# 1 year old Mal bitework



## Javier Vazquez (Jan 12, 2010)

Hello to all,

I have a one year old female mal. The problem that I am having is that when I do bite building exercises with her she'll bite the tug or bite building sleeve all day. However once I tie her or have someone hold her she shuts down. 

Another problem Im experiencing is her fear in the car. Ive had her since six months of age and nothing tramatic has ever happened to her in a car. Yest she is terrified to go in cars, I literally have to carry her to get her in the car. 

Any suggestions??


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Continue to tie her out and make it fun and try to get her to use her prey mode, samething with the car figure out waht she likes and continue to reward her over and over again till she loads up on her own. This wont happen over night from what you describe. This needs to happen alot on a daily basis to fix it. If you see no progress after a while like she willing to progress than get rid of her. Sorry for being blunt but better to be honest with someone than to continue to jerk their chain. Good luck to you.


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## Anna Kasho (Jan 16, 2008)

I agree with Harry.

If the dog is that way naturally, you can't do much to change her. You can work on it to a point, hide some of the problems, but eventually you will have to decide if you are asking more than this dog can give you. However, you as the owner/trainer can also cause all these problems in a good dog. For example, corrections and enforcing "leash manners" with a young pup, or your whole attitude about getting her into the car (if you get angry or frustrated, if you feed into her insecurities)

I will say that a really solid pup isn't going to have all these problems (unless they are made to). For example, my youngest mal had not been in a car since the first ride home from the airport at 8weeks, until she was 6-7 months old. Someone offered me a ride from work, I said go in the car and sit, she hopped inside and sat on the back seat looking out the window the entire way home, all cool about it.

If a dog can't handle normal life without having a nervous breakdown, what good is it?


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

Sorry for your loss.


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## Sonny Lee (Nov 11, 2009)

Javier Vazquez said:


> Hello to all,
> 
> I have a one year old female mal. The problem that I am having is that when I do bite building exercises with her she'll bite the tug or bite building sleeve all day. However once I tie her or have someone hold her she shuts down.
> 
> ...



Hi Javier,

We had the same problem with our 6 month old Tervuren until recently. We got her from a neglected family and she was not socialized nor exposed to any other situation than her crate. When we got her she would not even want to walk near any parked car. What we did is we would bring her out on car rides everyday, starting with rides just round the corner. We made it short and the end results from the car ride is usually fun... a walk in a new park, swimming at the beach etc. Now, she loves these car rides... whenever, the door opens, she would jump in on command.

As for the tie-back...just keep doing it. Again, short sessions and make it fun. She will eventually get it.

In short, keep everything fun and keep the sessions short. Make sure you are in a happy, cheerful, playful mood as well. I don't know if this is a fact, but she can sense it when we are upset and don't want to get in the car when we are upset. She is more eager to go anywhere with us when we are in a good mood.

Good luck.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Companion dog - work with it, Working dog, shit can it! At this age, the dog should be of the utmost confidence around obstacles, flooring etc.


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## Howard Gaines III (Dec 26, 2007)

Javier Vazquez said:


> Hello to all,
> 
> I have a one year old female mal. The problem that I am having is that when I do bite building exercises with her she'll bite the tug or bite building sleeve all day. However once I tie her or have someone hold her she shuts down.
> 
> ...


 The very reason we do environmentals...


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## Rigel Lancero (Aug 22, 2007)

At that age,what you see is what you get.

A dog with good nerves will always be a good dog.At 1 year old if a good nerved dog encounters a new situation it would be fine,it might get confused for a second but the true nature of the dog will still show,if it's good then it will recover immediately.


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## Michael Santana (Dec 31, 2007)

Jody Butler said:


> Companion dog - work with it, Working dog, shit can it! At this age, the dog should be of the utmost confidence around obstacles, flooring etc.


Fact.


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