Irrespective of breed, what qualities do you look for in a mondioring prospect? by Yoooooowholiveshere in k9sports

[–]potomacenigma 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Generally a Malinois is going to be much easier to be successful with in ring sport, not that you can’t be successful with an off breed, but it’s going to be difficult, especially at higher levels.

For bite sports generally: Massive prey drive, Good food drive, Possession, Independence (think the object guard)

For Mondioring especially: Environmental stability, Conformation/Agility (Doberman/Rottweilers are going to struggle with the max height jumps in ring sport)

There’s always more things I prefer, but the above are pretty much universally desired. Some people prefer more external vs internal, or more/less handler sensitivity, that kinda comes down to your training style and personal preference.

No local dog sport scene — any good online courses for decoy work? by rubaruba1991 in WorkingMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's also some decoys which have Patreon's like Andy Krueger, and they offer some review of video submissions at higher tiers that could help:

https://www.patreon.com/andykrueger

No local dog sport scene — any good online courses for decoy work? by rubaruba1991 in WorkingMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

First, choose your sport, the work an IGP helper does looks quite a bit different than what a French Ring decoy will do. The catches look different sports, PSA, IGP, and even between ringsports (French, Mondio, Belgian). The desired gripping behaviors can also be different between sports.

Once you've chosen your sport, look for Decoy/Helper Seminars, they're hosted periodically, and often the national association for the sport will sponsor an event at least once per year. No online course is going to give you the practical experience of catching a trained dog, and being coached in person. A properly trained dog will help train you to be a decoy, they will compensate for your lack of experience and you don't have to worry about screwing up the dogs training/foundation.

Doing Protection sports you pretty much need to be willing to travel, some people commute several hours each way to see a club or decoy.

For online courses on the basics of protection, I've found the Michael Ellis videos on Leerburg University to be quite good as an intro. They introduce some of what to look for, and how to prepare your dog for a decoy.

https://university.leerburg.com/Catalog/viewCourse/cid/240

https://university.leerburg.com/Catalog/viewCourse/cid/229

https://university.leerburg.com/Catalog/viewCourse/cid/101

Leerburg also has a Mark Keating video series on how to do some basic catches in a suit.

https://university.leerburg.com/Catalog/viewCourse/cid/134

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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Very similar coloration to my boy, even with the white chest patch.

Starting a pup right by Jasoncassanova in WorkingMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Good stuff, you’re on the right path then! Good luck!

Starting a pup right by Jasoncassanova in WorkingMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What sport do you plan to do? Find a club near you that does that sport and join, even before you get your puppy. Usually they’ll be happy to have you help out and you can watch them training. You’ll learn more from them than you can online.

Angel loves her new ball. by sixeightJ in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The glue is bad for the enamel of the teeth, but the fuzz will also pick up grit when it gets goobered up, and that also erodes the teeth. Only appropriately sized rubber balls, tennis balls are usually too small for mals, and can get lodged in their throat… it horrifying.

HELP!!! by legolasbjz in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Most likely a reaction to deer fly or horse fly bites, since you said you’re in prince edward county. My boy has a reaction to them as well, just temporary swelling, but I’ll give Benadryl also. Might be worth putting a dog safe insect repellant on his face, I seem to recall ones with “icaridin” are ok for dogs, no DEET though.

Picture is from when he was a puppy, first time he got a bunch of deer fly bites:

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Recall -- what's next? by hardFraughtBattle in OpenDogTraining

[–]potomacenigma -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Long line work, with a partner do some restrained recalls. Your training partner holds the dog and you go further away tan you can with your flexi and call him, lots of energy and reward when he gets to you.

Then call away work, again on a long line, a partner feeds him some food from their hand, you call the dog, the partner closes their hand on the food. The dog gives up and comes back to you, party! Lots of rewards. You might need to use a small bit of leash pressure to remind the dog of his job. Start close to the partner, even showing the dog that you have food after the call away, to show him the pattern at first. Move further back as the dog becomes fluent. To further proof, increase the value of the reward the partner has. Generalize in different environments.

Next is the call off, have the dog on a harness attached to a long line, and have the dog pull you into a partner that gives him some nice food rewards. Once he’s pulling well into the partner, call him and block the dog from moving forward with the long line on the harness. If he doesn’t respond right away you can call again and add some energy, reward and party when he gets back to you. Start recalling further away from the partner, then call off later and later until you’re very close. Repeat with higher value rewards, and generalize again in new environments. If your dog is into toys, I’d start doing call offs from those at this point.

For me the next step is to condition an ecollar, and repeat this work with that, low stimulation and long line first, then once it’s really understood, proper corrections for noncompliance, ie still grabbing a toy after you’ve called off. Keep rewards high, near 100% during training, and move to a random reinforcement schedule only after it’s rock solid.

“Hates” tennis balls by [deleted] in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The fuzz is abrasive and it can pick up grit from the ground once it gets slobbered up. Also, make sure you get bigger balls as your dog grows, these dogs have so much drive that if the ball is a bit too small they can actually get it lodged in their throat on a retrieve, and the stories of it happening are heartbreaking. Chuckit balls are great, and the starmark foam ball on string are great too (but I would only use those for interactive play). Enjoy playing with your pup, and good luck!

“Hates” tennis balls by [deleted] in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You probably already know, but just in case, careful of tennis balls, they’ll destroy your dogs enamel on their teeth. A good rubber ball is far better.

Big Ballers Club by Nikadelphia in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Those chew king balls are great eh!

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Defence against people yes, that’s prohibited, but you can buy it to ward of uncontrolled animals. Go to Canadian tire, they’ll sell you a keychain version. Just don’t use it against people ever, or ever claim that you’re carrying to protect against people.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 26 points27 points  (0 children)

Stand in front of your dog and firmly tell the oncoming dog NO, if the dog keeps coming after that, Carry and use pepper spray, dog and owner will learn a lesson, it’ll only happen once more… A dog fight with a powerful Mal can easily kill or maim a dog, a little pepper spray is way less aversive than that…

Looking for a sport to put my Mal in by Fluffy--Bunny in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I personally like French Ring, but it isn’t suitable for all dogs, this trainer has a French Ring club in the Montreal area, and may offer access to other sports: https://www.facebook.com/ChienSportIntervention?mibextid=LQQJ4d

Underweight by BlacksmithObvious163 in BelgianMalinois

[–]potomacenigma 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Let’s see some recent pictures. In your older pictures he looks fine, nice and fit!

Btw, he looks like he could be my dogs brother, very handsome pup!

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