Hi there, I am new to this board, so bear with me as I try to explain my current situation.

My husband is a HUGE Malinois fan, and had been searching and searching for one, until recently when we finally got one at 8 weeks. He is now 12 weeks. My husband is much more educated and has more experience with dogs of this breed than I do, but Im learning as the days go on.

Our Mal is displaying all the "normal" puppy behaviors up to this point ie, nipping, chewing, barking, etc...which we are expecting...but when we try and take him for a walk, he stops to eat (and I mean literally eat) everything!! You name it, he has probably chewed on it....He seems to be growing well, and putting on appropriate weight, but Im so concerned he is going to get into something that is bad for him. We are feeding him "honest kitchen" and he scarfs it down...from the directions, we are giving him the max amount for a puppy his size...but I can't help but wonder if we need to feed him more to possibly detract from him eating everything else????

I also want to ensure he is getting the right amount of exercise, which is why I try to walk him often as well as play with tug toys and other chew toys to tire him out. Someone mentioned "mental games???" what are these? Anything to tire our little one out!!!
We are also crating him, and rarely let him play inside...if he is inside, he is in the crate....

Any advice or suggestions would be great! Thanks so much!
Amanda

Welcome,

You should post an introduction and a photo in the Bio's section

Though I don't have a Mal, I did have a pup that wanted to put EVERYTHING in his mouth as a pup.

I live in a wilderness area and the amount of different kinds of poop he scarfed down was disgusting (and worse when it came back up ) Thumbtacks and poison mushrooms where a few of the favorites I pulled out of his mouth.

The good part is that as an adult he doesn't give animal poop a second look (well he sniffs coyote poop and might eat cat poo) but leaves the rest He does not eat random garbage at all. Doesn't even get into my open garbage at home.

How did we get from bad times to good? Time was part of it. Pups like to experience things with their mouth.

I also taught "leave it". Good mind game to start with at home with no distraction.

Dog learns to leave something on the ground and come to mom for reward. I walked with treats for some time, staking out good spots to work on the leave it command.

I also have a retriever and when the dog would pick up things/garbage that he did not try to eat (like a paper cup) I would encourage him to fetch it. You know run backwards clapping...sometimes I would play with the item with him (if safe) sometimes be ready to trade it for a treat.

I thought the eating crap stage would never end and I did breifly go down the road of compultion (long line, pop on martingale) but the dog became line wise quick and I had better results with the positive.

Walk the same routes, look for training oportunities before hand, anticipate, clean stuff up that is on your route/park if you have to....

I never know how much crap (animal and human garbage) there is on the ground until I had a puppy

I am sure others will have suggestions.

Amanda,
Did your husband get the dog for any work? Or is the dog to be used for any of the ring sports? Is the dog to be a companion?

The reason I asked is that the answer to your question can be very different for the end results wished for,

There'll be plenty of Mal owners here that will help with where you want to go, they just need to know where that is.

If you give us your address we'll all send money to help with the band aids bill. LOL

If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

Where do you walk your pup? Asphalt?

The only exercise I give pups is letting em chase bugs around the yard and play games with them. While pups need exercise, you also need to watch out letting a young dog walk on hard surfaces too often for their young growing joints.

How is his ball drive? Let him go for walks with a ball in his mouth. Start out by bouncing it or playing with it to get his attention and make him want it, then let him have it and carry it. Mouth Full = Can't eat stuff.

Hi everyone,
Thanks for the replies. I feel reassured that my puppy seems to be displaying normal behaviors. My husband would like this dog to be a working dog (shutzhund)...and therefore he is trying to train for working dog behaviors. We do marker training which he (Maximus) seeme to be picking up rather quickly. We are also doing tug and counter training to build drive....my concern is that when I am left alone with Maximus (when my husband is away), I am not going to train him as well as my husband...I do give Maximus a lot of love, but also want him to know I am the pack leader. We are also crate training, and I find that Maximus spends lots of time in the crate...he is either outside or in the crate (we try to do this atleast)...he still cries at times, but Im hoping this is all normal as well....

Thanks again everyone!

Hi Mike,
Definately going to try the ball in the mouth thing...thanks!