# Introducing Siege!! My Snappinois <3



## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

A couple months ago I made a joke asking someone to give me a Malinois so I could stop wanting one. That same evening a friend/awesome breeder/Maliraptor (who used to be a active member of DF) messaged me saying they were looking for a home for their girl, newly retired from breeding. I had zero plans to get a second dog, definitely did not think it would be a Malinois, but I'd been admiring this particular girl ever since they got her and I couldn't say no. 

Last night we picked her up from the airport and fell in love with her immediately. She is sweet, so loving, so bouncy, and will put her paws up on my chest so I can pet her head. She spent the night stretched out against me, nudging me whenever I stopped petting her, and trying to "groom" me. She has also destroyed 3 balls since, tried to eat a sock before I put it on, jumped on top of her crate and my snake enclosures twice, and did back flips (almost literally) for hot dogs. Quiet and sweet when we are relaxing, nuts and ON when a ball or treat is out. In other words, perfect 

Officially introducing Siege the Belgian Malinois! Her previous home/my friend describes her as "very snappy" and there couldn't be a better way to describe her - she is snappy and sweet. I will take real photos later today and share - unfortunately don't have Lightroom on this laptop so you guys will have to make do with sooc for now, but I figure it's better than nothing!



















cellphone pics - she and Trent met briefly for a walk and then sat next to each other indoors for a few minutes while they both got treats. We're keeping them in separate rooms for now and taking it slow, but Trent likes her a lot. Too much, but hopefully he'll learn to be less obnoxious about it LOL

And yep, that's her soliciting more attention









"you has treats gimme gimme I'm cute"


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

She is absolutely gorgeous. I am a big maligator fan and hope to own one some day so I will be watching your posts about her with great interest. 

Do you have any hopes/plans for her once she's settled in for what you want to do with her?


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

She is absolutely beautiful. Congratulations!


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Ohmygosh ohmygosh, SO PRETTY. Um, but this is obviously not enough pictures to fully access the extent of her prettiness. 

I'm glad she arrived safely and that Trent likes her! She sounds so full of personality.


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## PatriciafromCO (Oct 7, 2012)

Congratulations !!!!! she beautiful


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

She's lovely! Glad she and Trent are hitting it off.  Looking forward to many more photos of her.


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## momtolabs (May 27, 2012)

She is adorable!!! Congrats!!!


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Thanks so much everyone!! Will try to have better photos soon, but for now here are a few more indoor shots


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Sleeping with one eye open LOL




















SDRRanger said:


> She is absolutely gorgeous. I am a big maligator fan and hope to own one some day so I will be watching your posts about her with great interest.
> 
> Do you have any hopes/plans for her once she's settled in for what you want to do with her?


Thank you! She is so much fun already, and I honestly believe I will have more Mals in the future. There is just something so great about having a dog that engages fully and immediately in the blink of an eye, with so much enthusiasm and attitude. And she is so sweet and earnest and perfect. Just a great all around dog. I wasn't sure about getting a Malinois so soon (my second dog ever lol) but I am so glad I did!

Nothing ambitious as far as plans go. She is IPO1 titled and I'd like to start that with her again this summer, maybe go for the IPO1 again and then try to bring her to a 2. I'm not a good trainer though so we will see LOL Also we'll do a lot of trick training, hopefully can teach her to do leg vaults and rebounds!


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## ForTheLoveOfDogs (Jun 3, 2007)

She's just gorgeous. So happy for you! <3


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## Slartibartfast (Sep 29, 2011)

Congrats! She is beautiful and it sounds like a lot of fun. How old is she? I am looking forward to seeing more pictures over time, especially when Trent and Siege are playing. Between your beautiful dogs and great photography skills, I am sure there will be some really memorable pictures to come.


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## DGerry (Sep 12, 2014)

She looks so happy and fun! And I love pointy ears <3


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## Rowdy (Sep 2, 2007)

She is gorgeous! Congrats on getting her!


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

Aaaaahhh!!! I luuuuuh her! I REALLY like her name too! Is that the one she came with or did you change it? Also a huge Mal fan here.


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

How did I miss this? CONGRATS!!!

She is so beautiful. Her and Trent are so cute together <3

She looks soooooooo sweet and affectionate. Seeing a different side of Mals in the photos already haha 

As always, looking forward to more updates and getting to "know" her more


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## d_ray (Nov 5, 2013)

Congrats! She's a beauty!


