Happy 10th Birthday, Doogie!
I got sick over the weekend :( Fever, chills, sore throat, and in bed for half the day Saturday, all day Sunday, and most of the day today. You know who settled right in next to me for every minute of bed rest? My greatest friend of all time.
Pic from 12/1/25
Doogie turns TEN today, and we celebrate EIGHT years of him living here with our family. I cannot believe it’s been that long as he is truly the glue that holds our house together. I can’t (and refuse to) picture a life without this little friend.
To celebrate Doogie’s (estimated) tenth year on Planet Earth, I wanted to share a few of the lessons that this little dog has taught me.
It’s easy to get caught up in the boldness of the Malinois when thinking about ‘dog training’, but really, I think some of my most important lessons have been learned right alongside Doogie.
If you were to label Doogie, a few labels that come to mind are:
Nervous
Shy
Avoidant
Fearful
Reserved
Hesitant
His Life Experiences up until I met him at ~2yo were not great, and without knowing for sure, I’d assume there is a Genetic component to his behavior as well. I say this because although he’s made great strides in 8 years, he is still a shy dog and those nervous tendencies can and do come back from time to time. The world is big and scary and before, Doogie only knew how to cope by hiding, freezing, retreating, making himself as small as possible, and hoping things would go away.
Pic from 12/10/17 — look how worried he was
Doogie had, what I would consider, a pessimistic world view. He woke up and was worried about what might happen that day. Would it be something bad? Where would he go? Would he be able to find safety?
Lesson #1: ‘Dog Training’ for sensitive dogs (...or all dogs?) doesn’t look or feel like dog training
The magic here is in the predictability. Dogs, especially sensitive dogs, like to be able to know what happens next.
“When X happens, Y follows”. Not necessarily talking operant conditioning in a ‘dog training’ (click/treat) sense. More in a Predictable Pattern of Precedent way. (check out Kim Brophey’s discussion on PPPs). This is just the routine and the way things work, over and over again.
Using predictable phrases (Mr. Rogers Hack is something I now regularly prescribe), lots of general talking to Doogie throughout the day, and doing our routine tasks (going outside for potty, meal times, night/morning routine, etc.) the same way every time.
Our ‘Dog Training’ aka time specifically set aside to ‘train the dog’ (do you see how weird it sounds? Dogs are always learning.) were reserved for shaping ‘pointless’ behaviors. At first, Doogie didn’t understand what we were doing and would walk away, sit down and turn his head, or something similar – this training setup is form of ‘pressure’ – he would shut down under the question of ‘what should I do’.
By charging his marker word – literally just clicking and tossing treats – he learned that he really liked the click, because the click predicted a treat being tossed across the room for him to chase. Then, I would just click for ANY behavior he offered. Once he connected the dots that HE can CONTROL the click by OFFERING behaviors himself – boom.
Now, don’t get me wrong, Doogie is not an AKC Obedience Champion by any means. The dog knows ONE trick on a cue and it’s a hard target. Actually, acquiring behaviors was not my goal here (not saying acquiring behaviors would be a bad goal, just not mine with Doogie). But, I saw the confidence he gained by just opting in and trying in different sessions start to bleed over into all other areas of his life.
Now, he LOVES to do ‘dog training’ and is quick to offer to put two feet on an object (scary), get fully off the ground and on an object (very scary), sit stationary on an object (scary), touch objects with his nose or paws, and even pick objects up with his mouth. All learned through shaping and him offering behaviors for me to reinforce.
The behaviors don’t matter to me – the increased confidence does.
Lesson #2: Dogs speak through their body language and it’s important we learn how to listen to them
I know, this is basic stuff now. But, 8 years ago, it wasn’t basic to me. I didn’t know what I was looking at!!
Doogie is a master communicator both with how he responds to people and how he interacts with dogs. He works through almost every signal escalating up the aggression ladder – freeze, move away, whale eye, head turn, lip lick, yawn, lip raise, growl. He rarely escalates without needing to (a few times is warranted LOL!) and it’s really amazing to watch him go about his Doogie Business now that he has some confidence.
