DO NOT BUY a BELGIAN MALINOIS Puppy! A Dog Trainer's Opinion...

The picture in the background of the thumbnail is an aftermath of the living room of her owners home when she broke out of her cage by destroying it and then went on a rampage!

This video is just my general opinion of the breed. Of course, with any breeds, there are exceptions to the general rule. I think they make fantastic police dogs and companion dogs and even family dogs but only if you put in the immense time and effort needed to train them right and keep them entertained. If you don't, which many won't, then you will have a lot of problems!



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[genecook]

I bought a pure bred Malinois puppy at 8 weeks old. The males of the litter went into K9 agencies and I was able to buy Karma, a female. She is now 4 1/2 years old and has yet to slow down whatsoever. I am an armed security officer and Karma has gone to work with me since day 1 even though she isn't specifically a trained patrol dog. She will show aggression on command and her drive as the video stated is very impressive.

I always had GSD's before but I had so many health problems with them from cancer to the hip dysplasia to allergies. Love the GSD but the Malinois tend to be very healthy as a pure breed and being older I knew what I was getting into and she is a great exercise partner. She makes me run her in the middle of winter in snow storms as she would be impossible to live with without a lot of exercise.

Malinois's are not for everyone and I agree that they are not for most people. But if your athletic, and are willing to deal with their drive issues and give them the exercise and stimulation they are great dogs. I run her three miles each morning and then we play with the chuck-it and ball and this is several times a day even at work. She lives, eats and breaths for the ball. She does have a bit of an 'off' switch and will settle down inside but that again is if you give them enough exercise.

If you can commit to all this they are as good or even better than GSD, but if your looking for a family dog that is a laid back couch potato this is not the dog for you. Know what your getting into.

[kristenlane]

I'm so thankful we got our mal. My husband is gone a lot for work and I can often be found trail running alone. She's never been protection trained and has been a pain in the ass at times, but she intimates people and is wary of strangers which is really nice when you're a woman running alone in the woods. By far she's the best dog I've ever had.
But I cannot emphasize enough how difficult this breed can be though. She seriously hurt me when she was younger and most sane people would have either given her away or euthanized her. I realized she was just doing what she was bred to do and decided to increase her training. You have to have this mindset if you own a mal. Chances are you will get bit and you can't take it to mean there is a fault in the dog.

[ricoyou]

My purebred Malinois just hit 12mths and being my first dog. She is a joy, so loyal, very very smart and yes loves to snuggle up on the couch with me...Yes I dedicate daily training / obedience but it's fun and she learns so fast! .. I'm so happy got mine. Love her!

[anabda]

all that is true.. We realy did our research for almost two years but we couldn't handle our sweet Lara. 2 weeks and we saw she will be unhappy in our home. This breed is a full time job and needs someone with experience with this breed. Please don't hate. She has a home with two other Belgian malinoise and she's happy now... Great video

[lisausa]

My family received a female Malinois age 7 when I was a teenager bc her person couldn’t take care of her anymore.

I didn’t like her at first. She was dark, not cute, serious, and anxious, particularly compared to our medium sized mixed breed fuzzy dog. She also refused to let any of the men in my family into the house for the first week without a lot effort. It was kind of scary. She thankfully learned quickly though.

We had to keep her food, water, and bed in my tiny bedroom because my other dog refused to share his space. She picked me as her person to follow around, so that is why my room was chosen.

I didn’t know much about dogs even though I lived with one since I was a child. I just saw them as animals who caused extra work. I didn’t know dogs could be so capable of conveying fairly sophisticated emotions until she came along. She seemed lost without the person she lived with before us. Such a smart, sensitive dog who seemed to have empathy, an unusual awareness, and a desire to connect with me. I felt bad about not liking her and so I took her for walks, rides in the car, and groomed her. We developed a real bond. She wasn’t playful but she was attentive and watchful. She was an amazing judge of character too. If she didn’t like someone, we learned there there was alway a good reason why. A friend of my sister’s was barely tolerated. Years later we learned what a lousy person she was. A liar, commit fraud, embezzled employer’s money.

She sent a number of strangers at the door running because her barking & growling was turn-feet-to-ice terrifying.

She was also very good at getting her way. She learned how to open doors using her paws and get lazy teens out of bed, and manipulate people’s emotions, to name a few examples.

She also loved routines. On school days, I walked into the house and brought my things to my room. Then I’d lie down on my bed for a short time to let go of the day before starting homework. She’d jump onto the bed too, tuck herself into my side, thump her tail, and look at me until I rubbed her ears.

One time I came home but went into the kitchen for a snack first. She got upset and kept trying to get my attention. What a fuss!! So I went over to her and she led me upstairs to my bedroom until I realized she wanted to do our snuggle routine.

When my mom got cancer, she spent a lot of time nudging and showing my mother that she was there. So much awareness and empathy. She grieved along with us when my mother died. I don’t know how we got past such a dark time, but she made sure we got out of bed and stuck with a routine.

We had her until she was about age 14. When she left the world, she left giant hole in our hearts and forever changed about our understanding of animals.

My biggest regret is realizing she probably contorted herself to fit in and find a place in our lives. I didn’t understand right away and then wasn’t in a position to give her a dog’s version of a great life - socializing with other dogs, lots more exercise, and more of a “job” which allowed her to do more, interact more, and give her goals to accomplish & adventures to give zest to her life. She deserved so much more.

