Cuvee - My Superstar Puppy!

Cuvee was born October 4th, 2007 out of Bexter des Ombres Valereux and Saida du Bois de Vermont (check out http://www.pawsnclaws.us to learn more). She was so ridiculously adorable.

When I decided to get Cuvee, I had come to grips with the fact that Cyrrah wasn't going to be the French Ring Superstar I had hoped (she would soon prove me wrong). When I went to view the litter, my original intention was going to be to get a male. I'm not sure why, but I feel like my personality meshes with females a little better. So again, I didn't get anything close to what I was originally looking for. Cuvee was the pick female. She was reserved but the buyers selected a different puppy based on looks (stupid if you ask me). So I was blessed to have Cuvee.

Right off the bat she was great. Confident, loved to bite, not selfish (like Cyrrah!), a good pick. She was however, a monster in her own way. Growing up, we called her the TeeTee Queen. It seemed like this little puppy peed every 5 seconds. I would take her out, she would use the bathroom, I'd stick her back in her crate and within 5 minutes, she'd go again. I actually had her checked for a bladder infection because I had NEVER seen a dog pee as much as she did. In addition to her constant urination, she loved to carry things in her mouth and if we didn't give her something to carry, she would find something. I remember looking out the back window to find she had jumped up and ripped the screen off the window on the side of the house and shredded it, carrying around the frame as her prize. She has been spotted carrying pooper scoopers, entire plastic chairs, our outdoor lights that I thought were in the ground pretty good, and sometimes, but only sometimes, she would be spotted carrying a toy. And whatever she was carrying was her prize. She was proud and showing off...trotting around showing everyone who would look (which was typically just me). Luckily however, Cuvee wasn't the vicious demon Cyrrah was as a puppy. Cuvee never took out her frustration with teething on my legs or hands. So for this I was thankful.

Cuvee is just over a year old now and she exceeds my expectations every day. She bites so deep, I swear she is trying to swallow the leg cuff whole. She learns fast and LOVES to train. And man, for a female, she is STRONG. She can rip my shoulder right out of its socket when she "death shakes" the tug. She is pretty manish looking - she doesn't have the good looks Cyrrah was blessed with. And as a pup, she was stung on the nose by something and her entire face swelled up. We gave her benadryl but I don't think all of the swelling completely disappeared as her face still has a bit of a swollen look to it. She is my special girl....and she looks it! A little dorky but a ring superstar! Nobody will see her coming!

Cyrrah - The Early Days

I remember driving out to meet with the breeder and pick Cyrrah up. I was so excited. The breeder is located in Aguanga, just out east of the Temecula area. I hopped in my car, loaded up a crate and was ready to go. The drive was longer than I anticipated and as I entered the mountains, I began to worry. No joke, this place is in the middle of nowhere. I drove alone down windy roads, though mountains and canyons and wondered if I had actually contacted some serial killer who disquised themselves as a puppy breeder to lure girls in and murder them. I snapped back into reality as soon as I pulled up to their home and saw a couple standing knee deep in black puppies.

I walked over, met with the couple and watched as another couple picked out their beauceron puppy. Afterwards, it was my turn. Cyrrah was sitting by herself in a little pen, barking at me, begging me to grant her her freedom.

They brought her out, did some bite work with her, and without question, I knew this was my puppy. I paid them their fee and loaded her into the car, ignoring the crate I had brought and sitting her on a little blanket in my front seat where she slept the entire car ride home. I was smitten. I didn't know this adorable puppy would soon wake up to be a demon unlike any other you could imagine....

Cyrrah was an adorable puppy - that's for sure. But underneath all of the cute was a monster, waiting to attack unsuspecting legs and hands. She liked to bite more than your typical puppy and I assume, because of her training, she knew how better than your average dog. I took her everywhere with me and I remember my friends fearing her when they saw me toting her along. I would take her to our neighborhood pub and everyone would dote over her until the monster emerged. We brought a load of toys to distract her but nothing was as tasty to Cyrrah as human flesh. She would bark, eyeballing the victim and then launch a full mouth attack! Clear as day, I recall taking her to the beach for a game of fetch...After about 10 minutes, I saw the fury in her eyes, so I waded into the water fully clothed (she had never been in the water before) and she swam out after me and bit me in the ass! There was no stopping her!

I was bruised and bloody for the first few months of Cyrrah's life. She was a monster, that's for sure.

We started training with Cyrrah practically the instant we brought her home. I met with a trainer from Westminister and would commute twice weekly to Oceanside (about an hour away) to give my little monster a few minutes of bitework. She was good, but the fury definitely emerged while she was biting. She didn't want to let go of her prize and she wasn't going to let anyone make her!

