I recently adopted 1.5 year old Belgium Malinois/German Shepherd Mix. He was adopted through a German Shepherd rescue agency called Char Wills German Shepherd Rescue.
I feel a bit cat-fished through the agency knowing everything I do now. After he was rescued and brought home to my house in Philadelphia I received a phone call from the rescue telling me he had been released to their care due to the fact he had reacted to two different people on two separate occasions aggressively. I was also notified he was a mix with a Belgium Malinois. I did get the DNA results to confirm this as well. I have always had German Shepherds, I’ve dealt with dog on dog aggressive behavior and worked to amend that kind of behavior; however, I have never dealt with an aggressive behavior towards adults and children. I had introduced him to friends and family, which went smoothly. When I introduced him to anyone younger than 9 or 10, he reacted. The worst situation was when my niece (aged 8) was in the pool swimming and he was at the ledge snarling and barking – this was not him wanting to play.
I went through two different trainers before I found K9 Basics in New Jersey. They utilize the E-Collar, up until that point he was being trained with a clicker which was not getting me anywhere. The Board and Train Program with K9 Basics is set to last 3 weeks. I dropped him off on a Wednesday and I received a call from them on Sunday saying he was hurting himself at night trying to escape out of the kennel. There were two nights in which he did escape and was found roaming the halls. He is an absolute escape artist (I’m sure you’re not shocked by this). The combination of these breeds leads to an incredibly smart dog. After that, it was decided I would drop him off in the morning and pick him up at night for the length of the training. I worked with the trainers every day to help him work through his anxiety as well as all of his other issues. Upon completion of the program, they have group classes which are included in the price of the B&T. We attend every single one. He has a socialization class to work through his pushiness with other dogs. He does incredible. He is a master at healing, staying on place, and has excelled at almost every single trick in the book. His prey drive can be an issue but again, working on that as well. After speaking with the Head Trainer at K9 Basics, who previously served his time in the Marine Corp’s as a Dog Handler, he came to the conclusion Murphy was being trained as a Personal Protection Dog – improperly. K9 Basics has a course in which dogs are trained and then released as Police K9’s, they utilized some of that equipment and Murphy knew exactly what it was. His previous owner was an 18 year old child who had aspirations of joining the Army. I feel as though when Murphy became too big and was too much to control – they turned him over to Char Wills Recue.
People who don’t understand these breeds and think it’s funny or cool to train a dog improperly for aggression lead to terrible accidents and people can get hurt. It breaks my heart, honestly. I am an avid hiker. I go camping just about every weekend from Spring into fall. I lead a very active lifestyle, which is why I choose the German Shepherd as a companion because I know they have the drive to keep up. I thought, initially, a Belgium Malinois/German Shepherd Mix would be even better because they DON’T GET TIRED! It’s what I wanted and I was determined to correct Murphy of the bad behavior he was taught at such a young age.
This past Saturday I brought Murphy to my father’s house. My dad was the first person Murphy had met after adopting him. They get along well. Sitting in the kitchen my dad was rough playing with Murphy. Things started to get a bit tense and I advised my father to stop. He didn’t. He pointed in Murphy’s face and the dog went for his arm. Tore three inches of skin off and punctured the muscle of his forearm. He’s seeing a specialist today to have the wound closed.
I feel as though I’ve hit my breaking point. I don’t know what else I could possibly do to help this dog. Sometimes campsites are full of families and dogs and I can’t worry he’s going to lunging at every child that walks by. Trails are often times full of kids – and him seeing them as a threat is not okay. He is muzzle trained with a Baskerville. I need help. Everyone from my vet, the rescue, and K9 Basics are telling me if I surrender him, he’s going to be deemed Unadoptable and that isn’t an option either.
There is potential here for Murphy but I feel as though I’ve hit my wall. Especially after what happened to my father of Saturday.
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I feel a bit cat-fished through the agency knowing everything I do now. After he was rescued and brought home to my house in Philadelphia I received a phone call from the rescue telling me he had been released to their care due to the fact he had reacted to two different people on two separate occasions aggressively. I was also notified he was a mix with a Belgium Malinois. I did get the DNA results to confirm this as well. I have always had German Shepherds, I’ve dealt with dog on dog aggressive behavior and worked to amend that kind of behavior; however, I have never dealt with an aggressive behavior towards adults and children. I had introduced him to friends and family, which went smoothly. When I introduced him to anyone younger than 9 or 10, he reacted. The worst situation was when my niece (aged 8) was in the pool swimming and he was at the ledge snarling and barking – this was not him wanting to play.
I went through two different trainers before I found K9 Basics in New Jersey. They utilize the E-Collar, up until that point he was being trained with a clicker which was not getting me anywhere. The Board and Train Program with K9 Basics is set to last 3 weeks. I dropped him off on a Wednesday and I received a call from them on Sunday saying he was hurting himself at night trying to escape out of the kennel. There were two nights in which he did escape and was found roaming the halls. He is an absolute escape artist (I’m sure you’re not shocked by this). The combination of these breeds leads to an incredibly smart dog. After that, it was decided I would drop him off in the morning and pick him up at night for the length of the training. I worked with the trainers every day to help him work through his anxiety as well as all of his other issues. Upon completion of the program, they have group classes which are included in the price of the B&T. We attend every single one. He has a socialization class to work through his pushiness with other dogs. He does incredible. He is a master at healing, staying on place, and has excelled at almost every single trick in the book. His prey drive can be an issue but again, working on that as well. After speaking with the Head Trainer at K9 Basics, who previously served his time in the Marine Corp’s as a Dog Handler, he came to the conclusion Murphy was being trained as a Personal Protection Dog – improperly. K9 Basics has a course in which dogs are trained and then released as Police K9’s, they utilized some of that equipment and Murphy knew exactly what it was. His previous owner was an 18 year old child who had aspirations of joining the Army. I feel as though when Murphy became too big and was too much to control – they turned him over to Char Wills Recue.
People who don’t understand these breeds and think it’s funny or cool to train a dog improperly for aggression lead to terrible accidents and people can get hurt. It breaks my heart, honestly. I am an avid hiker. I go camping just about every weekend from Spring into fall. I lead a very active lifestyle, which is why I choose the German Shepherd as a companion because I know they have the drive to keep up. I thought, initially, a Belgium Malinois/German Shepherd Mix would be even better because they DON’T GET TIRED! It’s what I wanted and I was determined to correct Murphy of the bad behavior he was taught at such a young age.
This past Saturday I brought Murphy to my father’s house. My dad was the first person Murphy had met after adopting him. They get along well. Sitting in the kitchen my dad was rough playing with Murphy. Things started to get a bit tense and I advised my father to stop. He didn’t. He pointed in Murphy’s face and the dog went for his arm. Tore three inches of skin off and punctured the muscle of his forearm. He’s seeing a specialist today to have the wound closed.
I feel as though I’ve hit my breaking point. I don’t know what else I could possibly do to help this dog. Sometimes campsites are full of families and dogs and I can’t worry he’s going to lunging at every child that walks by. Trails are often times full of kids – and him seeing them as a threat is not okay. He is muzzle trained with a Baskerville. I need help. Everyone from my vet, the rescue, and K9 Basics are telling me if I surrender him, he’s going to be deemed Unadoptable and that isn’t an option either.
There is potential here for Murphy but I feel as though I’ve hit my wall. Especially after what happened to my father of Saturday.
