Malinois, Dutch Shepherd and German Shepherd Crosses, Mixes and other assorted Heinz 57 varieties…

Robbie I – BRN 22504 – xMalinois from KNPV bloodlines.

There is a new rage in Shepherd country! It’s called, can you name that breed? And apparently not many can. This does not stop them from trying tho! They come up with the most outlandish names and varieties for any of the above named breeds or varieties thereof. It even gets treated as scripture now because Professor Google says it’s so… The amount of misinformation going around is stunning and it is growing every day. Even worse, it is fed by so called knowledge of one time Malinois or DS owners that know it all because they own that special type of dog that represents the entire breed. So if they say it is so, you had better take it as scripture or you will be shamed by them in an attempt to make you look bad or ignorant. Yet they do not see that in their own lack of knowledge, and their too soon spoken words of ignorance as they call knowledgeable people fools, that they themselves look stupid, even tho the ones with the knowledge and information are in fact trying to help, or educate. Now I am not going to say I am all knowledgeable when it comes to the Malinois, Dutch Shepherd and or crosses from both… But I do have a small understand of the how and what, the why and when and where. To then witness people undermine and destroy everything both breeds in their pure and cross bred varieties represent is just a slap in the face to many a breed lover. So I am going to once again post the differences in MIX, CROSS and PURE for all three breeds. I will say upfront that my knowledge of the GSD is minimal at best when it comes to bloodlines. I have never had much interest for the breed or working them as they are just not my cup of coffee so to speak. For working purposes I just do not find them as being what is needed in a good dog. Hate me for saying it, plenty of people do but it’s what I feel and it’s based on seeing to many of them fail in general where the Malinois and Dutch Shepherd have not failed. Let me mention this up front. There are no such breeds as:

• Malinherd
• Malinshep
• Shepinois

These are names invented by ignorant breeders in order to get paid when they breed mixes and crosses. And these names are created to look special and interesting and people are stupidly and sadly enough falling for the hype that it creates. Proper Breed Designations are:

• Malinois (aka Mal, MH, Mechelse Herder, Mechelaar) = Purebred. Bred for confirmation purposes and sometimes used in several sporting venues.

• xMalinois (aka xMH, xMechelse Herder, xMechelaar) = Crossbred Malinois. Cross bred with either the Dutch Shepherd or xDutch Shepherd, or comes from cross bred bloodlines. Bred purely for working purposes, conformation is not important. Form follows function in these cases. Litters from cross bred parents can contain both fawn and brindle pups. Coat dictates breed, Fawn being xMalinois, Brindle being xDutch Shepherd.

• Malinois Mix = Malinois or x Malinois mixed in with whatever dog was available at the time of heat. Heinz 57 meaning as many variations possible within the mixed Malinois.

• Dutch Shepherd (aka DS, HH, Hollandse Herder, Hollander) = Purebred. Bred for confirmation purposes and sometimes used in several sporting venues. There are not many Purebred Dutch Shepherds in the US and most that are designated as such are in fact xDutch Shepherds from cross bred lines. They are imported from the Netherlands but somewhere halfway across the ocean, the x eating fairy comes along and the dog enters the US as a Purebred Dutch Shepherd. It’s magic!

• xDutch Shepherd (aka xDS, xHH, xHollandse Herder, xHollander) = Crossbred Dutch Shepherd. Cross bred with either the Malinois or xMalinois, or comes from cross bred bloodlines. Bred purely for working purposes, conformation is not important. Form follows function in these cases. Litters from cross bred parents can contain both fawn and brindle pups. Coat dictates breed, Fawn being xMalinois, Brindle being xDutch Shepherd.

• Dutch Shepherd Mix = Dutch Shepherd or xDutch Shepherd mixed in with whatever dog was available at the time of heat. Heinz 57 meaning as many variations possible within the mixed Dutch Shepherd.

• German Shepherd Dog (aka GSD) = Purebred. Bred for conformation although some breeders are trying to restore the Purebred GSD to it’s former working glory. Has been losing ground steadily over the years due to irresponsible breeding. Many health issues in this breed have ensured the steady decline of the GSD in working venues and Law enforcement and the switch over to Malinois/xMalinois/Dutch Shepherd/xDutch Shepherd.

• xGerman Shepherd Dog (aka xGSD) Crossbred with either the Malinois/xMalinois/Dutch Shepherd/xDutch Shepherd or coming from cross bred parents. The German Shepherd however is not used often for cross breeding with the 2 other shepherd breeds. Although it was more common practice decades ago, today the quality is such that cross breeding occurs almost only between Malinois and Dutch Shepherds and their cross bred family.

• German Shepherd mix = German Shepherd or xGerman Shepherd mixed in with whatever dog was available at the time of heat. Heinz 57 meaning as many variations possible within the mixed German Shepherd.

Crossbreeding, why? It’s rather simple really. For over 120 years in europe and more specifically the Netherlands and Belgium, crossbreeding has been done with purpose and view. To provide the better working dog. Cross bred Malinois and Dutch Shepherds are primarily from either KNPV (Royal Dutch Police Dog Association) lines or NVBK (National Society of Belgian Cynophilia)  lines. Both groups have a love for the working quality and never saw much use for conformation in the working breed. They value strength, character, health and workability and their breeding lines have proven themselves time and again to be high quality. There is a reason that the breeds are to be found worldwide, in any venue or real life scenario thinkable. Workability trumps conformation! Sure, a dog may look pretty, but if it doesn’t work, as the breed was intended to do in its origin, then it is useless as a whole. Make no mistake in thinking that just because these shepherds are cross bred their lineage is unknown. Each breeder and or owner of a cross bred Shepherd is up to date on the bloodlines and knows where his dog came from, and why it was bred. Well, there you have it. The breed designations and a small bit of history, wrapped up in a tiny rant of sorts.

Regards, Alice Mckenzie.