The love of a Belgian Malinois...

My wife and I have 2 Belgian Malinois... Belgian Malis. These are VERY intense dogs; they are not good pets. (The Disney movie "Max" is based on this breed.)

Our oldest Belgian is nearly 8 years old. She is out of East European stock, and is 80 lbs of muscle and teeth. You DO NOT want to mess with this dog. She is trained for both service and protection... one word from us, and this dog will tear your throat out. I have known this dog since she was 6 months old, and she would kill me with one word from my wife.

Needless to say, I have been faithful

She is getting old (the dog, not the wife...) and has earned a cozy retirement. We replaced her with a Belgian Mali pup. He is out of champion lines, and I paid a crapload of money for him. We found out later that his breeder abused their dogs, and he isn't quite right. And we LOVE him. He had no bite drive, and was socially fearful. My wife is a professional trainer and it took almost a year to get this poor dog out of his shell. He is a sweet goofball... with teeth like an alligator.

I have M.S., and haven't been able to drive for a few months. This dog has always been right at my side. Today, I was feeling OK, so I took my car out and DROVE. I have a Chevy Impala... and I had some fun.

I didn't realize that my dog was losing his $hit, because "daddy" was gone.

Belgian Malis are very strong dogs, and when one wants to hold you down and lick your face... you let them.

I promised him I would take him with me the next time I left... as long as he promises to NOT eat my leather interior. (He ate my wife's seat belts... $400 bucks to replace them in her Jeep)

I do NOT recommend this breed for a casual owner. They will destroy your house, without intense training, and work. If you are an experienced dog owner/trainer, these dogs are insanely intelligent, and loyal to a fault.

(FYI they are known as "mali-gators", because they like to snap their jaws to intimidate... our oldest Belgian can do the Mali-snap, and make you wet yourself... )

If you want an awesome service/protection dog... and you have a professional trainer... Belgians are amazing dogs. A lot of work, but loyal to their owners. If zombies attacked tonight... dog food.

We work both of our Belgians, every day. They need to work, or they get bored.

DO NOT let a Belgian get bored...

Ah the "malis".

Intense they are but very loving and gentle, too. Mine is 15 years old now and she´s all grey, deaf, and her hips are bad but if you´re playing with her, she still has that fire in her eyes.

She´s trained SCH3. Before I go to the bathroom at the evening, I bend down to her and we touch our foreheads, it´s our thing. She´d do anything to protect us, even that old. There was my sisters dog and although not bad inteded, barked (friendly) at my niches daughter and the first thing she (the mali) did was stand between her and the sisters dog, very calm but showing, who´s the boss (not the rottweiler).

they are very intense and need something to do or they go nuts. We could not visit the training place for some weeks in winter because the snow was all frozen up and the dogs would get bloody pawns. After several days, I left her alone for a couple hours, when I came back, she destroyed half of a door. The door was open, so it wasn´t because she was locked in (she had the whole house for herself). She did it because she was frustrated and full of energy that needed to be released.

I also, DO NOT recommend this breed for casual or even first time owners. You MUST train and you MUST be the boss all the time. They need that, otherwhise they go crazy.

Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

originally posted by: verschickter
Ah the "malis".

Intense they are but very loving and gentle, too. Mine is 15 years old now and she´s all grey, deaf, and her hips are bad but if you´re playing with her, she still has that fire in her eyes.

She´s trained SCH3. Before I go to the bathroom at the evening, I bend down to her and we touch our foreheads. She´d do anything to protect us, even that old. There was my sisters dog and although not bad inteded, barked (friendly) at my niches daughter and the first thing she (the mali) did was stand between her and the sisters dog, very calm but showing, who´s the boss (not the rottweiler).

they are very intense and need something to do or they go nuts. We could not visit the training place for some weeks in winter because the snow was all frozen up and the dogs would get bloody pawns. After several days, I left her alone for a couple hours, when I came back, she destroyed half of a door. The door was open, so it wasn´t because she was locked in (she had the whole house for herself). She did it because she was frustrated and full of energy that needed to be released.

