I have a question and I think this is primarily for working Mali owners.
I often see on breeder sites that the dark color of a Mali's coat is emphasised and it also seems to be important that the dog is well pigmented.
Is this important? Or is it just my perception?
Saskia
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
I can only comment on what I see and my opinion of what is happening here in the US.?
Again, right now protection sports is very popular as is the idea of owning a dog for your personal protection. So unfortunaltly Malinios are the hot ticket right now. Many breeders are intentionally breeding weaker dogs to place in family homes, breeding for popular color, etc. This is very scary to me as I think about the current working condition of Dobie's, Rottie's, and to an extent, GSD's.
Most people(especially the new or uninformed) believe that a darker dog is more intimidating. I agree with this to a point. As an experienced training decoy, there is something psycological about a dark dog, especially at night.
I personally prefer the nice mahogony and deep red but I do like a good looking dark dog as well. I am a working dog man but at the same time,? I admire a beautiful animal. I don't really care what the "breed" standard says because I am not in the show ring, but I want a dog that is visually appealing to me. Like they say "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".
As much as I want to deny it, dog breeding is a business. As a business the supplier will always produce what the market desires. Often this is detrimental to the breed.
I am not saying or trying to infer that anyone here is doing this, just that is is happening.
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"I have come to see my dogs as a reflection of my willingness to try to improve, as well as an unsparing measure of my frequent failures in doing so."
what I heard from a big working breeder is that he is less using some lines because there is more question for the more yellow malinois (so that is in line with Christian his comment, they breed what is desired)
for me dark is nice, but completely dark is no selection point, but, YES I do look for good pigmentation on the lips and paws (nails, white nails are much easier damaged and this will hurt the working capability because it will need to heal)
Here's another one!? 7 wk female in the pic...Both parents are the classical Malinois colouring....
B
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"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."
So this is pure taste and has nothing to do with a darker dog having more character. In the early 1900s dark dogs were selected because they were considered to be stronger, healthier and better working dogs than lighter dogs.
Thank you all for the information and I do agree that a black dog is more intimidation but it is not my taste, one of the reasons why I would never buy a groenendael, I don't like black heads in any breed.
Saskia
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
If the dog CAN work and has the DRIVES...Then does it really matter how dark or how light he/she is??
From experience...I have found that the colour of? a Malinois is personal preference but shouldn't have anything to do with selection if one is concerned or focused on workability and health!? And any breeder that sells based on COLOUR should be CULLED! ? AND that goes for buyers also!? That's how breeds are ruined.
But if you have drive, stability, and one just happens to have their choice of colour of personal preference in ONE dog/pup...Then why not??!!? It's great when you can have an entire 'personal' package isn't it??? It's all 'relative and subjective' isn't it?? But regardless...workability and health should ALWAYS come first!
B
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"Desire is the key to motivation, but it's the determination and commitment to an unrelenting pursuit of your goal - a commitment to excellence - that will enable you to attain the success you seek."
If the dog CAN work and has the DRIVES...Then does it really matter how dark or how light he/she is??
From experience...I have found that the colour of? a Malinois is personal preference but shouldn't have anything to do with selection if one is concerned or focused on workability and health!? And any breeder that sells based on COLOUR should be CULLED! ? AND that goes for buyers also!? That's how breeds are ruined.
But if you have drive, stability, and one just happens to have their choice of colour of personal preference in ONE dog/pup...Then why not??!!? It's great when you can have an entire 'personal' package isn't it??? It's all 'relative and subjective' isn't it?? But regardless...workability and health should ALWAYS come first!
Good topic! Although color doesn't matter to me, I do love a handsome darker dog! While we are on the subject of color, how does everyone feel about 'blue' malinois?? Do they tend to have any health issues that come along with that color mutation? What bloodlines commonly produce that color?
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~Stephanie O'Brien Fat Louie Des Barriques FR III 2007 NARA Overall Domestic Champion
While we are on the subject of color, how does everyone feel about 'blue' malinois??
Truly I don't have experience how to feel about them but recently in Lithuania was litter where 3 puppies (2f and 1m) were completely blue then I saw them at age of 7 week. Mother of the litter is Finnish import Pippuri sire QUARL DES DEUX POTTOIS / mother SITARAN TASCA pedigree http://jalostus.kennelliitto.fi/frmKoira.aspx?RekNo=FIN14853/02&Id_Rotu=418 and sire is crossbred KNPV male first imported to Finland, later to Lithuania, but his lines I'm trying to find out now, jus I know that his father is powerfull dutch shepherd. The man who has some deal with this told me that he saw how blue puppies from birth used to turn to brindle ones. Does anyone has knowledge about this? here is picture of pup at 3 month
But if you have drive, stability, and one just happens to have their choice of colour of personal preference in ONE dog/pup...Then why not??!!? It's great when you can have an entire 'personal' package isn't it??? ?But regardless...workability and health should ALWAYS come first!
Good topic! Although color doesn't matter to me, I do love a handsome darker dog! While we are on the subject of color, how does everyone feel about 'blue' malinois??What bloodlines commonly produce that color?
I recently worked a PSD of totally unknown origin.(The story was he was bred by another police officer) The hanlder said it was a Dutch Shepherd. He had yellow eyes and a beautiful blue color. His head was a bit square and his coat was very tight and slick: no undercoat. His hips had a different angulation and had a very short thin tail. My best guess was that this dog had pit bull somehwere but who knows?
I did not even know there was such a thing as a "blue" malinios until recently. I am curious as to people's knowlege/opinion on where this came from.
Christian
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"I have come to see my dogs as a reflection of my willingness to try to improve, as well as an unsparing measure of my frequent failures in doing so."
I saw a few a couple of years ago. They were old enough that there wasn't going to be any brindle going on. It is the same color dilution as the GSD has occasionally.
I have never seen a blue Mali but did see a blue Groenendael at an interclub competition.
I took this picture while I was also waiting in the ring to be judged.
Saskia
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He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion.
Also our Tosca is also black-blue malinois, but very dark. You can see it easily, she is not that shining black, but like a bit dusty. Also that fauve-blue was like dusted with greyish blue all over and was really worth to see.
J
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Coffee and love are something you just can't warm up again.
Sandra (also here on the forum, but I dont believe she is that active anymore) also has a blue malinois, but I never heard of blue ones coming out of the lines her female came from, so maybe you should ask her more about that......because I what I heard it is that is is a "mistake" when they become blue and that it isnt in lines like that, but if you breed with a blue one it could give the "mistake" to the pups, so then it is in the lines, but what I heard of it is that it is a mutation in the first place.... here is her website www.alsanmalinois.be and their blue female is Bayka......
Author
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Although color doesn't matter to me, I do love a handsome darker dog! While we are on the subject of color, how does everyone feel about 'blue' malinois?? Do they tend to have any health issues that come along with that color mutation? What bloodlines commonly produce that color?
