Which is better male or female Belgian Malinois?

If you want a good Belgian Malinois dog, keep a male Belgian Malinois dog. This old proverb has been handed down from generation to generation in everything from dog training to shepherd dog handling. But is it true? Are there significant gender differences in training and performance of domestic Belgian Malinois? When the editor of Buck asked me this question, I immediately got the answer: “I don’t know.” Trying to find a reasonable answer started a fascinating exploration that continues to this day.

Comparative study on male and female Belgian Malinois

The first obvious source of the answer is the research Yearbook. Ah, but it’s only recently that this Belgian Malinois has moved from being an unwelcome man in science to an animal of interest. The research on the behavior of domestic dogs is in the ascendant, but most of them are about cognition and problem-solving. It’s a good thing, but it doesn’t necessarily answer our questions. I opened my file and it said, “very cool dog research,” and looked at the studies inside to see if any researchers had made the sex of the dog a factor.
Then I went back to Scott and fuller’s classic genetics and dog social behavior, which was first published in 1965. Is the male dog bigger than the female dog? They found gender differences in weight gain (male dogs, not surprisingly, tend to increase in early adolescence), but mainly focused on breed differences, rarely considering gender as a factor in any experiment. They did ask if sex affected their so-called “emotional response,” and according to their scoring system, females averaged 5.0 and males 4.9, in other words, there was no difference. (see Scott and fuller for their scores and statistics.)

Is there any difference in learning between male and female Belgian Malinois?

At the same time, I asked the universe this question, asking a group of certified applied animal behaviorists and veterinary committees. I sent an email to the Tiger Woods, shepherd dog trainers alasdale, and Patricia McRae, police and dog trainers. On my blog, I asked trainers if they thought there were differences in learning and performance between male and female Belgian Malinois. The answer is very enlightening and interesting.