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## fourdogs (Feb 3, 2014)

Beautiful


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## Whistlejacket (Jul 26, 2012)

Omg she's adorable! Her smile in those pics <3

I really look forward to see more of her, and of course, more of Trent and her together!


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## GrinningDog (Mar 26, 2010)

Ha! Love the sleeping-with-one-eye-open. Gypsy does that too. I always assure her that I won't be doing anything interesting for the next 30 min ("Really, you can nap!"), but she never believes me.

Toothy mal smile is darling.


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## Amaryllis (Dec 28, 2011)

Yay! Part of what I love about this forum is the chance to vicariously "have" breeds I could never handle myself. I look forward to hearing about life with a maliraptor.


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## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

OMG!!! What a doll-face!! Can't wait to see more pics! 
She and Trent make a lovely couple


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## Little Wise Owl (Nov 12, 2011)

Congrats on the new addition! She's beautiful!


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## Damon'sMom (Aug 2, 2011)

Beautiful! Congratulations


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Thank you so much everyone!! She is incredible, everything I was promised and so much more than that. She is exactly the kind of dog I was looking for, for when I eventually got into the Malinois breed. I couldn't be happier with this dog, so grateful to have her. 

Trent is doing SO well knowing there's another dog in the house, he's so respectful of my wishes and good. He's still obnoxious with her so we're taking intros slow, but we've gotten to the point where sometimes he can be loose with her while she's tethered. He's a very, very good dog, too. We will get photos of the two of them together later this week.



jade5280 said:


> Aaaaahhh!!! I luuuuuh her! I REALLY like her name too! Is that the one she came with or did you change it? Also a huge Mal fan here.


Thank you so much! I named her  She came to me as "Zala", but I wanted to name a girldog myself so named her "Siege". 



taquitos said:


> How did I miss this? CONGRATS!!!
> 
> She is so beautiful. Her and Trent are so cute together <3
> 
> ...


Thank you! Yes she is stunning, and her personality is perfection. Haha and yeah, she is one of the few universally sweet Mals out there. Next Malinois I get I'll want to be angrier, but Siege is perfect for me and ideal. I only post photos of her sleeping and sitting though because I CANNOT catch her moving on camera!! She is a _hurricane _and unstoppable, snapping teeth everywhere and she has springs for legs. Pull out a toy or treats and she's nutso, which is exactly what I want! She's also making sure I get a toooon of exercise, LOL


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Siege sweetie, your crazy is showing


















Happy, happy girl


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

"Throw the ball!!" (a moment where she stayed still...for the most part she was bouncing and springing up excitedly)









Pretty, pretty girl



























I didn't capture it, but she has GORGEOUS movement


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## SDRRanger (May 2, 2013)

Love all the teeth in your sig line hahahaha


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

She's gorgeous! How much does she weigh?


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

SDRRanger said:


> Love all the teeth in your sig line hahahaha


LOL! Yes, I couldn't resist  When it comes to dogs, I definitely have a type!



jade5280 said:


> She's gorgeous! How much does she weigh?


She's an itty bitty perfect girl, she's 43 lbs!


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Amaryllis said:


> Yay! Part of what I love about this forum is the chance to vicariously "have" breeds I could never handle myself. I look forward to hearing about life with a maliraptor.


Yes! I love getting to live vicariously with different breeds and "meet" rare breeds and interesting mixes through DF.



Equinox said:


> She's an itty bitty perfect girl, she's 43 lbs!


Wow! She seems so much bigger. Katie was 42 lbs at her vet visit on Sunday and Siege looks bigger.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

cookieface said:


> Yes! I love getting to live vicariously with different breeds and "meet" rare breeds and interesting mixes through DF.
> 
> Wow! She seems so much bigger. Katie was 42 lbs at her vet visit on Sunday and Siege looks bigger.


I'll be sure to share all about the Malinois experience  It's been a lot of fun, I am so glad I made the leap and was entrusted with such a stellar dog. I'm not sure how tall she is (maybe about 28" at the head? She seems to be just above Trent's shoulders). She is super lightly built. She also looks bigger in these pictures for some reason (the ones of her next to Trent) but she's definitely half his size.


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## NyxForge (May 5, 2013)

Equinox said:


>


She is lovely! I really love her coloring. And they look really great together.


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## jade5280 (Feb 20, 2013)

I love how petite and slim she is and that white chest is so cute. Trent's head is huge compared to hers!


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## ireth0 (Feb 11, 2013)

How did I miss this?! She's just stunning, and they look so great together. Congrats!


