Should I Get Male or Female Belgian Malinois?

If you plan to get a Belgian Malinois puppy, most probably one of the questions that are running through your head is what gender is better to buy, male or female? Will choosing male over female or vice versa make any difference?

The only substantial difference between genders is that Belgian Malinois males are about 20 pounds heavier and a few inches taller than their female counterparts. According to some owners’ experiences females are more stubborn, aloof, and a bit less active than males which are more easygoing and energetic in comparison to females. The truth is that opinions on how gender may or may not influence Malinois temperament are heavily divided.

While some people think the drive, focus, or traits of Belgian Malinois are more predictable by genetics rather than gender, others are positive that gender does have a strong impact on a dog’s personality and talents.

What Is The Real Difference Between Male and Female Belgian Malinois?

The only real difference between Male and Female Mal is in size. Females are lighter in weight and a few inches shorter than males.

This fact might be important to you, especially if you are a woman. It’s natural that women are smaller than men so in case you are female, it might be easier for you to handle a smaller dog.

Since Belgian Malinois dogs are quite intensive and energetic dogs, handling 20 pounds lighter canine can make a huge difference.

Another difference is purely physical, females have periods. So twice a year your Mal girl will bleed and can be slightly different for let’s say 2 weeks.

Some owners that have Mal girls say that dogs are less active during the period time, they eat more, sleep more, don’t want to run and play that much as usual. As soon as that period is finished, Mal girls return to normal.

People that had both males and females claim that females are more submissive and obedient. But we cannot generalize this, every dog is different so under no circumstances we can say – all Malinois females are more obedient than males! No way.

What Jobs Do Belgian Malinois Males Do Better and In Which One’s Females Have More Success?

Professional dog trainers say that there is no big difference between males and females when it comes to training. Since Belgian Malinois dogs are widely used for police and military work, let’s see is there any gender-based difference in performance.

According to police dog trainers, both genders are smart and hard-working dogs. Females are slightly better in search and rescue jobs while males are better for protection and drug detection.

Females are more focused on the handler while males are quite independent. Although males also take care of their handlers, females are more caring.

This is again, a very rough generalization and doesn’t mean that males don’t care about their handlers and that cannot show great results in search and rescue tasks. The same goes for females.

There are many Mal girls perfectly trained to detect drugs and do protection work and they are great at that.

Can Belgian Malinois Gender Predict Dog’s Temperament and Drive?

Unfortunately, Malinois Gender does not predict Dog’s Temperament and Drive. It would be too easy.

So when you decide to take a Belgian Malinois puppy, make sure you find a very good, reliable, and reputable breeder. Ask a million questions, ask to see the parents of your potential pet. Check their genetics.

Try to find out how the puppy was handled, if he was socialized, what kind of food did he get, how long did he stay with his mother. These are important questions.

Proper socialization and handling are the best base which you can get. of course, you must continue with hard work. Belgian Malinois is a working breed, highly energetic ( no matter the gender), requires a lot of exercise and outdoor activities.

These dogs are very smart but also want to please their owners. If properly trained and handled they can be obedient, well-behaved dogs. If not, well, they can become quite aggressive and destructive, again no matter the gender.

So don’t narrow your possibilities by choosing the gender in advance. Maybe you have some of the stereotypes on your mind like males are stronger while females are moody which will direct your focus to one gender only.

The point is that you need to know your temperament, what is important to you, and find the Malinois ( no matter the gender) that will suit your personality. That would be the best for both!

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