Hazel

Hi, everyone In Hazel. I’m 6 months old and probably a Belgian Malinois (“mal-in-wah”) mix. I wasn’t living in good conditions as a young puppy, and I ended up spending two weeks in the vet hospital with parvo. But I fully recovered, I’ve been happily putting on weight and have a clean bill of health now so I’m ready to find my new family. I’m about 30 pounds currently, foster mom thinks I’ll be on the smaller side for my breed. 

I’m a happy and playful girl. I’d spend all day wrestling with my Doberman foster sister if I could, I don’t care she’s more than double my size.

I’m smart, I know a few basic tricks and would love to learn more if you’d teach me. I’m VERY food motivated. I’m friendly and like to meet new people, I’m always wagging my tail when I do. I like other dogs, and would do well in a home with other dogs. I get a little skittish on the initial greeting but once I realize they’re nice, I’ll be their best friend. However I have been displaying some leash reactivity (this means I bark when I see another dog and I can’t go right up to them to say hi). It’d be a good idea for my new family to try to work on some training while I’m still young to try and target this. 

I don’t live with kids right now. I’ve been a little shy on first introductions but would probably be fine once I get used to them. Toddlers and very young kids may not be a good idea as Malinois can have herding tendencies especially when young kids are running around and making a lot of noise. I haven’t been around cats, foster mom thinks probably not a good idea. 

Foster mom says I can be QUITE the barker- definitely not a good fit for apartments or condos/townhomes with shared walls. I may bark a lot if there’s a neighbor dog that lives in the next yard. Strong preference for a home with a fenced in yard. I’m an excellent climber, foster mom thinks I could probably scale a chain link fence if I were motivated to get out (a friendly neighbor or playful dog in the next yard would be tempting, or of course a squirrel). Generally we don’t recommend invisible fence for dogs with higher prey drives. 

Please research my breed! I know I’m cute but I’m definitely not a good fit for most people. I need a very active family that will give me plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. I would not be a good option for a first time dog owner and preference will be given to adopters with prior experience with herding or protection breed dogs and training experience.  Please be detailed in your application for how you plan to exercise Hazel and training experience/ breed experience.