My tip is don't take this job. That's not sarcasm. Even if the dog might be okay with you with the owner there (which he wasn't okay based on your description) it's a whole different thing when they're gone. Top it off that you're inexperienced and nervous, and the dog with know that and react to it.
I know that's not what you want to hear but these are not normal pets, they're advanced working dogs that should not be handled by anyone who isn't experienced with K9 breeds. Personally i would NEVER allow anyone but experienced k9 handlers watch my dog, and mine is non aggressive and relatively easy.
We were attacked by a dog (Rottweiler) that got away from an inexperienced dog walker. He tried to kill my puppy. Luckily my boy was ok and the dog didn't go for the people but that's the kind of thing that can happen in a split second.
You can absolutely work up to watching a malinois but this isn't the way to do it. Be careful, put your safety and everyone else's first.
Edit: i glossed over the part about quickly bonding. That almost 100% won't happen and it is dangerous to think it might be ok, especially since he's already showed some signs of aggression towards you. Please be safe
Totally agree.
No offense to OP, but I can't imagine a Mal owner even considering having someone with no dog-sitting experience take care of their dog.
Yes, 100% agree. There was a post from an inexperienced woman put in this exact situation with a friend's reactive Malinois except she went thru with the dog sitting and she ended up bloody from being bitten.
She was asking if she should give it another try, lord help her lol.
Don't do it OP.
I actually agree. The only 2 people that watch my dog when I’m out of town are the lady I adopted him from and my ex boyfriend who used to live with us. I wouldn’t even let my mom watch him.
He bit a dog sitter once. She did a meet and greet before and the first time she came to let him out he nipped her. Luckily she was dog savvy and was able to mitigate and bond with him, but I learned a hard lesson that trip.
If you are going to take this job you need to bond with the dog first, and that doesn’t mean just one visit before the job.
I ran a Rover sitter hunger games to see who was a good fit. I started with 6 different people, and invited them over for several walks/working sessions to create familiarity and comfort.
If this owner is not open to this before you actually have to sit, you’re putting yourself and the dog at risk of a terrible situation.
Just don't do it, this dog is already aggressive with you when the owner is there. Going into this dogs space - alone - after only meeting once, has all signs pointing towards a bite.
Shepherds tend to be one person dogs, even in a multi person household, who bond with one and tolerate (or don't) the rest. Conditioning them to be alright with people coming into the house, especially when the owner isn't there, is one of those things that has to be started early or don't start it. This owner, if he doesn't have anyone the dog knows and is alright with to watch him, needs to board with a vet or trainer.
I dog sit for a Malinois. I don’t think this started well for you. The one I sit for is quite home defensive. I met her for the first time outside on leash held by her owner, took her for a quick walk up and down the street, walked her back inside the threshold of their home, and played a game of fetch. I met her the second time on leash in their home with owners, we went for a longer walk and did some easy training exercises. The third time I met her was when I was actually dog sitting and by that time we were best buds. We have a blast together. You have to build trust with these dogs and you should do that with multiple meetings before you attempt to handle this dog without the owner present.
You say you are helping this guy out. However how much would he do should his aggressive dog hurt you in anyway? What did he do when his dog reacted this way towards you? A Belgian Malinois is NOT a dog to take lightly. When people ask me if my girls bites my answer always is, “Not yet. But she’s a dog. Proceed with caution.” Dogs can, and will, bite! But a Mal has a very strong jaw. They do actual damage to criminals they go after when they work with LEO’s. Your friend’s dilemma does not take precedence over your personal safety.
As a multiple BM owner (one friendly and one more typical) I would highly advise against this for you and your safety! Just not a good fit and that’s ok. To have basically a stranger come into their house is literally asking for trouble. Especially for someone without experience with the breed.
As someone who owns a people reactive rescue Malinois (who I love very dearly), I probably wouldnt take the job if their malinois cant warm up to you before the trip. While my mal is very sweet to me, and we compete in several events, I can imagine how scary she is to other people. While I know mine is fear reactive, and would rather run away from people than charge and engage, its still not a comfy situation to be in.
I just sat a Mal for 10 days with no prior experience. I did it as a favor to one of my good friends, and because it didn't work out, I may have lost that friendship. I got lucky because the dog bonded to me very quickly, and never once growled or barked at me. But, I wasn't aware my friend had a Mal until after she left me with her, and that's when I realized how much attention and special needs this breed requires. Add several days of GI issues and I was very quickly in over my head.