Pic from 7/19/18 — Doogie with foster brothers Sush (yellow) and Unnamed Puppy (brindle) and his then sister, Big Mac (blue eyes)
I didn’t start intentionally learning about the concept of pressure in dog training (in all forms – environmental, human/handler, other dogs, situational, interaction, etc.) until a few years ago, and looking back on our 8 years together, Doogie has been teaching me about pressure since day 1.
Megan likes to say: always look at what the dog IS doing, but also don’t forget to notice what the dog ISN’T doing. Doogie likes that line of thinking.
Lesson #3: There are so many ways to interact with a dog that don’t include reaching for them or making physical contact – this is a direct lesson that came out of really starting to take lesson #2 seriously
Doogie gets overwhelmed by life easily – he’s only 25#! He does like physical closeness and petting and ‘squishing’ from his select people – we could go down a whole social relationship rabbit hole– on his own terms, but the way we were ‘taught’ to interact with dogs is not the same way that Doogie has taught me to interact with dogs.
Some of Doogie’s favorite ways to interact are:
-Listening intently as you describe literally anything to him (again with the Mr. Rogers Hack)
-Sniffing all my clothes while I unpack my things from the day – this is one of Doogie’s favorites. Usually I don’t talk to him but just look down to see him quietly wagging and sniffing my pants and shoes to see where I was and who I was with all day!
-Gasping – think a surprised quick intake of air – he hears a gasp and he is springing up and ready to go do whatever it is we’re doing!
-Doing ‘jazz hands’ or wiggly fingers as an invitation into my space, and then still following that up with minimal touching
-Doing tandem stomping feet/’wagging’, which usually prompts Doogie to put his front feet on my leg – again, not always an invitation for us to stick our hands out and touch him!
-Consent checks – always!! This is a concept I feel very strongly about in ALL work with dogs, and I talk about it with every single person in a shelter setting. Take your hands off the dog after 2-3 seconds of petting. What do they do? Do they ask to reconnect? Do they freeze in place? Yawn, lick their lips, turn their heads away?
Pic from 6/30/19
Lesson #4: There is power in community, family, and forming close relationships
Of course, Doogie’s fears ‘improved’ just with some consistency and routine, and his curated environment at home. But, real change happened when Doogie became a brother to a Malinois.
Dale truly changed Doogie’s life and helped open up his world in ways I could not.
Having a big, brave sister to do things first gave Doogie invaluable social learning opportunities. He would observe Dale getting positive attention from a new person (pressure), or watch her push under a chair (pressure) to sniff something and all of a sudden he was there, too, trying for himself.
Regularly, Doogie will give Dale a sniff-spection when we get home from an outing to see where she was all day. She allows him to be a rude and annoying little brother and self-handicaps to let him win every time.
Every time he barks at something, she is immediately there checking out the ‘threat’. She has given him the constant support and guidance he needed from another dog friend and it’s been so fun to see them thrive together.
Pic from 3/8/21 — Doogie with his sister, Dale (middle), and his foster sister Stitch/Baby Dog (right)
Lesson #5: Nosework really, truly is magical
Back to ‘Dog Training’ – Doogie does know one behavior chain very well and that is searching for something. Treats or his Monter toy or essential oils, Doogie LOVES to use his sniffer to search for and locate something.
I’m a sucker for all things sniffy (snuffle mats, foraging toys, enrichment boxes, etc) but something about hiding something specific and asking the dog to find their way to it brings out a different form of problem solving that helps them connect with their environment and grow their confidence. Nosework has been an instrumental piece to all of my dog’s overall Quality of Life for different reasons.
Doogie searches several times a week for his food or some treats at home, and a few times per month will join the big dogs in a search for competition oils in the backyard. These skills have translated to the cabin we rent up north, where Doogie ranges out on his own, off-leash, and actually sourced a hide all the way behind the garage once!
It doesn’t feel like we should be celebrating TEN years for Doogie but here we are! I am so thankful for the last 8 years with my best little friend and would not be the human or trainer I am now without him. I hope everyone comes across their own life-changing Doogie at some point in their lifetime. I’m cherishing every single moment I get to spend with mine.
Pic from 3/19/22 — ‘Two Brothers’ Doogie and Buddy
Happy birthday, Mindu! <3
Pic from 4/29/23 — Doogie and his sharks, Buddy and Dale, hiking off leash at the cabin in Grayling, MI
