Is That A Belgian Malinois?

ABMC would like to make positive identification of Belgian Malinois in shelter's, throughout the United States, easier for the shelter staff. Frequently ABMC volunteers are called to identify a Belgian Malinois only to find, after driving many miles, that the dog in question is either another breed or mixture of breeds. This results in great disappointment on behalf of the shelter staff in their attempt to save this dog and the volunteer hoping to find a Belgian Malinois.

It is the ABMC Rescue program's hope that, by providing the photos on this website and in particular this page, the volunteer and shelter staff will experience a higher percentage of correct identifications with less wasted time and effort on the part of both. When in doubt a volunteer should always be contacted - however; now we hope there will be fewer dogs held in limbo while waiting for identification.

Description

The Belgian Malinois is a medium sized dog with a short coat. Males are 24-26 inches at the shoulder, weighing 55-80 lbs. Females are 22-24 inches at the shoulder, weighing 40-60 lbs. Normally they are a very energetic dog and many enjoy snapping or clacking their jaws. The Belgian Malinois is a herding breed and when allowed to run free in an open area show a marked tendency to run in a circular pattern.

COLOR and COAT: The Belgian Malinois ranges in color from light fawn with no black overlay to a deep rich red or mahogany, the mahogany having plenty of black overlay. With the richer reds and mahogany colors if individual hairs are examined it can be seen that there are bands of the various colors found in the coat with the darkest, or black, on the tip. Generally the Belgian Malinois has a black mask up to and including the eye area, the ears are black and the tip of the tail is almost always black. Small patches of white may appear on the chest and occasionally one or more toes. There is a tendency for some lines of Malinois to begin to grey around the muzzle at an early age, (i.e. 18-24 months of age) making determining the age somewhat difficult. The coat is comparatively short and straight with a dense undercoat.

BODY: The Belgian Malinois, when viewed from the side, should stand with all four feet solidly under the body and appear to be squarely built not long in body as the German Shepherd is. They are also of a smaller, finer bone type then the German Shepherd and have been compared (appearance wise) to a small wolf or coyote. The tail reaches the hock though in the occasional Malinois is longer. While the tail should be carried in a down position a happy Malinois can and will carry the tail higher.

HEAD: The head is long and relatively narrow but the muzzle is not pointed as the Collie's is. Eyes are of a medium size, almond shaped and medium to very dark brown. The ears are triangular and erect, commonly set high on the head. They are not short and thick as the Siberian Husky's are but not as long and wide-set as a German Shepherd's. Puppies ears can be floppy until 3-4 months of age. Occasionally an adult will have a tipped over ear tip because of injury or an infection.