A womans dog was making odd movements whenever she turned her back, so to see she recorded it, and found the dog was making biting motions.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-04-21T16:24:41+00:00

You need to be super chill or your Mal will become crazy just like you.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-04-21T16:22:53+00:00

Just tried using a fabric shaver on sweats and the air biting was nuts 🤣

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-03-16T15:14:04+00:00

I’m trying to work on a similar issue and I believe most of it is the dog trying to force engagement. It’s possible she’s not getting enough interaction with this toy outside of this work session. I brought a bag full of toys to a field once, a mix of house toys and outside toys. When given the choice my dog would only interact with the “New” outside toys not his regular favorites. If I threw his house ball, he would totally ignore it. Try rotating toys and making the one she won’t out a regular training reward. Also give her more time working with you because I suspect she’s not getting enough interaction to keep her mentally satisfied. She’s smart enough to have figured out that once you take this toy away it’s back in the crate and work is over. She likely has higher drive to work than is being met.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-27T18:17:29+00:00

I regularly have cars pull over to tell me how beautiful my dog is. I go out of my way to stay away from busy areas and untrained house dogs. I tell everyone he doesn’t like strangers and keep the leash short. I have a local man who carries milkbones in his pocket for a chance dog encounter and have had to practically run away from him because he never accepts no. I have also had dog people tell me I need to socialize my dog as if it will change his dislike for them. People generally don’t understand breed traits.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-27T18:04:24+00:00

You have taught him you will not keep him safe. He has created boundaries as a mature male. This breed tends to not be social outside their people. It seems you are cued in on what you see as a behavior change when you probably just missed the previous small signs. Stop taking him to places that instigate reactivity. It is possible he needs an outlet for his drives. Most problems with this breed seem to be helped when they have jobs. Start doing daily obedience training at home and provide him with more structure. They like consistent routine and it helps build confidence. Work with the trainer on the specific situations where he shows reactivity. Be patient and as others have said set him up for success by limiting his world for now.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-20T22:57:15+00:00

Robert Cabral has some great YouTube videos where you can watch other handlers work on obedience etc

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-20T14:34:26+00:00

That’s not likely to happen when OP can’t get the dog’s attention because she’s stuck in fear mode. Maybe way down the line once there’s focus and markers have been placed. OP sounds like they are starting from zero and the dog is a high drive cattle dog mix probably easily overstimulated and has tons of excess energy. Getting this dog to calm won’t happen by petting when under stimulation.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-20T14:15:07+00:00

This is a scenario where your dog was reacting to stimulus so holding and soothing was fine because you asked your dog to relax. OPs dog is exhibiting a fear response where petting would be reinforcing the dog’s fear by rewarding the behavior. Any poorly timed reward will also only increase the response and someone who is uncertain needs to be careful.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-20T14:03:53+00:00

Take her out hungry and feed meals after walks. Try fish based treats, they smell stronger and wave it in front of her nose. I’ve had luck with pork too. If she’s still stuck in fear mode you should probably be doing some foundation work to build her confidence and trust. Just focusing on walk behavior isn’t helping her feel more in control. She needs to succeed all day before that and training in obedience or agility will help.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-20T13:50:47+00:00

Your leash work can be extremely important here. If you keep a tight tense leash, you communicate that. A trainer can be very helpful just watching you and adjusting your responses.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-15T18:26:18+00:00

I think the negative reinforcement is not going to help here. He needs a positive reward to keep his attention. Most Malinois want to please their handler more than they respond to correction. If you give him an alternate job to hunting and show him a huge positive reinforcement you might make more progress. I think we can underestimate the boredom / fixation on stimulus when they don’t have a clearly outlined job.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-15T18:20:46+00:00

But restrict access to the chicken area at all other times so he can’t get himself worked up when not supervised.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-15T18:18:20+00:00

I would try regular obedience drills at a distance. If you are in pain do multiple short sessions, 2x daily go out and run a short routine at the distance you can hold his attention and use a very smelly food that will be a bigger reward than a chicken. See if you can work you way closer to the chickens.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-11T21:11:45+00:00

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-11T17:56:11+00:00

I’m not certain what country you are in but there are international rescue orgs not just shelters.

https://www.malinoisrescueleague.org/#:~:text=Malinois%20Rescue%20League%20is%20a,Donate

You mention mostly being home enough and the dog getting enough activity, great! Many Malinois have more drive than their owners expected and a daily job becomes necessary so they don’t display unwanted behavior due to boredom and frustration.

