# Are Malinois Good family dogs?



## Desmond Albergottie (May 16, 2011)

I had a dicussion in another forum and most of the forum stated that Mals are not good family dogs, but the are good companions because of their high activity drive. 
I would like to know what people on this forum thinks? me myself had worked with a few but never did they live with me so I started to take offense to that because I believed that they were.


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## julie allen (Dec 24, 2010)

That is a pet forum, and if you compare golden retrievers to mals lol, most 'pet' people do not think they are good as that. I have seven, and one is in the house and a shepherd puppy. Being worked, I think they are great dogs. Just be prepared for non stop fetch lol.


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

That is way too broad a statement to answer. Just like are all guys good Dads ? are all girls good mothers ? 

I have two mals, and they are who they are, and I am who I am. Would they be good with small children in MY HOUSE ?? Yes. 

Anyone else's house ? ????????????????? No way that I could answer that. I don't know the people, I don't know the children.


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Holy shit thats a mali in the house with a 4.5 year old boy, and oh my god is that a baby seat and a pack and play in the back round :-o:-o:-({|=:-$



















Same dog as in the first two pictures, People NEED TO judge each dog on a INDIVIDUAL basis, you just don't throw a entire breed under the bus. I have had pups malis and dutchies and adults titled ( KNPV ) in my house, if you want proof let me know I will gladly post them as well mention a few others that do the same.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Nice taxidermy work there Harry! 
Everyone knows you can't leave a live one with kids......unless you put some effort into raising it............


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Bob Scott said:


> Nice taxidermy work there Harry!
> Everyone knows you can't leave a live one with kids......unless you put some effort into raising it............


your funny Bob, I know its just so hard to believe that there is a aggressor loose in the house with kids, funny thing is though our biggest problem with this specific mali is he is attached to my son ( AKA cookie kid );-)


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## Jeff Oehlsen (Apr 7, 2006)

You have to remember there are opinion shoppers out there. They will only see the dog and the kid and everything looks grand. They will not read about bringing the dog/kid up or anything like that.


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

Jeff Oehlsen said:


> You have to remember there are opinion shoppers out there. They will only see the dog and the kid and everything looks grand. They will not read about bringing the dog/kid up or anything like that.


Well thats a lesson that will be well learned, thats the problem I have been saying for more than a decade now I do believe so is that everybody wants a working dog until they get one and then there like oh **** what do I do now#-o

We can as a group sit here and tell folks until we are blue and ready to pass out what to do and what not to do and in the end what ya think there going to do, exactly what the **** they want to do unfortunately.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

To add a serious answer to the OP's question
If you are inexperienced enough to ask that question I would think a Mal may not be a choice for you...Honest!
ANY sound dog can be a family dog depending on how it's raised. 
My kids grew up with a house full of crazy terriers. They're all mean as hell..... but the dogs survived them.


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## Oluwatobi Odunuga (Apr 7, 2010)

I prefer malinois from KNPV lines, they appear to have that on and off button. Same with most dutchies too.


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## Guest (Dec 1, 2008)

Oluwatobi Odunuga said:


> I prefer malinois from KNPV lines, they appear to have that on and off button. Same with most dutchies too.


 
where is the button located?


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Oluwatobi Odunuga said:


> I prefer malinois from KNPV lines, they appear to have that on and off button. Same with most dutchies too.


Olu your gonna have to show me the off button LOL \\/


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## Desmond Albergottie (May 16, 2011)

Harry Keely said:


> Holy shit thats a mali in the house with a 4.5 year old boy, and oh my god is that a baby seat and a pack and play in the back round :-o:-o:-({|=:-$
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 Thank you I tried to say the samething and was shot down, but I was fighting a losing battle..Great pics


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## Desmond Albergottie (May 16, 2011)

Bob Scott said:


> Nice taxidermy work there Harry!
> Everyone knows you can't leave a live one with kids......unless you put some effort into raising it............


 Very true..Thanks for that


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## Desmond Albergottie (May 16, 2011)

All of you guys are awesome thanks for that fast response and for looking at the other side of the spectrum


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Mals are just dogs. You cannot paint any breed of dog with a broad brush and say they are this or that or the other thing. It always boils down to the individual dog in many cases even dogs from the same litter will be completely different. 

Is a mal a dog I would get for a family pet? Nope!! But the reason isn't because they are "dangerous" "sharp" or any of the other crap you constantly hear. It's simple ... most of them are bred for work of some kind.


