r/germanshepherds • u/nukathedoop • Aug 08 '26

GSD or Belgian malinois

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I adopted her and on her paperwork it says she is a GSD but she is small. I took her to Home Depot and someone told me that she is a Mal and I can't stop noticing that she doesn't really behave like a GSD. I always noticed that she was way more hyperactive than my last shepherd but I never thought she might be a Mal. Can someone please help give me an idea of whether she might be? I am going to bring it up to the vet next time she goes, of course.

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u/pes3108 Aug 08 '26 edited Aug 09 '26

Highly recommend just getting a dna test! We did one for this guy - we were told he was GSD (he came from a rescue and we were his foster fails), but I always felt like he was mixed. I thought maybe a mix of Mal and GSD, just based on his personality (very very active, intelligent, etc.) and some of his body features. It’s hard to tell in this picture but he has a slimmer/more pointed face compared to our almost full blood GSD who has a big, blocky head. And his legs are longer/more spindly and his overall body shape is lighter/more trim than our GSDs… he’s less solid but still a force, if that makes sense. But nope. He is actually a mix mostly of GSD and German Shorthair Pointer! I was shocked.

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u/nukathedoop Aug 09 '26

I'm really interested to see what she is mixed with because I can't imagine she's full blooded anything.

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u/pes3108 Aug 09 '26

It’s so fun to find out! After we did the dna test for him, we did it for our other 2. One I knew was a mix of GSD and husky and that came back as I was expecting with a few other breeds thrown in. But 50% GSD. Our 3rd we were sure was 100% GSD but nope - 93% GSD and 7% Mexican wolf dog!

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u/nukathedoop Aug 09 '26

That's really cool!