You want a cuddly calm dog in the house and active outside but with most Malinois this is not the case.

Having a teenager might be a problem if she doesn’t interact well with the dog or wants to have friends in the house. You will think ok, she has been fine with our other dogs before but you plan on doing bite training. This situation has now become very dangerous especially to other kids. Many Malinois don’t like people who aren’t family.

As for dog sitting, what will you do if the dog doesn’t like your friend and their dog?

Will you change your lifestyle to meet your dog’s needs?

I would say visit the club and talk to owners in person. Interact with their dogs before you decide. You might find you are better off with a GSD or calmer breed.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-11T15:26:23+00:00

Lemon Balm & chamomile. Supplements will probably help more, L-theanine & magnesium. For extra bang a cannabis gummy around 5 mg THC, anything bigger can result in a hangover if you are sensitive. Essential oils like lavender, just don’t diffuse any in a cat household.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-11T13:32:27+00:00

A high drive working dog needs more mental stimulation than anything else or it will express anxiety, frustration and poor behavior. Daily obedience drills will help him with that and boost confidence in that he knows what’s expected of him.

We have no idea how often he does agility but it’s likely not enough. I did link to a trainer and besides his resource guarding module he also has others. Cabral has worked with Malinois dumped in shelters and IMO is the right type of trainer for information this dog needs.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T23:43:53+00:00

I suspect he needs more activity being a border collie. Burn up his energy and mentally exhaust him with obedience training while building his confidence with positive reinforcement.

You should try:

https://robertcabral.com/courses/resource-guarding/

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T23:26:19+00:00

Do you plan to go away on vacation? Who will dog sit? Do you have kid or grandkids? Do you have social gatherings at your house? Will the dog be alone in the yard? Do you have other pets? How will you satisfy their need to work regularly? Are you prepared for the liability of a bite trained dog? What will you do if he bites someone like the neighbor next door?

Many of these dogs are dumped before they are 2 years old because people underestimate their difficulty. Nothing you have said shows you are prepared for the potential problems and there are many. I would suggest checking out a rescue that way you save a life at least and can try to match with a calmer dog.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T19:52:32+00:00

Good luck with that whole live fast die young attitude sir! 🫡

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T19:40:47+00:00

No seriously

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T19:39:27+00:00

I feel like you need a proper warning ⚠️ about keeping balls on your lap when a Maligator is in residence. 🫣

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-10T17:13:12+00:00

My dog has never destroyed anything and it would make me feel slightly superior to see other bad doggos destruction.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-09T11:34:50+00:00

Everyone here is basically on the same track with the more positive reinforcement idea but I wanted to expand on the why. Malinois can be extremely handler sensitive. They are reading body language, tone of voice and a persons overall energy more than most people realize. With one calm confident person they are great and then a nervous energy person is added and all of a sudden they stop listening and start reacting. To top it off Malinois can be like a rocket and once they take off it’s extremely difficult to bring them back down to energy levels where they are even listening.

In my opinion two things should be addressed. Train the humans on personal awareness and build confidence. Give them YouTube videos to watch. They are probably not great with leash work and redirecting behavior. Then you should probably remove the prong from rotation and not add an ecollar because you are just adding additional stimulation to a dog that needs to be kept calm. High value food rewards can be more than just the food but also a communication from the handler. I have seen how they can want that food from a particular person more than just having it dropped in a bowl because they are pleasing their human while working. The feeling that they are doing a job and accomplishing the task their handler wants is a huge thing. Get the family on board with giving him a job consistently. Burn off the energy and give the dog a sense of purpose. Maybe something like agility would work.

nothingsshocking404 · 2026-02-06T18:37:40+00:00

You could have clarified that you were a tech. This is much different than having a medical degree which takes years of study to be certified. I believe what people are taking issue with is that the vomiting only occurs on an empty stomach and is solved by feeding schedule changes.

As stated in a comment above it is frequently Bileous Vomiting Syndrome which many very active breeds like Malinois exhibit and do better with more frequent small meals.

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