FEN

My KC papers say I'm registered as Goldmali Kite. Stupid name.
My posh name is FENRIR. (He was a wolf. A long time ago.)
Everyone calls me FEN.
Except when they call me Oi!, Fen-Wen, Good Dog (and sometimes Bad Dog -
I think that's just slips of human tongues) and Donkey Ears. And a variety of other names.
Humans clearly can't make their minds up, so it's a good job I'm smart enough
to get it when they mean me. (Which is always. Doesn't matter if they shout Rona or any other girl name, they still
mean ME.)

I was born on the 7th of April 2015
I'm a male Malinois
(neutered, but I don't know what that means)
My dad is Mats and my mum is Penny.

I have a very important job. I'm a qualified Recovery Assistance Dog for Wellbeing.
That means I help my mum a lot. Especially when she gets scared or lonely,
but I also help with practical stuff. I have my own ID card:

I had to do tests and stuff with my mum.
I think I was the first Malinois in the UK who is an assistance dog,
but I'm not sure. Some of my relatives are too now.


This page has two purposes.
1. To let my dad see what I've been up to.
2. For all my fans to admire me.
(I know that my proper Dad doesn't think I can read or write because I'm a dog,
but this proves him WRONG, right?)


I'm not a showdog. I'm far more important. (Although I bet I would win ALL the shows if I tried. Rona
says that's stupid because I have a donkey's ears and a Greyhound's body and no
balls. She's talking rubbish. I have LOTS of balls.)

This is a ball I "borrowed" from some puppies.

I have a story to tell, about my life.
(It's all the rage now you know, for dogs to write their life stories, but please don't compare me with unimportant dogs like Marley. You can compare me
with that military Malinois who caught that bad bearded bloke. Even though he's not written about his life.)

This is me with my mum Penny and all my brothers and sisters,
when we were just 2 days old. There were 12 of us. I'm the one in the middle with the beige collar.

Here I am 3 days old.

And here I am 3 weeks old.

4 weeks old here.

Here's me and my sisters Miley (red collar) and Lilly (pale green collar) playing with
two Papillon puppies called Mickey and Walnut. Hard to think they were bigger than me then!

Me and Miley have got Mickey good and proper here. Malis rule, Papillons drool!

We did a lot of things when we were growing up. Here we're seeing a wheelchair for some reason.

The Papillons used to have little houses in the living room.
Here I am at 5 weeks old having a sleepover in Ella's house.
(That's Ella the Papillon, not Ella the nice human that I got to know later. Papillon Ella is gone now.)

I'm 6 weeks old here. Note the smart look in my eyes.

Nearly 7 weeks old. Wasn't I cute??? And I look like a showdog.

Just a week later my ears had grown, and so had I.
I was 8 weeks old . Some of my brothers and sisters had started to move to new homes.
I was going to move too, and I was told I was going to be a VIP (Very Important Puppy).

Mum and my first (who is now my second) human Dad took me for a long drive in the van.
We travelled to the other end of the EARTH! Somewhere called "DOWNSOUTH".
(This is me in my new home in the photo.)
Luckily mummy Penny travelled with me. It was a LONG journey.
When we arrived at Downsouth we got out of the van and met my new Dad.
Penny liked him so I did too.
My new dad was walking a bit funny, he didn't have four legs like most humans (even though
they call their frontlegs arms) - he had SIX. Four normal but wobbly ones
and two wooden stick ones. I was told I was going to be trained to become an
assistance dog, because my new dad could do with some help and some company.
People had told him he couldn't train a Malinois to be an assistance dog, but he DID.
He taught me to do lots of fun things.

We went to all sorts of places to have fun. This was called the Beach.

Here I have learnt to bow like a polite dog.

The harness means I'm doing important training.

After important training it's important to rest.

Here's one of my favourite tricks that Dad taught me just for fun.
I'm not showing any photos of my dad because he's a bit shy like that.
Besides I'm better looking.

This trick is called "Poorly paw".

Look into my eyes -actually, I have to look into Dad's eyes. That's the rule.

