Mannix

Question
Ihave a 16 month old Belgian Malinois.  Mannis is a tad on the small side. He wieghs about 60 lbs.  I had him neutered when he was 5 months old.  He is a very picky eater. I am having a really hard time getting him to eat daily.  He can not be left alone in the house because he tears up everything. He has chewed my carpet and chairs.  He has had a little training. He is very smart.  I run him at least 4 times a week.  I work 10 hours days Tuesday thru Friday.  I have a huge backyard.  He constantly chews on my trees.  He sometimes will not come when I call him.  He also shivers at night sometimes even though it is not cold. What can I do.

Answer
Malinois are very high energy dogs, and Mannix (Mannis?) sounds like he is no exception. He also sounds a bit anxious and not very trained. Dogs who are outside alone are frequently bored, and have every chance to make their own entertainment. If you have a few trees, you can put fencing around them to keep them from becoming wood chips. You might also try giving him really great stuff to exercise his jaws on - possibly stuffed kongs and other tough, interactive toys. When you are home, I'd have him inside to build relationship through consistent rules and daily training (doesn't have to be time consuming - even five minutes is helpful. Dogs are often anxious when they don't know what the rules and routine are. Give them structure and the general anxiety usually decreases. Work on making your recalls reliable by not asking him to "come" in situations where he has the option to ignore. If you've already done that, you may want to change the word and start over. I'm sending you a link for a terrific article on teaching your dog to eat. http://dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/Writing/TeachEat.html
Sandy Case BFA MEd CPDT www.positivelycanine.com