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## Ashley Campbell (Jun 21, 2009)

I don't think the breed matters as much as the individual dog. The most dangerous and unstable dog I ever had was a golden retriever. I had to worry about that bastard biting one of my kids and he wasn't predictable at all - yet supposed to be a "great family dog" because of breed...right.


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## Gillian Schuler (Apr 12, 2008)

Oluwatobi Odunuga said:


> I prefer malinois from KNPV lines, they appear to have that on and off button. Same with most dutchies too.


I've never owned a Mal but over the years have trained with many of them.

For me the "on and off" button is the one I press!!!


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## Geoff Empey (Jan 8, 2008)

Jody Butler said:


> where is the button located?


Right above the dog's genitals. It looks like a winking eye. Press it and get back to us if it turns off your Malinois if not your Malinois might be defective and needs a brain rewire.


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## David Frost (Mar 29, 2006)

Oluwatobi Odunuga said:


> I prefer malinois from KNPV lines, they appear to have that on and off button. Same with most dutchies too.


Being relative new to this, I would really be apprecitive if you would show me where that button is located. 

DFrost


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## Oluwatobi Odunuga (Apr 7, 2010)

David Frost said:


> Being relative new to this, I would really be apprecitive if you would show me where that button is located.
> 
> DFrost


Lol......what i meant is some of them are able to behave calmly in a non-working environment or when there is no 'stimuli' from the owner. Most of the malis i've seen that are like that are KNPV line malis. As for dutchies there's one i saw that is no different from a typical GSD, calm in the house but crazy on the field, he gets worked up just doing obedience but in the house he's content to just lie beside his handler.
If in doubt go with geoff:-D.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

Bob Scott said:


> My kids grew up with a house full of crazy terriers. They're all mean as hell..... but the dogs survived them.


LOL love it.

I think the answer is "depends on the Malinois, depends on the family".

I bought my first Malinois when my son was around 9 months old, so he's pretty much grown up with them his entire life, we've had at least one in the house ever since that first one, usually more. But I have also been training/titling dogs for that entire time and even before I got Malinois, so we aren't exactly your average pet home. A high drive, working bred, Malinois, in your average pet home who thinks dogs should be seen and not heard 23.9 hours out of the day, is NOT a situation that is going to work. Same dog in a home where the dog is worked with mentally and physically on a regular basis, might work out just fine.

And frankly how the dog acts on the field in my experience has little coorelation to how the dog will be at home. Some of my craziest dogs on the field are my most calm, laid back, dogs at home. And I've met dogs that at home are the energizer bunny, NEVER stopping, who have almost no working ability, that drive and energy has no focus, or the dog is to nervous to use it in strange places.


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## Chris Jones II (Mar 20, 2011)

That is a good and sensible post that is obviously based in experience. Thanks Kadi.


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## Harry Keely (Aug 26, 2009)

I wouldn't necessarily say its a KNPV thing either, like I said its a individual dog thing. I have only had one that I left out constantly wheter we were home or not, have had a few that were good out if we were home, but for the most part the numbers or percentage of them were not meant for a family / inside the house affect. Alot gos to knowing the breeds and being able to read your dog and just repition of rolling dice along with training to see if they are that dog or not ( not saying use your children for trial runs - just for the record ), JMO:-k

Alot has to do with also proper up bringing and raising and training of your children too, whats acceptable behavior around them and whats not, also you have to know how to pick out that dog that doesn't need to be near your children period and continue to have a controlled enviroment. When we first had pups he was allowed near them as the pups grew that was it - hands off -. mali and dutchie pack mentality can be a bitch even for adults LOL, just to throw pups into the mix of this conversation as well.


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## Desmond Albergottie (May 16, 2011)

Bob Scott said:


> To add a serious answer to the OP's question
> If you are inexperienced enough to ask that question I would think a Mal may not be a choice for you...Honest!
> ANY sound dog can be a family dog depending on how it's raised.
> My kids grew up with a house full of crazy terriers. They're all mean as hell..... but the dogs survived them.


Bob read the post what question did I ask I stated I had a discussion in another forum about Mals being good pets, My question was what do this forum think about it? Iam I inexperience cause I asked this forum? wow wake up. the question are Malinois good family dogs is the topic I was referring to for another forum I just used that as a topic


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## Jhun Brioso (Dec 28, 2009)

Kadi Thingvall said:


> LOL love it.
> 
> I think the answer is "depends on the Malinois, depends on the family".
> 
> ...


This make sense Kadi.. Thanks


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