Belgian Malinois or White Shepherd – Which is Better Dog Breed for Me?
Belgian Malinois or White Shepherd – Which is Better Dog Breed for Me? We breed two dog breeds, Belgian Malinois and White Shepherd Dogs. We have also bred German Shepherd Dogs but this has been in the past and now have only Belgian Malinois and White Shepherd Dogs in our breeding program.
I would like to emphasize that we breed only for hobby, not for commercial purposes. So we make only matings where we intend to keep a puppy for our future breeding and we have a very concrete vision what we want from our dogs. We are with pedigree dogs already 20 years but the history with the dogs goes back up to 44 years 😀
We have the long time experience and knowledge of the breeds such as German Shepherd Dog, Belgian Malinois and White Shepherd Dogs. These three breeds are quite different from each other so it feels very strange when people ask for a White Shepherd puppy and then switch suddenly to Belgian Malinois puppy. Confirming that they understand everything about Belgian Malinois and are going to train the dog, and finally when the dog is grown up have lots of problems at home.
Every breeders obligation is to guarantee it’s puppies lifetime well being. When you sell the puppy it is not about sell and forget. You need to make sure the owner can handle the dog and dog can live good life till the end of it’s days. The true breeders breed for them self, so ideally there would be only 2 perfect puppies born, a male and a female which the breeder can keep. Unfortunately, the shepherd dog breeding means 6-10 puppies litters. The true breeders ultimate goal in this case is always to find them the best suitable homes and get the best out of them.
Our goal is to get the best suitable owner for each of our puppy and have the bad cases percentage as low as possible. We have one of the best dogs in the World in both White Shepherd breed and Belgian Malinois breed in terms of the specifics we breed.
But we still have sometimes replacement because it is very difficult to value the owners the best way and if you give a wrong puppy to a wrong person hands you end up with finding a new home for the dog between the age 7 months to 2 years. Worse is when the people have ruined dogs nervous system or health, because this stays for the lifetime.
Usually, when the dogs get into families who love them and develop them according to their age all the dogs grow up healthy, have balanced nervous system and live long and healthy life. Problems start when you sell a puppy to a very ambitious owner who believes that it’s dog needs to be a world winner or world champion at the age of 18 months. Or even worse, they believe a 3 months old baby should be with a gown up capability. These dogs have usually ruined elbows, ruined hips, ruined knees and ruined backs by the age of 2 years. Some working breeds even ruined necks without ever being able to live normal life anymore. I have had that too many times and I would never want to happen it again.
Quite often, when the most successful long time working dogs start it’s career at the age of 4 years, then those people with a “prodigy child” have totally “burned out” their dogs by age of 4. I know it well, I have done it myself, never do it again. I promise! And not to you, but I promise it to my dogs because I love them too much. 😀
But that was not I wanted to tell you today. So I get back to the basics.
It all starts with selecting the right breed. Which breed is right for me. As I breed only Belgian Malinois and White Shepherd Dogs I write here the main differences of my bred dogs.
Belgian Malinois
The Belgian Malinois we breed are mostly out from KNPV dogs or NVBK dogs. In terms of dog training the hardest in the world is considered KNPV. Then Belgian Ring. Then Mondio Ring and French Ring. And then finally IPO.
Every sport has it’s own enthusiasts who protect it’s sport and promote it. But the difference is seeable in trainings and trials. Only very few dogs are able to perform in KNPV and only very few IPO 3 dogs would be able to pass PH1 in KNPV. But every KNPV official result achieved dog would be able to do IPO routine. Most of them, on the other hand, would not be able to get high points in IPO as they are too tough dogs for IPO which today is mostly a dog sport for best points for the most flexible and fanciest performing dogs. The real life is that when you get the feeling with KNPV and with the real good KNPV dogs you can never go back. 😀
KNPV is meant to test dogs suitability for Dutch Police. It used to be an official regulation in the Netherlands that no dog could be sold to Police in Holland which did not have PH1 result. This regulation has been changed now as there are no longer enough PH1 dogs. But that was a good selection for the best performing dogs for Police forces. For high points in IPO you would need a fast, high energy, high drive, easy to control dog but for KNPV you would need a strong dog with extreme fight drive and “eat in bite”. A good KNPV dog is with very good nerves, strong by character, easy to handle at home, very strong in drive and have a will to please the owner.
The Belgian Malinois we have at home are with good nerves. They are brave, have very good will to fight and have got natural instinct to protect it’s partner and it’s family. Quite easy at home, normal energy at home, good balanced nervous system and able to switch off the drive, but extreme in working with very high drive and very high fight drive. For a KNPV line Malinois biting gives them meaning in life. If a KNPV Malinois can not bite it’s life is empty.
