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They don't not use many German Shepherds these days.

North American competitors within Shutzhund I and II are not what they used to be. Quite often, Sheps are imported from Germany, the old Chek republics and Russia now. North American breeders have almost destroyed this breed with their greed.

However, the majority of their dogs do come from Europe. Some are even trained in foreign languages and the new partner will learn commands in same language. Holland is one of the most command sources for canine dogs.

The Belgian Malinois are used because this breed has consistently shown he has heart in certain aspects of his training. The Malinois also have demostrated a pronounced PREY instinct during play(ie, the LOVE the ball). In the Dutch Police Dog certification, the Malinois almost always has placed near the top in competition. During the protection training several Malnois have injured themselves (broken neck) with the devotion and vigor they put into their work and training. Lastly, the Malnois are a "one man" dog. In that, the breed is inherently distrustful of strangers (a good thing) and latches on psychologically with its handler. It takes time to build a report with a Malinois. Although they are slightly smaller and generally thinner boned than German Sheppard dogs they make up for it with focus and raw guts.

Your description of a Malinois is right on! I might add that they are so easily trained, that they "get it in about 5 minutes, if not just from watching other dogs being trained.

There is a downside, though. I heard a rumor that the Border Patrol folks won''t use them, because in their training, they expect the dog to check car after car after car, all day long, and the Mainois gets so bored by repetitive training that they shut down, and start doing extraneous things, such asfooling around to entertain themselves.

I keep my training sessions very short, and keep them interested by never repeating an exercise more than twice when they are sucessful.

Now, while making dinner during the break I was listening to the disccussion of the tire sniffing and the MH sniffing... Those of you who have dogs ever notice all the tire sniffing that goes on when you come home?

I wonder how Hopi and Cielo's trainer managed to train them not to sniff for dog pee, etc... I would find that very hard to train for, even in my smart Malinois, and wonder if Feldman has thought about that...

Remember the dog in Glamis? Male or female? Did he pee on the tires? Pee on the side of the Motorhome? Does the guy where he stroed the MH have a dog? cats?