Malinios owners

I'd call GSDs thinkers and the do hold their own in bite sport.
It's not a matter of thinking or not, it's a matter of having a specific set of drives and courage selected for bitework in the breeding program.

Ok I know this thread is a few months old. But holy smokes batman, it looks like you have a pack of wolves running around in your yard lol, I love the 2nd picture *drool*

Thanks for bumping this thread - I have a contribution:

Jolly ball insanity - YouTube

Also keep in mind this was at the END of the ball session. Riley tends to get winded faster (probably because he's ginormous) Aura could probably go all day. Earlier she was doing some crazy air bourne karate moves over both Riley and the ball. :rofl1:

I am seriously in LOVE with your dogs, just by looking at your siggy and that video. Like seriously lol.

Thanks! Those are some of my all time favorite pictures


Jagger isn't allowed to play with these sorts of balls any more. They ruined his brain!

You are very welcome. I <3 your avatar to. That is a gorgeous dog.

I don't actually own one yet, but I will as soon as funds allow. Nor have I finished reading the whole thread, but I figured I should reply to a few things that jumped at out me in this starting post.

This is not the kind of dog breed you leave unsupervised in the yard. Especially if what you want is a trained PPD (personal protection dog). They must be properly contained at all times.

It is very very different to own a PPD than it is to own Paps. Heck its different to own a Malinois than it is to own Paps, but the kind of sharpness you are saying you want could end up being a train wreck. A really good hard dog like that can't be around just anyone and what do you do if your dog rips the crap out of a couple squatters? Because it could...

I also wouldn't trust a dog of very high sharpness and drive with small animals, period. Not saying it can't be done, but I'd be extremely careful.

Lily is my PPD, but she is not a Malinois and she is an extremely social dog. I can take her anywhere and trust her in any situation. She has the judgement to know when to alert on something/one and I trust her judgement completely.

My TD's male Malinois is very hard/sharp/whatever hot catch phrase you want to use. Let me put it this way, we've been working on socializing him to me a few sessions and that involved me walking next to my TD on the opposite side as the dog and then he put the his basket muzzle on and has me change sides to be next to him. Then he has me put my hand up to the muzzle for him to smell and then I got to pet him. See what I'm saying? Very serious dogs are just that.

That said, a good breeder could hook you up with a not sharp, less drivey (and by less drivey, it will still be more than most breeds... it is a mal after all) pup or young dog that would be good for a first time owner.

RR's can be very sharp. Depends on where you get it I suppose because I've heard they are super mellow from people with showline ones, but my personal experience has been awesomely different.

My friend adopted a little ridgeless RR boy at the shelter. Pretty sure he's purebred, don't see anything else in him at all. He has amazing natural protection ability. I obedience trained him myself since we were roommates at the time.

One time he and I were out at an elementary school playground at night (he's an asshole to the other dogs so he is exercised on his own....) and we were playing tetherball, yes he plays tetherball lol, when I guess some creeper heard me chatting away to the dog and I saw this guy sneaking up out of the corner of my eye. I snatched his collar, yeah I'm idiot my first thought is that I don't want him getting in trouble for biting this moron. The guy sees I have a dog and runs like hell. I'm a little worried he might try to break into my car because I can't see it from where I am, so I let the Rhodie loose and walk on over there. Well he hauled ass to catch up with this guy and did a textbook perfect bark and hold. Not even joking. And when I whistled he recalled perfectly to my side. **** good dog.

He has lived with a weiner dog and a pug, but I wouldn't trust him with strange ones. Also, he much prefers to be an only dog. My friend already had a RR/Lab mix (he is also a very protective boy and very well behaved) when she adopted him and ended up letting her mom have the younger guy because he just needs to be an only dog.

Same sex aggression is very very common, but they bond wonderfully to their families. They are high prey drive, not sure I'd trust one around a pack of small dogs supervised. Definitely never unsupervised.

Also, I think a Terv from a good breeder could be good. But be careful, there is a lot of breeding that turns out nervy dogs going on out there. Ask lots and lots of questions of any breeder you chat with.

I know a trainer with Belgians (a Terv girl & a Groendal boy pup) and her Terv is a nervy hot mess. She has to be careful who she has her around. She's still trialed her high in agility though. She just got a pup from a very nice breeder in CA.... its an agility breeder mainly but some of their dogs/offspring do bitesports like French Ring and some herding also. Nice dogs.