I also, DO NOT recommend this breed for casual or even first time owners. You MUST train and you MUST be the boss all the time. They need that, otherwhise they go crazy.

Our oldest was trained to that same standard; my wife is a professional trainer. I would never attempt to own a Mali without training. (As I say this, our youngest Belgian is raiding my socks...) They are AMAZING dogs, but... they need focus...

Another thing to add:

They are so energized, she (the mali) was clocked at around 55km/h (!!!!) running into the helper (the one with the biting arm) and he couldn´t transfer the energy into a spin, they both flew at least 3-4m through the air, doing several spins before they both crashed into the tent behind them.

I got it on video, someone filmed it. We counted 2 full flips. Since then, every helper declined to take her on. Sometimes, when she was younger, I would take a walk with her but she still was full of energy.

What we did was this:

I´d sit in my car on a empty back road in the country. The second I ignited the engine, she knew what was up. I revved the engine sometimes and as soon as she heard the tires squeak and gravel shooting behind me, she´d launch.

She was doing 60 km/h EASY for a couple of hundred meters. She loved that but now she´s too old. She´d still do it but I don´t let her because of her hips.

I could not keep up with 4WD and over 200PS/380NM torque until I hit around 80 km/h and then I slowly creeped up behind her doing 50-60km/h. She loved it everytime

a reply to: madmac5150

It was more towards the crowd . Your thread shows that you know your stuff

My wife is an insanely awesome trainer. She did a demonstration with our oldest Mali, (we were in the Philippines at the time) and the dog made a cop WET himself.

When we flew to the Philippines, the dog got to sit in first class. We were in coach... the dog got fed lobster...

If you breed staffordshire terrier with german shepherd, you will get something similar to mali. I had one, incredibly intelligent, beautiful dog. He needed at least 2.5h of hard work a day, but then I can go with him through city without leash.

BTW he saved me from few beatings from skinheads. It was enough to show them how high he is able to jump.

madmac, I hope you don´t mind:


They were both waiting for my handsign to be allowed to roam free again, you can see the "wtf are you doing there, we want to roam!!" in their eyes

The white one died around 5 years ago and was a American-Canadian Sheepherd. We took her up because some alcoholic bought her, beat her up, she was a mess when we got her from the animal shelter. Everybody was just asking the price, we were the only ones asking what happened to her (she looked aweful), so we were asked if we want to take her home. We originaly went there to bring fresh mowed gras for the canine and rabbits. Well, we came home with her

She turned into a wonderful, loving friend that was so friendly to kids (both were). They were allowed everything. She´d just stand up and walk away when it was too much.

a reply to: madmac5150
Dear heavens, I know about furniture eaters. My Rhodesian Ridgeback ate my leather sofa and I had to feed him some special dog food that cost a fortune for about a week.

Not sure what was going to happen while I was away at work, so I closed him up in the bathroom so he would have lost of space instead of being coped up in the crate. I came home to find him greeting me at the door. He had eaten through the bathroom door.

originally posted by: verschickter
madmac, I hope you don´t mind:

The white one died around 5 years ago and was a American-Canadian Sheepherd. We took her up because some alcoholic bought her, beat her up, she was a mess when we got her from the animal shelter. Everybody was just asking the price, we were the only ones asking what happened to her (she looked aweful), so we were asked if we want to take her home. We originaly went there to bring fresh mowed gras for the canine and rabbits. Well, we came home with her

She turned into a wonderful, loving friend that was so friendly to kids (both were). They were allowed everything. She´d just stand up and walk away when it was too much.

Our oldest Mali has the black mask that the dog on the left has. She has the short hair, and the lean Belgian body. The other dog actually resembles a Siberian Husky that I used to have. Very sweet dog. I had a Tucson cop ask if she was old enough to drive, when she was found in my driver's seat. He let the dog off with a warning...

a reply to: madmac5150
Yes, the left one is the mali.

When you say intelligent....

She likes yoghurt. If she hears your spoon scratching in the plastic-can, she´ll be there to get her treat. You give it to her, she licks it clean and she throws it into your lap with that crazy look and ears rotating like radar antennas.

