Hello and welcome. I don't have much advice but it does sound like you have given it plenty of thought.

What I'd add is that a Belgian Mallinois is a shepherding breed, so it will be quite handler focussed. It's a dog with a very high working drive so will need to be kept busy. If it is bored, it will make its own entertainment and that's likely to be something fun for the dog but much less fun for you.

I'd be a little concerned about how well bred the dog is so if I were you I'd want to know a lot of details about the parents, regarding their temperaments and whether they were scored for hip dysplasia.

 

Thanks for the reply. I think I will be àble to find out about the parents.

Yes the need attention is a little concerned but at the same time something nice. Very different from the huskies we have. Which are great but the characteristics of the Malinois is actually nice as well.

 

I think the quality of the breeding is very important. The Malinois is a herding dog that was repurposed as a police and protection dog. A good one will have the herding dog temperament: high energy, very handler focused and trainable, very smart, very brave. A bad one may be skittish, neurotic, and aggressive (because, unfortunately, some people mistake fear aggression for protectiveness.)

 

I'd say if the parents pass and you go through with it, female. If you can handle a female in heat potentially.

Sounds like you already know this, but adding a third really changes the current dynamics. Something to consider.

 

I personally really love and admire the Belgian Malinois as a breed. I would have one in a heartbeat if I thought that it was a suitable breed for me. But everything that I know about them tells me that it is more dog than I could probably do justice to at this stage in my life. They are big strong and very powerful dogs with massive energy and the need for serious training and lots and lots of high energy exercise. Without those things, they can be a nightmare.

What @Curls said about breeding is also a big consideration, as is training. You indicate you are not entirely happy with the training you have done with the husky, and you don't approve of the training professionals do in your area. I agree with you about the inadvisability of that kind of professional training, but if you do not feel very confident in your ability to do the training yourself then this is another large consideration.

I think it would be a good idea for you to research the breed very extensively. Watch YouTube videos on what they need, training, and the pros and cons of owning one. I would recommend you join a group online for people who have Malinois, and ask questions there. You could get great information from other owners, who would no doubt be happy to tell you of their experience and make recommendations to you.

Be certain that you are fully prepared to do all the training that the dog would need, and that you have the ability to give the dog huge amounts of exercise, which doesn't mean just letting the dog run around on his or her own, but doing very active things with the dog such as play, training, sports, hiking, and so on.

Only you know if you are prepared to have one of these dogs. Handled and trained well, they are absolutely magnificent dogs. Just be sure you know what you are getting into with this breed before you get one.
And, if you do, I would love to hear about it, so if you feel inclined to give updates on what you decide to do, please don't hesitate to do so.

 

Thank you all for the replies. Research I do, because I do want to make the right decision. But even with that, it is more about if I know myself then this type of dog

About the breeding, I think here in Thailand that is mostly done for them being indeed work dogs. I don't see them as pets here in Thailand. Not like Huskies which you see everywhere. A friend of mine has been around them as they (12 of them) where part of a government unit to detect bombs. I also saw them once in the animal hospital with police. Somehow I have the feeling that this is good thing.

The main thing is I don't want to do the training with professionals. That they take your dog for 1 month is normal practice here. All professionals do that. So it would mean I have to do it myself. I think I can do that. Or at least I would be able to do it with a normal dog. The good thing with a malinois is that they are eager to learn, so I assume that makes it easy. The more difficult thing is that they need a lot of training. Even though I don't need them to learn to walk between your legs and things like that, as far as I understand, they enjoy learning, so more learning is better.

Then, socializing is another issue. I want it to be good with other people. Though I don't want to walk too much with it outside of my land to for example the village. First of all, there are stray dogs everywhere here in Thailand. And second, with straydogs come ticks. With our current dogs, they enjoy the large area around the house, and with the Malinois we could make that as big as 1 hectare. But back to the social, so, social would depend on mainly people visiting our place or our place in the city that we visit 1 time per week. So that would need attention.

Next, I wonder about the alpha thing. So far with the dogs we have and had, I was the alpha. So I assume that will be still the case. How would a Malinois be with 2 older huskies. Eventually once the 2 huskies pass away, we would take 1 more dog so we again have 2. also how would the dog be with my wife as I am the alpha. Now the dogs play with everyone (not that much with me). Would that be possible with Malinois?

Then, things can happen. One of our huskies fell of a step when it was a few month old. It is still afraid of things. So, with Malinois things can happen as well. Though I think that should be ok.

Anyway, I think the experience with the in total 4 huskies (2 died about 10 years ago) has been good. I think we raised them well. So that gives me some confedence. Though I realize Malinois are very very different.

This will be the first time that we get a new dog when reitred, so we do have more time to rais it and live with it all the time from the beginning. This together with a very much outside life should be good.

Though, when I look at youtube, I basically see 2 videos. One that it is dangerous and scary dog. And one that it is an increadable nice and trainable dog. Probably all depends on how you rais it.

Then a strange question. Are they cuddable? one of our huskies is ;-)

 

The good thing with a malinois is that they are eager to learn, so I assume that makes it easy.

Something to keep in mind is that a highly intelligent dog who is very eager to learn is easy to train in one way, and NOT easy to train in another way, and you need to keep this in mind.

