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Gatsby is 16 months old. His birthday is December 15, 2021. Gatsby was bought from a Malinois breeder in Mississippi in April of 2022 when he was 4 months old. He is a pure breed Belgian Malinois as well as AKC registered. He has been neutered and microchipped. He is up to date on all his shots. He also receives a monthly preventative chew for fleas, ticks, and worms (Simparica TRIO). He is house trained, and crate trained. Gatsby has lived in a household with (2) adults, a child (6 years old), and a domestic cat (2 ½ years old). Gatsby has had some separation anxiety since we received him last April. We believe he may have been the last of his litter to be bought. He is very much a lover. The second you begin to pet him; he melts like a big baby. If you stop petting him he will immediately begin to get your attention again even if your hand is still on him. He has a protective manner when it comes to the family unit. He is very protective of my daughter. He is not much for being alone. With me being his owner, he tends to follow me around in the house wherever I go. He is jealous of the affection of others. If you hug or even touch someone in the house he will jump up on you and/or shove his way in. He thinks he is so deprived of love. Haha. Gatsby has gone through multiple trainings. We started a 6-week in home personal trainer when he was 5-6 months old after we got him. Basic commands and crate training. After that we found a training facility close to our home where he attended a day and train program 3 times a week (Mon, Wed, and Fri). This program was essentially doggie daycare where they would receive mini training sessions throughout the day while they were there. He did this for about 4-5 months. At this point, we decided to do a board and train program (6-weeks) with the same facility. Gatsby did great. This was all basic obedience. After the program, we continued the day and train program with him 3x a week. We did this because we are a military family and we would rather him get some training in and have an outlet rather than be coped up in a crate all day at home. Gatsby is very toy driven versus food driven. We did treats for rewards with his very first program and he would lose interest rather quickly. The second trainer that we used found he reacted more to being rewarded with a toy/play. The commands he knows are: Heal (he is still iffy with this one sometimes), sit, down, place, crate, wait, free, and out. His recall command is his name sometimes combined with “come”. He has not had any off-leash work done. No protective or bite work has been done either. Gatsby loves to play fetch with his frisbee in the backyard. He loves to chase squirrels and birds in the yard. He loves to just run wild and free like a mad man through the yard as well. (He looks like a greyhound race dog when he gets going, haha.) You have to be stern with him when it comes to playing fetch and such or else he will get pushy. He needs a reminder every now and then that YOU are in charge. He does well walking on a leash. Sometimes he pulls on a regular collar. We do use a pull collar that he tends to respond very well to. No shock collars have ever been used. In the evening times, Gatsby sleeps in my (the owner) room. He will sleep on the floor and sometimes will climb onto the bed and sleep at the foot of the bed curled up next to you. We have tried blankets and dog beds, but he chews and/or shreds them. The only time Gatsby is in his crate is when we are not home. We place his water bowl and food bowl (if he hadn’t finished his meal) in the crate with him. Other than that, he roams free in the house or backyard. We do leave his crate door open when we are home and recently he will go into his crate to lay down for a few on his own. Gatsby does well with other animals. He does have a tendency to chase the cat in the house but never attempted to attack the cat. Nothing malicious. Gatsby’s self-confidence still could use some improvement. He is definitely 100x better since we first received him, but he can be quick to coward to other dogs. He tends to get scared and bark at things if he knocks something over or bumps into something and it makes a noise. Gatsby is nervous in cars. He does not act out or anything, but he tends to hunch down in the seat and shake. We do give him calming treats before car rides. We have boarded Gatsby, a few times, during times we go on trips. He has always done well at the boarder. We do take his calming treats to the board in order to help with his separation anxiety. Usually, the first few days he does not eat much. He will just pick at his food, but once he has settled in he eats fine. As far as grooming, he is not a fan of getting his nails trimmed. It is a two-person job. He is pretty submissive in the shower when I bathe him, and then out of the shower when I dry and brush him. For our home grooming, I put him in the bathroom and close the door to keep him contained.

ABMR thanks you for taking the time to look at our malinois available for adoption.