Happy birthday sweet James 👏🐶My sweet dog has turned

5 years old Hooray !!

Picking up our new family member

When he was 9 weeks, we picked him up from a local dogbreeder nearby and it was terrible to leave his brother because they both looked so sweet!

How can you actually choose between two puppies?? Eventually, we did choose, and we have chosen a very high energetic character that is excited to explore but also very sweet.
In the first few weeks I learned what " having a dog" means and that it can be though sometimes. I never had a dog before so It was a very challenging period for us all.

How to raise a dog

In the first six months, he demolished some furniture, our coutch was digged open and my husband's Nike's we're ready to join the garbage because of the damage James had caused. Our floor became worn out very quick while he was learning to pee outside instead of in and that would go wrong from time to time....
We also went to puppy training with other dogs and we learned him to make eye contact on demand and to walk beside us, there were activities to do so he learned to react to our voice when we called him, like I was hidden after a small barn a d I had to call James " Here" he would have to run towards me, he liked that very much!

Such a blessing

In 2014 James became a big brother and again in 2016 and he is so sweet for the kids!
In September 2017 we gave our home a new look, and bought a new floor because after 5 years it was really worn out! Now he is calm and sweet, he does protects us when there is someone at the door, especially when he never saw that person before. When he knows the person at the door, he barks excited and wants to greet the gasts.

Although after all this raising up our puppy, I am so proud of my dog! He is my dog child:) He is such a blessing.
I love him very much!

Appearance

The Malinois is a medium-to-large and square-proportioned dog in the sheepdog family. The Malinois has a short mahogany coat with black markings. It has black erect ears and a black muzzle. It has a square build in comparison to the german shepherd.

Coat and color

Due to its history as a working dog (i.e.,being bred for function over form), the Malinois can vary greatly in appearance. The acceptable colors of pure-bred Malinois are a base color fawn to mahogany and tan with a black mask and black ears with some degree of black tipping on the hairs, giving an overlay appearance. The color tends to be lighter with less black agouti or overlay on the dog's underside, breeching, and inner leg. White markings are also allowed on the tips of the toes and the chest. A Belgian malinois may have a longer and darker hair coat than the typical malinois, but may still be referred to as a Belgian malinois.

The other varieties of Belgian Shepherd are distinguished by their coats and colors: the Tervuren is the same color as the Malinois but has long hair, the wire-coated Laekenois is fawn and lacks the black mask and ears, and the Groenendael (registered as Belgian Sheepdog by the American Kennel Club) has long hair and is solid black. When the Malinois was first bred, the four breeds would usually be cross bred, this would result in Malinois with longer hair, or even a darker coats. Today the four breeds are considered different breeds.

Size

Males are about 61–66 cm (24–26 in), while females are about 56–61 cm (22–24 in) at the withers. Female Malinois average 20–25 kg (44–55 lb); males are heavier at 25–30 kg (55–66 lb).

Thank you very much for reading and looking at the pictures of my lovely dog :)
I hope you have enjoyed it. Do you have pets? Tell me! I like to hear from you.

Here are some of my previous post that might interest you so
check it out!
They are also on my page ;)

https://steemit.com/steemit/@nymia.aryn/thank-you-all-for-your-support-almost-200-8424250ae9d65

https://steemit.com/art/@nymia.aryn/effects-of-a-g-i-f-on-my-drawing

https://steemit.com/artexplosion/@nymia.aryn/artexplosion-week33-theme-surreal-eyes-of-the-watcher

https://steemit.com/alldutchcreations/@nymia.aryn/what-i-have-made-because-of-steemit

https://steemit.com/alldutchenglish/@nymia.aryn/bibidibabidi-boo-shampoo-35388e8f0774f

https://steemit.com/art/@nymia.aryn/art-contest-10-underwater-a-world-of-agic-a4d4f9f4ad35f