Posted on 08/23/2011 1:15:51 PM PDT by markomalley
Günther Bonke, a dog expert for the police in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), said on Monday the trusty German Shepherd, or Alsatian, was slowly being replaced by the Belgian Shepherd. The breed, also known as the Malinois, is considered more dependable and robust than its German rival.
Bonke said NRW had only 26 German Shepherds still working alongside the police compared to 281 Malinois. He explained that not all German states bred their own dogs, making the often cheaper Belgian Shepherd even more attractive when bought in bulk.
NRW, which borders Belgium, has been breeding the Malinois since 1988. Over the years, the police discovered the dogs were healthier and more courageous than their German counterparts. Belgian Shepherds can also be used as sniffer dogs, unlike German Shepherds, which are largely limited to security details.
The trend to Malinois has also spread to Germany’s federal police, however, they haven’t entirely given up on other breeds like the Alsatian.
“We are not planning exclusively with these dogs for the future,” said a federal police spokesman.
Officials in North Rhine-Westphalia aren’t only betting on the Belgian dogs either. The state's police pack of 350 canines includes Dutch Shepherds, Giant Schnauzers, several mutts, as well as one Boxer and one Rottweiler.
Me too. Any one of the 5 Shepherds I've owned over the years would've laid down his life for me or my family. I know it.
I can't even say they were particularly well trained. Just normal family stuff, i.e. sit, stay, down, cut (barking), paw, off, etc. Many times I believed they thought they were one of the kids, but then a stranger would come and to a dog he would put his body between the youngest child and the stranger. Until there were no more babies, and then they'd put themselves between the girls and the stranger. I guess they figured our sons could take care of themselves. LOL.
It’s actually Belgian Sheepdog. Beligan Shepherd is the breed with the variations being Malinois, Groenendael (Sheepdog), Terv and Laki.
The Belgian Sheepdog is still used quite a bit in police work in Europe. But the Mal dominates the police breed in many European countries.
Both my Belgian Groenendaels are outstanding breed ambassadors. My boy is the fastest one in North America in flyball. I got both of mine from reputable breeders who breed for outgoing temperament and athleticism. Unfortunately, too many BSD breeders as of late have bred skittish, nervous and unsocial characteristic into the breed, particularly in Michigan. Mine are now the exception to a very stupid, irresponsible breeder ‘rule’.
Mals and BSDs also take a long time to mature, usually calming down around the age of 4.
Ping to previous!
Sorry, I screwed up - indeed the AKC calls the long-hair black the Belgian Sheepdog.
Otherwise, I’m aware of the 4 types within. ;-)
I’m a littl biased... ;)
No, if you mean “long” by what is shown here as Belgian Sheepdogs or Tervuren. They are more like Malinois or German Shepherds in length.
No, it was a bad joke. Referring to Dutch soldiers.
Ooooo....never mind. ;-)
I don’t think I could generalize about all Mals. You would have to discuss this with the breeders. As I understand it, they can have different goals for their breeding, and they usually know the puppies very well.
Aside from that, my two were pretty tolerant of my two grandsons, but I always kept a close eye on them.
One thing to understand about Mals, most have very strong “prey drives”, and I wouldn’t trust them with small running screaming children.
Other than that, I would suspect the Mals would assume it is their responsibility to “herd” the boys, and keep them from getting into what the Mal considered “trouble”. The boys might find that annoying, considering the herding style of a typical Mal.
You are so right about being careful about the breeder when purchasing a puppy or older dog from one.
This is why I prefer the breeders you will find at UKC shows. And, I would never buy a puppy or dog without meeting both parents of a litter, and interacting with them.
I also think that it is important to listen to the good breeder when selecting a puppy from a litter. They will have a much better sense of which pup in the litter is the best fit for your family, your home environment, and your lifestyle.
If a breeder doesn’t ask a lot of questions about these, be a bit suspicious.
Perhaps you misunderstood my comment about “shows”. I stated my preference for the United Kennel CLub, called UKC, over the American Kennel Club, called AKC.
AKC is pretty much a beauty pageant, while the UKC is much better four evaluating the working abilities of the individual breed. Each dog is evaluated on a whole variety of categories, not just how “pretty” it looks.
Have you ever been to a UKC breed specific show? You might change your mind.
100% correct. I met my boy’s parents and they are awesome dogs! My girl I rehomed from a breeder who didn’t want to show her anymore- her teeth came in slightly crooked. *rollseyes*. Didn’t meet her parents. Wish I could have. She was so soft, skittish and submissive when I got her at age 11 months. No confidence whatsoever. Now, she’s a completely different dog- athletic, food and toy driven, and lots and lots of prey drive. She learned how to be a Belgian! And she definitely has the ‘bitchy’ chick attitude of a herding dog!
I got my male Mal in the exact same way! His two lower front teeth didn’t erupt as high as the breeder thought they should, so she decided not to use him in her breeding, and let me have him for a nominal price.
He was a beautiful dog in every other way, but it did take us about a year to get him over being the bottom dog in her kennel. He turned into a wonderful dog, once he had his forever home, with our love, happy training, and being allowed to live in the house with us!
I took him, because I knew his breeding, and knew he would come around with better treatment. Mals are not good “kennel” dogs! I lost a lot of respect for that particular breeder!
>> Over the years, the police discovered the dogs were healthier and more courageous than their German counterparts.
But are they as loving and loyal?
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