Ever notice if your dog recognizes his kind? Juno always cries when she sees another Northern breed. But Loki surprises me because he's a mixed breed: Formosan and German Shepherd. Since we don't meet many Formosan's in Switzerland (ok none) his tendency is naturally toward German Shepherds. But I'm 100% certain, his favorite breed to mix it up with is the Belgian Shepherd, which we see plenty of in Switzerland. It doesn't matter if it's a Malinois or a Tervuren, Loki is typically head over heels for them. We came upon these two on a walk recently, as they were playing in a field with two other dogs. Though they approached us, they were calm and submissive which helped Loki keep a lid on his crackery with his leash still on.
The owners suggested I take the leashes off and encouraged us to let them play. Though they were all shocked that Juno could be off leash.
It warms my heart when Loki gets to play with his kind because he "gets" them and they "get" him. While he plays nicely with other breeds---just that morning he played chase with a Swiss Mountain dog at the beach and was a total gentleman to a whippet who hounded us---he holds back a bit with other breeds. There's just nothing like him being able to let his hair down and be himself among his kind.
This guy chasing Loki was the sweetest GSD I ever did meet. He was glued to my side when he wasn't playing chase.
Loki was in heaven playing with the male Tervuren who happened to be another sweet, docile dog.
His name is "Gun" but his owner said he should be named "Glue" because he sticks to her like glue. He looks like he was dipped in soot. And his temperament was almost perfect.
"Almost" because I had a hard time getting him to sit-stay and pose next to Loki or any dog. He seemed just the slightest amount of skittish of staying stationary in close proximity to other dogs.
Nothing that a little extra positive based training wouldn't fix.
Even with the older shepherds, like this 10-year-old Malinois above, Loki knows how to turn on the charm. He lifts a paw (as she does) and lets her know he likes her.
She warmed up to Loki faster than she warmed up to me. Usually it's the other way around. Like I said, they know their kind.
It's funny how Loki reads shepherds better than I can. Two years ago, the first time I passed a farm that regularly became a trail for us, a loose GSD ran off her property into the street to bark at us. I saw it as aggressive. Loki? He playbowed her. If it were another breed, I'm fairly certain he wouldn't have done that. I'd even bet he'd be cujo.
Loki tries his best to show Gun he liked him.
I'm certain a Belgian is in our future. But I feel pretty strongly about rescue, so likely I'll find one with "special needs."
What can I say? Once you have crack, you never go back.
Hi Juno and Loki
We are two labradors and we love meeting our own kind out on walks it's always such pawesome fun getting to play with another us. When do see another labrador on walks we know where going to be the best of fur friends because we have same play styles and just get each other. Plus it gives the humans something in common so while they talk about why they love us so much. We get to play together for a longer time and talk about important things like swimming and food. Your very lucky to make so many beautiful new fur friends on just one walk. Your human took some pawesome photo's of you all playing together
From Milo & Jet
We are always attracted to other rotts as well. We just love 'em. Though both Gizmo and I love(d), love, love playing with Joe, a big golden that we meet on our walks. We just like his energy...
You know we have talked about how Siberian's great their own, so cool that Loki has found his own.
I did have one quibble with your post, though. You said Loki "let his hair down." Errrr, wouldn't that be let his ears down? Just saying.
Love. This. Post.
My guys definitely recognize and zero in on other Belgians. And Shelties. Phoenix adores Shelties, whether they return the affection or not. Not sure where this is going.
Sending warm Belgian fuzzies from the Heartland. And nibbles. And other forms of malinois crackery.
This is a subject that fascinates me! Our Greyhounds always know other hounds and they are so different with them than with other dogs. The GSDs, too! Morgan plays great with other dogs at the dog park, but another Shepherd just sends her into a state of bliss. My husband is going to be drooling over all of these dogs when he reads your blog later, too! lol What gorgeous dogs!
Love that guy with the black head. At daycare, Dexter runs with a pack of black labs. It appears that the blonds are of little interest. Mango, however, never liked large dogs (well, unless they were large female dogs). Maybe I should have bought him a mirror because on the rare occasions he spotted a big dog like a Newfoundland or such he would have that "WTF is gigantic creature? Can we go home?" look on his face.
Mango Momma
Mom khlaims a Belgian is hers as well -
Of khourse, I khan't blame her!
Hugz&Khysses,
Khyra
What a thought-provoking post. Mama says her Danes always perked up when they saw other Danes and were most comfortable playing with other Danes. Abby being a mixed breed, she just looks for dogs her approximate size and speed and she's happy. Jed has never met another Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retriever since he came to live with mama, so no idea if there is a special link. He is no more attracted to Golden or other retrievers than he is to any other kind of dog. The only thing he doesn't like is being loomed over by larger male dogs, so he's sadly developed a hostility to Danes and Irish Wolfhounds in the past year or two.
Our huskies love other pointy-eared dogs, too - they understand how to play rough! 🙂
When you get back to the States, we unfortunately have quite a few Belgians coming into rescue in LA. Our shelters are overflowing with shepherds in general (huskies too - sigh), but we seem to also get quite a few other "exotic" breeds frequently.
Westside German Shepherd Rescue, Coastal German Shepherd Rescue, German Shepherd Rescue of Orange County, etc - all of them get Belgians from time to time. They all adopt to folks out of the area. Blue Collar Working Dog Supplies (an awesome big dog pet store) also posts up Malis when they get wind of adoptable ones - so check out their facebook page! There's a huge community of shepherd-lovers in LA, so you'll be sure to find help locating a Belgian!