The Jaded Dog Trainer: My Malinois Won’t Stop Biting Me!

All too often we see questions from Malinois owners that go something like; “My Malinois puppy bites me all the time. He's leaving scratch and puncture marks all over me. I'm all torn up from my puppy! Why does my Malinois bite everything!?”

First of all, be sure to pronounce the breed’s name as Mal-In-Wah, not Mal-Eh-Noise. If you don't say it right, you're sure to get some funny looks from people who know better.

What Is A Malinois?

Known as the Belgian Malinois, this breed was developed as a herding dog, yet often are found working as police K9, military working dog, and protection dogs. The Malinois is a medium-sized breed, weighing anywhere from 40-80 pounds and measuring between 22-26 inches at the shoulder.

These high-energy dogs display four distinct color patterns, they are extremely obedient, and they are known to form an unbreakable bond with their owners. They can make excellent companions and family dogs - with the right training.

Malinois Breed Description

Okay, let's look at the breed description and see what it says:

"The Malinois is strong, well-muscled, and is more elegant than bulky in appearance. There's an honest, no-frills look about them.”

That means they are sometimes considered unattractive and are not necessarily the best-looking dogs. Why? No one really knows, but in my opinion, it’s most likely because the Malinois is built to work, right? A working dog doesn’t need to be built pretty; it’s built pretty hard(core) for work.

The benefits of this dog are that they’re "built to work on their feet."

What that really means is they need to stay busy all the time. They have a ton (literally) of energy and are a highly active breed. If they don’t get enough exercise during the day, be it through work and/or play, this dog is going to have a lot of unspent energy that you’re going to have to deal with one way or another.

The Malinois is "great at obedience."

This is absolutely true. What this means is that if you have not trained your dog well, you're essentially allowing him/her to bite you all the time due to an absence of training. He/She can be trained really well, and fairly easily. You want him/her to stop biting you? Train the dog! They aim to please you.

Bred To Hunt, Chase, And To Bite

So genetically, the Malinois has been bred since the 1800s to be a herding dog, and today, are most often employed as police and military  service dogs. That's really it.

They haven't been bred to be attractive, not been bred to be pretty. The Malinois has been bred to do a job. First, as a herding dog and today, to hunt people down. Herding and hunting. Chasing and biting.

That’s the Malinois in a nutshell.

Circling back to our viewer’s question, your little puppy biting you shouldn’t come as a surprise. It’s just what they do. I suggest getting your pup into obedience training or bite training as soon as ... Well, yesterday. The faster you can get your Malinois pup trained in obedience, the better. You’re going to have a wonderful and loyal companion, once taught to bite the bad guys instead of you!

But let's be very clear that a Malinois puppy should be biting the crap out of you prior to obedience training. Make sure that you evaluate your life choices when considering this badass breed for your next dog. Figure out how to translate what the breed description really says before you get a dog based on looks alone.

And be sure to get all the training equipment your Malinois is going to need at RayAllen.com so that you can train your puppy the right way.