Belgian Malinois

Belgian Malinois

The Belgian Shepherd Dog (Malinois) is a breed of dog, sometimes classified as a variety of the Belgian Shepherd Dog rather than as a separate breed.
The Malinois is recognized in the United States under the name Belgian Malinois.
Its name is the French word for Mechlinian, which is in Dutch either 'Mechelse' (from Mechelen) or 'Mechelaar' (one from Mechelen).
In Belgium, their country of origin, they are known by their Flemish name Mechelaars.

History

Near the end of 1891 a Belgian veterinarian by the name of Adolphe Reul, gathered more than one hundred Belgian Shepherds (also known as the Chien de Berger Belge) and their owners.
He had decided to establish a breed standard for the Belgian breed.
When the dogs were brought together he found them to be ununified in type.
He advised the owners to breed their dogs only to other dogs of the same coat type regardless of their color.
Most of the breeders agreed and a standard was drawn up. The following May the first specialty show took place and the Belgian Shepherd started its long track to uniformity.
In the early 1900's the Belgian Shepherd was recognized by the Societie Royal St. Hubert, as one breed with four varieties.
In 1914 World War I broke out and the efforts of the breeders and the number of breeding dogs were diminished. Movements were made to save the breed from extinction.
Breeding regulations were linnet and any dogs of quality of was recognized regardless of color.
All the dogs were allowed to breed regardless of their coat color or type.
As a result different variety pups were born in the litters.
The Societie Royal St. Hubert registered the pups as the variety they were born and not the variety of the parents.
To date this is the desired practice for determining the variety.
Around twenty years later as the breed finally started to flourish once more, war broke out once more again losing valuable breeding stock. Thankfully the loss was not as great as the first war.
Many of the dogs, thousands, were brought into military service.
They were used as messengers, scouts, border patrol, and Red Cross dogs.
There are four varieties of Belgian Shepherds: the Laekenois, the rough coated fawn, named for the area they were mainly developed, the Chateau de Laeken, were Queen Marie-Henriette named them her favorite; the Groenendael, the long haired black, named from the Chateau de Groenendael, were the two forbears of the variety lived, Piccard d'Uccle and a bitch named Petite; Piccard and Petite were also the forbears of the third variety, the Tervuren, the long haired fawn with black mask and points.
Their black son, Duc du Groenendael, was mated to a fawn bitch, Miss, and produced the famous Milsart, the first Tervuren champion; The last variety was the Malinois, short haired fawn with black mask and points. The malinois Tomy is considered the foundation of the variety.
The malinois acquired its name from the city of Malines.
In 1911 the Belgian Shepherds gained recognition by the American Kennel Club. Later in 1959 the AKC decided to split the Belgian Shepherd into separate breeds. The malinois and tervuren kept their original names, but the groenendael changed theirs to the sheepdog, and the laekenois was dropped from recognition.
From 1950 to 1965 the malinois was placed into the Miscellaneous class.
In 1965 the AKC gave the malinois full AKC recognition and placed them into the Working group. In 1983 they were moved into the Herding group were they reside today.
Today the topic of recombination is still in the works.
There are those that oppose it and those that accept it.
AKC is the ONLY registry to recognize the Belgians as separate breeds, and excludes the laekenois.

Appearance

Like all Belgian Shepherds, the Malinois is a medium-sized, hard-working, square-proportioned dog in the sheepdog family.
The Malinois is recognized by its short brownish yellow coat and its black ears that stick straight up, cheeks, and muzzle.
It resembles a smaller German Shepherd.

Coat and color
Due to their history as a working dog (i.e. being bred for function over form) Malinois can vary greatly in appearance.
The acceptable colors of pure-bred Malinois are a base color fawn to mahogany with a black mask and ears, and with some degree of black tipping on the hairs, giving an overlay appearance.
The color tends to be lighter with less black agouti or overlay on the dog's underside, breeching, and inside the legs.
There used to be also grey and black shorthairs but nowadays they are no longer accepted in the breed standards.
The other varieties of Belgian Shepherd are distinguished by their coat & color: the Tervuren is the same color as the Malinois but grey is also possible with long hair, the Laekenois is the same color, only it may lack the black mask & ears, and has wirehair, the Groenendael (registered as Belgian Sheepdog by the American Kennel Club) has long hair and is solid black.
There are (occasionally and historically) solid black, black-and-tan (as in a Doberman or as in a German Shepherd Dog), or other colored short-haired Belgian Shepherds, but these are not technically Malinois.
If a dog represented as a Malinios is brindle (clear stripes of different colored hair) it is probably a Dutch Shepherd Dog or a mixed breed, although the possibility exists that it is a "throwback" to a common continental shepherd ancestor.

Size
Male Malinois are about 24-26 in.
(61-66 cm), while females are about 22-24 in. (56-61 cm) at the withers.
Female Malinois are said to average 25-30 kg (55-65 lb), while males are heavier at 29-34 kg (65-75 lb). to slender, but are always squarely built.

Temperament

Correct temperament is essential to the working character of the Belgian Malinois. The breed is confident, exhibiting neither shyness nor aggressiveness in new situations.
The dog may be reserved with strangers but is affectionate with his own people.
He is naturally protective of his owner's person and property without being overly aggressive. The Belgian Malinois possesses a strong desire to work and is quick and responsive to commands from his owner.
Faulty temperament is strongly penalized.
Working Dog
In Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and other European countries, as well as in the United States, Canada and Australia, the Malinois is bred primarily as a working dog for personal protection, detection, police work, search and rescue, and sport work (Belgian Ring, Schutzhund, French Ring, Mondio Ring).
The United States Secret Service & Royal Australian Air Force[1] exclusively uses the breed.
The dog is also used extensively by Unit Oketz of the Israel Defense Forces.
Oketz favors the more slight build of the Malinois to the German Shepherd and Rottweiler, which were employed formerly.

Health

The lifespan of the Belgian Malinois is 10-14 years, and there are a number of health problems and disorders that are associated with the breed.
This includes cataracts, epilepsy, thyroid problems, PRA, HD, and pannus. Though these problems rarely come up due to extensive breeding to eliminate such issues.