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Breed guide · Dogs
She'd train all day if I let her. I've learned to stop at ten minutes.
Last updated 14 October 2026
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What they brought with them.
Tap a card to see what is going on.
At home
A gnawed door frame, a sofa cushion taken apart, a hole in the post.
What's going onMalinois were chosen for the urge to keep working. Without something to do, they find their own project. Two or three short training sessions a day change a lot.
At home
An hour at the park, and they are back at the door asking for more.
What's going onMore running makes them fitter, so they need even more next week. Training, scent games and dinner hidden around the flat tire the part of them that was bred to work.
At home
You tense up as a dog comes the other way, and they are already on alert.
What's going onBred to work with a handler, they read a tight lead or a sharp voice as a signal. Keep the lead loose and your voice low, and they stay calmer around other dogs. Never punish a growl: it is their early warning.
At home
Warm with the family, cool with visitors, and slow to relax around someone new.
What's going onThey were bred to judge strangers, not to love them on sight. Let them choose when to say hello, and ask visitors not to lean over them or reach for their head.
At home
A hesitation on the stairs, a startle when touched, a bark at the door that is new.
What's going onProgressive Retinal Atrophy (PRA, gradual loss of sight) is on their record from a young age, and failing sight shows in behaviour first. It is worth telling your vet about, whatever their age.
At home
Fast turns in the hallway, a skid on the marble, a leap off the sofa.
What's going onThey turn fast and land hard, and hips and elbows are where Malinois run into trouble. Rugs where they turn, and no endless ball throwing, protect their joints.
The bit nobody tells you.
Their day
Built for: Working at full speed for a handler.
In Dubai: Often a flat, where nothing asks that of them.
Their breeding
Built for: Chosen by police forces, armies and sport clubs for drive.
In Dubai: A family home, with a sofa and a door frame.
Their exercise
Built for: Running hard, for as long as the work lasts.
In Dubai: Five months a year too hot to run them hard.
The chewed door frame and the evening spin around the living room mostly come from that gap.
You cannot give them a police job. You can give them work every day, and the ten things below are how.
Your plan is built around their breed: the risks on a Belgian Malinois's record at every age, and the care that goes with each one.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Ten things that make their life better.
They will tell you someone is there either way. A rule gives them a job they can get right.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They will tell you someone is there either way. A rule gives them a job they can get right.
What to do
Teach them to go to a mat a few metres from the front door for a reward, long before any visitor. When the bell goes, thank them once and send them there. While they are learning, have deliveries left outside. If they have lunged or snapped at anyone, contact your vet before you go further.
They decide what strangers are from the people they have already met.
Every age, most of all puppies
Why
They decide what strangers are from the people they have already met.
What to do
In their first months, let them watch all kinds of people from a distance they are happy at, with a treat for each: men in caps, children, people in uniform. Until their vaccinations are finished, carry them or use clean ground. Keep going through their teens, because many become warier of strangers as they mature.
They react fast, and the lift gives them no room.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
They react fast, and the lift gives them no room.
What to do
Wait for an empty lift, or stand them in the back corner with you in front. Step aside in corridors, keep the lead short and loose near entrances, and ask building staff to let you by rather than reach for them.
Work is what they were bred for, and it is the thing that settles them.
Every age, most of all 6 months to 2 years
Why
Work is what they were bred for, and it is the thing that settles them.
What to do
Two or three sessions of five to ten minutes: obedience, tricks, find-it games with their dinner. Feed some meals from a puzzle feeder. Stop while they still want more. In older dogs, scent games stay easy on the joints and keep the mind busy.
They will keep going in the heat long after they should stop.
Every age, shortest for puppies
Why
They will keep going in the heat long after they should stop.
What to do
From May to September, exercise before sunrise and after dark. Put the back of your hand on the pavement for five seconds: if you cannot keep it there, they cannot run on it. Keep hard play short, carry water, and end the game yourself.
A basket muzzle they are used to lets them pant and drink, and keeps a stressful moment calm.
Every age, easiest under 2 years
Why
A basket muzzle they are used to lets them pant and drink, and keeps a stressful moment calm.
What to do
Teach it while they are young and nothing is wrong: show it, treat, nose in, treat, a second longer each day. Keep it familiar with a minute or two a week. Never put it on for the first time in a hurry.
A vet is a stranger who touches their paws, ears, eyes and mouth.
Every age
Why
A vet is a stranger who touches their paws, ears, eyes and mouth.
What to do
A few minutes a few times a week: lift a paw, look in an ear, lift a lip, run a hand down each leg, and reward each one. Brush their teeth every day while you are there. Stop before they get uneasy, and go gently around sore joints as they age.
