are malinois a good pet? I have a blue heeler so the exercise demands i'll be used to. are they affectionate or all about working?
>>2145066
Belgian Malinois are not pets. They're working dogs.
>>2145066
If you're going to get a mal make sure you have a very high fence.
They're very intense working dogs. It's not just exercise they need, but a LOT of mental stimulation.
If you enjoy training/work games with your dog, they could be a good pet so long as you know what you're doing and can handle the intensity.
They are smart as fuck, and will tear your shit up unless stimulated well.
>>2145066
Theyre not pets, dont try and make one a pet.
>>2145123
I can't say for sure, but I can tell you that the australian herding breeds aren't terribly popular as either working or pet dogs in the US. They might be more numerous as pets by sheer fact of there being more slots for non-herding positions, but either way their numbers are pretty small compared to staples like border collies.
>>2145066
My aunt had one, perfect pet material. You'll "just" have to keep him busy as others have already said.
>>2145123
I don't know what they're like in Australia, but my last 2 heelers (bred from working lines, tyvm) were insanely intense. I had 5 acres and it wasn't enough for them at all. And I kept them pretty busy and trained them to be good farm dogs. Here are the activities that they would do regularly to burn off their work drive: play with the goat (actual playing, it was really weird), patrol the property and check in on all the farm animals and with me regularly, gather up all the other dogs in our neighborhood (40 properties, 5 acres each) and start the neighborhood dog patrol, eliminate all threat of encroaching elk (they just did not like elk for some reason), help me move animals about, go on crazy hikes with me into the forest and hills behind my property, kept out coyotes and bobcats, might be the reason why the cougar finally left, crazy beach days, herding classes. They were just all around perfect farm dogs in every way, but they needed a much larger property so they ended up taking care of the neighbors' places too. Happily I had trained them to act as livestock guardians/herders or my neighbors would have been pissed. But since they actively protected geese, ducks, chickens, horses, cats that all belonged to various neighbors, my neighbors were pretty amused by it. And happily they thought the neighborhood dog patrol was funny.
>>2145155
Sounds a little weird, but not terrible so. I'm also inexperienced with Heelers. Energy levels definitely sound right.
Your Heelers jump up on the backs of sheep? That's always cool to see.
That is a pretty small property to be called a farm. Heelers and Kelpies get worked on properties upto 6million acres. It's amazing to see a kelpie work sheep all day and never skip a beat.
Hell, I'll go into the bush with a mate and we'll let his dogs loose. After about 5 minutes they've herded kangeroos to us.
As for the playing with goats. I've seen it with kelpies before. Goats make fantastic pets btw. Just watch out for any kids. The dogs might play with it until it dies.
Sounds like you've got a fucking sweet setup dude. I'm probably heading out to work on a cattle station next year.
>>2145066
>>2145155
>>2145181
>>2145123
why are you comparing a cattledog to a dog that are these days are bred as an attack dog
it makes no sense one is bordering on a medium sized herding dog to a large size attack dog
unlless you go to belgium and source some real shepherds which will look completely different from OP's picture
every belgium you find in the us will be a working line malinois which will be an attack/guard dog
stop being retarded please and to answer you
no owning a blue heeler wont equip you in any way towards owning a malinois
>>2145181
>After about 5 minutes they've herded kangeroos to us
OMG, that's the best.
All told they took care of the entire 200 acre neighborhood and I know they were also patrolling the hills and forest behind the house too. I just don't know how far out they were patrolling. All the neighbors eventually sought me out to tell me that their chickens stopped getting eaten and that the neighborhood black bear was no longer in the neighborhood and that they thought my dogs were total goofballs.
Have fun at your cattle station. Ranch work is so awesome.
>>2145205
>why are you comparing a cattledog to a dog that are these days are bred as an attack dog
>>2145205
>no owning a blue heeler wont equip you in any way towards owning a malinois
Didn't realize that they didn't still have herding lines. And damn, that must be an intense dog.
i adopted a border collie as a pet (no livestock to herd)
she takes a ridiculous amount of work and im sure a malinois would take even more effort and time to properly care for. working breeds require much more mental stimulation than pets. long walks or runs aren't enough for these dogs. they need a job to do, opportunities to use their intelligence, and a shitton of training.
>>2145384
It's not as if their herding lines are gone, just that it's been recognized by most breeders what made them a great herder could be tweaked to make them an excellent protection dog. Be more selective with breeders to make sure they aren't looking for dogs that have crossed the line from protective to aggressive and you should be able to get a good working animal.
It's not so much that their energy needs are that much higher, but more that this is a dog with an intensely work-oriented personality that requires more mental stimulation than almost any other breed. Just letting them out 'to patrol' as your heelers have done will likely not be enough.
>>2145066
That dog has serious dork face. It's kinda adorable.
>>2145099
>australian shepherd
>originates in the US
?????
>>2145534
The prevailing theories are that they were either named for the Australian sheep they were used to herd, and/or it was a shorthand term at the time for any dog with a merle coat (since the Australian breeds that came over with those sheep tended to have the coloration).
>>2145534
The Australian Shepherd was first bred in the American west.
Why would you even consider a mal as a pet?
what the fuck why is a malinois a bad pet?
>>2146893
Because people are shit at easy pet dogs, so it's safe to assume they'd fare even worse with demanding dogs.
>>2146994
this
>>2146893
It's like saying somebody likes cats so they go get pic related
