Prey Drive Belgian Shepherd (Malinois)

12 Mar 2024, 6:03 a.m. by Tracey McLennan

Breeding

The Malinois (pronounced MAL-in-wah) is one of four closely related Belgian herding dogs. They are still worked as herding dogs but they are an agile, trainable, high energy and high drive breed that has led to them becoming popular in many activities. They are also popular military and police dogs.

Research

Predatory Motor Sequence statistics for Malinois. The graph shows the percentage of Malinois in my research study that had no interest at all in each behaviour. This breed is interesting as they also made my top ten list for dogs with a high prey drive.

Hunt: 0%

Orient: 0%

Eye: 31%

Stalk: 31%

Chase: 0%

Grab-bite: 0%

Possess: 8%

Kill-bite: 23%

Dissect: 23%

Consume: 46%

There were 13 dogs of this breed in my research. As you can see, although the numbers show that they were number four on the list of dogs with no interest in some parts of the Predatory Motor Sequence , that does not mean that the breed has no interest in prey animals. All 13 of the dogs had some level of interest in hunt, orient, chase and grab-bite. For each of those behaviours, over 50% of the Malinois were described as living to do those things.

If you have a Malinois and would describe them as having a high prey drive, you are not alone. The fact is that they are all individuals and many of them have a strong interest in prey. Find out more about your own dog’s preferences by filling in my quiz and letting me give you detailed information about what your dog loves the most when it comes to prey drive.