Doberman Conformation and Bitework

[Xandra]

Oc, you show me a mal with a body like this and I'm sold, lol




They're skinny but just not the same. Am I being put off by the hair? I don't know.

Here is a KNPV dog, with a build that is pretty conistant with what I've seen in mals in real life and in pics:


At any rate this is nothing more than some fantasy- at this point anyways, I'm in no way inclined to re-invent or revolutionize anything. Just thought I'd make that clear

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

Wouldn't that simply be a Mal? especially if you look at the taller, leggier ones

Originally Posted by Xandra

Here is a KNPV dog, with a build that is pretty conistant with what I've seen in mals in real life and in pics:

^That^ is not a mal.

[oc_spirit]

I wish wish wish I had a picture of Max the Mal before he got sold....he was a bit extreme on leg for a Mal but is probably exactly what you are picturing in your mind. Very stream-lined and every bit of his muscle was rock solid. Keep in mind, there is a lot of dutch/mal crossings and in US/Canada Pit/Mals crossed back to Mals seem to be growing more and more in popularity. There's a registered UKC red-nosed Mal that competes in sport dog who has very short coat. Hmmmmm.... a red-nosed Mal with a short coat, eh? Don't get me wrong this dog is FABULOUS! But, he is no way all Mal.

[DanL]

That looks like a Dutch.

OC, a "tall leggy Mal" is not a good one. Mals are actually pretty small dogs, 50-60lbs is pretty normal, while some of the males can get bigger, most of the working ones are bred smaller for quickness and agility. Same with the working line GSDs, it's not unusual to find males at the smaller end of the standard. One K9 cop I know has a female GSD as his partner, and she's not much more than 50lbs. On the other hand, my friend who is a director of K9 for his dept, likes bigger ones like Gunnar, who is right at 90lbs- he says that a Mal or smaller GSD will go in a car window and bite someone, but a bigger one will actually pull the guy out. Last night I was playing tug with Gunnar. I was sitting in my recliner- a big chair- and he was off to the side. He pulled me so hard that my chair started to tip over. That's 250lbs of me plus probably 100lbs of chair, moved with relative ease.

I think how hard they hit has 2 factors- speed and mass. A bigger dog might not be as fast but his mass is going to put you down. I haven't seen a smaller dog knock anyone down, but they can hit with gusto. I guess a 3rd factor would be breed, because some dogs hit differently- Rotties that I've seen, don't come in high, and when they bite, they drop and use their weight and size to pull you down.

[oc_spirit]

Dan, I agree with you. I wasn't Max was my preference in type just that "leggy Mals" do exist and may fit the description is dreaming about

I was also going to mention in my post above that not all dog breeds are meant to have "beefy" muscling but it doesn't mean they cant run as fast or have as much endurance. Take a look at BCs. They certainly aren't beefy by any standard but they can still be ripped to a T. Mals are also ones that aren't really meant to have muscles bulging out all over the place but that doesn't mean they're slower or get tired quicker.

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by DanL

I haven't seen a smaller dog knock anyone down, but they can hit with gusto.

I've seen small dogs knock down helpers. It's very impressive. Tyr, who is about 55 pounds can almost do it. He can knock people off balance quite well, but not off their feet. A lot has to do with where they hit too. Mals often leap off the ground and have their front feet extended, so they not only bite, but they also slam you with their feet. The feet push you back while the bite pulls you forward. Tyr probably could knock someone down if he had a little more confidence to get off the ground a bit more.

Originally Posted by oc_spirit

Mals are also ones that aren't really meant to have muscles bulging out all over the place but that doesn't mean they're slower or get tired quicker.

LMAO!! I can't imagine a slow or a tired mal.

[oc_spirit]

Originally Posted by corgipower

LMAO!! I can't imagine a slow or a tired mal.

My point exactly

[Xandra]

Lol I know it isn't a mal it's a KNPV dog so who knows what it is.

I know there are registered Dutch shepherds (with the FCI?) but I also heard that in a litter, the fawns were called Mals and the brindles called Dutch shepherds. Anyone know the legitimacy of that?

Originally Posted by corgipower

LMAO!! I can't imagine a slow or a tired mal.

Yeah, not my cup of tea, at least not now.

Also, for your interest a Dutch shepherd x GSD that I happened across. It is a muddied up bicolor or does it have some brindling on its paws? Wish

[corgipower]

Originally Posted by Xandra

I know there are registered Dutch shepherds (with the FCI?) but I also heard that in a litter, the fawns were called Mals and the brindles called Dutch shepherds. Anyone know the legitimacy of that?

Some breeders might, some might not.

There is a lot of cross breeding of dutchies and mals, but the ones I've seen have all been called dutchies, even if they're half mal, they're not called dutchX. The people doing that are trying to get good working stuff regardless of purebred or not.

The history of the breeds is a bit confusing ~ different sources tell it differently. There may have been a time when dutchies and belgians were all part of the same breed before the brindles were separated into dutchies.

I've heard some people claim that the dutchies ended up being pretty poor working dogs until the mals were brought into the lines and other people claim that a full blooded dutchie is much better than the best of mals...so...politics, personal likes and dislikes, egos...idk. A lot of different information floating around though.

[release the hounds]

Let me choose between a couple different breeders of Mal's, dutchies, and GSD's and I can find 3 similar working dogs. They all have a lot of common