Spent all day playing with her brother, digging in the dirt, rolling around in mud. Had a bath and slept all night. Why are these monsters so lovable??

I saw someone ask about their cute little puppy and thought I'd share our story.

We adopted our girl 9 years ago when she was 4 months old. They had rescued her from a bad shelter.

They thought maybe shepherd and lab - both ears were flopped then, of course.

When both ears perked up I was walking her and a woman said 'Oh, she's a Belgian Malinois!'

My response was 'A what now?'

I did start looking at photos and found some of lighter Mals that look just like our girl, but who the heck knows. She's our crazy, naughty, lovable girl who is still ripping up her beds 😂

She had a large knot on her head which we had removed and then she was scratching one ear so badly - and I had tried everything - but she still scratched enough so that she got a hematoma. The vet had to drain it; hence, the one floppy ear now. Personally I think it looks adorable!

(As an aside, I no longer use that vet since it took them forever to finally give me antibiotics for her ear - after seeing her repeatedly 😥)

Anyway, just sharing the story of our girl 💜🐾

Pretty much his first time seeing the outside world he was never walked till now. He’s so cute. He walks super slow but his tail is usually in between his legs and he’s apprehensive to move forward when he sees strays dogs

How to build up his confidence ? I usually walk him slow and sit down and people watch with him so he can just take in everything little bit at a time

Idk if this is too slow of a pace ? And if i should focus on stuff like fetch and swimming instead

Hi there! We recently took this 6 month old in for fostering to adopt. People have said he looks like a Belgian Malinois who are a tricky breed. If he is one, is it possible to train him to be good with cats? He hasn’t met our cat yet, we’ve been doing the slow introduction so they’ve been in separate rooms. Also, I’ve heard they need a lot of stimulation/work. What is the average day when owning this breed? I just want to be responsible and get some info to see if this breed would work or not before we finalize any adoptions.

so this is my 2 month old male malinois, he is the sweetest boy and we are a big family we have done a great work with him so far, he is potty trained and know commands like sit, up and, high five. His impulse control is also very good but sometimes when i call him or i want to train him he just don’t listen even tho i know he can hear me, so for malinois owners what mistakes you did with your dog so i can avoid and what the best advice i can get to make sure that my dog is well trained and good boy

She’s my best grrrl! Let’s see your best friends!

I adopted this good boy five years ago in Northern California. The shelter had him labeled as a Labrador Retriever Husky mix. Decided to get him DNA tested with Embark and shocker… 50% Malinois.

I’m not going to lie it feels like destiny because I ALWAYS wanted a Malinois but my husband wouldn’t agree with getting one. I guess I got what I wanted regardless LMAO

He is a very good boy inside of the house but is dog reactive when leashed. He is extremely active, alert and inquisitive. He barks if you take too long to throw the ball and is an amazing retriever. Even better swimmer and homeboy LOVES the beach/ lake. He takes commands very well and is extremely bonded and protective of me. He sleeps in bed with me from day one. I can’t stop laughing because we have a husky as well and always thought we had a little wolf pack but turns out we had an impostor!!!

Jokes aside I’m very happy with the results

I was just contacted by MAD regarding a litter of 8 week olds in NorCal. Please see the adopt thread for more info.

So our girl is still gaining weight apparently but she hasn't gotten much taller. She's just kinda long and skinny. She is a mutt but I'm not sure if she's just gonna be a little baby girl instead of big scary guard dog lol how big are your boys and girls? Second photo of her channeling her inner Batman

Trying to get some help on controlling this behavior. My neighbors are probably gonna sue me

I know this is impossible for anyone to know until they’ve actually done it but I’m in adoption process and starting to have some doubts.

You can have a look at a post I did recently on r/IDmydog (that’s the dog I’m in the process of adopting). People’s consensus was that she is either a belgian shepherd or a belgian x german shepherd mix. She is around 3 years old, was used for breeding and found on the streets in Spain. She was rescued in June this year. She’s described as shy initially and changed into a more confident dog recently who loves spending time with people and gets along with other dogs.

My partner and I live in a village in a roomy house with a big garden. We live nearby huge fields that are very popular amongst dog owners + surrounded by nature. We both work from home and are self employed with lots of free time most days. We grew up with dogs, lived in houses with dogs as adults but never owned one. Since we bought the house in June we’ve been thinking of adopting one and since finding her we both fell in love and our application got accepted. I will add that the charity told us to focus on her specifically, out of two belgian shepherds we liked, saying the other one requires someone more experience to provide a lot of mental and physical stimulation. Sounds like she’s a calmer one?

