working line German Shepherd OR Belgian Malinois - Page 4

A couple of nights agoI had typed up a pretty long response and then lost it. Said another day.......A few years back going through Explosive Detection Dog Handler School we, (students) had to stand in front of the class and give a little bio on ourselves. That night the instructors with the owner would sit at the round table and pair dogs with handlers. The next day we got our dogs. Out of 28 students only two dogs were dual purpose. Everthing else was single purpose. I drew a Mal, Billy,  and he was a dual purpose. CIVIL as hell! Not the most civil I have seen but he was up there. This was my first hands on with a Mal. He was beautiful but whew.

I was told by the time a GSD bites once the Mal has bitten four times. I call them piranhas on four legs! So Billy and I are bonding, training,classroom and practicals and @ day ten were on the O course. All dogs are muzzled and I have no idea the history of the instructors and dogs but knew that no one in the class before could handle Billy. We're on the O course and Billy and one of the instructors were having a "talk".  In a blink of an eye, Billy "muzzle" bit the intsruction top of the head. BAM! So fast. I wasn't afraid of Billy, but cautious. When I would put him in the vehicle crate is was all teeth and going ballistic. I'd close that door and four inches away from my face/shoulder was Ballistic Billy. One day I acidently closed the door on his paw..... sounded like two grizzlies going at it. You couldn't walk past my vehicle or another dog couldn't walk past my vehicle. That night the instructors and owner are at the round table and decided the contract couldn't take the chance of Billy biting someone. Next day at practicals I have to return to the kennels and swap dogs out. My new dog, Ginno, a black GSD is an awesome dog also. But realistically I'm ten days behind in training. So I'm power bonding with Ginno by staying out on the O course pouring Indiana rains til 7 and 8 pm. Within five days I'm up to snuff where Billy and I were at in ten. Not saying it was dog, handler or training. I would've been happy with Billy but when millions of dollars are on the line with a DoD contract then it's all a business decision. With Ginno things were alot smoother.

Also, as someone stated above. There's a couple of worlds here for dogs. Owners, breeders, handlers, MWD handlers, PSDs, contract work and OS work. Some handlers don't have a choice on breed. For the working aspect, as long as the dog can do the job it's supposed to do it doesn't matter the breed. And as Don stated; Who cares if this dog can bite with 70 ppsi or 90 ppsi. It's going to hurt. How many times playing or training and that puppy (just a puppy) bites you and man does that hurt. Now wait til that dog has some training under their belt and knows how to do it . Look out.  

@ggturner, i would like to have the both breeds. Belgian malinois and German shepherd are my favourite breeds. But If you tell me that i can pick only one breed then i will go with czech working line gsd at the same time i am sad to leave Malinois. Dogs and their ability to work are specific and depend upon the particular dog so i would invest a good amount time to pick a right dog for me.

@malndobe oh.. How come you knew my preference ? Honestly gsd & malinois are great breeds in my eyes. Both are great breed and also have their own positive and negative points. I am really not afraid of Malinois. They look like Mutt to me. If i have to fight any of the both breed. I would fight Belgian Malinois and I would avoid to fight German shepherd. Discovery Channel ? , i do not trust them blindly. But yeah, i trust them upto some level and when discovery channel's site is saying that Affection level of German shepherd is higher than Affection level of Belgian malinois, there is something like that for sure. I know, Every dog is different.

 Good luck with your choice--maybe you can own both.  

I do not think you would want to fight a Mali over a GSD all other things being equal. I am a GSD person first and foremost but I love Malis. A great Mali to me is something to be in awe of.  I also do not agree when i hear that it is easier to find a good Mal than a good GSD. They are not for everyone that is for sure but I can not sit idle while Malis are discussed as anything less than equal to GSDs. 

I also do not agree when i hear that it is easier to find a good Mal than a good GSD.

I think the reason people say this, whether realize it or not, is simple percentages.

Make a list of ads for Malinois.  In a perfect world for this we'd include every ad that existed today, in whatever format (internet, magazine, newspaper, etc).  Compile the same list for GSD.  Throw a dart at each list and try to get a working quality dog from the breeders you "selected".  The working GSD breeder is a smaller percent of the list of people producing GSD than the working Malinois breeder is of the people breeding Malinois. 

IMO that's why people say working GSD are harder to find.   If they started with just a list of good working GSD breeders, I don't think they would think they were hard to find.

I think it also depends on what you classify as good. If all you are looking for is a highly prey driven dog for sport, well yeah, it's very rare to see low prey in a Malinois. In that sense it is easier to find. Myself, in what I want, it would probably be harder to find a Malinois than a GSD.

Yes for what I want it would be harder to find a Mali. Well, its hard to find a GSD too like I want. GOOD dogs are hard to find. Good being defined by my own personal preferences. It is all very subjective. I suppose it is easier if you narrow it down to club level Sch or something like that but even then it varies. Dogs are individuals and people are individuals. More and more I dislike generalities when discussing dogs. Look at each dog without preconceptions and as an individual in both body and mind. IT is a difficult thing to do.


 

@SportySchGuy what kind of gsd do you like and what kind of malinois do you like ? Can a gsd beat Malinois at sport and work ?

Please share your experience with us.. Any one who owns both gsd and malinois.. please tell us , how do you differ gsd from malinois on the affection and loyality points ?? I know , every dog is different.. But i am asking for sharing your experience with us... So please tell us , how do you find your gsd different from your malinois on the affection and loyality points ??? Everybody is welcome to share their experience.