I do not have experience with malinois. But I do have a lot of experience with border collies, another very active, intelligent, and eager-to-learn working-breed dog. The thing is that they learn everything very fast. And this means that you really have to stay on your game all the time with training these dogs. Let them get away with something once, and they will immediately learn that all they have to do is keep trying and eventually they will get away with it. Give a reinforcement at just the wrong moment by mistake and you may inadvertently train them to do exactly what you don't want them to do, and it can take time to un-do that. If you do not feel that you are highly competent as a trainer, I think you should hesitate to get a malinois. They are very serious dogs, and not for everyone.

You are correct that they are Very different from huskies. In my understanding, they do not tend to be cuddly dogs.

If you want a large and potentially serious-looking dog who might deter people from messing with your property, consider getting a doberman. While they are also high energy dogs who need training, they are dogs who make better pets for people than malinois do. I'm no expert on dobermans, but I have known many dobermans personally and all of them have been nice pets who were very affectionate with their owners. They are smart and learn well and while they look pretty intimidating and can definitely be protective of their space and people the ones I have known were all cream puffs on the inside who would rather get loved on. I think that might suit you better. Just my opinion, of course, which might be worth nothing.

 

Alpha is no longer a term that knowledgeable dog trainers use. It came out of some flawed studies of unrelated wolves forced to live together in enclosures, with the result that they displayed a lot of unnatural aggression and other behaviors. A natural wolf pack is usually a family unit. The kids tend to defer to mom and dad because, well, it's mom and dad. Additionally, dogs aren't wolves: different reproductive cycle, different ecological niche, little paternal care, etc.

What is relevant is that a Malinois is a herding dog that was subsequently repurposed to be a protection dog. In my experience many behavioral problems are an exaggerated form of some trait the breed was selected for. The exaggerated form of a lapdog's sociability could be separation anxiety. The exaggerated form of a pitbull's sporting side could be fear aggression or dog aggression. So therefore, if you are going to have a problem with a Malinois, I think it's quite possible any behavioral problems might be an exaggerated form of some trait desired for herding and policing work. I'd watch out for a suspicious attitude toward strangers, a tendency not to back down when another dog in the same situation might seek to de-escalate, and a lot of energy & drive needing to be channeled into appropriate outlets. After all, when a dog needs to stop a calf from running back to its mother or stop a burglar from fleeing, that dog isn't going to get very far with an apologetic, "Oops, sorry, didn't mean to worry you." A herding or police dog does need to be assertive on occasion. It's the human's job to teach the dog what those occasions are and are not.

I'd suggest getting a copy of Ian Dunbar's Before and After You Get Your Puppy. He is very big on the early socialization of puppies: introduce them to lots and lots of people before the age of 12 weeks. When my puppies were too young to have finished their vaccinations I made a point of carrying them on walks around the neighborhood. We stopped and chatted briefly with anyone who was willing: delivery drivers, neighbors, the (usually very bored) police officer directing traffic around road construction, landscapers, etc. It made a huge difference with my younger dog. He is reactive by nature, but he has no fear or aggression towards people. He has never met someone who has been ill-tempered towards him, and so it doesn't occur to him that anyone might deliberately attempt to harm him. They are, of course, people who are rude and deserve to be barked at. Nobody who requires a bite. That makes him a good watchdog: intimidating but not dangerous.

 

Malinois are intensive dogs. A properly trained and well-bred Belgian is a dream come true but an untrained or of bad breeding it can be a nightmare.

These dogs are easy to train (as in they are easy to motivate by food or games and they are bred to be handler focused although I've heard of quite independent individuals) but they also HAVE TO be trained.

And it is better to do the training yourself. With a dog like this it is not a month-long boot camp but a lifestyle. Training builds a bond between you and your dog.

Malinois have a strong prey drive. They might not be as ready to kill their catch like huskies but their tendency to chase moving objects is still something you have to acknowledge as you have chicken. Malinois can also chase vehicles or people who run.

I do not have personal Malinois experience but I have a show line Tervuren, which is like a very lite version.

 

Malinois are intensive dogs. A properly trained and well-bred Belgian is a dream come true but an untrained or of bad breeding it can be a nightmare.

These dogs are easy to train (as in they are easy to motivate by food or games and they are bred to be handler focused although I've heard of quite independent individuals) but they also HAVE TO be trained.

And it is better to do the training yourself. With a dog like this it is not a month-long boot camp but a lifestyle. Training builds a bond between you and your dog.

Malinois have a strong prey drive. They might not be as ready to kill their catch like huskies but their tendency to chase moving objects is still something you have to acknowledge as you have chicken. Malinois can also chase vehicles or people who run.

I do not have personal Malinois experience but I have a show line Tervuren, which is like a very lite version.

I think these observations are very important. Among some of the IGP folks the breed is starting to get the nickname "Maligator" due to a reputation for biting. I'm sure that reputation is due to a combination of dogs ending up with owners unprepared to deal the dog's drives and also some lines being bred for aggression and poor temperament.

 

As a long-time German Shepherd owner, I’ve always admired malinois, and I drool over them whenever I see them out and around, but my impression is that their exercise and training needs are too intense for my lifestyle. They need a job to do—just something to be aware of. I also own chickens and goats, which I mostly keep separate from my dogs. GSDs (and I assume malinois because they are a similar breed) have a lot of prey drive. It’s not a given that they will mix well with goats and chickens, and of course training would be required regardless.