With the popularity of the belgian malinois spiking right now with it jumping from the 60th most popular breed in the USA to the 37ths most popular breed within only twelve months, we have seen a huge spike in the number of questions we see people asking about the breed.
One of the most frequently asked questions that we see from the community time and time again is about brindle belgian malinois so we have decided to make this the main focus of today’s article.
There is a huge amount of misinformation out there about brindle belgian malinois so our hope is that we will be able to put the record straight and help our readers better understand what these brindle belgian malinois are and how they come about.
Depending on your needs, budget, and what the dog will be used for, a brindle belgian malinois may be the perfect dog for you though and offer everything you need from the dog.
Due to seeing a number of different questions about belgian malinois with brindle coats recently, we have added a table of contents below.
It will allow you to quickly and easily skip to various sections of the article without having to skim over everything to get to the specific sections that you need information for.
Can A Belgian Malinois Be Brindle?
Belgian malinois can’t have a brindle coat with most kennel clubs specifying that a belgian malinois should have a rich fawn or mahogany coat.
The dogs that look very similar to belgian malinois but have a brindle coat are usually a dutch shepherd or a mix between a belgian malinois and a dutch shepherd.
The quote below is from the AKC (American Kennel Club) on their requirements for a belgian malinois to be registered with them and as you can see, they specifically say that the blackening on the coat of a belgian malinois should not appear patched or brindled.
This rules out the possibility of having a brindle coat belgian malinois with official papers in the USA due to there being documentation specifically going against it.
The ideal coloring is a rich fawn to mahogany, with black tips on the hairs giving an overlay appearance. The blackening must not appear as patched or brindled.
American Kennel Club
We have seen a number of people claim that the Canadian Kennel Club and The Kennel Club (United Kingdom) will accept a belgian malinois with a brindle coat and give the dog registration papers but this is not correct either.
Although there is nothing in their documentation specifying anything against a brindle coat, the guidelines are clear enough to stress that any dog with a brindle coat will not be registered as a belgian malinois.
Why Are There No Brindle Belgian Malinois?
The gene required for a brindle coat is not native to the belgian malinois breed and is usually introduced due to breeding with a dutch shepherd.
Due to the gene that creates the brindle coat in dogs being dominant, it beats out a non-brindle gene unless some very specific genetic situations occur with recessive genes.
Due to this, any dog that looks like a belgian malinois with a brindle coat has been mixed with another breed somewhere down the line.
Although the source of the brindle gene in most dogs that look like belgian malinois is the dutch shepherd, there are other dog breeds that can be paired with a belgian malinois to produce puppies that have a belgian malinois coat.
Basenji and Boxer dogs have also been paired with belgian malinois to produce puppies that have a brindle coat but this is much rarer than a pairing with a dutch shepherd.
This is due to the dutch shepherd looking much more like a belgian malinois than a basenji or a boxer dog while also having a very similar temperament and work drive.
Pairing a dutch shepherd and a belgian malinois for working lines is very common and often results in excellent working dogs with a brindle coat that can look like a belgian malinois but they will not be accepted for registration as a belgian malinois by any major kennel club.
How Much Does A Brindle Coat Belgian Malinois Cost?
Dogs that look like belgian malinois but have a brindle coat are usually due to a pairing with a dutch shepherd so often have a lower price tag than a pure bred belgian malinois.
That said though, some farmers specifically bred the belgian malinois and dutch shepherd working lines for extremely high energy dogs with most looking like a belgian malinois with a brindle coat and often going for more than a pure bred belgian malinois.
Due to most of our readers only having access to the backyard breeders who pair a belgian malinois with a dutch shepherd to produce these brindle coat belgian malinois looking dogs, you can probably get one for a few hundred dollars.
Please keep in mind that some breeders will claim that you are able to register the dog with the kennel club in your country to pump up the price but this is not the case.
As we covered earlier in the article, the AKC has specific documentation ruling out the brindle coat for a belgian malinois.
The Canadian and British kennel clubs don’t specifically state that a brindle coat will be rejected but they do stress the important of a full fawn or mahogany coat in the belgian malinois ruling out a brindle coat by default.
Why Are There So Many Dogs That Look Like A Belgian Malinois With A Brindle Coat?
Due to the spike in popularity of the belgian malinois as well as both law enforcement and the military for a huge number of countries around the world using the belgian malinois, demand for the breed has increased making it hard for breeders to keep up.
With many organisations being fine with the use of a belgian malinois dutch shepherd mix provided they are from reputable breeders, this has offered a way to increase supply to meet demand.
The belgian malinois and dutch shepherd are both excellent dogs that have a large number of similar traits when it comes to working them.
This is why people like farmers or organisations like law enforcement who are looking for dogs for a practical use are usually fine with using a belgian malinois dutch shepherd mix.
As we touched on earlier in the article, the gene that causes a brindle coat in a dog is dominant and will result in a brindle coat in most situations unless a number of recessive gene combinations line up perfectly.
Due to this, the majority of the puppies from these belgian malinois and dutch shepherd pairings do have a brindle coat with many of them looking very similar to a pure bred belgian malinois but having a brindle coat.
Conclusion
That brings our article going over the brindle belgian malinois to an end. We hope that we have been able to help our readers understand that belgian malinois are not able to have a brindle coat and that the dogs that look like a belgian malinois with a brindle coat are almost always a mix with a dutch shepherd although a basenji or boxer dog can be the cause of the brindle coat in rare situations.
Knowing this prior to purchasing these dogs can help to save you hundreds of dollars if the breeder tries to insist that the dog you are considering purchasing is a pure bred belgian malinois as it is not. Although some of the pups from paired up working lines of belgian malinois and dutch shepherds can be very expensive, these breeders will usually not consider selling them to someone who will not be working to dog correctly due to its high energy.
The dogs that look like a belgian malinois with a brindle coat in most residential areas will not be from working lines and should be cheaper than a pure bred belgian malinois. These dogs can usually be picked up from $300 to $700 per puppy depending on the supply and demand. Keep in mind that these breeders usually don’t have access to the high end working lines of the dutch shepherd or belgian malinois as those breeders are usually under contract with law enforcement or the military for all of the pups the produce anyway giving you the main bargaining chip so if they refuse to budge on a high price tag, simply walk away and the majority of the time, they will lower their price to get the sale.