When you want to take a Belgian Malinois it suits only for you in case you:
Want a dog for working
Want a dog for trainings
Want a dog for dog sport
Want a dog for personal protection
You do not want a Belgian Malinois in case you have:
No time for dog training
No money for dog training
No car for dog training
No place for dog training
No trainers for dog training
No will for dog training
No earlier experience with any other service dog breeds
Belgian Malinois is a working dog and must remain a working dog
Belgian Malinois does not suit for first time dog owners. Belgian Malinois does not suit for people with no earlier experience to handle service dogs. If you have no time or no will to train a dog, do not take a Belgian Malinois. When you do not train dogs yourself, but have someone to train then this can also be an option, but you just need to understand that it means thousands of dollars or euros. And finally, do not take a Belgian Malinois when you have small children, especially, do not take a Belgian Malinois as a family dog unless you are a highly experienced with working line Malinois or a working line German Shepherd Dogs.
The Belgian Malinois we breed are suitable for people with earlier experience with such type of dogs. For people who want a dog for working, who want a dog for trainings, who want a dog for biting sport, who want a dog from KNPV lines, who want a dog for breeding and who appreciate strong KNPV dogs with lots of will to bite.
Every breed has problems when it becomes popular. This is now the case also with Belgian Malinois. The only reason why this breed has staid so good is because it has been years unpopular. Some latest movies have made people to popularise the breed and there are some breeders who breed Belgian Malinois for pets. This is completely wrong and quite often breeders breed soft dogs so families and children could handle them without trainings who later become fear biters. There are problems in every breed and every routine but we should always drive for the best dogs.
When you want a family dog there is no better option then the well bred all rounder White Shepherd Dog
White Shepherd Dog
The White Shepherds we breed are mostly several generations our bred dogs with intention to get better whites suitable for different dog sports and become the best family companion dog as allrounder for different activities. We do not breed dogs to sleep days on the couch although we believe all dogs should sleep in bed 😀
The dogs we breed need active owners who want a dog for different activities. Whether to be in entry or medium level dog sport or just for long walks in the forest, fitness running together with your dog or just some other fun activities with your dog. An active White Shepherd is perfect dog for different activities while at the same time living in families with small children. White Shepherd is so good with children that if a child starts teasing him or hurt him he even never growls, just stands up and walks away. They have natural understanding of the family structure and that children are our small “puppies in the pack” that needs to be protected and taken care of.
Many of our White Shepherd Puppies go to families with children because they are very good with children and at the same time able to perform the family protector function at some level and also be “an every man” training partner for different activities.
Many people who have been involved with dog sport have started with a White Shepherd Dog and when they learn and perform and want already go to the international level they take a Malinois or Border Collie depending on the sport they want to move forward with. One of the examples of our puppy owner is Marje Piiroja who had our White Shepherd puppy Born to Win White Hugo, made him Agility Champion in Estonia and then even participated with BTWW Hugo in Agility Wold Championship. After that she took a Malinois and now Marje Piiroja is 3 times World Champion in FMBB Agility World Championship. I think it is marvellous result and I am very proud of our White Shepherd Puppy that brought Marje Piiroja to the dog sport as she is a real talent which dog world really needs. But this is only one of the many such examples, the most successful one.
I am breeding dogs with the idea that a dog should have purpose in life. And our White Shepherds have several times shown that they have the purpose in life for their owners. We like dogs who are dogs, best friend for life, whom you can participate in different activities and who at the same time is best family member.
The White Shepherds we breed are medium to high energy and medium strength character. They are meant for active owners who want dog for different activities. All our dogs at home are easily motivated either by food, by ball or by tug. They all have extremely good potential for dog sport such as obedience and tracking. And the best of them can also perform in protection.
White Shepherd suits for you when you:
Want an active dog for different activities who lives as a family dog
Have small children in family and want to be safe
Want a dog for different kind of trainings either for fun or for national level sport
Want a magnificent looking White Dog but understand that every dog needs to be trained
You do not have earlier experience with dogs but want a dog for trainings or dog sport
White Shepherd is not suitable for you in case you have:
No time for dog training
No place for dog training
No trainers for dog training
No will for dog training
I hope this gave you something to think about and clarifies a bit the differences of a White Shepherd Dog and Belgian Malinois Dog. Although both dogs have erect ears, they are very different by character and very different purpose in life. Choose accordingly!
Monika Laneman
Sport and Dogs is Lifestyle!
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With the hope that man may learn love through the eyes of his dog…
