A little bit over a year ago Thomas flew to Italy to pick up Army. She came to us on quite short notice and earlier than we had originally planned. We also knew that a small sheltie puppy would be joining our family one week later, so one can say we were officially out of our minds. Taking two puppies at the same time is crazy, but taking two puppies with such a bit size difference is just... insane.
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| Army has landed to Finland |
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| Amo and Army, BFF's from the start |
Border collies and shelties are said to be very active dogs and I've also been told that Giggs is exceptionally energetic and lively being a kooiker. All in all, one could say that I have some experience of energetic dogs and I have never experienced that any of my dogs have had too much energy for me. But not one of them have been anything compared to a malinois.
Army has some kind of a project going on all the time. Don't understand me wrong, Army is not nervous, restless or not capable to relax, but she is just like that Duracell bunny. Just keeps going and going and going. She hardly ever walks but runs (preferably full speed) everywhere. She wants to play with her sisters also when they are not in the mood and if not told to knock it off she can be preeetty demanding with her "I WANNA PLAY!!!" -invitations. When being outside she can play with one single cone for ages and ages just by herself, including of course running full speed around with it. And the tail! It never ever stops wagging! Phew! And I have been told that Army isn't even especially energetic to be a malinois. Holy S**T.
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| When normal digging just is not enough |
Army LOVES to carry things. When she is excited, bored or just for no reason she takes whatever she finds in her mouth and carries it around. Inside and outside. Shoes, shampoo bottles, socks, sheltie... Anything goes! And naturally every time she needs to be praised on how wonderful a treasure she has found! When we are on a walk she is always carrying a stick or a cone or some trash in her mouth. Yesterday she brought home a football she found in a ditch 4 km away. And talking about sticks...
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| This wouldn't be the same without the help of a malinois! |
Don't think that a normal stick is enough for a malinois. She prefers a huge log or even better, a whole tree! If the tree's roots are still partly stuck in the ground and the tree needs to be pulled up using loads of force it makes things PERFECT. That's what the malinois calls a real treasure. And then it's important to run around (full speed!) carrying that 3,5 meter long tree (with a couple of bird nests and the squirrel's nut hidden in it) in your mouth wiping shelties, kooikers and five-year-old kids from their feet with it. Oops.
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| My precious! |
The weirdest accidents happen around a malinois. A hole can just appear on a wall or a dog bed can explode without the malinois knowing anything about it. She can pick up a soda bottle from a bag of groceries and before you manage to say "no!" she has punctured a hole in the bottle with her teeth. "Whoops, this broke!" And what does the malinois? Drops it on the floor because the soda is spraying right into her mouth? NO! She thinks she has come up with a great new game and runs around with the bottle spreading soda all over the kitchen and living room. One of my favorite moments... Another one happened two days ago when she was without continuous supervision for two minutes and during that she had taken my phone and chewed the cover and the screen from it. Thank god I had a protective glass on top of the screen so just the casing and the cover needed to be replaced. 50 euros, thank you! And let's not even start with all the kids' toys she has destroyed...
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| Malinois is stuck. Surprise. |
5. Limitless amount of love, cuddles and kisses
Right before when I'm about to snap because Army can be... well, a handful, she comes to me, climbs on my lap and places her head on my shoulder and sighs deeply. She might be the clown in the family but she is also the best comforter. If someone is feeling sad you can be sure that Army is there trying to make the sad one feel better. She loves us so unconditionally that I have never experienced anything like that with any other dog I've owned. For Army family is everything, and she shows that to all of us every day. She LOVES to be close, kiss and cuddle, especially with the boys. She's absolutely the best malinois in the world.
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| Feeling loved. |