Is my dog a Malinois? - Page 1

I purchased him 2 years ago under the impression he was a Malinois. Ive been having people telling me he looks like a mal but im not sure. He weighs 75 pounds. Very protective, hyper and loves his tennis balls. Ive owned shepherds before and this guys energy is like that of 20 sheps wrapped in one.  Ive had his since he was 9 weeks old.

if i had money I would do a dna test on him. unfortunalty with me being layed off I just have to live with opinions for now.

He looks like most of the mals I've worked with. What could be causing some doubt in your mind is his mask is not as dark as many mals and does not cover the entire face. But I would not fret that at all.  Also, when we see pics of mals they are usually very short coated but yours is in the snow (hey, I would want a winter coat too).

The real fact of the matter is that there are several malX dogs out there that have such a high % of Mal blood that they are considered by the working community as Mals because they can do the job.  Love your dog, accept him as he was represented to be, and enjoy life.

You have a great looking dog. Enjoy him and all that comes along with a Mal. Just keep him busy so he doesn't have to find his on job to do. 

You mentioned being unemployed. This would be a great time for you to start teaching him some tracking, it is inexpensive and you don't have to join a club. 

Also, I see he tolerates being dressed up, how about you start taking him to a nearby nursing home.  Take some treats and let the residents give them to him for simple "tricks" like sitting, or down, etc.

This gives you tremendous self worth through this trying time in you life (many people even put it on their resumes as civic activities).  Trust me your Mal will love the new job.

Good luck and God Bless,
Tuff

Oh ya thats a Mal. No doubt, no worries.

Well I cant take him to nursing homes. He is very skiddish of people he doesnt know and he will bark at them. Spend an hour with him and he will be ur best freind. I have never been able to break him of that. I dont care if hes like that...hes never bitten or lunged at anyone he just is very leery of new people especially men. This could be because im a single female living alone. He was socialized and hes great with other dogs...but never has been one to adapt to new people immediatly like I see some dogs. That could also be because hes poorly bred.

Tracking sounds like fun, how would I start him on that? I have my small dog trained to find treats and lighter fluid in the house..she sits when shes found it. I could never teach him that for some odd reason he just dont get it lol. He can sit, lay, come, heel, out, spin, through legs, play dead, paw and high five..know those in english, german and french. I also have him trained to go after a bite tug and he loves doing it. He outs fine and heels fine afterwards. Thats kinda what ive been doing for work with him since im really out of money...lol. I would love to buy a bitesleeve to just play with him since he really loves it..but then again im so broke right now.

Any suggestions?

The only way to know for sure is a DNA test. Not to be negative, but he looks more like a GSD/ mal cross to me. Just judging from the pics, the ears are too big and the eye shape is not right; they are very round, not almond shaped like a mal. But does it really matter? A great dog is a great dog.

Tracking on a budget.

All the pros will probably laugh, but it works.

1. First your dog will probably pickup on SAR type tracking before (step tracking like Sch)
2. I'm a country boy so I still train like I did when I was training coonhounds when I was a boy. I don't care how it looks as long as they find the target.
3. Scent article: The material needs to be as natural as possible.  A. Since you probably won't have a helper take an old pair of LEATHER shoes (go the Thrift Store $1.00)  cut the tongue out then cut a hole in it and tie a heavy cord.
 4.Put on a pair of plastic gloves. Then coat it with bacon drippings (or lard). Remember you need to build excitement. Place the leather in a zip lock bag.
5. Now put your dog up, some are smart enough to figure out the next steps.
6. Go to your working grounds.  Put the gloves back on, get the saturated leather by the string, now drag a pattern. Simple to start with.
7.Put the leather and gloves in the zip lock
8. Go home - wait 15 minutes
9. Get dog - go to target area
10. Let him Smell the bait and hang on.
11. Remember to reward him

This is my ground work test for SAR - Crude but it works with GSD, MALS, Bloodhounds, etc.

Try it.