[jlm]

I’ve had my Malinois for 8 years now. After his first 2-3 years he slowed down and has been a couch potato ever since. Don’t get me wrong when we take him out to play, run, dog park he has all the energy in the world but as soon as we get home he’s back to lounging around. He’s happy with 3 15 minute walks per day. Maybe I was just lucky. 🙂

[kingloom]

I have a Malinois named Raven and honestly she’s never been a struggle tbh. I go to work for 8-9 hours. And after I get off. We both head to the gym and I train her and we run for a good 45 minutes. My siblings have a Doberman pincher and a Rottweiler. And she’s very sociable and at the end of the day she’s chilling. Never seen her have anxiety or any of those cases. She basically knows most of the things I taught her in the books. She’s like 1000 IQ smart and when I leave her home. I haven’t ran into torn up furniture or things like that. I guess every dog is different.

[adamfun]

Have mine for little over a year, got him when he was 8 weeks old . Pure bred and he is my first dog !Everything he said is true . He will give you anxiety and destroy your house lol but with patience training you will rewarded with an awesome dog. They are not for everyone…

[eponymoususer]

Thank you so much for the honest, blunt assessment. Rescuers, foster parents, and potential owners can really benefit from this info.

[smirnoffsmash]

Needed to be said. I've owned a malinois, its no joke - and I am an aspiring trainer.. cant imagine one in an average home..

[supertiger]

I currently have a 5 month old Malinois and she's really is a Tasmanian devil. So far I've taught her to sit down when I get her food and she will not eat the food when I put the bowl on the ground until say "alright eat your food" only after she lays down on her own and stays there for a bit. Currently I can walk say 10 feet away and she will stay but if I turn a corner she will attempt to eat, but that's progress compared to the first weeks. I play with her in the morning and afternoon, and before every meal I train her simple stuff like "sit", "give me your paw", "laydown", "stay", "follow me", "come here", "get up", and "get down". Reason for the get up and get down is because she's usually jumping at guests initially but will stop when I say get down. Not sure if that's an actual method but please do give me advice from your personal experience (whoever is taking time reading this and has experience) She's usually pretty calm and in the evenings she goes on walks with my dad on our land. What I am currently dealing with is she can get riled up and start to bite harder when I stop scratching her so I'll usually stay still and not do any action to scratch her and tell her to sit and after a while I'll pet her after she's sat and seemingly calmed down. Before I would continue scratching her after she would bite me so I ended up causing that action but that's been changing. Am I dealing with that correctly? I've taught her bite inhibition since I had her around 8 weeks old so they're not hard enough to make scratches or marks. The major one in my opinion is when somebody is opening the gate and she wants to bolt over there to see who it is but when I grab her she will go crazy and bite hard but not leave marks or scratches. Another is when I tell her to "come here" she usually listens but when she's playing she won't listen so I go get her and take her to the spot where I called her she would get aggressive and those bites would leave scratches but she would stop after I hold her and she sits down then I say "good girl", pet her, and let her go. ( if you're wondering how I hold her put my hands on her sides and she's on all fours, since I read that holding them down is not a good thing to do so I don't do that). Not every command will work 100% of the time but it's a lot better than the beginning, however, with food or snacks she will almost always listen to the commands. I have not done any leash or collar training either since I was never able to find one that would fit from online, but I got one recently that is close to fitting as well as a harness so any tips for that and what I should train and how to introduce her to not bite the collar or leash would help as well. Again, any tips and info from personal experience would be greatly appreciated since I'm a beginner and willing to learn, I absolutely love her, and plan to keep her no matter what but would like to have better control and knowledge on how to handle situations so that it doesn't lead to anything big in the future.

[whistlingdixie]

Thank u so much for your honest and knowledgeable review of mal breed. “Their drive is more powerful than their brain.” Sums it up for me!

[stuarteckersley]

Great video. Don't think that you will tire out a Mal by taking it for long walks. Your shoes will be worn out before the dog is.
I've got a 2 year old Male Malinois. He gets 1/2 hour tracking most mornings and 4x 15 minute training/ obstacle course play each day. The type of training/play needs to change each time to keep him stimulated. Yep lots of effort.

Is he worth it? Yes. He was at a rescue centre, having been bred in Serbia as an attack dog and handed in as being uncontrollable so would have been put to sleep.

Would I recommend a Malinois as a pet?

NO WAY! WATCH THE VIDEO AGAIN. THE GUY KNOWS WHAT HE IS TALKING ABOUT.

[dustinmuller]

That cliff analogy is too accurate. Thankfully I learned this lesson on stairs in my house so my boii didn't get hurt. But damn he loves sending it

[wretchedrue]

As a German Shepherd AND a Malinois owner, I wholeheartedly concur with everything this man says🤣

[dawnjohnson]

All the while the malinois is lying there peacefully :-)

[MrRyuken]

I got one she's 4 months now. I don't regret getting her. So far we exercise 20 to 30 min daily, walk her at least once a day and she's fine in the house.

[dadzillau]

My Mal is almost 6 months old and is an absolute Saint. His commands are many and instantly on point and many, no chewing or bad behaviors at all. Some people don't have the right demeanor to properly train a Mal successfully

[billatwood]

I have a black German Shepherd and at 12 weeks she looks identical. A very, very energetic dog. Goes 100% every waking second. When she crashes at night that's it. Never let her out of my sight, working from home I have her by my side always.

[cptchalk]

Yes it is the breed standard that a Malinois have high drive and energy levels..however there are exceptions. Our 2 year olds Malinois only needs about 20 minutes a day of fetch/retrieve and she’s good. Fully off leash trained and non reactive towards other dogs, male or female. There’s a fair bit of generalization in this video.