I learnt to fetch my Dad's sticks. This doesn't show how I'd do it now -
now I know I have to grab it by the handle so I don't hit anyone or anything with it.

I learnt to go and fetch my work clothes for when we were going outside to work.

I learned about the washing machine.

I learned to both fill and empty the washing machine.

And I learned to put the newly washed clothes into the tumble dryer.

I even learned to pull the basket full of the washed and dried clothes back to the bedroom.

I learned how to open and shut the gate outside, and how to open and shut doors indoors.
Shutting them is a LOT more fun than opening them.

Here I am 10 months old. Mum came to Downsouth to visit me and Dad.

Mum thought this was funny.

Mum came to visit more times as she and Dad became good friends because of me.
Once she brought Rona. I thought Rona was a scary dog then.
The funny thing was, Rona didn't like balls. So Dad and I taught her that balls are fun.
Now she plays with balls a lot.

I learned to open the bin (you just push on the lid)

and to put rubbish in it.

I loved my Dad very, very much. I always wanted to be close to him.
Always do the fun stuff he taught me to do.
I still want to.

Dad let me pretend I was still small enough to sit on his lap. We always had cuddles.
We always had walks and training and playing and work, all the time.
Dad is my best human. Malinois only ever have one BEST human, even if we like a lot of humans.

AND THEN SOMETHING HAPPENED.
I didn't really understand why, but Dad said I had to go and stay with Mum for a while.
I know it wasn't Dad's fault. Or mine. He wanted me to come back as soon as possible. Mum said
I would go back home, we just didn't know when. I have been back to UPNORTH for quite a long time now.
So now I have two Dads and one Mum (very modern, I'm told), plus a lot of other people that visit.
And all my dog family of course. I don't like all of the dog family. But I like most of my girlfriends.

THEN LATER SOMETHING REALLY BAD HAPPENED.
Mum told me that I would not be able to go back home. Ever again. I will never see my proper dad again,
but he is alive and he misses me. But I can't visit him. I don't understand. Mum says nobody understands.
And it still wasn't my fault. Mum says it wasn't dad's fault either. It's all very confusing.


I was very sad when I had to leave Dad. I didn't want to eat or play or do anything.
But I followed mum everywhere. I still do, because who knows if she will disappear as well!
Mum is my SECOND BEST human.
Here I am in the bathroom looking miserable, the day after I arrived.
I felt safe being near all my toys and stuff. But you can see I wasn't happy.

I wasn't quite sure if I was meant to be close to Second Dad, or Mum, so I tried both.
There were Papillon puppies here again, and this time I was a LOT bigger.
And I was a lot bigger than Mickey, who was all grown up -and the daddy of the puppies.
Mickey said Mum belonged to HIM and keep off.



I miss my Dad. And Mickey doesn't like me near Mum. So I'm making do with second Dad.

I'd forgotten there were cats here as well.

I started to settle down a bit after a few days

This was after I'd lived here for a month. OBVIOUSLY I sleep in Mum and Second Dad's bed.

This is me and Ritzy. She's one of my best friends. Her colour looks much nicer for real.

One day we went to a HUGE place called Crufts. There were dogs and people EVERYWHERE.
And a lot of nice smells. I used to be scared of other dogs but Rona and the others
had shown me that most dogs are nice. (Except Mickey, we have decided we can't be friends because he says
he is Mum's most special dog, but I know it's ME who is. So we had an argument.)
Oh and the human here in this picture is my Third Best Dad -Benjamin.
Mum had a panic attack at Crufts that time but I helped her feel better.

Mum bought me this toy at Crufts. I LOVED it. It was a triangle with a squeaker inside it, made from fire hose.
It was my special toy for 3 months until there was nothing left of it.

Rona is my other best friend. She's not scary at all! Here I'm trying to catch up with her running on the field.

Rona in front still

I'll never catch her!

Me and Rona all tired after all that running.

This time a few more of us went to the field to run. I'm at front, to the right.

Me in the field

This is fun!

Nice group photo:
Me, Fame (Rona's sister who now has gone to live in something called Hamstershire), Rona and Ritzy
Dad, note this is work -it's a stay with other dogs in a 12 acre field that isn't fenced off at all!

