Belgian Malinois Protection Dogs 101: What a Trained Malinois Is, and What It Isn't

By Wayne Simanovich
National Champion · North American Champion · World Champion
The finest in proven protection and companion dogs. Since 1978.

The Belgian Malinois has a reputation. You've seen the videos: a police dog flying through the air, a military dog coming out of a helicopter, a sport dog hitting a decoy at full speed. A dog climbing a tree. A dog jumping over the house. So the first question I get about the Malinois is almost always the same one. "Isn't that dog too much for a family?"

The wrong one is. The right one is one of the finest companions and protection dogs you'll ever own. If the dog's not calm in the house, I don't care if it can jump over the house. I've been training protection dogs at a world-championship level since 1978, and this is the short course on the Belgian Malinois: where it comes from, what it really is at home, and how to get the right one.

Where the Malinois comes from

The Malinois is one of the Belgian Shepherds, developed in Belgium in the late 1800s as a herding and working dog. It takes its name from the city of Malines. From the start, the people breeding these dogs cared about one thing more than anything else: can the dog do the work?

That focus on working ability is why you find the Malinois today with police departments and military units around the world, and on the podium at the top protection dog competitions. It's also why the breed has the reputation it has. People see the Malinois at work. They rarely see it at home.

The "wound-up monster" myth

What you often see in these videos is a dog doing a job with intensity and athleticism. We rarely see the dog for the other twenty-three hours of its day, and those are the hours that matter. Some trained Belgian Malinois are simply no fun to live with. Others are a joy to own, and can be as good as it gets for family companionship and security.

Working ability, and the drive to work at a high level, is not the same thing as being out of control. What makes a dog hard to live with is determined when the sperm hits the egg. Some dogs are not coded to be good, calm dogs in the home, and some dogs are. That's settled on day one, and no amount of training can take a hyperactive dog and "calm it down."

It all comes down to selection: identifying breeding partners that produce the traits we want, and a manageable, controllable working dog that's fun to own. A nervous, poorly bred dog with incessant drive is a problem, obedience trained or not. Whether it's a Malinois or a German Shepherd makes no difference. A clear-headed, well-bred dog with inherited working ability, and a solid foundation in the home and in its obedience training, is exactly what we all want.

I covered the breed question in German Shepherd vs. Belgian Malinois: Pick the Dog, Not the Breed. The short version: there are Malinois I wouldn't place with anyone, and there are Malinois that are exactly what a family needs. The same is true of German Shepherds. Our job is knowing the difference.

Drive is the engine. Control is the steering wheel. We don't place a dog without both.

What the right Malinois looks like at home

The trained Belgian Malinois we place lives in the home with you. It lies on the kitchen floor when you cook and curls up at your feet when you watch TV. It rides in the car. It greets your friends and family at the door, and it lies down when you tell it to. It's the same dog that can go full speed when it's working and be lying at your feet in a matter of moments.

Proper selection of breeding partners, a proper foundation and proper training from an award-winning staff are what separate a dog you can live with from a dog you have to put in the crate or lock in the laundry room when friends and family come to visit. You simply can't train a dog that wasn't born with a clear head and a calm nature into that kind of dog. Identifying the trained Belgian Malinois that can provide years of companionship, security and fun is exactly what we do, and we've been doing it longer than anyone in this country.

The off switch? The on switch?

I hear this all the time: "The dog doesn't have an off switch." When it comes to hyperactivity, nervousness and constant motion in the home, we don't want any of it, from day one. It's not about turning a dog on or turning a dog off. It's about starting with a dog that brings a calm nature to the home and intensity to the protection phases. We want crisp obedience. We want reliable obedience under distraction. And we want strength and power when we need it. And we want all of this in the same dog.

When something is wrong, that same dog is the first one to notice. It alerts, it moves to your side, and if someone means you harm, it will engage, stop the threat and release the instant you call it off. I wrote more about how that works in real life in Protection Dogs 101.

