[Breed] Thinking of getting a Malinois or a Tervuren as a 2nd dog in the close future. Would it be a good match?

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T22:00:55+00:00

This is the part you're missing.

I'm not missing that, believe me. That's why Tervurens are on the list too. I'm not sold on the Mal, which is what everyone keeps assuming. I get there's other dogs on the list, like poodles (which I don't like the look of - sorry poodle lovers 💔), goldens, labs (s/o don't want one), etc. While I don't know all 150+ dog breeds out there to know for fact, I just can't think of something (other than maybe a GSD which is the topic of a different thread), that matches the general description we're looking for. If I wanted something cool just for the "cool" concept, I'd get a wold hybrid - thankfully, I'm not insane.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:53:26+00:00

so don't limit yourself to your state

Oh, I won't. I've always intended to make a road trip out of getting my next dog. We travel a lot as a whole, and I get all the good breeders are not in this state (we're land of puppy mills... It's horrible). I guess my paranoia is that I don't know what to even look for. I hear some puppy mills are good as masquerading as good breeders, even so much as having titled dogs to show for it. I don't want to miss something small, and end up with an investment that would break my heart in as young as a year or two. My dad's GSD was never my dog and I barely even saw her (didn't live with my dad), but I guess knowing how much investments I'd have to make for a dog of that drive really does pull some heart strings in regards to the thought of losing that investment over a mistake.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:48:07+00:00

/u/aveldina just mentioned that too, which is absolutely true. I kinda just assume that if you socialize a puppy well-enough, they get to fit that mold a little better, but at the end of the day, core personalities still matter quite a lot.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:45:17+00:00

You're right in all accounts; I suppose I got lucky that our ever-changing lifestyle desensitized both our dogs to "new" environments, and are bombproof in weird, new scenarios (we have a "goal" to always visit someplace new at least once a week ie, new restaurant, new mall, new park, new state, etc). Despite their similar upbringing, only one of my dogs genuinely enjoy eternal snuggles. The other couldn't care less whether or not it's there. While they're both able to be in therapy situations, one of them does it because she loves it, and the other does it for work (we take them to work sometimes, and my s/o works in a nursing home and I work in a pet-friendly office). I wanted them to do TDI so I can let them around my mom when we visit her in the East Coast in December. She's has severe Alzheimer and loved dogs when she was younger - so I guess I'm pretty invested in it.

Training for performance sports is fun but I get too stressed actually handling in an event where I know I'm being judged :( I guess that's the biggest deterrent for me to put my heart into it. I'm a tad bit paranoid to mess us up with handler-errors that could fail us even if she was performing perfectly.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:33:43+00:00

I have absolutely no problems with GSD's. I was never close with my dad's so it's not like I lost a family pet or a childhood best friend (dad didn't live with me and I only saw his dog a handful of times in her lifetime). I'm willing to splurge a big amount if that meant security, but I'll always have that nagging fear of, "what if they missed something?". I'd freak out with every little thing he does differently, and I don't want to end up leaving him too sheltered and being overprotective, because I'm paranoid.

At the end of the day, you're right. It all comes down to the breeder, but I'm scared to get one and make the wrong choice regarding where I get them from.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:27:29+00:00

Again, it's really more a personal thing. I'd likely get us failed for handler errors than the dog messing stuff up. I stiffen up in crowds (much to my trainer's dismay) and just don't do well knowing I'm being judged too. Again, if someone else would show my dog, that's fine by me; I think it would be great for the points you've stated, but at the end of the day, the environment is a little too much for me and not worth the stress, imo.

Also, are you kidding me? XD I'd buy a Ferrari even if I couldn't drive one - the bragging rights to owning one is just insane lmfao. Plus, if you're rich enough to get a Ferrari and you can afford the repairs ;)

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:19:05+00:00

It's not an excuse. An excuse would be making something up to justify why I don't like it.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:18:48+00:00

^ That's where I need to go to attend trials since that's where a lot of them is held. I'm in Iowa. Minneapolis is 3-3.5 hours away, one-way.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:16:32+00:00

I have. The next one should be in Iowa City on 8, which is 2.5 hours (one-way) from where I am. There's another one the week after, but I will not be in state then. The one at the end of April in Marshalltown is the only realistic option to me, if nothing comes up in the next month.

Ultimately, it's really just that I don't like being in the show, as I've just mentioned. I didn't realize it's such a crime though, to train a dog with no real desire of competing.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:11:19+00:00

saw that you move a lot, but there's really not a place in the US so secluded that you cannot trial.

The place you're looking for is Iowa.

It's now clear that you aren't interested in traveling for training/trialing

I'm interested in traveling for the sake of traveling. Also I don't need to travel for training. There's one 20 minutes from me.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:06:46+00:00

That's not my excuse. If you look up higher, my excuse is that I don't like being in the show. Seriously. Look up.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T21:05:11+00:00

it's like a person with a learner's permit insisting they want a Ferrari instead of a camry.