Have you considered a nice West German working line GSD? A big black GSD would be the absolute best visual deterrant you could get. Once they know that lives there, they will not screw with your cars.

And working line GSD's are no slouches. I would never leave one unsupervised around small dogs, but in my experience they are capable of comprehending that small fuzzies (in my case my cat) belong to the humans and are not to be eaten. They will think before they act, whereas a Malinois (and some belgians if they are high drive enough) will not stop to think, but explode in drive instead. They can be very, very sharp too.

wow oops, just realized this was an old thread. Embarrassed face!

I'm a firm believer that owning mals without a pool is insanity.

Sloan and Backup playing in the rain - YouTube

Ps, I genuinely do not believe a dog that is too edgy to be socialized should be seen as a ideal malinois. They should be aloof but tolerant of friendly, respectful touching.

:rofl1: yeah I saw that video!! Too funny. Mine don't occupy themselves that way - they usually play together, and Aura wants whatever Riley has so she is not content with her own ball. (as you can see from my video, she steals the ball and then has no clue what to do with it lol)

Not gunna lie... it's a damned lifesaver having them entertain themselves like that. LOL

Backup is recently learning an off switch (somehow, it was a magical gift) but Sloan is more annoying than ever. I have to crate her for any peace and no more yard time without me within 10 feet because she's taken to jumping and bouncing on the top of our wall barking at dogs being walked down the street.

Stupid mals. heheh

Your friend just got a black Belgian puppy from CA? An Isengard puppy by chance?


I hope that he also has told you that this dog doesn't necessarily have a proper temperament and you don't need that sort of temperament to have a nice working dog. There are plenty of perfectly sound Mals out there who can be awesome in protection work.

Nope du Volant is the kennel name on her puppy.

I agree its not normal. Know why? He had 10 pups in his house (she had 12, one was stillborn and the youngest one to get a home was at 12 weeks old, others were place at 6 months and older, most recent at 3 years old.... he was naturally less sharp than his brother I gave as an example, so socializing was not hard... I got to spend time with that one).... kinda hard to socialize them with that many. They were placed very slowly and around the same time he lost his business and had to stop trialing (this particular one was supposed to be his next FR dog which was the reason the breeding took place in the first place, she's was bred only the one time, she's heavy des deux Pottois and Elgos and the father was a Jawspaws dog PSD in FL). Kinda hard to socialize when you are trying to feed everyone. The genetics are there though, he'd be a totally different dog if he'd been socialized properly from puppyhood on. My trainer admits that fully. Sorry if I didn't type out the whole novel. Besides it isn't like he takes him out to meet the neighborhood.

Honestly I'm probably going to Dantero when I'm eventually ready. I really like her dogs and what she's done with them.
Its years and years out. I should not have two dogs as it is right now because of monetary reasons, but Scout needed a safe home that could provide what she needs. I don't think I'd add a second anytime soon even if she weren't with me. So yeah when the ladies are old lazy pet status I'll get a malinois. Its a long time in the future though. I hope I can move out of this area to where sport is more popular. This is kind of an armpit as far as quality of working dogs/people. No offense, but yeah.

Kadi has some great dogs, we have one coming out to train with us which is actually Harry's niece, I'm excited to see what she's like.

Pics!!!

Ah I forgot they also had puppies Should be a nice pup. The sire is from a very herding focused breeder.

I'm not sure why he would have so many puppies left by 6 months old and I'm not trying to be mean here, what is done is done. But if you are going to breed, especially this breed you need to understand that socialization is a priority and you need to do right by the puppies. You can't say "oh well I have too many, so I can't socialize them". You do what you have to do and ensure they are being socialized. If I have puppies past 12 weeks old, I foster mine out with friends. I am currently fostering puppies for a friend because she is caring for an Oops litter that still has several puppies looking for homes at 3 months old. It gets the puppies more one on one attention, a start to training, socialization and the experience of living with different people.

Sometimes people breed a litter and realize they are in way over their heads. Unfortunately with working or sport Mals, there seems to be a lot of people who jump into breeding thinking that buyers will be beating their door down for a puppy. That very often is not the case, even with dogs who have good pedigrees. And the number of dogs in Mal rescue reflect this issue.

It sounds like you are taking one of these dogs as a sport prospect? I wish you the best of luck with him or her.

Aleron- You have some GORGEOUS dogs!
I definitely prefer the short haired Mals over the long coats though.
I like to see their sleekness, muscle, and movement when they work, kind of hard to see through a thick/long coat lol