Because of what I call, Cyrrah's fury, it turns out people started to think she wasn't a good candidate for Ringsport. She was reactive and. as she started to mature, she started to stress out during her bitework. Several people in ringsport encouraged me to "get rid of her" and focus on a "good dog". I had faith in Cyrrah...You see, I am not in this for my own ego or agenda. I am in this because I LOVE working with my dog and I LOVE that my dog loves to work. After watching Cyrrah practically pull me off my feet when she saw the decoy, I knew she loved the work. Even if she wasn't going to turn out to be a superstar, I didn't care. She was having fun.

I didn't always feel this way though. A few team members convinced me that Cyrrah was so stressed, she wasn't enjoying it at all. I didn't know why. She did go through a phase where she was so wound up at home that she seemed miserable all the time. I started to become concerned. I only wanted what was best for Cyrrah - I wanted her to have a life she was happy with. I was convinced she needed land - a ranch somewhere where she didn't feel confined. We have a yard but I didn't feel it was enough for her. So I began searching for a new home....and I found one quickly. I found a woman who had experience with Malinois and lived on a large ranch in the San Francisco area. It was perfect and I was devastated. I cried every day about Cyrrah leaving me but I felt like I had to do it for her sake.

In the meantime, I started switching up her training and routine to see if I couldn't combat the problem at home. I felt like I had to exhaust all of my resources before I could feel certain that rehoming her was what was best. I bought a treadmill and taught her to run on it, figuring more exercise would do her good. I took the pinch collar away - I felt like we were using too much compulsion in her training and I wanted to take a step back. I took bite work away - if everyone told me it stressed her out, why not give her a break? And I let her run the yard all day. She wasn't allowed to before because she would fence fight with the neighbors dogs and was actually tearing the fence down. So we put a new fence up and made it impossible for her to continue the behavior. I tried it all....and guess what? It worked! Cyrrah started to mellow out and actually, after about a month of not bite work, we gave her a bite and she had actually improved dramatically. She no longer seemed stressed and seemed to actually enjoy herself! My faith was renewed and I stopped the search for a new home!

I began training with her regularly again and she improved with each session. My breeder was still concerned that she was too reactive to make it past ring I (there are levels of Ringsport beginning with Brevet, then to Ring I, II and III) but I didn't care. She was having fun and so was I and that was all that mattered to me.

A Bit of History...

Just over two years ago, I decided to add a family member. You see, I am a dog trainer by profession. In order to improve my skills, I consulted one of the top trainers in my area for a mentorship opportunity. I wanted to learn about protection work. I had seen it done on videos and was fascinated. The trainer graciously spent about an hour on the phone with me. He told me all about protection work and then, told me that the best way to get involved in protection work was to really get my hands dirty and get a dog I could train up myself. I will never forget it. He told me to get a Belgian Malinois. Specifically, he told me to look for a "hard" pup with a "high prey drive, high fight drive". Being new to the field, I had absolutely no idea what this meant but he assured me this would teach me quite a bit about timing in a relatively short amount of time.

So I began my search. I started contacting breeders all over the states, explaining to them that I wanted a hard male malinois with a high fight drive. Most breeders quickly educated me otherwise, telling me that such a dog would be near impossible for me to handle. I didn't quite understand why at this point but looking back, thank goodness for these breeders and their wisdom!

I scoured the internet researching every breeder I could find. 32 to be exact. I checked references and pedigrees. I wanted the perfect pup. And then I found Cyrrah........

Cyrrah des Ombres Valereux to be exact. She was at a local breeder whose philosophy and references were perfect. Cyrrah wasn't my perfect dog. She didn't have a high fight drive and she was a female....not what I thought I was looking for. But when I saw her, I knew she was the one. I sent over my puppy buyer questionnaire and pretty soon, I had myself a ridiculously cute malinois puppy :-) More on this in another blog....

My original intent was to train my dog in Schutzhund - a well recognized protection sport that I had done a ton of reasearch on. However, after meeting with the breeder, I was turned on to a sport called French Ring, which touts being built for the Malinois, and requiring a significantly higher amount of control. I was told it's a "Trainer's Sport".


I remember watching videos and being widly impressed. The sport combines bitework with agility and obedience. The dogs that compete are no doubt the best of the best. I was hooked.

Long story short, I paired up with a trainer out of Westminister, quickly became involved in a So. Cal club, and started training in Ringsport. After no time at all, the sport and the malinois breed was in my blood. I was an addict and I have no problem admitting it. One year after I got Cyrrah, I got my second female, Cuvee who is also training for the sport.

This blog is dedicated to the blood, sweat and tears that have gone into and will continue to go into raising, training and competing of these AMAZING animals. They have taught me so much and I am so grateful to have them in my life.