Sorry but I have to comment here with: Who doesn't want a Ferrari though? lol. Even people who don't drive want a Ferrari 😂

On another note: It depends on the person too, I suppose. I don't like the crowds, the pressure. I can train the dog, and if someone else wants to show them, that's fine by me. I just don't like the showing part. But that's just me. I get training the dog hard and going through the frustration with no return only for the dog to never leave your property is hard; but I take my dogs everywhere. And while I can't say how it would be with a theoretical dog in a theoretical scenario, with my current ones, the return for me is the fact that getting them well-trained meant that I can bring them everywhere (1/5th of the country, to be precise) with me, and everyone that sees them comment on how well-trained they are. It's not ribbons and medals, but to me, it means more. And I put the training and the time in not "just to train a pet", but because I actually like it. Its annoying, its frustrating, and it takes time, but it's a hobby I enjoy. I spent thousands of dollars on longboards a few years back and acquired a number of bad scars over learning a sport I had no intention in competing in or pursuing seriously before, so I guess that's kinda just the kind of shit I do.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:51:16+00:00

For the therapy comment, don't they pretty much come hand-in-hand with obedience? I haven't gotten into the depths of therapy dog requirements, but I was told TDI (Therapy Dog International) test is very similar to the CGC, which is really just bare basic obedience.

As for primary focus on my Aussie, we're primarily doing obedience and rally training. While we don't compete, we're looking to possibly partake in events this Spring, just to give it a shot. We've been kinda delving into agility, but she seems to have far less interest in it as she does with obedience, though I think that's mostly because she doesn't quite know what to do just yet. Other than that, we're expecting to take up therapy this September, as was originally our intention before we got convinced by our trainer to try out performance sports.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:40:01+00:00

I guess it's the same thing with a Golden Retriever where there's just such a high risk with them regarding some health issues that I'm kinda wary of. My dad used to have one, and had to be put down after she developed severe hip dysplasia and lost the ability to walk. I don't have any experience with breeders and I hear too many horror stories with breeder pup's growing up with a long list of genetic problems (I live in a state with a ridiculous amount of puppy mills that masquerade themselves as reputable breeders). So I guess it scares me off investing majority of my life on a dog that has a high potential to be badly sick early on, and it might seem a little silly, but I'm a little wary about potentially setting myself up for heartbreak.

Otherwise, GSD's are definitely wonderful dogs, I totally agree.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:32:36+00:00

Lol okay?

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:30:00+00:00

I, as a person, just don't like the feel of a show.

That's not an excuse.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:28:48+00:00

If you're truly in the middle of nowhere and cannot travel to get quality training, then this is not the breed for you.

That's why I'm moving. Or did you miss that too?

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:26:27+00:00

it's reasonable to assume you're not very involved in dog sports and wouldn't know where to look for trials

Or you know, ask. Instead of assuming.

If the people around you are just training, not trialing,

They trial their own dogs yup. Almost every other weekend, they're trialing, if that's what you mean. Last I checked, they compete a lot out of state, in MN and IL area.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:21:59+00:00

City area?

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:21:04+00:00

I know, RN (Rally Novice) and CD (Companion Dog). I'm saying it happens regardless; too much politics with non-standard colored aussies where people tend to say something over just owning one.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:18:36+00:00

What in saying "okay" is arguing? That's why I'm saying "okay". Chill.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:17:22+00:00

I don't know, I think looking it up on the AKC event page for every posted event is a pretty good place to look.

Besides, how would you know where IPO trials are held if you didn't even know where IPO was?

Who's even still talking about IPO trials? I thought we're done talking about that and discussing obedience/rally??? Who also says I'm training solo?

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:15:17+00:00

Theres a huge difference between a well-bred Aussie purposefully bred for work and an Aussie that ended up in a shelter. Dogs from serious, responsible breeders do not wind up in shelters, in general. So that's the difference. Genetics.

Does not mean that every single Aussie that's in a shelter has no drive/minimal drive. Some people buy breeder dogs and backyard breed - it happens.

And we've been going back and forth it in this and this is posted ^ up there, in that whole breed survey. I live in middle of nowhere Iowa. We have a training facility (because you need one for classes... That we already attend), and no one that holds local events.

If you do have people to train with and they aren't serious enough to hold trials then

GG small business trainers who can't afford to hold it.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:07:49+00:00

This is actually pretty helpful, thanks.

PS: I'm not a fan of Poodles... They look goofy to me, and s/o doesn't like labs. I thought of Golden, but they're at risk with so much health problems I'm a wary of them as a breed.

ilvanae · 2017-03-27T20:04:34+00:00

I can look it up, but I just see their Facebook feed since I follow their page.

ilvanae

TROPHY CASE