MAVIS Belgian Shepherd / Malinois Mix Point Richmond, CA

A super lovely, easy going Malinois! A people pleaser who keeps pace with her person - Run? SURE! Walk, no problem! Ride in the car - ready! Hiking, adventures - learning tricks, par course, agility - climbing, circus dog, playgirl, she is not dominant nor Beta...she is looking to bond and be someone's everything! Very cool dog, she "sit's pretty" and knows other things and is super willing to learn more! Clever, love dog.

Updated notes from her foster:

Mavis is still the super sweet, loving, goofy leaner she was when she came into Milo and the first assessment was made.

I don't have a lot of experience with Mal's so I imagine that she is perhaps mellow for a Malinois, she is definitely not a mellow dog and would really benefit from a breed experienced or working dog experienced home. She is extremely prey driven (squirrels), even though she initially tested ok with cats at MPR....I wouldn't recommend a home with cats or small animals. She has been good with my family's small dogs (though they don't like her due to her size) she has been completely non-reactive to them when they bark at her. On leash, she is about 90% good with meeting new dogs of all sizes, however, if a big dog reacts to her - she will respond in turn with barking or sometimes growling but none of it seems aggressive at all and I think it's more about lack of socialization than anything. I have not tried to have her off-leash because she is extremely fast and agile (can jump very high) and when she is stimulated (sees a squirrel) she literally cannot hear commands and I am not confident enough about her recall to try this.

She is actually very calm and mellow in the house, however, she gets very excited/stimulated when we're outside - on walks/hikes. She is not a great leash walker and pulls a lot - I am trying to work with her on heel training, but when she's outside she is not very food motivated so I really have to come up with distractions to get her to focus back on me while walking. She will yip and literally jump and do flips ON LEASH to try and run after the dogs or squirrels.

She does not love being left alone or separated from the "pack" at all - so I'd def describe her as a velcro dog. I have been able to leave her home alone for short periods of time, but she doesn't like it at all so she would do best in a home where maybe someone works from home or at least one person is home most of the day.

She is wonderful with my nephews (age 3.5 and 8 mos) and is super gentle and tolerant of them. I wouldn't say that she loves kids and seeks out their attention, but she is really good with them when they want to pet and play with her. She of course LOVES people and pets and when she's not over stimulated and is really smart and obedient. She has learned "Place", "Leave it" and already knew Sit, Down, Sit Pretty when we got her.

She is such a great dog and would really flourish with some advanced training. 9/2024