The Malinois is currently the breed of choice for armed forces, police K9 units, civil security, and bite work sports.

Its popularity has exploded in France over the past ten years, driven by its image as a high-performance dog.

However, this image obscures an important medical reality: a dog that works intensely, on hard surfaces, with little recovery, accumulates joint and muscle stresses that eventually manifest (often silently, until they are no longer).

This article is not only for professional handlers. It is also for owners of pet Malinois who practice agility, ring sport, Mondioring, or simply who intensely challenge their dog on a daily basis.

The Malinois and Dysplasia: A Relative Profile

Unlike other large breeds, the Malinois has a relatively low risk of hip and elbow dysplasia according to OFA data. The prevalence of hip dysplasia is estimated at 5.4% in screened dogs (which ranks it among breeds with moderate risk, far behind the Bernese Mountain Dog or Rottweiler).

This does not mean that dysplasia is absent. OFA data are biased by the underreporting of unfavorable cases (as with all breeds) and primarily concern selected breeding dogs. In the general population of working and sport Malinois, the true prevalence is likely underestimated.

The available data show, above all, that the main joint risk for working Malinois is not a high prevalence of dysplasia, but cumulative mechanical load. In the study by Harroun White et al. / Knobbe et al. (JAVMA, 2024) on 126 US Special Forces dogs,

Malinois accounted for 92 out of 126 dogs (73.0%). Musculoskeletal injuries had a prevalence of 15.9% and were the leading cause of lost days, with 1,472 days, or 35.6% of all days of unavailability.

Osteoarthritis of Use: The Silent Pathology of the Working Dog

Osteoarthritis of use is a well-documented reality in working and sport dogs. It differs from dysplastic osteoarthritis in its mechanism: it is not an initial malformation that causes degeneration, but the accumulation of repeated microtraumas on normal joints.

Mechanisms

Typical Malinois activities (jumps, bite work, sudden decelerations, hard surfaces, heat stress) generate repeated mechanical stresses on the hips, elbows, shoulders, and lower back.

A study on 50 police dogs referred for bilateral hip osteoarthritis (Alves et al., BMC Veterinary Research, 2020) showed a significant proportion of Malinois (30% of cases, 15/50). These figures are among the first structured clinical data on this population.

Research on military dogs also identifies malformations of the lumbar articular processes as a risk factor for vertebral stenosis (more frequent in German Shepherds than in Malinois, but present in both breeds) (Dragicevich et al., PubMed 32528984, 2020).

What Studies Say About Prevention

Only 36.4% of working dog handlers submit their dog to a sports medicine check-up, and 55.5% to an orthopedic check-up before starting activity. These data (Spinella et al., 2023) highlight a systemic deficit in injury prevention in working dogs.

Muscle Injuries: Fibrotic Myopathy

A specific pathology worth mentioning in the context of the working Malinois is fibrotic myopathy of the gracilis, semitendinosus, or semimembranosus muscles. This condition is primarily described in working dogs, mainly German Shepherds but also Malinois. The recent series by Tsai and Alvarez (Frontiers in Veterinary Science, 2024) reminds us that repeated microtraumas are strongly suspected in its genesis, with progressive replacement of muscle tissue by fibrous tissue.

Clinical Consequence:

A characteristic 'sickle-like' gait of the hind limb, sometimes mistakenly taken for a neurological pathology. In this series of 10 male working dogs, the combination of extracorporeal shockwave therapy + rehabilitation allowed for full-time activity to be maintained for an average of 32.1 months after diagnosis (which remains encouraging without constituting definitive proof).

The Specific Health Profile of Working vs. Pet Malinois

What You Can Do Concretely

Whether your Malinois is a working dog, sport dog, or active pet:

• Implement a warm-up protocol before each intensive session (5 to 10 minutes of walking and light trotting) and active recovery afterward (passive stretching, cool-down walk). This is where we come in with our garments that provide thermal support and warm muscles and joints... They also aid in muscle recovery.

• Vary training surfaces: limit time on concrete or asphalt, prefer grass or dirt tracks to absorb shocks.

• Perform an annual orthopedic check-up from 3 years of age, and a sports medicine check-up before any increase in workload.

• Monitor for early signs of lumbar osteoarthritis or joint involvement: stiffness upon rising, reluctance to jump, changes in gait, gradual decrease in performance.

• Do not confuse pain with 'temperament': a Malinois that suddenly refuses a task it had mastered, or shows aggression during handling, may be expressing underlying musculoskeletal pain.

• For dogs over 6 years old still in activity: discuss with your veterinarian radiographic monitoring of the hips, elbows, and lumbar spine.

________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sources

1. Spinella G., Valentini S., Lopedote M. (2023). Internet-Based Survey on Physical Activity and Incidence of Injury in Active Working Dogs. Animals, 13(10) : 1647. PMC10215327
2. Alves J.C. et al. (2020). Clinical and diagnostic imaging findings in police working dogs referred for hip osteoarthritis. BMC Veterinary Research, 16 : 425. PMC7644063
3. Harroun-White H.E., Facciolla C.A., Knobbe M.G. et al. (2024). Noncombat injury and illness prevalence and working score percentage quantify the impact on duty availability in US Army Special Operations military working dogs. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. JAVMA.24.02.0106
4. Dragicevich C.J. et al. (2020). Computed Tomographic Measures of Funnel-Shaped Lumbar Vertebral Canal in German Shepherd and Belgian Malinois Military Working Dogs. PubMed 32528984
5. OFA (Orthopedic Foundation for Animals) — Belgian Malinois breed statistics. ofa.org
6. Tsai FC, Alvarez LX (2024). Outcome of eight working dogs with fibrotic myopathy after extracorporeal shockwave therapy and rehabilitation: a case series. Frontiers in Veterinary Science. PMCID: PMC10800511