Farm Fresh BlogFriday, April 29 2011
Dorothy asked for a blog about Oli, the current Police Dog, so here it is! Born in Czechoslovakia, she is a Belgian Malinois, who at best, looks like a coyote on crack! Unlike the magnificent Zena, Other Half's last partner, Oli strongly resembles a nondescript mutt - a tiny little brown dog (on crack!) Years ago, I heard the tale of a canine officer with a malinois who confronted a belligerent drunk. The officer informed the man that he needed to move on out of the area. The drunk snarled, "Who's gonna make me? You and that little brown dog?" And with that, he kicked the officer in the crotch.
The poor cop dropped like a rock . . .
The drunk had to be hospitalized.
Unfortunately there was no one available to pull the "little brown dog" off him.
What our intrepid drunk failed to realize is this: Force = Mass X Acceleration What the Little Brown Dog lacks in Mass, he makes up for in Acceleration. These little dogs are like speeding bullets.
In reality, she is a very expensive bundle of energy, bred to work. Oli is NOT a calm, family farm dog. She is highly intelligent, (in a velociraptor sort of way), and will actively plot means to get chickens or sheep. Absurdly affectionate, Oli will launch herself from a great distance to land in the recliner with Other Half, where she falls asleep and snores like freight train. It is one of the few times she is not in motion. When Oli enters the house, without fail, she flings herself across the living room furniture like a blazing brown pinball, bouncing from chair to ottoman to couch, and back to ottoman. Oli is good with other dogs, and ironically, good with cats. (After all, why hunt cats when you can hunt sheep?) She is a narcotics dog who also does basic patrol work. They work with interstate freight traffic, looking for illegal aliens and narcotics. Oli and Other Half can be sent anywhere in the country, (insert frowny face here) but their primary focus is along border states. Whenever Other Half works without Oli, she stays home on the farm with me. Repeat: Oli is NOT a farm-friendly dog! She would love nothing more than leg of lamb with a side dish of fresh chicken, and is intelligent enough to find a way to get it. Thus, she requires a bit more juggling than the rest of the dogs. And so Dorothy, that's about it! Oli is a Dual Purpose Dog who digs, kills chickens & sheep, plays endless silly games with the puppy, and makes sure that my husband comes home safely at the end of the night. So in the long run, I guess it doesn't matter if she looks like a coyote of crack! Comments:
a nondescript mutt / Oli looks like a pound puppy / she looks like a coyote on crack
:^O I resemble those remarks! ;^)
Clearly, you aren't "up" on the beauty of the full range of the 4 Belgian Shepherd varieties (Malinois/Tervuren/Groenendael/Laekenois) as they are known outside of the USA! I think you should visit a dog show where you can see the first three (there are very few Laekenois in North America) so you can see for yourself. At a dog show, typically you'll find the Mals doing obedience, the Tervs doing agility and Tervs and Groens in conformation.
P.S. Thanks for the posts about Oli -- love 'em!
Posted by Terri's Pal on 04/29/2011 - 10:37 PM
The story about the Mali and the drunk reminded me of a comment that I read somewhere that was basically "Getting hit by a GSD is like getting hit by a truck. Getting hit by a Malinois is like getting hit by a fully loaded freight train going 100 mph. A whole lot of drive and momentum in a compact package and the intelligence to know how to use it to their advantage." Got to love those Belgians :-)
Posted by Vicky on 04/30/2011 - 11:37 AM
HAHAHA! I actually AM quite "up" on the Belgian Beauties! If you dig through the archives you'll see that I've had Belgians since 1990. That's why I feel I can get away with saying that Oli looks like a coyote on crack! Over the years we had seven Belgians in our home. I used to show them. The only Belgian I haven't had is the Laekenois. I dearly love these dogs and can't imagine ever being without one!
Posted by forensicfarmgirl on 04/30/2011 - 12:22 PM
Soooo, you were writing those disparaging remarks in jest (perhaps to tease your husband?). But really - a nondescript mutt? How could you even imagine such an unfair description? HAHAHA!
Posted by Terri's Pal on 04/30/2011 - 03:49 PM
Oh yeah, I can see the beauty in Oli, but I'm really a terv person. I used to tease Other Half, who is a German Shepherd person, that when he retired Zena, he'd end up with a psycho Mal who nevers slows down. And that's exactly what he got! (But we love her!)
Posted by forensicfarmgirl on 04/30/2011 - 09:06 PM
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