Pain and fear make a guarding dog more worried about the world, and new guarding often shows between one and three years.
6 months to 3 years
Why
Pain and fear make a guarding dog more worried about the world, and new guarding often shows between one and three years.
What to do
Reward calm, every time. Use a flat collar or a harness, keep sessions short, and never use tools that hurt or frighten them. If new guarding appears, contact your vet early.
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) and Elbow Dysplasia (a poorly fitting elbow joint) can show at any stage from puppy to prime adult.
Every age, screening from puppyhood to 4 years
Why
Hip Dysplasia (a poorly fitting hip joint) and Elbow Dysplasia (a poorly fitting elbow joint) can show at any stage from puppy to prime adult.
What to do
Rugs where they turn on marble, a ramp for the car, no leaping from height while they grow, and no endless ball throwing. Keep them lean. Their hip screening starts as a puppy, and hip and elbow screening follows as a juvenile and a young adult.
Failing sight and an underactive thyroid can both show in their behaviour before anything else.
Every age, eye exams from 6 months to 4 years
Why
Failing sight and an underactive thyroid can both show in their behaviour before anything else.
What to do
Once a week, run your hands over their ribs, spine, hips and legs, and notice how they move at dusk. Brush their coat once a week, more often through a moult. Weigh them monthly. Their ophthalmic evaluation (eye exam) falls as a juvenile and a young adult.
Three of these are in your plan. The rest you can do at home.
Join the founding families. AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199.
Their health, at every age.
How old are they?
Their age
the first six months
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
6 months to 2 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
2 to 4 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
4 to 7 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
7 to 10 years
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Their age
10 years and over
What to watch for
The care that goes with it
Breed predispositions indicate an increased risk rather than certainty of disease. What is right for them always comes from their own history and an evaluation.
Before they come home.
Working or show line
Working lines come from dogs chosen for police, army and sport work, for speed and drive, and they need the most to do each day. Show lines are bred for looks and type, though the gap between the two is smaller than in some breeds. Either way, a Malinois needs work every day.
Colours
Belgian Malinois come in rich fawn to mahogany, with black tips to the hair, a black mask and black ears.
The first six months
Their full vaccination course, microchip and Dubai Municipality registration come first. Then let them meet the world from a distance they are happy at, and teach the mat by the door as a game, long before they ever bark at it.
Puppy health, 0 to 6 months
Getting the flat ready
Set up a mat a few metres from the front door before the first delivery arrives. Put rugs where they turn on marble, and have a puzzle feeder and a few chews ready, so their first job at home is one you chose.
Ten things that make their life better
Before you commit
Ask the breeder for both parents' hip and elbow scores, the x-ray grades of how well the joints fit, and their eye test results. Hip and elbow problems and Progressive Retinal Atrophy (gradual loss of sight) can show up in a young Malinois.
Before the clinics open
AED 1,999 of essential care for AED 199. No payment now.
For a new puppy: First 30 days with a new puppy · Puppy vaccinations in the UAE · Heatstroke in dogs
When it is not behaviour.
They'll still ask for an eleventh minute. If they stop asking, tell your vet.
Before they were yours.
Before 1891
Short-coated fawn shepherd dogs herded and guarded sheep and cattle on Belgian farms around the city of Mechelen, Malines in French, which gave the breed its name.
What they still carryThe speed, and a quick, intense response to movement and to their person.
1891
Professor Adolphe Reul of the veterinary school at Cureghem gathered shepherd dogs from across Belgium. He sorted them by coat, and the short-coated dogs from Mechelen became the Malinois.
What they still carryA breed defined by work and coat, not by a single founder dog.
Early 1900s
Belgian police took on Malinois in the early 1900s, and police forces and armies around the world followed. Protection sports chose dogs for speed, drive and nerve.
What they still carryThe intensity. A walk is only a warm-up.
1959
The American Kennel Club recognised the Malinois as a breed of its own in 1959, separate from the other Belgian shepherds.
What they still carryShow lines and working lines, closer together than in many breeds.
Today
In the UAE a Malinois is a family dog, a guard and a working dog, often in a flat where nothing asks them to work.
What they still carryA dog bred to work at full intensity, now in 45°C heat.
The ones you type at midnight.
If the Malinois suits you, so might these.
German Shepherd DogThe same kind of dog: a working shepherd and guardian, bigger, with a thicker coat that sheds more.
Doberman PinscherAnother working guardian, taller and sleeker, in a very short coat that needs little brushing.
Border CollieThe same drive and need for a job every day, in a smaller herding dog that is usually easier with visitors.
BoxerA similar size in a shorter, easier coat, and a more playful dog that is friendlier with visitors.
