Thing 1 and Thing 2

[Dupré]

I’m new to the site and just noticing this cats & dogs section — thought i’d introduce my two. Maasai is a 2.5yr old long coated malinois (terv) who i adopted a little over a year ago after she’d been passed around to various shelters, foster homes, adoptive homes, boarding facilities, etc. I got her 2 weeks after losing my 5th GSD and while she has been a ton of work, it’s finally paying off. Nyx is approaching 12yrs old and she was adopted during covid. a friend of a friend passed away leaving 7 cats behind… i was sent a photo asking if i could take one… without much info i selected the tabby. she was the least social but my expectations weren’t high, i just wanted to help. she bonded with my then dog very quickly. after 60 days she allowed me to touch her and the rest is history. so far both are curious about the new tortoise addition but only if i’m milling around with her….however all precautions are still taken to keep everyone safe.
any other shepherd owners out there? german, dutch, belgian…

 

[The_Four_Toed_Edward]

My aunt has a rescue Belgian malinois and they really can be a lot of work if the training wasn't started right. Appreciate your work!

 

[Tom]

I’m new to the site and just noticing this cats & dogs section — thought i’d introduce my two. Maasai is a 2.5yr old long coated malinois (terv) who i adopted a little over a year ago after she’d been passed around to various shelters, foster homes, adoptive homes, boarding facilities, etc. I got her 2 weeks after losing my 5th GSD and while she has been a ton of work, it’s finally paying off. Nyx is approaching 12yrs old and she was adopted during covid. a friend of a friend passed away leaving 7 cats behind… i was sent a photo asking if i could take one… without much info i selected the tabby. she was the least social but my expectations weren’t high, i just wanted to help. she bonded with my then dog very quickly. after 60 days she allowed me to touch her and the rest is history. so far both are curious about the new tortoise addition but only if i’m milling around with her….however all precautions are still taken to keep everyone safe.
any other shepherd owners out there? german, dutch, belgian…

I have had 9 mals, 1 dutch, and one Czech shepherd. I'm down to just one mal at the moment. I bred one litter of seven pups years ago. One pup looked full terv, two others looked about half terv, and the other four pups all looked like classic mals. Both parents were classic looking mals, but the breeder of the mom told me that it was common in his European lines for them to mix in other Belgian shepherd lines.

This picture would be from around 2005 or 2006:


I do personal protection dog work, and movie work with mine. They get to work their whole lives and they love it. I don't know how anyone would keep one as a pet...

This is one of the pups from the one on the left of the above picture:


Mom and son together:

 

[NorCal tortoise guy]

Not a movie star like Tom’s but we think he is a looker!

 

[Dupré]

Nice! My kind of people…

@Tom your crew looks great and yes, Maasai is one of those common euro mixes out of mal parents. embark showed some dutchie too but that’s debatable based on how those tests distinguish between the two breeds. no terv actually, but clearly she’s got the coat. two littermates that i tracked down are solid black. it’s wild.

She gave a lot of people a run for their money and came to me thinking she ran things. turns out she’s a fairly soft dog but using her mouth to get her way was well practiced. we’ve done some very light work in prey but she doesn’t have solid enough nerve or clarity to go farther imo. fun dog nonetheless, with enough energy and drive that we aren’t without options. article searches has been our thing lately… when she’s not harassing squirrels.

 

[Tom]

Nice! My kind of people…

@Tom your crew looks great and yes, Maasai is one of those common euro mixes out of mal parents. embark showed some dutchie too but that’s debatable based on how those tests distinguish between the two breeds. no terv actually, but clearly she’s got the coat. two littermates that i tracked down are solid black. it’s wild.

She gave a lot of people a run for their money and came to me thinking she ran things. turns out she’s a fairly soft dog but using her mouth to get her way was well practiced. we’ve done some very light work in prey but she doesn’t have solid enough nerve or clarity to go farther imo. fun dog nonetheless, with enough energy and drive that we aren’t without options. article searches has been our thing lately… when she’s not harassing squirrels.

Oh I know some Georgia falconers that would LOVE a dog like that working under their hawks...

Nothing like a mal or dutch for bite work. I've dabbled with lots of other breeds and most do hit a sort of plateau that is difficult to get past.

Maligators... Such a well deserved moniker. I sure love them, but they are a handful every day.

The dutches I've worked with are totally different in temperament than mals. I've never understood why people think they are the same breed and cross breed them. Drives me crazy! They are as different as mals and GSDs. I love them both, but they are NOT the same.

 

[Dupré]

Oh I know some Georgia falconers that would LOVE a dog like that working under their hawks...

Nothing like a mal or dutch for bite work. I've dabbled with lots of other breeds and most do hit a sort of plateau that is difficult to get past.

Maligators... Such a well deserved moniker. I sure love them, but they are a handful every day.