Another pic

Rona looks silly here, not using her ears, but I look handsome in front of the girls.
And now I'm doing a down stay -more work!

Handsome me

  After I'd lived here for just over 3 months I went along to a show and passed my Bronze Good Citizen test.
Outdoors, with people and dogs everywhere.
A few days later, we went to a fun dog show and I won the prize for "Best trick". (Because I had the MOST tricks!)

When it got really warm, they tried to trick me to jump inside the dog paddling pool. Just because everyone else did it.
I'm not stupid so I picked up my toy without needing to get wet.

I passed my Silver test a month after the Bronze, at one of the training classes.

Ritzy had puppies not long after I moved in. Puppies can be a bit annoying. Here is Ritzy playing with her daughter Riley,
and new granny Rona is watching. Me, I just keep my ball safe!

Riley took LOTS of my toys and many of them had to go in the bin after she'd finished with them.
We did play together sometimes though.

Can't get away from all these cats.

Me and Rona on guard.

Here I am at one of my training classes, doing a down stay.

Me and Ritzy. It's nice rolling on the grass.

Fun!!



Some shade on a hot day

Rona only went and had puppies AS WELL. And who has to babysit??
Just because I'm the big half brother.



I only sit with mum now.

Mum brought home another cat! She says he's important. His name is Casper Spook.
Casper used to whack me in the face with his claws when I came near Mum, so I'd try to bite him. Neither of us would win or give up.
In the end we figured we might as well call a truce.

No we're not in a cage, but Rona's puppies are. Rio and I can keep watch both over the pups and over the outside if we
stay in the window. Just don't ask how we got up there. We weren't meant to.

And then she brings home ANOTHER cat! I give up. This one is Cheetah and she's like Spiderman. Can walk on the walls.

More annoying than ANYONE else though is my half sister Bambi. There is no point to that
puppy. She's just annoying. She and Riley (Riley is my niece, apparently) never
stop playing and they make SUCH a mess and such a lot of noise.
AND they are eating the furniture. I stick to eating my bones.

Guard duty again. You can tell who I am because I'm the only one with a collar.

Then I passed the Gold test. (I am a Goldmali, after all.)

Not all the dogs that tried passed the Gold test. These are the ones that did that day.
Notice how Mum is the only person who forgot the certificate for the photo!

Sometimes you just want a duvet day though.

Me and annoying little Bambi

I know everyone thinks mum has made me lazy. But I still have an important job - to look after Mum!

Cuddling up to Rona

Sometimes there isn't much room here!

Sorry Mum, we've claimed the comfiest couch AND the fire. It's cold!
That's Rio to my left and Rona to my right.

There is another human that visits quite a lot. His name is Timmy and he loves me. He is a lot of fun.
I don't think he can be another dad as we are the same age, so he's probably my brother.

Timmy and me doing a down together.

Here we do a sit. I have to show Timmy what to do, then he copies me.

Here we both stand tall

I'm very good at standing tall

This must be Dad number 4, I think. His name is Richard. He plays rough with me and lets me lick his head.
That really annoys mum, the head licking. She tells me to give up. Or maybe it's meant for Richard.

Back to training.

I always follow mum to the bathroom, so much so that I even keep some toys there (no the shoes are not toys).
I open and close the door for her, of course. I run ahead and she tells me which door to open; bathroom
or bedroom.
And when she gets shampoo in her eyes I will fetch her a towel.

The view from Mum's lap in the evenings. Notice the cats have got the best spot.

When mum got the flu and had to stay in bed for AGES, she didn't eat all her food.
So we played with it, and then I got to eat it.
Training is training, she said.

Then we went to Crufts again, and this time I had a VERY IMPORTANT JOB.
I was working in something called Discover Dogs for one whole day.
Ritzy came too, and my half sister Hetty and half brother Lupa.
I was the star attraction, obviously.
Working at Discover Dogs is important because you get to meet millions of
people, and they get to meet you. And then Mum and second Dad tell them not to get
a Malinois because they are not pet dogs and are hard work.
Whilst Ritzy and I get cuddled and stroked and admired.







