In terms of working ability, what are the disadvantages of owning a Mal versus a GSD­? I guess my question really is: If the Mal is such an outstanding working dog, why do many working dog enthusiast still prefer the GSD. I have been told by some people in my Schutzhund club that in general the Mal is not hard enough, Mals have poor defense, Mals track poorly etc...

In my view the GSD is more popular because it has been around for so long. Many Mals that were sent over a decade ago from Europe were nothing more then wash outs from some European Dog sport. These doga were either nervy, and had very poor temperments, high prey and bad nerves, no prey, or were handler aggresive. This was what for the most part was sent over.
Today we are seeing a higher quality Mal that is really a super working dog. Time brings education. The myth that Mals can't track it really is the people that handle them don't know how to train them, one only has to look world-wide at schutzhund tracking scores, the Mals are scoring V's all the time. For the most part Mals do everything fast. Thier nerves are diffrent then most GSD's. Not to say there are some that are not good trackers, but the same can be said for the GSD.
To say one is better then the next is unfair. THere are more Mals though that have the traits that are needed to work world-wide then GSD's. This has been dissussed on another topic not too long ago. At the end of the day though unless we preserve the working abilty in the GSD it will be fair in the future to say the Mals. are as a breed a better working dog.

Hi all. I think this is a no win argument. While I myself am a Mal person 110%, most of the dogs I train and Depts I work with have GSDs. Many are first time handlers and SOME Mals are too much dog, hell, some GSDs are too much dog as well. I think if you pick the correct dog for the job, there is little difference in ability. Yes, there are some things a Mal will do that many GSDs can't, but the same is true in the opposite. For many, training a Mal is not something they understand, thus their ideas and style clash with the breed. Many times this happens with a good GSD as well. many times it's trainers who "I've done it this way for 30 years" are the ones who hate the Mals. They also pride thmeselves on getting handlers bit by their own dogs in handler courses as well for some stupid reason.

I think on the whole it is easier to find a higher number of Mals within the breed to work as they are not as diversified or have the $ behind them as many GSDs do. However, there are TONS of Sh#@ Mals that shouldn't waste space in a dog crate as well. I think it has little to do with breed as it does choosing/selecting the right dog and training it the right way from the start.

i too prefer Mals, but its hard to find a mal that is as environmentally sound as a good GSD. The GSD's (for the most part) just have stronger nerves and tend to be more calm and confident in the work. But as i said, i still love Mals and them myself, you can't beat the intensity

As posted earlier, the Malinois seems to be a little more "nervy" than the gsd. The Malinois I have seen work are very high strung for the most part and in some cases that trait would not be desirable.

For instance, a family dog that also serves a protection role, it is just hard to picture a very high drive Malinois in the home with kids, it would seem the dog would destroy the house?

Where I think with the gsd there is more balance, you can have a dog that will do the work but can also be a "house dog" and relax when he's in the house.

One other point to mention which might be moot anyway, I have heard that in some cases Malinois especially females are almost too light to stop a pumped up drug crazed felon. They can be "flung off" easier then a heavier Shephard. Or a Rott for that matter. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

dont count the small malinois out. even though they are small, if you watch many of the hardest hitting dogs competitions, who usually wins? Mlainois (obviously not all the time). what big rottie is likely to scale an 8 ft. wall to get a bite? i've seen 60 pounds mals that bite harder than 100 pound rotties.

Kevin wrote: " i've seen 60 pounds mals that bite harder than 100 pound rotties."

I'm not going to get into what dog bites harder but I can tell you that bite pressure will NOT be greater from a 60 pound mal compared to a 100 pound Rott unless the Rottweiler is sick or afraid to take the bite.

I own a Mal female and a male German Shepherd. I really enjoy my female Mal. She is great to be around. In the work she is fast to the bite. She takes full and hard bites. She tracks nice, and her obed is nice. She is more handler sensitive. My Shepherd he has very nice bitework just as full grips maybe harder due to his larger size. Tracking nice, obed is more up then the Mal which I think is unusual, I think this is due to her handler sensitivity. I feel both breeds are fun to be around, just need to research the bloodlines for what type of dog you want.

My brother lives with mals in the house, no problems, they don't destroy anything. Good training and good daily exercise.

His male is as hyper as any dog I've ever seen alive. They still get along.

The quality of Mals been bred around the world is getting better and better while the quality of GSD's are getting worse.
GSD's cannot compete with Mals at Ring sports, KNPV and even now top level Schutzhund and IPO. Last year at the FCI all breeds the top five dogs were Mals. 9 of the top 11 were Mals. Mals have won the all breeds for the last 5 years. What does this prove? Mal breeders are deff improving the breed. I think the programs such as Ring and KNPV are helping to improve the dogs as well.
I think it was Kevin S. that said the German Police breeding program is putting more Mals on the street per litter than they were getting from their GSD's.
Things are deff going the right way for the Mal. Im not sure this can be said for the GSD.