Toby

Toby | Dutch Shepherd x Belgian Malinois | Male | 12 months old

Dog Friendly: yes
Cat friendly: untested
Child friendly: yes but he’s big and bouncy
Crate Trained: yes
Fencing requirements: 6ft solid not see through

*** Knowledge and experience with this breed required **

Hi I’m Toby. I’m not your average pet dog, I’m a working breed mix of the highest kind.

I’m not gonna lie to you to get you to adopt me because that would be pointless for both of us. I am a lot of work. I won’t just sit mindlessly in the back yard while you’re at work or if you’re too busy for me & I am NOT going to be happy with just a basic walk, cuddle, meal kind of day. You try to live with me like that and I’m likely to escape causing you grief with local laws or I will destroy your home.

I have energy and it needs to go somewhere, it’s up to you as the human to direct it into the right things. I am a dog who was bred to do stuff. I don’t really have a stand by mode in my settings. But what you put in I will give back x100.

Where I lived before, my owner didn’t do enough with me and I became a nuisance. I wasn’t getting what I needed so I decided to go find it for myself. This got me into trouble with the council as I would escape and fill my every minute with what ever mischief I could get up to out and about. Just free to run a muck at the beach and harass other dogs to play with me because of this I got surrendered to the council and they helped me find my current foster human.

Now I’m living with a human who understands me and her dogs. Life is amazing.

My level of fulfilment has gone from 0 to 100.

Everyday, every single day, I have some training either at home or in group obedience classes with Canine Training School, I get exercised, I play with her dogs, and I play bred specific games like tug with the human. Tug is really good outlet for me. I’ve even been swimming in the pool.

I am now crate & kennel trained, so if my human needs to go somewhere that I can’t go, I am secured so I can’t escape. This keeps me safe and out of trouble and usually includes something fun to keep me entertained like a kong. Kongs are sooo good, they have food stuffed inside of them and somehow taste different every time 😋 and on hot days they’re even cold, frozen!

When I first arrived into care I was a bit unruly. I was like a wind up toy that had been over wound and finally let go of. I pulled on the leash, was a little leash reactive to other dogs, and I displayed barrier frustration towards other dogs.

Spending so much time roaming free whenever I felt like it, I didn’t really learn how to see another dog and not immediately run up to them, so I got frustrated when I couldn’t. I also jumped at / body slammed into, nipped & mouthed my new human a lot! I gave her some pretty epic bruises our first week together. I didn’t mean to hurt her but I just got so excited. Puppy antics are all fun and games until you grow up and become 30kg right?

I’m learning to be less mouthy on my human, she’s teaching me games like tug where I can fulfil my desire to use my mouth but in a safe way. You see for my breed it is a natural impulse to want to bite things. You may even see me doing little air snaps during games or training, it’s an impulse. You need to provide me with the right things to bite or I’m going to bite the wrong things and you’ll likely get mad or upset with me and I don’t want that. I also really love the flirt pole. It’s my favourite.

Kids: So yeah, I met some kids, I LOVED THEM but the smaller one(6) was scared of me and didn’t want to meet me. I wouldn’t sit still and was very excited. The other was a little older(11), while she was a little intimidated by me she was brave enough to meet me and gave me pats. I’m friendly and love pats but I’m very big and a bit of a bouncy doofus and like to greet you with my mouth open, tongue hanging out and I don’t know how big I am. Despite looking like a big dog, in my brain I’m still just a silly puppy. My current human recommends on leash or holding my collar introduction to kids and other people so I don’t body slam into them, at least until I’m better trained anyway.

Dogs: since being in care I have met two cattle dogs, they’re my besties. When it’s playtime we race and chase around the yard together. I’ve met a border collie, she’s an older lady, I only get to interact with her when I’m calm otherwise I might bump into her hurting her by accident. I’ve even met two small dogs, the little fluffy guy is cool. We play together nicely. But the dachshund I wasn’t sure of, she went off at me through the fence when we first met so I went back at her and I haven’t really liked her much since. We interacted a little more since then but she just avoided me, I think I’m a bit intimidating 🤔 I need to meet new dogs slowly. I can be annoying and if they snap at me I’m likely to snap back. I don’t like meeting dogs on leash or through a fence either so meets can be tricky.

What do I want?: I want a human who understands me. Who is going to do lots of stuff with me. You read me before, I am not a low effort dog. I want to keep doing training, I really enjoy obedience school, training is in my blood, you don’t have to compete with me but please don’t stop teaching me stuff. Training let’s us build our bond and grow our friendship but it also fulfils a part of me that just can not be neglected. My breeds are bred for working and training. Even though I’m not has high drive as the dogs hitting podiums at nationals, I still need to work. You can’t neglect that part of me, you need to exercise my mind as much as my body and I want a human who understands that. I am highly trainable but you only get out what you put in. I want a best friend. I don’t want to be constantly reprimanded by you, which will happen if our lifestyles don’t match. I want us to be the best of buds doing cool stuff together.

Toby is $350 to adopt and comes desexed, microchipped, C5 vaccinated and given flea, tick and worm preventatives.

If you would like to meet Toby, please email adopt@nqar.org.au