Belgian Malinois

History

Originating in the Belgian city of Malines, the Belgian Malinois is one of 4 types of Belgian Sheepdogs that are all related. Since the very beginning, this breed has been noted "extremely versatile" as it excels with greatness at many different duties. From watchdog, search and rescue, competitive obedience, herding, tracking, police duties and many more, the Belgian Malinois is highly intelligent and talented.

Appearance

Easily taking on the appearance of a short haired German Shepherd, the Belgian Malinois is a lean, tall and long built breed. Both males and females measure 22-26 inches in height and typically weighing in between 55-65 pounds. This breed has a very thin and triangular shaped skull, that forms into a defined scissor bite at the muzzle. Almond shaped eyes only available in dark brown or black and very tall, thin and firm triangular ears stand at the top of their head. Their legs are built thin, tall and lean and make up a good portion of their body. Commonly described as "cat feet", their paws are thin and round. The Belgian Malinois sports a weather resistant, double layer coat that is extremely short and straight. This coat is only available in different variations of fawn, red and solid black.

Temperament

The Belgian Malinois requires a firm, confident and self assured owner who is able to maintain his or her demeanor consistently. This breed is wonderful around children of all ages only if raised along side of them, however not at all recommended for other non canine pets or dogs. The Belgian Malinois requires a daily long walk, as well as other physical activity outdoors. Only use positive reinforcement training methods while training the Belgian Malinois, as this breed is known to become uncooperative once receiving harsh or negative human interaction or reactions. This breed easily and quickly retains information so training them is not at all a hard task to due. However due to their mental capacity, the Belgian Malinois needs a new job to do every so often so it does not become bored, and needs to learn new duties. When this breed does not receive enough mental or physical activity, ill-full behaviors will start forming in your dog. This breed is only recommended for a country living environment with a properly installed fence to roam freely within.

Grooming

This short haired breed is a light shedder and only requires regular brushing. Bathe when needed.

Special Notes

The Belgian Malinois is prone to skin issues, eye problems, extreme shyness and aggressiveness and elbow issues. Please fully educate yourself about this breed prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to make a life long commitment to your new addition! Do not add the Belgian Malinois to your family unless you are able to provide life long physical and financial care of him or her. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.