Officer Needs Assistance for Exercising Malinois

[dukedogsmom]

Here's his question from my forum.

Can anyone give me some ideas for a good structured activity for my Malinois. She has a couple behavioral issues i would like to resolve and any ideas would be great. 1st she is a very energetic 4 year old and I would like to do something with her other than run. She is so active that my daily run is not enough for her and i taught her to run next to me while I am on my bike so I can keep up with her. 2. She is super submissive. any time she does something she thinks I won't like she drops to the ground immediately. People think I beat her but Ive never laid a hand on her (only had her 4 months.)3. She was a wash out in the bomb dog program from the Air Force. She "patrols" a perfect circle in the yard about 10 feet wide. Anyway any ideas about some "activity" I could do with her would be great. She won't retrieve like my other dog. She will chase it pick it up but won't bring it back.
Thanks

I gave him a little advice but I knew there were much more experienced people here. Thanks.

[Giselle]

Too bad she's shy. If she were harder in temperament, she could make a good Schutzhund prospect what with her background. But then I guess that's why she's not a police dog

Easy answer: agility, flyball, tracking, search and rescue, competitive obedience, rally-obedience, dock diving, freestyle dancing, etc.

Remember, mental stimulation is just as tiring as physical stimulation.

[catnapper]

People always think of physically tiring their dog out but forget about mental stimulation. Think about it: if you exercise you're tired, but feel a bit energized at the same time. Now, if you sit down to work on something complex that you have to concentrate on, like writing a paper or balancing the checkbook, you're exhausted at the end of the day.

Have him play games with her that will challenge her intellectually. Hide and Seek is a popular one where you hide her favorite toy and ask her to find it. Get creative with the hiding places and make them easy in the beginning to truly challenging once she's good at the game.

[dukedogsmom]

Wow, I guess I know a little more than I thought. I said almost the same thing the two of you said. I wrote this answer right before I posted this thread here.

My dog love to fetch. However, he also likes to hunt for his toys. Perhaps you could hide some of her favorites in a big area. You could have her on a long leash. She would get lots of exercise and it would stimulate her brain, as well. Thus making it not just exercise. I can't think of what it's called but how about the course where they jump through a tire, go through tubes, etc. That might help. Don't know if you're wanting to get that involved in that, though. You might be able to construct some of that in your yard. I'll post just what you wrote on my pet site and see what they come up with, too. I'll send you the link when I get some answers. There's lots of very experienced people there.

[binka_nugget]

Agility has been a godsend for myself and Keeva. Keeva finds obedience boring, but absolutely craves agility. On days that she's bouncing off the walls, I take out the jumps and weaves. She's pooped within 15 minutes! It's fairly easy creating your own jumps, weaves and tire out of pvc.

[dukedogsmom]

Here's his reply from a couple of days ago.

Well I finally wore her out. I found a big field to take the dogs. THis helped her come out of her shell. My Weimaraner showed her how much fun itwas to chase after the kong. SHe has fallen in love with the Kong attatched to to an old leash. Once she started playing with it I began shielding her eyes when i threw it and she had to go find it. Thanks to (me) for the idea of hide and seek with the toy. You will notice the tounge hanging to the side in the photo. She finally got so tired she had to lay down. First time that has happened since I got her in July.


I'm attaching a pic of her.