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Thanks guys!!! Yep, she's definitely extra travel sized, and like I mentioned actually looks bigger next to Trent in pictures LOL In person she's super tiny! And Trent definitely has a giant head in comparison!!


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## taquitos (Oct 18, 2012)

An "angrier" Mal lol! Man, what a way of describing a breed hahahaha.

How is Trent doing with her? I know you were working on his reactivity a while back. Judging by the photos I am assuming things have been going very smoothly though  They are so adorable together. Trent is so masculine and hunky and Siege is so feminine and petite <3


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

taquitos said:


> An "angrier" Mal lol! Man, what a way of describing a breed hahahaha.
> 
> How is Trent doing with her? I know you were working on his reactivity a while back. Judging by the photos I am assuming things have been going very smoothly though  They are so adorable together. Trent is so masculine and hunky and Siege is so feminine and petite <3


Hahaha I picked it up from other Malinois people  Angry bitey pointy brown dogs - they're kinda really cool! Trent is actually much grumpier and more defensive/protective than she is, and she's the more easy going one _personality _wise. Emphasis on personality, not drive or energy or anything like that LOL When it comes to playing or training, she is nuts. She's already grabbed me above the chest several times, stomach once, and arms once or twice. Small nips because she was going for my clothes/the toy, but bring out a toy or tease her with one and she is on fire!! The other cool thing is that even if it's a toy or food she isn't really in love with, she'll still work just as hard for it. She gives everything 200%. 

I admittedly haven't actually done much to work on Trent's reactivity, since we don't get that many opportunities to do so. When we do, we work on it, but for the most part it's just faded over the years now that I know how to engage and read him. His reactivity now is residual behavior from an earlier phase where I did not manage him or the situations correctly. He still can be selectively same sex reactive, but that's from being an intact male that always wants things done his way haha. He's doing GREAT with another dog in the house. Much, much better than I had hoped for. 

It's Day 4-5 right now, and he is off leash with free access to any room while Siege is tethered to me. He largely just ignores her, and when she annoys him he usually turns and moves away. They can play ball now side by side, him off leash and her on the long line, and they get along. They eat treats off my hand together (inevitable since I walk them both myself, and Siege divebombs for treats lol). Trent's been really tolerant of her and very, very well behaved these few days. I appreciate this dog a lot, he is still my heart and soul and perfect boy  

He also has gotten less grumpy and reactive with other dogs in the last few days, and I believe this is because he's had more chances to learn that ignoring dogs (aka Siege) -> lots of treats and praise.


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

HOW DID I MISS THIS. Congratulations! She is gorgeous, and looks like she's settling in well. And I love your new sig pics.


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## cookieface (Jul 6, 2011)

Equinox said:


> Thanks guys!!! Yep, she's definitely extra travel sized, and like I mentioned actually looks bigger next to Trent in pictures LOL In person she's super tiny! And Trent definitely has a giant head in comparison!!


Oh, she is a petite thing. What a gorgeous pair.


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## momtolabs (May 27, 2012)

They are so cute together!!!


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## lil_fuzzy (Aug 16, 2010)

Congrats! She's gorgeous


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## CandyLeopard (Oct 14, 2013)

She's just beautiful! Congrats


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## BellaPup (Jul 7, 2007)

Equinox said:


> Thanks guys!!! Yep, she's definitely extra travel sized, and like I mentioned actually looks bigger next to Trent in pictures LOL In person she's super tiny! And Trent definitely has a giant head in comparison!!


Trent and MiniTrent :becky:

Glad things are going smoothly between them! Siege certainly found the right companions to live with - still so excited for you!!


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Ah, thanks so much for all the nice comments guys <3



Sibe said:


> HOW DID I MISS THIS. Congratulations! She is gorgeous, and looks like she's settling in well. And I love your new sig pics.


I'm posting so many updates and pictures, the whole world is going to see this eventually LOL Thank you so much!! Haha yes, I love my crazy dogs!



cookieface said:


> Oh, she is a petite thing. What a gorgeous pair.


Yes, and Trent definitely makes that evident. He is 80+ lbs to her 40+ lbs LOL



BellaPup said:


> Trent and MiniTrent :becky:
> 
> Glad things are going smoothly between them! Siege certainly found the right companions to live with - still so excited for you!!


Thank you!! I think they'll be getting into trouble together in no time


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

Okay, I know I keep only posting photos of her standing/sitting/lying around, but to be fair, it's HARD to play with her and take photos too! She likes to bounce on and off of me, and most pictures end up like this










Also, her and Trent are learning to coexist on the bed! It's pretty much not a problem, Trent usually moves off the bed because he doesn't like to share, but I want him to enjoy doing what he usually does. 

