I'm not really sure where to post this, so I'll stick it here.

I just got off the phone with a lady who has a 5 month old male malinois, supposedly from working lines, for give away. She's decided that I can handle the dog and I'll be going to pick him up tonight. I haven't yet met the dog, so I am just going off what she told me. I don't have a clue how much they do or don't know about dogs.

Her husband is an MP and they got the dog thinking her husband could use him at work (I'm not really sure it works that way, does it?) but they didn't do any sort of training with him and thus decided that since he was becoming a bossy, dominant (according to them), jerk and was not safe with their young child they needed to give him away or take him to a shelter if they don't find a home by the time they leave town next week. She also seems to believe that the dog is useless for sport or K-9 work because he didn't get the essential, early training that is "necessary for this breed." She also told me he was too "aggressive" for K-9 work. Unless the dog just totally has a screw loose, I find that hard to believe ... especially at 5 months. I told her he was still young and that if he had the potential to begin with, it should be able to be brought out (barring any abuse or serious trauma to the dog ... but I didn't say that to her and didn't get the impression that anything like that had gone on). She seemed very nice and to genuinely care about the dog, I just think they may be misreading him.

So, I am going to pick this dog up tonight. I am really hoping that I'll be able to use him for sport (hopefully ringsport if I can find a club around here ... otherwise schutzhund) if he has the drives. If he isn't going to be suitable for any sport work and doesn't have any screws loose, then I will train him and rehome him to an active pet home familiar with active, mouthy dogs.

Keep in mind this is a 5 month old puppy and, while I am sure dominant jerkiness is very possible in a dog this young, I'm kind of thinking that she is mistaking some of the dog's drive and natural malinois mouthiness for aggression. She also said they had done nothing with the dog, so I am assuming it had no structure what-so-ever in the current home, so pack rank confusion may have triggered any existing aggression. My question to all the dog gurus is if this dog is truly a dominant jerk like the lady claims, how should the groundwork go? Should he be treated as an adult or as a puppy?

I am pretty excited about this puppy. It has been a few years since I have had a malinois. I love working with them. I hope that he truly is working lines and that he has enough drive to work in schutzhund. I am anxious for your replies and will let you know what I find when I pick the puppy up tonight.

Elisabeth, I'm sure you'll get some good input here; I just wanted to say I hope this pup works out for you. Those folks sound pretty clueless...

He'll be a lot better off with you than in his current home...

I think it's the current owners who have the "screw loose" not the pup...poor thing, he sounds like you are rescuing him from puppy hell! You sound like you have a great attitude and I wish you both the best... I also look forward to hearing the "experts" responses...

I wish you well, with this malinois, I mean lets face it, he is ONLY 5MONTHS old PUP! I think you are right and the owners might have totally misread the puppy's behavior. If it has NO ground rules at all its maybe very confused about where he belongs in the pack!
Do let me know how you get on with him and really hope he works out for you! Be watching this space Riitta

Thanks guys :-)

I'm so excited about him that I've been searching the web for malinois kennels in our area (since they bought him for police work I hope it was a working kennel and think it is nearby since they took him back to the breeder for his vax) and I THINK that I found the kennel he came from and may even have an idea who his sire and dam are.

My best guess (emphasizing guess, albeit slightly educated and very hopeful) is that he is a littermate to this dog http://www.stahlrosenhof.com/for_sale/for_sale.html.

I think he'll be much happier here. He will have set rules and boundaries and a job to do ... all things any malinois desperately needs. I can't wait to go pick him up and find out more about him. I hate that I have to wait until she is off work ... I wanna go now! (patience is not my strong suit)

Elisabeth,

You and I have the same amount of patience when it comes to waiting to collect a puppy. I counted the days, hours, minutes and seoonds down before collecting Tazer a month ago...it just doesn't go fast enough.

I am really routing for you and hoping that when you get him home all goes well and you get plenty of sleep tonight....sounds like you are going to need patience in the coming months...Keep me posted how it all goes..best regards...

I don't know ... she hasn't called yet. I expected her to call well over an hour ago. Maybe she has changed her mind ... I hope not, but time will tell. I'll let you guys know what happens.

Wouldn't the current owners be able to tell you who the breeder is and furnish you with the dog's paperwork?

The dog in the link you posted is 3 years old (female). By littermate, do you mean full sibling (later litter)? Is that the right link? Anyway that does seem to be a working kennel.

I am afraid to say it... but IMO if the current owners changed their minds it was not about giving the dog up. They sound very unhappy with the puppy. I hope they didn't bring him to a shelter! That would be so horrible on the poor little guy. He didn't get a fair shake. I hope the breeder just made a screening mistake and is not in the habit of placing dynamite dogs in unsuitable homes!

Oh, and we expect pics (links to pics )

I guess I wasn't paying attention to the year, lol ... getting too excited. The date of birth would be close if it was this year. *smacks self in head* I do believe that is the kennel though.

I hope that I will be able to get the papers. I will take the dog either way, and regardless of drive as he definitely sounds like he needs a different situation.

I can't imagine why she would bring him to the shelter ... just wouldn't make sense ... I sure hope that isn't the case! I left her a message when I called to make sure she hadn't lost my number. I hope she calls back. If not, I will try again tomorrow and hopefully get some answers. Maybe she got busy and forgot or had a family emergency or something. Hopefully I'll be able to get ahold of her soon and find out.

Where do I find someone to *give* me a working line malinois pup?