Malinois, French Ring, and Me: Lessons From a Sporting Life

A handsome Belgian Malinois, ready and waiting for the next big thing. photo: AdobeStock

If you’re a dog lover (which you are because you’re currently reading Bay Woof) and if you’re even slightly technologically savvy (which you are because you’re reading this piece online), then you’ve most likely seen at least a few video clips of large, well-muscled, brown dogs with black faces and pointy ears doing wildly impressive things by now. 

Maybe you’ve seen them running extreme obstacle courses, climbing tall walls, diving off of pool docks, or catching big air. Or you’ve seen them scaling buildings, doing parkour, or taking down bad guys in a single leap. Maybe you’ve seen a movie that portrays these brown dogs with black masks as war heroes, valiant and brave soldiers.

But you may have also seen warnings on social media telling you not to get this pointy brown black-mask dog because they’re not your average dog and are most certainly not for the average person. Not a pet - a working dog! - otherwise known as the Belgian Malinois. 

There’s a healthy dose of well meaning realism in the “Sooo, you think you want a Malinois?” memes scattered across the internet. But I’m not here to preach about whether you should or shouldn’t get a specific breed. I’m just here on my virtual soapbox to talk about making educated decisions and owning responsibility for any dog you choose.

Really quickly this means do your research, and not just on Tik Tok or TV. Talk to breeders, owners, and sport competitors who already live with your breed of choice - real people in real time. Take a deep dive into self-reflection about your own lifestyle and your expectations of life with a dog. Why do you want a dog and what do you see yourself doing with your dog as the person you are today (not the person you want to be, but the person you currently are)? Realistically assess your life before you add any canine companion to it. Then do your best to find the right match, just as seriously as you would choose any sort of life partner.

So, while I don’t want to debate whether you should get a Belgian Malinois, I do want to share a little bit about life with mine to give you a glimpse into why they are so darn cool and intense and perhaps why there are so many warnings about the breed. I’m also going to tell you about a high-intensity dog sport called French Ring, which helps explain why these dogs are the way they are. 

I actually have four (yes, four) Belgian Malinois who do French Ring sport. This means I must care properly for and train four wickedly clever, fantastically fit canine athletes to do multiple exercises to a high written standard, reliably on cue, for sessions that last up to 40 minutes at the competition level. This takes up a significant portion of my day, nearly every single day. 

These dogs are extremely intelligent, fast-thinking, determined creatures who require both mental and physical exercise daily. I map out our training plans, develop each dog’s conditioning and fitness regimen, and take care of their individual dietary needs and nutritional supplements. I spend hours filling chew and puzzle toys to keep everyone busy. I schedule special one-on-one bonding time for everyone, decompression walks, and body work appointments. I also fill my calendar with trips across the country and beyond to attend workshops and competitions where we further hone our French Ring craft. This is most definitely not a lifestyle for everyone.

Malinois were initially bred as a livestock herding dog with some guarding capabilities. Due to their intelligence, athleticism, drive, versatility, and incredibly strong work ethic, they eventually began to be bred and trained for protection, scent detection, and as messenger dogs. In fact, French Ring sport was originally developed as a test to determine whether a particular dog was fit to represent and reproduce future generations of several breeds, including the Malinois. This sport is one of the primary reasons Malinois are the acknowledged leaders in French Ring sport today and why these dogs are such well-muscled, thinking warrior machines.

The French Ring sport consists of three elements: agility, obedience, and protection. The agility phase is designed to demonstrate both a dog’s physical strength and determination. At French Ring III, the sport’s highest level, there are three jumps: the hurdle (maximum jump height 1.2 meters), the broad jump (maximum jump length 4.5 meters), and the palisade or wall (maximum jump height 2.3 meters high). Few, if any, humans can come close to matching these feats. 

The obedience element shows that a dog is well trained and under control, eager to respond to the handler and think for themselves to a degree, even under conditions of high arousal and temptation. At the highest level, these exercises include two heeling patterns, one on lead and the other off-lead while the dog is wearing and easily accepting a muzzle. There are also two exercises where the dog must stay in either a down or a sit for a short period of time while the handler is out of sight and, in one of those exercises, the dog must not lick or eat food that is tossed to the dog by a stranger. There are also three types of complicated retrieves, a scent discrimination test, and an exercise in which the dog must demonstrate a clear understanding of verbal cues with the handler standing 18 meters away. 

Finally, there is the protection element, which is the most exciting for spectators and the dogs themselves. French Ring III includes seven bite work exercises, each designed to test a dog’s courage, control, and clarity of mind under pressure.  Some exercises include chasing down a man in a padded linen suit who is brandishing and shooting a gun (a safe starter pistol) and grabbing the man to stop him from his “attack” on the handler. Another involves protecting the handler from a guy who introduces himself with a handshake but then after a brief conversation and a polite goodbye, rather than walking away, stalks the handler suspiciously. It is the dog’s job to perceive this potential threat, stay vigilant, and keep eyes on the creepy character, even heeling backwards at the handler’s side to monitor the threat. But the dog must never bite the fake attacker, no matter how close this person comes, unless the attacker hits the handler, at which point the dog must make the decision to bite without any cue from the handler, but also must let go immediately when the handler says so. There’s also a stopped attack, where the handler sends a dog to bite the bad guy but then calls off the dog, mere feet before reaching the opponent; the dog must be able to change course and return to the handler on a dime, leaving the attacker unharmed. Can you see how smart these dogs have to be?

To the average, non-protection sport person, some protection exercises may seem scary or even violent, but I assure you they are not. Belgian Malinois were born and bred to do this sort of work and have been for over a century. Biting and fighting are deeply ingrained in their DNA and the majority of them not only love it, but also possess a strong need for such activities in order to be mentally healthy.

Bite work training for Malinois usually begins when the puppies are only six or seven weeks old. They learn to play with rags and small tug toys, to chase, grab tightly, and not let go, no matter the distraction. This is all done through games, which gradually add pressures and distractions. The goal is to raise a pup to love the game of tug more than anything and to ignore whatever else is going on in the environment until the handler whistles them to recall or tells them to let go and guard.

People sometimes ask me how I train the long chain behaviors necessary for my dog to, for example, stay with an object while I walk away out of sight and protect that object with no further input from me, while their “opponent” tries to distract or trick the dog to let them steal the object. Or how I teach a dog to pick up one of my belongings that I have “accidentally” dropped, retrieving it without any cue from me and gently returning the glove, glasses case, or whatever to my hand without damaging it. 

My response is actually quite simple. One step at a time, in tiny bits. 

As the adage says, Rome wasn’t built in a day. Contrary to what you see on Instagram or TV, there are no guru trainers with magical energy who appear to calm a behavior-challenged dog in 60 minutes or less. Dog training needs a solid foundation. This takes many hours, with frequent practice in very short increments - much like moving a mountain by carrying away small stones, one by one.

This concept applies to training any dog, whether it’s for French Ring sport or just everyday life. You may have a Malinois or a Heinz 57 puffball, but the training game looks much the same. Dog training requires dedication, planning, time, heart, and soul.

But whatever your dog, there’s a lot you can learn from sport trainers. Have a very clear picture in your mind of your criteria and end goals. Break behaviors into tiny steps to build a solid foundation. Figure out what your dog likes best in life and use those things as relationship- and behavior-enhancing rewards. Take the time to practice bits of your expectations and goals every single day. 

Maybe a Malinois isn’t for you, but you can definitely incorporate these dog sports lessons into life with any dog. Make the most of your time together and you and your dog will both come out champions!