Sebastian The Malinois Mix
- G&S Dog Training
- May 7
- 3 min read

We adopted our boy Sebastian last spring from a rescue. He was picked up from the streets of Puerto Rico at three months old, and we adopted him when he was about four months. He’s roughly equal parts of German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, and Pit Bull. We have two young kids and at the time of his adoption, a small elderly cat.
While he was never reactive in an aggressive way toward the family, he was extremely leash reactive to other dogs and small animals, jumped up on people, play bit, and was a wild man that we couldn’t keep in the house or he would tear any and everything up. Hyperactive is an understatement. When outside, he tore up everything from our lawn furniture to chewing through the cable wires feeding into the house and tore all the insulation off the main A/C feeds. He was totally uncontrollable in the house, and barked all night when in his crate. Our vet recommended we put him on medication, but even then, if he knew you were in the room, he would bark all night, leading to us having to use alternative sleeping arrangements. We loved him, but were at our wit’s end and considering rehoming him. We tried a trainer that seemed completely disinterested in training a high-demand puppy like Sebastian, and boarded him with someone who claimed to be a “former” military dog trainer while we went on vacation, and she did far more harm than good. I tried everything from watching YouTube videos, scanning Reddit – if there was info on how to train a dog, I read it, and still nothing fit the bill.
Then, we attended a party at a friend’s house, and their dog behaved perfectly. Stayed in place, and knew voice commands. They referred us to G&S. This was our last hope at keeping Sebastian.
From the first moments we met George and Sarai, we knew we’d chosen the right family to work with our boy. We don’t feel like clients, but friends and part of the G&S pack. We invested in the two-week board and train for Sebastian, and while he was away at puppy boot camp, we got regular text and video updates. When he came home? Completely different dog. Not only that, but the training doesn’t stop when camp is over. We’ve been with them every week for follow-on sessions, stay in constant contact with questions, and it’s really like asking friends for advice. They know Sebastian, and they have even gone to the vet with us, and genuinely care about his well-being. The relationship is truly not at all what we expected, and in so many wonderful ways. Sebastian is a far happier and more confident dog and family member than we could have dreamed. Before, it was a struggle to get him to sit. Now, not only does he know sit, stay, heel, down, off, leave it, but he knows both vocalized and hand signal commands. He is confident off leash. What’s even more amazing is he might look at a squirrel on a walk, or maybe look and notice another dog or person walking nearby, but then he just keeps on walking next to us. The whole family is trained on how to work with him, and his tail wags constantly. He’s still the same high-energy puppy who will get in mischief but he is happier than ever and we all have the skills and knowledge to know boundaries and how to behave as a family. We could not be happier with being a member of the G&S family. If you are considering training your dog with people who care about everyone’s well-being, don’t go with a cookie-cutter course that just churns numbers and is flaky. It was worth the investment, and every dog we have from now on will go to G&S.
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