What a Belgian Malinois looks like

The Malinois is a short-coated dog, fawn to mahogany in color with a black mask and black ears. Most are built lighter and leaner than a German Shepherd: athletic, quick and agile. Males commonly run in the 60 to 80 pound range and females a good bit smaller. The short coat is easy to keep, and a lighter-framed dog is easy to travel with. Oftentimes a small, fifty-pound female Belgian Malinois is the perfect fit, literally and figuratively.

Don't let the small package fool you. A smaller dog, whether it's a trained Belgian Malinois or a trained German Shepherd, is more than enough to put that intruder up a tree.

Is a Malinois the right dog for you?

Any dog, whether it's a little lap dog, a golden retriever or a well-bred working protection dog, needs exercise and some structure, and a Belgian Malinois is no exception. That doesn't mean you have to become a professional dog trainer. It means a daily walk, some play, some basic obedience and a few household rules. We'll teach you what you need to know to ensure success on your journey to owning some Huggable Security™.

If you want a dog that goes where you go and lives where you live, and you're willing to learn a few basic principles of handling and management, a trained Belgian Malinois, when selected properly, will add a great deal to your life. Choose one randomly, based on some photo on a website, and you may find yourself in a sea of buyer's remorse. If your doorbell rings and your Belgian Malinois is hanging off the ceiling fan or tearing down your curtains, that's not going to be too much fun. If you want a dog that's content to be left alone in the yard all day, no protection dog of either breed is for you. My staff and I are here to guide you through it and help you select a Belgian Malinois that fits your lifestyle and adds to your quality of life.

Tell us how you live, and we'll tell you honestly which of our dogs fits. Sometimes it's a Malinois, sometimes it's a German Shepherd. It's always about the individual dog. If it's about owning a well-trained Belgian Malinois, we can make that happen.

What a trained Belgian Malinois costs

Right now, the trained adult Belgian Malinois in our program range from $45,000 to $65,000. Trained adolescents run $10,000 to $25,000, depending on age and how far along the training is. Malinois puppies from our own genetics are from $5,500, with training packages available.

The price reflects what goes into the dog: top-producing genetic material, the dogs we sort out along the way, and many months of daily training in obedience and protection by a talented, award-winning staff. Read Protection Dogs 101 for why that costs what it does, or see our full pricing.

Questions we hear every week

Is a Belgian Malinois too much dog for a family?
A poorly bred, untrained one can be. A clear-headed, well-bred Malinois with a solid foundation of obedience lives in the house as a companion and knows the difference between family and foe. That's the only kind we place.

Should I get a Malinois or a German Shepherd?
You should get a good dog, and sometimes that's a Belgian Malinois. Sometimes it's a German Shepherd. We can't paint with a broad brush. Not all Belgian Malinois are excellent working dogs, and not all Belgian Malinois are calm in the house. The same holds true for a trained German Shepherd. Read Pick the Dog, Not the Breed.

Do I need to be an experienced handler?
No. For almost fifty years, we've been placing dogs in homes worldwide. We've placed dogs with first-time dog owners. I've even placed dogs with people who don't like dogs, when a dog was the only remaining option. If you're a victim of domestic violence, law enforcement is not going to sit in your driveway 24/7, 365 days a year. Family members are exhausted from providing security. Perhaps you don't like firearms. So what's your security? Countless times I've placed dogs in situations like this, where someone doesn't even like dogs. It doesn't take long at all for these folks to become big fans of a well-trained dog from our program. It really is Huggable Security™.

Will a Malinois protect me away from home?
Yes. The dog goes with you: in the car, on a walk, at the lake house, in the hotel room. That's one of the biggest advantages over an alarm system. More on that in Alarm System, Firearm, or Protection Dog?

See the Malinois available now

Every trained Belgian Malinois for sale in our program is on one page, with photos, video and training for each dog: fully trained adults, trained adolescents and puppies. If you're weighing both breeds, see our trained German Shepherds too, or read How to Buy a Protection Dog before you start.

Tell us about your home, your family and what you're worried about, and we'll show you the dogs that fit. Call 866-726-2810.

Let me know how we can help you. You'll be glad you did. Guaranteed.

....Wayne Simanovich