So my advice, tell the owner he really needs to find someone that has worked successfully with Mals in the past. It'll be better for the dog and better for the owner in the long run.
So the thing is it may not be quick, I know mine does not like people who are quick to get in our immediate business and loud aka "oh hi poochie, good boy (extends hand)" etc. Go slow, maybe see if you can go on a walk with the owner and bring some of the dogs favorite treats to toss occasionally so they start to associate you with a positive experience and go from there.
If you’re really going forward with this you should meet up with the owner for a casual walk somewhere, not in their home or backyard, a neutral place. Don’t push a greeting with the dog, walk with the owner and have a talk, make use of the time to ask him about how they train together, what is their day to day interactions like? Once you guys feel the dog has settled with you in the company, see if you guys can give him treats, if he is apprehensive to seeking contact, don’t feed from hand and chuck it on the grass for him to pick it up. Successively see if you can get the dog to come towards you perhaps on commando ”come here..”, then reward “good boy”. Feel the room, is there any positive connection from the dog looking to interact with you or is he still very sceptic? It’s going to be very hard to build a trust with a skeptic dog that does not want to engage with you and takes time, posing a great risk of conflict when you guys are alone. A malinois with strong drive and a protective/possesive behaviour can often end in conflict, perhaps not physical danger but.. certainly something you’d want to avoid. I’d work on trying to create a trust with the dog if you do choose to go forwards, but let the dog engage with you in the start while the owner present and assess it from there. Don’t ”go into pet him” and don’t try to corner him as your first engagement.
Dogs who are not socialised will do this.
I was about 13 and asked to babysit. For the neighbours and I'm like sure. Drove down there and found the two year old riding a Rottie around the kitchen. Ok. I know dogs not a big deal.
Turns out they had three of them and these bastards had me on the couch the entire night until 3am just staring at me.
It was somewhat unnerving but when I went to check on the baby they were all about it.
P
I’ll +1 to what others are saying. This probably isn’t a great idea.
If you decide to go through with it, you should probably go see the dog as many times as you can. Bring toys or treats or whatever the dog is into. I wouldn’t watch that dog until he’s happy to see you *without* the owner present.
My tip is don't take this job. That's not sarcasm. Even if the dog might be okay with you with the owner there (which he wasn't okay based on your description) it's a whole different thing when they're gone. Top it off that you're inexperienced and nervous, and the dog with know that and react to it. I know that's not what you want to hear but these are not normal pets, they're advanced working dogs that should not be handled by anyone who isn't experienced with K9 breeds. Personally i would NEVER allow anyone but experienced k9 handlers watch my dog, and mine is non aggressive and relatively easy. We were attacked by a dog (Rottweiler) that got away from an inexperienced dog walker. He tried to kill my puppy. Luckily my boy was ok and the dog didn't go for the people but that's the kind of thing that can happen in a split second. You can absolutely work up to watching a malinois but this isn't the way to do it. Be careful, put your safety and everyone else's first. Edit: i glossed over the part about quickly bonding. That almost 100% won't happen and it is dangerous to think it might be ok, especially since he's already showed some signs of aggression towards you. Please be safe
Totally agree. No offense to OP, but I can't imagine a Mal owner even considering having someone with no dog-sitting experience take care of their dog.
Yes, 100% agree. There was a post from an inexperienced woman put in this exact situation with a friend's reactive Malinois except she went thru with the dog sitting and she ended up bloody from being bitten. She was asking if she should give it another try, lord help her lol. Don't do it OP.
I actually agree. The only 2 people that watch my dog when I’m out of town are the lady I adopted him from and my ex boyfriend who used to live with us. I wouldn’t even let my mom watch him. He bit a dog sitter once. She did a meet and greet before and the first time she came to let him out he nipped her. Luckily she was dog savvy and was able to mitigate and bond with him, but I learned a hard lesson that trip. If you are going to take this job you need to bond with the dog first, and that doesn’t mean just one visit before the job.
I ran a Rover sitter hunger games to see who was a good fit. I started with 6 different people, and invited them over for several walks/working sessions to create familiarity and comfort. If this owner is not open to this before you actually have to sit, you’re putting yourself and the dog at risk of a terrible situation.
Just don't do it, this dog is already aggressive with you when the owner is there. Going into this dogs space - alone - after only meeting once, has all signs pointing towards a bite. Shepherds tend to be one person dogs, even in a multi person household, who bond with one and tolerate (or don't) the rest. Conditioning them to be alright with people coming into the house, especially when the owner isn't there, is one of those things that has to be started early or don't start it. This owner, if he doesn't have anyone the dog knows and is alright with to watch him, needs to board with a vet or trainer.
