They won't stop playing

Seriously. They can now be out together and play for HOURS. It makes me so so happy, especially since I wasn't too sure what Reck would do with a puppy. He even lets her take toys and bones out of his mouth!

Now the problem is keeping them quiet. The only way to do that is to keep them separated, which I do for my sanity.

They even share the tunnel :)

Seriously they won't stop playing.



I can't tell you enough how good R is with little Avi. The only time I stop their play, is when Avi gets too rough. She can throw quite the temper tantrum. R is so patient. She can hump his head, and pull of his lips and he doesn't do a darn thing :)

They love each other

They can play for HOURS on either side of the xpen. Which is loud and distracting, but it makes me so happy :)

They can play with each other face to face, but only if I hold Reck by the collar and he is in a down. Otherwise, if she runs, he pounces. He's not being mean, but his full mouth chomp devourers her whole body. Not that she cares, she can dish it out right back. He is so good with her. He just lays there, rolling around as Avi climbs on him and bites his neck. It's interesting to watch how similar they play.

They will be a good match when she's a little bigger


Videos to come.

socializing 101

The best part about new puppies, in my opinion, is the socializing. I love taking them everywhere and seeing them take in the world. It's especially joyful when said puppy is confident and social. With Avion, I want her to learn to be calm when being handled and saying hello. Reckon missed this lesson and it's a humongous pain.

I also want her to work with me whenever and where ever. So I've been taking her to tons of places to explore. After she's done checking it all out, we work. Just a 15 second game of tug and focus is all I want. She's doing brilliantly.
It may take us 10 minutes to walk a block, since she's up and into everything, but she's a pleasure. I just love watching her.

We let every kid who wants to say say hello.

And this girl WILL be able to be crated at the vet clinic when I work, God dammit. I will have one dog that can stay in a kennel or crate and not scream their head off. This is part of our socializing routine. Learning to settle.

It's a work in progress...

I'm not too sure how to put this...

...So I'll just say it with this:

Yep. I got a puppy. A Malinois puppy. How could you resist this face?

That's a naughty little face...

She was quite the surprise when I brought her home Sat Jan 28th. I picked her up from the airport (which was delayed) and brought her home where Aunty Emma was having a birthday party. SURPRISE!!

Everyone thinks I'm crazy, and I don't blame them. I am. I have known about her for a while, but didn't want to tell anyone just in case it didn't happen. Jenn from Malinger Kennels asked me to raise a pup for her a while ago, but with Reckon being under a year and just starting to become quite the handful, it wasn't the right time.

But when she contacted me a few months ago, things just seemed to fit. Long story short, here she is!

Now to the fun stuff. I ADORE her so so much, all 8 lbs, 10 ounces of her.


She is exactly what I pictured a Malinois pup to be like (sorry R). She is social and confident and has a full deep bite to die for. I cannot get enough of her "you can't stop me" attitude. Nothing fazes her. She climbs on everything and anything, and quickly learned to scale the baby gate and climb over or escape the x pen.

The only time I've seen her a bit uncertain is with loud noises or when you pick her up. She would shake like a leaf as soon as you held her, but put her on the ground and watch out, she's off exploring!

She's getting better with being held, and noises aren't such a big deal anymore. I love that even if she is startled, she bounces back in a matter of seconds.

And the energy on this girl. Oh vey. She doesn't have the regular play for 10 minutes and crash for an hour. Nope, it's more like crash for a total of 39.7 seconds during the entire day.

I can't wait to start this girl in French Ring and Agility. I know she's going to be awesome to train and watch :)

Practicing her leg bite on Aunty Jodes.

You might be wondering what she's called. Well that wasn't an easy quick decision. I had a list of names stored in my phone (because that's what nerdy dog people do), and I would run them past Jenn,(now would be a good time to mention that she is on a co-own. This just means that she is my dog, but Jenn has breeding rights IF she passes all her health tests and gets a few titles in numerous venues) but she wouldn't like them or we couldn't find a call name that tied in with a registered name.

Since this would be the first dog I got to choose a registered and call name, I wanted to get it right. Names are a huge thing to me. They have to be unique, fun and have meaning (some sort of tie to their personality, background, etc).

This pup had quite the history already. She was conceived in Thailand, whelped in Toronto and raised in Vancouver. Quite the journey! I wanted a name that would fit in with some sort of flight or contract theme. Originally I was going to get a pup from Mexico that Jenn was shipping over. Her pick female would be exchanged for the Mexican's pick female. However, the pick female has a deformed paw and would not be breeding/sport quality. Jenn didn't want to send her only Beta/Klene female to Mexico, so she asked me to raise her. Ummm, ok!

So, after a lot of back and forth emails and uncertainty over whether I'd be getting a a pup, we narrowed it down to a few picks. "Foreign Affair" "Let's make a Deal" "Destination Unknown" were a few from a list of dozens and dozens.

I really really really liked "Frequent Flyer" because, let's face it, that made perfect sense! She is a frequent flyer. But no call name came to mind. Then, just 2 days before she was due to arrive, Jenn saw a commercial for RBC Frequent Flyer Program, otherwise known as "Avion"

I said it out loud, mid hike in the forest, calling it loudly, shortening it, picturing her little face.