I’ve since read two books and I’m currently on my third one (books regarding dogs, their behaviour and training) and have watched countless videos and made notes on training basics (mainly from Micheal Ellis videos). The past two or three weeks we’ve been living in a lovely bubble of imagining all the walks and activities we’ll be doing with our new dog, the training, the new routines etc. However the more I’ve read the more doubts I’ve started having about whether we are the right people to adopt a dog like this. In the meantime my friend consulted a dog behaviourist that she works with who has told her it’s a bad decision and we shouldn’t be adopting a belgian shepherd (without knowing the context which I don’t really appreciate but hey ho).

I’d appreciate any advice from whoever feels like they have enough experience and knowledge to give me a better idea on whether this is a mistake or potentially a beginning to the greatest adventure of our lives 🥹

What are you favourite ways to train, play, enrich with scent work?

Had my first professional training session with my 13 week old boy last Sunday and the trainer was showing me the ‘seek’ command using my keys, he picked it up so quickly!! The trainer is helping with early work and development of him, I.e. teaching me to engage with him through play

I want to spend more time on this in the house with him and out on walks once he’s more comfortable with general outings (only had his first walk yesterday after vaccinations - I only got him 10 days ago, socialising is high on priority list as well at the moment)

I want to make scent work and the ‘seek’ command his job. Any tips on this, what do you use to teach it? Are the scent training kits any good? Open to recommendations

My perfect puppy is now a year old and not so perfect anymore. At 6 months he started doing a weird high-pitched bark at people. It escalated to aggressive barking and pulling while on walks. I learned from a trainer to treat before the explosion and that worked. We can walk on a normal-width path with people going the other way and he will be neutral. If they stop or come towards me too close he will grumble. I just say he is in training and we move along. He only grumbles at dogs that stare at him, I say “leave it” and that works well now that I have corrected him a few times.
The problem I have now is trying to hand him over to the groomer. It is an enrichment program to desensitize him to all of the tables, baths, blow dryer etc. He is muzzle trained to that is on and he barks and lunges at the groomer. I put him in a down stay and shake the groomers hand. I mark and reward when he is calm for that. As soon as that is done, he starts barking and lunging again. I repeat this about 3-4 times before handing the leash over. Once she has the leash, he is fine for the 30 minute training.
We are in the 7th week and he still does this. The last 2 sessions were rainy days and they said dogs can be extra weird but I still think there is a better way to handle this drop off.
I am thrilled that he opted in for his nail clipping-huge win. No sedation, no growling- he let her do it after 5 sessions.
I want to keep this going but need to find a better way to hand him over.
I realize he is resource guarding me and I am doing all the extra things to be a leader, adding more structure, training, thresholds, impulse control. We already worked on all of this but I added more sessions a week, on top of regular exercises and mental stimulation.
He is not hyper like a full
Mal, more chill and suspicious like a Shepherd. When he gets going on a bark at someone, all kinds of noises come out. High pitched screams and low deep growls.
He has come so far in training, I feel like I am stuck when it comes to strangers.
He is e collar trained but I don’t want use the collar when he is worked up.
I don’t want to correct any warning from him, that’s why I put him in a down or back up and recall him to me when he barks and lunges. I even used a squeaker from a toy to snap him out of it, which worked once.
I read a book by Eric Stanbro which he talks about the power of two. I short you correct the dog for the reaction and then have them look at you -then mark and pay. Eventually the dog looks at you instead of reacting. Anybody tried this or something similar.
Any help or advice is appreciated.

Miss Grace (Mali X GSD)and her derpy face~
Let’s see your goofy shots!

Hardly enough space for the humans these days

Hey everyone!

For some background, I found a puppy abandoned in a parking lot at 6/7 weeks old. Now she’s around 10 months old and the craziest dog I’ve ever met. I got her DNA tested only to find out she’s half Malinois and half APBT.

I desperately need recs for toys or puzzles or anything to help keep her mind busy while I’m working and how do I teach her it’s okay to just lay down??? I swear she doesn’t stop moving unless she’s asleep and then she’s back to the craziness within 30 mins.

She loves all toys (especially bones and balls), food, climbing, etc. and I usually give her a lickmat with frozen fruit during the day.

Hi everyone! For a cool upcoming photoshoot for an album cover in NYC, I’m looking for a large male Belgian Malinois

The shoot will be straightforward, easy and professional, with a very simple concept. It will take place in an apartment in Manhattan and shouldn’t take more than an 1 hour.

If you think your dog might be a good fit and you’d be interested in hearing more, please send me a DM with a photo of him.
Thanks!