German Shepherd vs Belgian Malinois: how to tell them apart
The German Shepherd comes from Germany and the Belgian Malinois from Belgium. The Malinois is the short-haired variety of the Belgian Shepherd, a breed with four coat varieties judged separately.
Six dogs: German Shepherd, Belgian Malinois, or another breed?
Dog 1.
Photo: Pleple2000, CC BY-SA 3.0 Dog 2.
Photo: Jakub Hałun, CC BY-SA 4.0 Dog 3.
Photo: Durdur31, Public domain Dog 4.
Photo: SheltieBoy from USA, CC BY 2.0 Dog 5.
Photo: Pandora666, CC BY-SA 3.0 Dog 6.
Photo: Krosandra, CC BY-SA 3.0
The two side by side
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| German Shepherd | Belgian Malinois | |
|---|---|---|
| Home | Germany | Belgium |
| Bred as | A versatile working, herding and service dog | Originally a sheepdog; today a working and service dog, and a family dog |
| Height, males | 60 to 65 cm | About 62 cm (60 to 66 cm) |
| Height, females | 55 to 60 cm | About 58 cm (56 to 62 cm) |
| Weight, males | 30 to 40 kg | About 25 to 30 kg |
| Weight, females | 22 to 32 kg | About 20 to 25 kg |
| Coat | Double coat or long double coat, both with undercoat | Short hair, very short on the head and lower legs, fuller at the neck and tail |
| Colour | Black with reddish-brown, brown, yellow or light grey markings; solid black; or grey with darker shading | Only fawn with black overlay |
| Mask | Black mask; without one a dog counts as lacking in pigment | Very pronounced: lips, lip corners and eyelids in one black zone |
| Breed began | Standard set at the first general meeting of its club, Frankfurt, 20 September 1899 | Breed born between 1891 and 1897; club founded in Brussels, 29 September 1891 |
How do you tell them apart?
Colour and coat first. A Malinois is always fawn with black overlay, with a short coat and a very pronounced black mask. A German Shepherd has a double coat, short or long, and is usually black with reddish-brown, brown, yellow or grey markings, or solid black or grey.
Then size. Their heights overlap, but the standards give the German Shepherd more weight: 30 to 40 kg for a male, against about 25 to 30 kg for a male Belgian Shepherd.
Where does each come from?
The Belgian Shepherd was shaped in Belgium between 1891 and 1897, when Professor A. Reul of the Cureghem veterinary school gathered 117 of the country’s varied herding dogs and chose the best. The German Shepherd’s standard was first set at the founding meeting of its breed club in Frankfurt on 20 September 1899, on the suggestions of A. Meyer and Max von Stephanitz.
Other shepherd dogs that look alike
Dutch ShepherdNetherlands
White Swiss Shepherd DogSwitzerland
Czechoslovakian WolfdogCzechia and Slovakia
Bohemian ShepherdCzechia
Facts from the German Shepherd standard (No. 166, 11 August 2010) and the Belgian Shepherd standard (No. 15, 13 March 2001).