The Belgium Shepherd

I first saw the big black dog a couple of days after a big thunder storm, my husband said that the dog had been hanging around the small urbanization (ten houses) where we lived for a couple of days.

We tried to approach the dog but it appeared terrified, so much so that when I got him to come to me he rolled over on his back and wet him self. It was obvious that he was only a young dog as he was still squatting like a bitch when he urinated. It was really sad to see such a lovely dog so afraid of people.

The dog had on a leather collar to which was attached a small piece of chain. It looked like he had snapped his chain and run off and from his behaviour it seemed that he was an outside dog and one that had been badly treated at some point.

In this sad and sorry state this wonderful large black puppy had ended up on our doorstep. We didn't know it then but we had been found by a Belgium Shepherd.in his hour of need and we had found a friend.

Over the next few days we put dog food and water outside our door and little by little the dog began to trust us and let us get near to him.

The dog looked very much like a black German shepherd and he looked painfully thin. Anything that we put out for him he ate right away and after a few days he started to look a lot better.

This dog reminded me very much of a dog that I knew as a child whose name was Paddy so we gave this dog the name Paddy which I think suits him well.

My husband and my friend take our own dog Zac, a Hamiltonstovare, out for a walk at least twice a day.

Before long Paddy was tagging along with them walking a few paces behind and it was obvious that he enjoyed going on the walk.

Soon Paddy was a part of every walk taken, no matter where he was he would come running when he heard my husband and Zac come out of the house.

We got a proper collar and lead for Paddy so that he wasn’t a nuisance or a danger when he went on the walk.

We live out in the country so large parts of the walk the dogs can be off their leads, Paddy being a much younger dog than Zac would run backwards and forwards along the paths about ten times to Zac’s one.

Paddy was such a young dog with lots of energy to spare, all he wanted to do was play and no matter how long the walks were or how much you played with him you just couldn’t tire him out.

Paddy turned out to be a Belgium Shepherd and we found out very quickly that he was a highly intelligent dog who picked up things very quickly indeed. Paddy soon became a one man dog, he loved my husband and my husband loved him.

In addition to Zac’s walk Paddy got to go out twice more each day on his own with my husband and during this time my husband would teach him simple commands such as sit stay etc.

Paddy loved this time alone with my husband and he loved being trained by him. Paddy was a very enthusiastic learner, he thrived on learning something new each day and the bond between my husband and Paddy grew stronger.

For a long time Paddy stayed outside the house sleeping outside our front on the welcome mat.

The two dogs got on well most of the time as Paddy was a very social dog getting along with both people and other animals.

How ever next door’s dog Rocky was also an outside dog and although there was no problem there Paddy’s presence upset the pecking order.

Rocky was very tolerant of Paddy and he didn’t even seem to mind when Paddy would eat his food as well as his own. Several times a day you would see Paddy trotting off behind Rocky as Rocky patrolled the houses.

Paddy would run up to Rocky and hit him hard with his nose and then he would bounce around wanting Rocky to chase him which could be very annoying for the older dog.

Rocky however, was very patient with Paddy and even when Paddy was behaving like an annoying child Rocky still did not get irritated or snappy with him.

Paddy became more confident around us and after a week we took him to the local vets to check to see if he had a microchip or if anyone had reported losing a dog like him.

The answer was no on both counts, so we had him chipped and started with his injections, which all dogs must have in Spain.

It was quite a while before Paddy came into the house and stayed for more than a few minutes he was definitely more at home outside.

The bond between my husband and Paddy grew and they became inseparable Paddy wanted to be where ever my husband was.

They thrived in each others company, and my husband got great pleasure from training Paddy.

One of the drawbacks to living in Spain in a rural area is that the locals often put down poison so you really have to keep a sharp eye on the dogs so they don’t pick something harmful up when they are out on a walk.

Another is that in the summer the temperature can get up as high as 40 degrees Celsius which can be very uncomfortable for a big heavy coated dog like Paddy.

Being the kind of dog that Paddy is, it is not just that he liked to have plenty of exercise and stimulation, but that he needed to have it for his wellbeing.

In order for him to have the type and amount of exercise he needed to have areas where he could run around freely with out being in danger.

Unfortunately in the long run we could not give the amounts of exercise and stimulation that Paddy required or the individual attention. What happens to Paddy well that’s another hub, but I can tell you that it ends very happily for Paddy.

If you enjoyed this Hub you may enjoy my other pet based Hubs

• How We Introduced a New Dog into our Home - It all started innocently enough in the bar that we own with this question ‘Can you do us a favour?…. The favour was 'Can you look after Scraggy until his documentation comes through?'
• Found by a Belgium Shepherd Dog - The dog had on a leather collar to which was attached a small piece of chain. It looked like he had snapped his chain and run off and from his behaviour it seemed that he was an outside dog and one that had been badly treated at some point.
  
• A Dog Lost and Alone Somewhere in France - .....Malcolm warned the man that he had to be extra careful with Scraggy. Given the slightest opportunity Scraggy would do a runner. We warned him not to let Scraggy out anywhere unless he had his lead on… but the Pet Carrier telling us that Scraggy had got free and was lost somewhere in France.