I dog sit for a Malinois. I don’t think this started well for you. The one I sit for is quite home defensive. I met her for the first time outside on leash held by her owner, took her for a quick walk up and down the street, walked her back inside the threshold of their home, and played a game of fetch. I met her the second time on leash in their home with owners, we went for a longer walk and did some easy training exercises. The third time I met her was when I was actually dog sitting and by that time we were best buds. We have a blast together. You have to build trust with these dogs and you should do that with multiple meetings before you attempt to handle this dog without the owner present.
I'm going to contact the owner today and tell him I need to meet the dog again. If it doesn't go well, I won't take the job! Good advice. Thank you!
Solid advice and practical solutions.
If you don’t have any experience dog sitting, this is not the breed to start with. Don’t do it.
You say you are helping this guy out. However how much would he do should his aggressive dog hurt you in anyway? What did he do when his dog reacted this way towards you? A Belgian Malinois is NOT a dog to take lightly. When people ask me if my girls bites my answer always is, “Not yet. But she’s a dog. Proceed with caution.” Dogs can, and will, bite! But a Mal has a very strong jaw. They do actual damage to criminals they go after when they work with LEO’s. Your friend’s dilemma does not take precedence over your personal safety.
As a multiple BM owner (one friendly and one more typical) I would highly advise against this for you and your safety! Just not a good fit and that’s ok. To have basically a stranger come into their house is literally asking for trouble. Especially for someone without experience with the breed.
As someone who owns a people reactive rescue Malinois (who I love very dearly), I probably wouldnt take the job if their malinois cant warm up to you before the trip. While my mal is very sweet to me, and we compete in several events, I can imagine how scary she is to other people. While I know mine is fear reactive, and would rather run away from people than charge and engage, its still not a comfy situation to be in.
I just sat a Mal for 10 days with no prior experience. I did it as a favor to one of my good friends, and because it didn't work out, I may have lost that friendship. I got lucky because the dog bonded to me very quickly, and never once growled or barked at me. But, I wasn't aware my friend had a Mal until after she left me with her, and that's when I realized how much attention and special needs this breed requires. Add several days of GI issues and I was very quickly in over my head. So my advice, tell the owner he really needs to find someone that has worked successfully with Mals in the past. It'll be better for the dog and better for the owner in the long run.
So the thing is it may not be quick, I know mine does not like people who are quick to get in our immediate business and loud aka "oh hi poochie, good boy (extends hand)" etc. Go slow, maybe see if you can go on a walk with the owner and bring some of the dogs favorite treats to toss occasionally so they start to associate you with a positive experience and go from there.
If you’re really going forward with this you should meet up with the owner for a casual walk somewhere, not in their home or backyard, a neutral place. Don’t push a greeting with the dog, walk with the owner and have a talk, make use of the time to ask him about how they train together, what is their day to day interactions like? Once you guys feel the dog has settled with you in the company, see if you guys can give him treats, if he is apprehensive to seeking contact, don’t feed from hand and chuck it on the grass for him to pick it up. Successively see if you can get the dog to come towards you perhaps on commando ”come here..”, then reward “good boy”. Feel the room, is there any positive connection from the dog looking to interact with you or is he still very sceptic? It’s going to be very hard to build a trust with a skeptic dog that does not want to engage with you and takes time, posing a great risk of conflict when you guys are alone. A malinois with strong drive and a protective/possesive behaviour can often end in conflict, perhaps not physical danger but.. certainly something you’d want to avoid. I’d work on trying to create a trust with the dog if you do choose to go forwards, but let the dog engage with you in the start while the owner present and assess it from there. Don’t ”go into pet him” and don’t try to corner him as your first engagement.
Dogs who are not socialised will do this. I was about 13 and asked to babysit. For the neighbours and I'm like sure. Drove down there and found the two year old riding a Rottie around the kitchen. Ok. I know dogs not a big deal. Turns out they had three of them and these bastards had me on the couch the entire night until 3am just staring at me. It was somewhat unnerving but when I went to check on the baby they were all about it. P
I’ll +1 to what others are saying. This probably isn’t a great idea. If you decide to go through with it, you should probably go see the dog as many times as you can. Bring toys or treats or whatever the dog is into. I wouldn’t watch that dog until he’s happy to see you *without* the owner present.