Training between Malinois and GSD.

This is a placeholder text
Group text

by petoasis on 29 May 2009 - 11:05

Is it a big difference between training Malinois and GSD?I saw some 5-6 months Malinois has a big prey drive and play drive,but GSD so rare to see at same age,some trainer said some GSD shoud wait until 9 months and late mature.

by Mystere on 29 May 2009 - 12:05

Mals mature a LOT more quickly. I was always astounded with what my French Ring friends were doing with 10 mo pups. A 10 month old Mal is about ther same, in terms of maturity, as an 18-24 month old gsd. Some gsd lines do not really mature until 3 yo, or nearly so. A Mal at 1 is already where a gsd is at 3. At least, that has been my observation. The other observation is that gsds are much more forgiving. You can screw up some aspect of training, but you are able to go back and fix it with a gsd. Mals "forgive" nothing. Screw up a Mal's training and you are stuck with it. They learn quickly...and it is permanent. It's the difference between writing on a board woth a dry eraser...or a permanent marker. Then, there is that temperament issue. :-) ,

by SchHBabe on 29 May 2009 - 13:05

Nia, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. I've heard all the hype about screw-ball Malinois and how you can't use the same training methods, ... oh yeah, and the "Balabanov Method" ONLY works for Mals. blah blah blah

We got our first Malinois two years ago and my hubby and I train his Mali and my GSD using the same methods and I'm pleased with our progress to date. There's no doubt his Mali has higher drive and is a sharper dog but there is none of that stereotypical scrambled brain crap going on in her head.

Honestly, the difference in maturity between our two dogs is probably a factor of sex. I have routinely seen females mature quicker than the knuckle-headed males. So yes, Ben's Mali is more mature but she's also a female.

Fortunately for us, there is nothing that we've done that has "ruined her forever". We are novices and we make LOTS of mistakes but there's no "permanent damage". In fact, with her high drive and strong temperament the Malinois is less affected by our goofs than my handler-sensitive GSD!

I won't claim that everyone has had such experiences, and in fact I think I may be doing the Malinois breed a disservice by posting this. The more people that assume that all Malinois are crackheads, the less likely the breed will be exploited by breeders for profit!

Yvette

by judron55 on 29 May 2009 - 14:05

You can find good and bad in both breeds. It all depends on the breeding! I do believe that females mature faster. By the way Yvette...the malinois breed is as bad as the German Shepherd as far as exploitation of the breed!

ron

by Mystere on 29 May 2009 - 17:05

quote:
Nia, I'm going to disagree with you on this one. I've heard all the hype about screw-ball Malinois and how you can't use the same training methods, ... oh yeah, and the "Balabanov Method" ONLY works for Mals. blah blah blah

Yvette,

I didn't address training methods. My reference was only to gsds being more forgiving of training errors.

I would never describe a mal as a crackhead. Border Collies, now, those are crackheads. Most terriers are crackheads.

But, not mals.

by Pharaoh on 29 May 2009 - 20:05

I belonged to Contra Costa Schutzhund Club in the late 90's when Ivan was the trainer. There were more Mals in the club than Shepherds, but, there were others-lots of them. We had a Black Lab, a Bouvier, an Australian Cattle Dog and a horde of regular "visitors" including a wonderful Turvern, a Jack Russle fire cracker, There are probably a few others that I fail to remember this moment. There were quite a few Police K9's (Mals & Sheps). There was also Kathy O'Brien's Brawny Bombardier ot Vitosha-world famous ring sport winner. Also, let's not forget, Martha's wildly popular Jekyl-the ultimate crowd pleaser and sometimes bad boy.

Ivan was always Ivan. His philosophy on motivation was consistant but in application to the individual dogs it was always custom fit to the dog. It was never boring or predictable.

My dog was a Shepherd (DDR, old style American, WGR) with low prey drive, super strong nerves, high defense and very biddable. The previous trainer thought he was a dud-oh well! Shadow did not take Schutzhund seriously until Ivan dazzled him and flipped his "on" switch. He often turned in World class level protection work and showed his fight drive impressively.

Theory and apllication to specifics is the grame.

Michele

by Red Sable on 29 May 2009 - 20:05

Very cool Michele. Impressive really.

by zdog on 29 May 2009 - 20:05

Train the dog, not the breed

by Get A Real Dog on 30 May 2009 - 01:05

I agree. Train the dog, not the breed.

I agree with Mystere for the most part. There are slow maturing Mal lines and faster maturing GSD lines, just depends on the dog. As far as making mistakes, again I agree for the most part. You have to speak in general terms though. In General GSD's are far more forgiving to their handlers and not so reactive. I find GSD people have a hard time differentiating reactivity vs sharpness vs nerve issues vs handler aggression when they are looking at Mals.

As far as the mistakes being permanent, again it depends on the dog. If the dog does not get over it, that showes me a lack of resiliancy and is no good. No matter what the breed.

Contact information Disclaimer Privacy Statement Copyright Information Terms of Service Cookie policy ↑ Back to top

Training between Malinois and GSD. - Page 1

Pedigree Database