We posed for lots of photos

At the end of the day Mum wanted a photo of me with the word Crufts in the background.
So I did a sit stay, offlead, outside the entrance, and I posed and posed so much
that another lady asked if she could take pictures too.
And a little girl asked her mummy if I was a real dog or a toy one.
I was good because I ignored all the people and dogs and buses and EVERYTHING.
I got to ride on buses as well, but I have no photos of that.

This was a day when I had spent so much time watching the horses outside the
living room window that I needed a little nap.

When Timmy came to see me, he wanted to take me for a walk.
He does that with his Papillons, but they are tiny.
Everyone went "Oh Fen's too strong! You will fall over Timmy!" But Timmy
grabbed the lead off Mum and made me follow him and I didn't mind.
OF COURSE I didn't pull him over.



Look how happy Timmy is, even though we didn't even go outside!

Here I am on a nice sunny day out for a walk.

I wouldn't dream of running off.

 Here I am doing a downstay in the middle of the road.
Well it's a country lane. We don't see many cars.

I'm being good

Sit stay



It's not a bad life.

Then mum went and did something weird again.
She brought home a new puppy. A small black and white fluffy puppy. Not a Papillon.
She said it's a Parti Poodle. Her name is Lottie.
Lottie is THE most annoying girl dog EVER! She's always kissing me !!

Suddenly Lottie was ALWAYS together with me and mum.

Lottie isn't my girlfriend. I don't like her at all. (I mean, I'm a MALINOIS and she's a little POODLE !!)
If anyone tells you that we sleep cuddled up together, they are LYING !

And OBVIOUSLY there is NO truth in the rumour that says that I let
Lottie take bones off me. As if!

Here she is, kissing me again!

Timmy has also got a little sister now. Her name is Lola.
They are both a lot of fun. Lottie thinks so too.

Lola likes throwing balls for me, and another new friend of mine called Cassie.
I'm the handsome dog to the right, of course.

My first dad wanted to turn me into an official assistance dog,
but although he did so much training with me, he never got a chance.
Mum passed the tests with me instead.
Now I can go anywhere I like, when I wear my working clothes.

Spot the camel in the background? We're at Yorkshire Wildlife Park.

Here I am at Crufts again, working in Discover Dogs with my canine mum Penny.
This was in 2020.

It's such a hard life being a dog with a job.

After Crufts in 2020 something called flopdown (I think) happened and I didn't see Timmy and Lola for ages.
I was very glad when they came to visit again in the summer!

I don't mind paddling pools now.

One day in the summer mum and dad took Lottie and me to a new place to take some pretty pictures. We had to pose a lot. I do look handsome, don't I!



I have to admit, I do like Lottie. Lots and lots. I even defend her if I have to.



Lottie and me on guard duty

Mum spends a lot of time in the bedroom and these days there are three of us keeping her company. She calls us the 3 musketeers.
There's Lottie, Prince and me.

We are a bit of an odd group but we get on really well.

Erm, where did this one come from? The other white fluffy thing?

Suddenly I'm on baby sitting duties again!

It's a Papillon. A funny looking one. Her name is Polly.

Now there are 3 of us on guard in the bedroom. Not that Polly can quite reach to see!

Okay I will admit the Poodle is alright.

Me and my annoying little friends in 2021

AND THEN LOTTIE WENT AND HAD PUPPIES! Can you believe it? There's THREEEEEEEEE Poodles living here now.

I don't mind Rona. We spend a lot of time together. She's the one to the right, with the silly small ears.


Here I am working hard again at Discover Dogs at Crufts 2022.
That's my half brother Lupa in front trying to outshine me. As if!!

Me and Rona having a well earned rest.


This was my 7th birthday. Mum says I'm a veteran now. Rona says she's still in charge. Rona is MUCH older and greyer than I am! She's more than 11.
She thinks she's extra special now because her daughter Bambi went and won Bob at Crufts. I don't know who Bob is, I've not seen him yet.