I only stepped away to take a picture - I was by him the whole time feeding him treats, and Siege was leashed. And he's not lip lifting, just making a funny face lol


















My incredibly good boy <3









And Siege being super adorable and spoiled. Love this off switch! She sleeps perfectly on my bed through the night


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## Laurelin (Nov 2, 2006)

That photo reminds me of many photos I have of a certain dog that look like this:

HANKJUMP by summerpapillons, on Flickr


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

The hardest dogs to take photos of at the shelter are the jumpers. You get a photo of a crazy "immabout to jump!" face, or a portion of a body.


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## Kyndall54 (Apr 26, 2013)

I'm loving these pictures and I've been following on FB too! I'm so excited for you! Are you going to do any sports with her? How's her personality compared to Trent's? I know it hardly ever snows in Oregon but I think snow pics of the both of them would be adorable haha.


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## Eeyore (Jul 16, 2014)

Amaryllis said:


> Yay! Part of what I love about this forum is the chance to vicariously "have" breeds I could never handle myself. I look forward to hearing about life with a maliraptor.


This! 

Also, she looks awesome, and it does sound like the perfect way to get into a demanding breed - get an adult dog with known personality and some training already done. Congrats!


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## CptJack (Jun 3, 2012)

I'm just here to drool over the gorgeous and join the jumping dogs club.









That's not even in focus but. Yeah. I have a lot of them.


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## Equinox (Nov 11, 2008)

LOL love all the pictures, figured you guys would understand  Crazy dogs are so much fun!



Kyndall54 said:


> I'm loving these pictures and I've been following on FB too! I'm so excited for you! Are you going to do any sports with her? How's her personality compared to Trent's? I know it hardly ever snows in Oregon but I think snow pics of the both of them would be adorable haha.


Thank you!!! I do plan to do sports for sure, will hopefully join a club this summer for IPO, and then we'll do some rally/ob trials too!

Her personality is the opposite of Trent's in a lot of ways. Trent is honest, steadfast, and even though he's impulsive he's a thinking dog. He's also louuuuud, and leaks drive as vocalizations. Siege is a troublemaker, reactionary but not reactive, fast, always on the move unless she's "off" (she's either off or completely ON), and gives zero thought to the results of her actions LOL She just does things. She's extremely determined, as is Trent, but with her there are no rules and nothing that would get in the way of getting what she wants. No such thing as obstacles for her! She's also completely tireless, does not take breaks and though she settles extremely well, it's not because she's resting. Exercise that would exhaust Trent barely has her panting. 

She also works extraordinarily well for rewards she doesn't care much about, which is new to me. Her hunt drive is exceptional. She's also super happy and goofy, whereas Trent is an innately serious dog and often grumpy. Trent is a defensive, possessive, protective dog whereas Siege is uncharacteristically social and friendly to everyone  She's also SUPER affectionate, very touchy feeling, while Trent does not particularly like prolonged contact of any sort. 

Oh, and she is significantly more handler soft than Trent is. Trent is a dog I consider to be hard in temperament, and Siege responds much better to verbal correction. She craves engagement, attention, and feedback while Trent is more independent. Both are biddable and love to work for their handler but also for reward. Both are ball crazy and tug crazy, though Siege turns on FAST and very intensely (snapping crazed machine the moment a ball or tug comes out). And when it comes to playing ball, both treat it as work but Trent does it to get the ball (and tries to keep it afterwards) but Siege does it for the game/work itself and will drop the ball at my feet for it to be thrown again. 

Both awesome dogs, driven in similar and different ways with various thresholds and how they express it. It's a wonderful balance!

Also - I have been DYING for it to snow!!! Augh, I've yet to get any good pictures of dogs in the snow since getting a DSLR, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed this year!



Eeyore said:


> This!
> 
> Also, she looks awesome, and it does sound like the perfect way to get into a demanding breed - get an adult dog with known personality and some training already done. Congrats!


Thank you so much! I'm more than happy to share all about her  I don't consider myself a very experienced dog owner nor a talented trainer, but I do love dogs like Siege (and Trent!) and there's going to be a lot of fun for us ahead  I'm so incredibly grateful to my friend for this opportunity, it really is just ideal for me and what I needed in a dog (particularly a Malinois). 

__________________________________

A few more pictures from yesterday, of her and Trent!





































She actually looks just as big as Trent in these photos, not sure how that happened LOL


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