4 weeks with Jenn in Toronto.

It seemed to be the one. Plus, Avion translates to "plane" in French. Even more perfect!!

And so that's how this little cheeky monster became, Avion.

I love her so much already. I can't to see how this little girl grows up.

That's crap

Do you know? Reckon eats shit. Yup, dog shit is a delicacy. He stopped eating it when I started taking him on his private walks. I thought he grew out of it.

I was wrong.

I started hiking him in the group hikes again. I injured my knee and 4 walks a day was just too much. He has been doing pretty good. Making good choices, but sometimes he is still an asshole. Our biggest problem is eating dog shit. He has such a sensitive tummy. And it may surprise you, but eating shit doesn't help.


So, because he can still be an asshole around young, intact males AND he won't leave shit in the forest or in poop bags where it belongs, I'm muzzling him. He doesn't seem too bothered by it, he will rub his head and nose along the ground, but he can still play and drink with it. It also seems to have a calming effect on him. He gets awfully aroused and over stimulated on some hikes.

Here is my favourite picture of him in his muzzle. He looks like a cross between Phantom of the Opera and Hannibal Lecter.

Guess who's cute?

This dog. That is Albus. My mom fostered him for a rescue group. He is a doll. Good with all dogs, cats, people. He looks like a cross between a Collie and a Border Collie. His fur is all wavy and he has a huge over bite. I'd love to give more info on how this guy was treated, but the people who bred and raised this guy are in deep shit (not the same kind R likes to eat). I hope justice is served.
He is neutered and his hernia repaired. I hope this guy goes into a well deserved forever home.

Training Blahs

When I pictured myself with my Malinois, Reckon is not what I expected.  I love him to bits, but he is certainly not the high drive, ball/tug crazy dog I envisioned. 


Don't get  me wrong, he has energy to burn.  But as Auntie Emma says "he's lazy."  And it's true.  He doesn't really like to play fetch, he doesn't run in the forest but instead walks no more than 20 paces ahead of me.  The only time he really tires himself out is when playing with other dogs.  He runs (fast I might add), and wrestles and has a gay old time.  Without me.  There are so many times where I just want to tire him out quickly, while interacting with me.  Playing ball would achieve this.  He does play, sometimes he's more into than other times, but never like Amigo or Fyvish were.  They could play for hours and nothing would distract them.  Not Reck, he is always scanning the horizon hoping to find a four legged friend.  Instead of playing with me and running around, he would rather come home and destroy things. Because he's not tired, but won't play ball.  You see?!  It's a vicious circle.

 Even if I decide to take the time and go to the field and work on a French Ring exercise, he doesn't work for long periods of time.  I know training sessions shouldn't last long, but in comparison to my other dogs and other "real" Malinois, Reckon just doesn't wanna.

On Sundays, I watch the other (sometimes younger) dogs work for an hour with  their tongue hanging out and a smile on their faces.  Even "failing" or getting corrected doesn't stop them from wanting to work.  I want that.  I want that so bad. They can chase a ball for a reward and bring it back to their owners to play tug, even with other dogs running and training around them.  R doesn't do any of this.  He will work and play with me but it's a struggle.  Rewarding him has always been a struggle.  He just doesn't get pumped up like other dogs.  Ive never seen/had this before.  It's beyond frustrating.

I know it 's not all him.  It's me too.  I'm giving myself a kick in the butt and starting to train with Heather on Mondays.  This will just get us out and about and doing stuff.  I am proud that I have consistently taken 5 minutes a day to train him to do something.  A trick, hind end awareness, or whatever.  Go me.

And I have to remember.  He's still young, and as many people have pointed out, a "very special boy"
Even the owner of his father told me that his lines take a loooong time to mature.

I'm waiting...


But here's a video from our first French Ring training session with a real Decoy!  Daniel came out from Alberta to help us with our dogs.  He loved R very very much.  As soon as he saw him, the first words out of his mouth were "Oh man, he looks like Rio"
The first time he got Reckon to bite a tug,  "He bites just like Rio.  A beautiful bite, full and deep"

R did well.  We mainly worked on pumping him up and boosting his confidence. All the other dogs were learning to stay calm and settle. Not my boy! 

I am learning a lot from him.  Making notes on what I want to do with my next pup right off the bat. So many things!


Gotta go.  He's bored and found a contact lens case to shred...

Cannon Beach

I love this place. I can't tell you how or why, it's just always held a special place in my heart. It's beautiful and quiet and just relaxes your soul. Helen and Reckon and I drove down for a visit in December for a quick get away before the holiday rush. The weather couldn't have been better. Perfect sunshine and no wind.

It was both Helen and Reckon's first time, and I know they both loved it. It was a special trip not just because it was awesome, but because I finally got to sprinkle a bit of Fyvish's ashes. I sprinkled some of Buster in CB years ago, and since Fyvish adored it there too, I found it fitting. It was sad, but also felt good to say goodbye in a place we both love.

The trip was too short, but we'll all be back. I would like to take Amigo while she can still enjoy running along the beach, and Beezer needs to fall in love with Cannon Beach as well!

Reckon had a blast, and I got some awesome shots of the handsome man.

We stopped in small towns and wandered. Some interesting finds..

It was a relaxing and fun trip full of many photo ops.