Introducing: Raven

Time to introduce our newest member of the family: Raven. Just like Gator, she's a Malinois.

Raven came to us in August. Since we were really lucky with Gator as a puppy, I expected Raven to be a handful. And I was right about that! When we picked her up, she was already trying to escape the kennel she was in. She also tried to chew my hand. That was the one I'm taking. On the way home she was calm and mostly sleeping on my lap, but at home she turned into that little miss attitude again.

Potty training with Raven

She's now 16 weeks old. Still young, still in potty training. Those nights can be hard, and you really have to be committed to wake up a lot. During the day you have to go out every time she drank, played or slept. It's watching her non stop. But it's paying off! She's now holding it for most of the night and during the day she barely has any accidents. She actually knows how to get my attention and then goes to the door. For a pup her age, I'm proud of her.

Basic and advanced obedience

She's currently in basic obedience. She's learning how to have a good leash walk and all basic commands to walk in public. While she's in basic, she's also learning some advanced commands already. She's just catching up real fast! Her real advanced obedience will start when she has a reliable recall, but inside we can have some fun and see what she does. And if she's getting frustrated, we just go back to basics again! With her age we can't expect miracles, but she's doing amazing.

Making friends

Socialising Raven has its ups and downs. She's doing really good with the other dogs in the house and with Smokey, our foster. But when it comes to other dogs, she is insecure. In the beginning she has no idea how to act around a new dog. But when she realizes that the dog is friendly, she starts playing. It's something we have to work on and keep working on for sure. But she's making friends along the way! Our neighbor's dog, Mia, is her best friend now. They're really sweet together!

Plans for the future

Raven is a Malinois. So she needs a job to keep her stimulated. She loves to use her nose! While being outside she's with her nose on the ground the whole time, looking for things. She also figured out she can sniff the car. She walks around it, sniffs every part and then stops at the door. The first time I didn't realize why she stopped. When I opened the door I noticed it right away: there was a bag with treats in the front seat! That's why we decided that she's going to be doing something with detection or search and rescue. We have to test her to see if she's capable of doing it, but so far it's looking promising!

Some things Raven loves:

• Her brothers, Gator and Aatu

• Her big sister, even though she won't admit

• Smokey and Mia to play with

• Running around in the yard

• Searching for treats through the house and around the car

• Sitting on the mower (don't ask me why)

Raven is one of those dogs that's always busy doing something. While growing up she's going to test our limits. We'll keep you posted about that journey!