When you stood up, she´d catch the empty yoghurt tray and brought it to the trash can, that was for recycleable material (plastic). She´d punch it through the lid into big recycle trash-bin. My god, what a sentence...

however... she then expected a treat. If you left the door to the room where that big trash-bin is, she´d sneak in, put her nose through the lid and collect "treasures" to hide behind and under sofas, tables, sideboards etc. Then, in regular intervalls she´d retrieve it and bring it to you so she can throw it into the trash-bin again and get a treat.

Sneaky!

She also opens doors, learned it from the AC Sheepherd... she teached it to her.

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

We live on remote property in North Idaho. We have moose, bear, and mountain lions. The Belgians are absolutely fearless. We also have ducks, chickens, goats and sheep. The dogs are very protective of the property, and our livestock.

That is what Belgians do so well.

We used to have a problem with coyotes getting in close. Between the Belgians and the 12 guage... the coyotes started staying away.

If coyotes actually DID get in, the ducks would mess them up.

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

We live on remote property in North Idaho. We have moose, bear, and mountain lions. The Belgians are absolutely fearless. We also have ducks, chickens, goats and sheep. The dogs are very protective of the property, and our livestock.

That is what Belgians do so well.

That is wonderful! And dogs are so much happier when they get to do their special jobs, aren't they? Yours must be in heaven

originally posted by: KansasGirl

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

We live on remote property in North Idaho. We have moose, bear, and mountain lions. The Belgians are absolutely fearless. We also have ducks, chickens, goats and sheep. The dogs are very protective of the property, and our livestock.

That is what Belgians do so well.

That is wonderful! And dogs are so much happier when they get to do their special jobs, aren't they? Yours must be in heaven

They are trained; well trained. A Belgian without training... you will not get your security deposit back.

Bookmarking as I have a Belgium Malinois too.

Warmest

Lags

Sorry, I removed the picture because of privacy concerns, I hope nobody is angry.

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

We live on remote property in North Idaho. We have moose, bear, and mountain lions. The Belgians are absolutely fearless. We also have ducks, chickens, goats and sheep. The dogs are very protective of the property, and our livestock.

That is what Belgians do so well.

That is wonderful! And dogs are so much happier when they get to do their special jobs, aren't they? Yours must be in heaven

They are trained; well trained. A Belgian without training... you will not get your security deposit back.

Haha, that's s good way to put it- you won't get your security deposit back! :

I very much respect and appreciate dog owners of specialized breeds which need extra strenuous training, who actually do that training. There are too many powerful dog breeds sitting in pounds all over the country, because the owners didn't do their jobs. Heartbreaking.

originally posted by: KansasGirl

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl

originally posted by: madmac5150

originally posted by: KansasGirl
Your babies sound like riots! I have probably the opposite of your dogs- I have three griffys (Brussels Griffons). Their only purpose is to sit in your lap and follow you around. That's it. They are absolutely perfect for me. My oldest one, Tex, does think he is my personal bodyguard, though. If any dogs not in his pack come around me, he bravely squares off to them, no matter how huge they are!

Dogs are a gift! Could you post some pictures of yours? That is a beautiful breed.

We live on remote property in North Idaho. We have moose, bear, and mountain lions. The Belgians are absolutely fearless. We also have ducks, chickens, goats and sheep. The dogs are very protective of the property, and our livestock.

That is what Belgians do so well.

That is wonderful! And dogs are so much happier when they get to do their special jobs, aren't they? Yours must be in heaven

They are trained; well trained. A Belgian without training... you will not get your security deposit back.

Haha, that's s good way to put it- you won't get your security deposit back! :

I very much respect and appreciate dog owners of specialized breeds which need extra strenuous training, who actually do that training. There are too many powerful dog breeds sitting in pounds all over the country, because the owners didn't do their jobs. Heartbreaking.

A Belgian Malis is NOT a dog that you get on a whim. They require training, and constant work... without that, they can become very destructive. Given a good home, with an owner that understands the breed... they are AMAZING dogs...