

I am of course also posting because I am proud of my steelhearted malinois friend <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Hello everyone, and thanks for forum access !

When I got the pup at 8 weeks, it weighed 13.7 pounds. Now at 10 weeks, it weighs 17.5 pounds. Is this a bit light? Not that I care much about size, but I hear of 10 week old pups weighing 22 pounds.

12-13 lbs at 8 wks for a mali pup is plenty heavy. 22 lbs at 10 wks is way too heavy for a mali. JMHO.

My 13 week old Mal puppy weighs about 12-13 pounds. He was 10 pounds at 10 weeks. 22 pounds is huge.

Thank you for the information. Do you think it is possible to estimate adult size based on puppy weight to any degree of precision?

Hi
Just wanted to say congrats on your pup! I have a 14month old Mal whose mother is from Daneskjold kennels (Tenna and Lupus if I remember right). His mother was average size but mine is quite large as an adolescent/adult. He was NOT 22lbs that young though! Good luck!

I think you have to look at your pups' bone density.I have a GSD that is very thick(bone wise) I picked him out when he was 10 weeks old, he was so thick that he looked like he was part mastiff.Of course he is not but today he is 10 months old and weighs 98 lbs.He has kept the thickness he had when he was a pup.At our Schutzhund club they call him the bowling ball. (He is not fat )just very compact. So your pup might just be a big mal.

At the moment at 18 pounds a bit over 10 weeks he looks long and skinny (no puppy belly, narrow waist). I just increased his rations to fill him out a bit. The breeder said he might become big based on previous litters on his father (unknown weight, 24 inches tall) with a 45 pound mother. They ended up around 70 pounds. This pup's mother weighs around 70 pounds, so the pup may end up big considering past breeding history.

About bone density, you are probably right about that being a good predictor. Other malinois owners have commented that he has "a lot of body", meaning powerful chest and forelimbs for his age.

He seems to be a very well balanced dog. Really trusting and friendly with people (tries to greet everyone at shopping malls), sleeps at my feet in loud cafe's, barely lifting his head to have a look at slamming doors, chairs etc.

An exception is other large dogs with whom he has been very apprehensive. He shivers (partly because of the cold here in Norway) and sits at my feet when they approach. He has gotten a lot better and more interested lately though. I have recently seen opposite behavior where he encountered an 8 month old english pointer bitch. She was very friendly and submissive and as a result was intensely dominated, teeth snapping, biting, item guarding, growling, and "riding". This was of course good socialization for him, but it got me wondering if his previous apprehension with the adult dogs comes from dominant drive needing to be supressed to avoid injury. Their mother was removed at 5 weeks so the litter has fought freely (he has some scars on his cheek), so he may simply be poorly dog-socialized. I am a bit worried he will turn out dog agressive even though I will try to selectively socialize him with all "guaranteed" friendly dogs. I have had a dog agressive dog before and that has been a lot of trouble (Norwegian elkhound).

Well that was a long rant, hope you all are overbearing with a novice in the working dog world <img src="http://www.leerburg.com/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Keep in touch,I would love to see pictures of your mal as he grows up. You are doing good with him ,keep up the socialization.
Angelique

11 Weeks (84 days), 24 pounds now. How do I post pictures by the way?