The dutches I've worked with are totally different in temperament than mals. I've never understood why people think they are the same breed and cross breed them. Drives me crazy! They are as different as mals and GSDs. I love them both, but they are NOT the same.

agreed. i forget which came first, with one being a founding breed for the other… but the modern crosses are unnecessary and complicate things for sure. i saying “same dog different font” is only true until you work with an actual dutch!

sorry to the falconers, but she’s all mine

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

I have had 9 mals, 1 dutch, and one Czech shepherd. I'm down to just one mal at the moment. I bred one litter of seven pups years ago. One pup looked full terv, two others looked about half terv, and the other four pups all looked like classic mals. Both parents were classic looking mals, but the breeder of the mom told me that it was common in his European lines for them to mix in other Belgian shepherd lines.

This picture would be from around 2005 or 2006:
View attachment 388588

I do personal protection dog work, and movie work with mine. They get to work their whole lives and they love it. I don't know how anyone would keep one as a pet...

This is one of the pups from the one on the left of the above picture:
View attachment 388589

Mom and son together:
View attachment 388590

Omg they worked on twd?! That’s awesome!!

 

[Tom]

Omg they worked on twd?! That’s awesome!!

The very first episode with "Dog" was a different dog. That didn't work out too well, so they hired us to come in and do the rest of the series. We started halfway through season 9, and we did all of season 10 and 11. Over all it was a fantastic experience. Almost everything about it was great. The cast and crew were fantastic to work with. It was literally a dream job and probably the number 1 highlight of my otherwise amazing 30 year career.

Seven and his mom have both passed away now, and I can't watch the "Dog" highlight reels from the show without tearing up. I had 25 years of movie business experience before that show, and that show made me a much better trainer and taught me so much.

 

[Dupré]

What’s TWD? I haven’t had a television in 27yrs!

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

The very first episode with "Dog" was a different dog. That didn't work out too well, so they hired us to come in and do the rest of the series. We started halfway through season 9, and we did all of season 10 and 11. Over all it was a fantastic experience. Almost everything about it was great. The cast and crew were fantastic to work with. It was literally a dream job and probably the number 1 highlight of my otherwise amazing 30 year career.

Seven and his mom have both passed away now, and I can't watch the "Dog" highlight reels from the show without tearing up. I had 25 years of movie business experience before that show, and that show made me a much better trainer and taught me so much.

That’s incredible Tom and so interesting to hear about, I absolutely love that show!
So sorry to about seven and his mom’s passing! May their legacy live on forever

What’s TWD? I haven’t had a television in 27yrs!

It’s a zombie show called The walking dead

 

[Dupré]

That’s incredible Tom and so interesting to hear about, I absolutely love that show!
So sorry to about seven and his mom’s passing! May their legacy live on forever

It’s a zombie show called The walking dead

got it….. says the person who thought zombies and aliens were the same

 

[Tom]

That’s incredible Tom and so interesting to hear about, I absolutely love that show!
So sorry to about seven and his mom’s passing! May their legacy live on forever

Want a little fun fact? Seven appeared on Fear the Walking Dead before he appeared on TWD. Then, after we started TWD and he was an established character, we went to Texas to do a later episode of Fear The Walking Dead as a totally different dog character. This happened during a break in filming from TWD. When the FTWD people in Texas realized they had hired Daryl's dog, they had a little freak out and we ended up darkening Seven to make him look like a different dog.

Me and my co-trainer thought it would be fun to intentionally tie them together, as the dog gets let loose and runs away at the end of the FTWD episode. No one shared our enthusiasm.

Here is the first episode of FTWD filmed in Rosarito Beach Mexico. WARNING: Its really gruesome and violent, so don't watch if you don't like that sort of thing.

I can't find footage, but they talk about it and show pics here in Season 6 Episode 5 at about 4:35:

 

[Wilbur1111]

What’s TWD? I haven’t had a television in 27yrs!

The Walking Dead (amazing tv show)

 

[Tom]

I haven’t had a television in 27yrs!

That is awesome. I didn't have one either. I only got one because my wife likes to watch TV. I turn it off every chance I get. If I wasn't married, I wouldn't have one. When I stay in hotels, I unplug the TV and use it as a clothes hanger.

 

[Littleredfootbigredheart]

Want a little fun fact? Seven appeared on Fear the Walking Dead before he appeared on TWD. Then, after we started TWD and he was an established character, we went to Texas to do a later episode of Fear The Walking Dead as a totally different dog character. This happened during a break in filming from TWD. When the FTWD people in Texas realized they had hired Daryl's dog, they had a little freak out and we ended up darkening Seven to make him look like a different dog.

Me and my co-trainer thought it would be fun to intentionally tie them together, as the dog gets let loose and runs away at the end of the FTWD episode. No one shared our enthusiasm.

Here is the first episode of FTWD filmed in Rosarito Beach Mexico. WARNING: Its really gruesome and violent, so don't watch if you don't like that sort of thing.

I can't find footage, but they talk about it and show pics here in Season 6 Episode 5 at about 4:35:

Aw wow this is such an interesting insight! Thanks for sharing Tom! It must’ve been so much fun to work on, I need to start watching the spin offs, I began fear but never finished it, this has inspired me lol