Coat, Ears & Tail

AKC Herding Group · No. 32 in 2025

How to identify a Belgian Malinois

The Belgian Malinois is a square, athletic herding dog, ranked No. 32 by the AKC in 2025. Its short fawn-to-mahogany coat has black-tipped hairs, and the black mask and black ears are required. The ears are small, high-set and sharply triangular.

Photo of a Belgian Malinois
Photo: Svenska Mässan from Sweden · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Field marks

These four marks are the ones the game gives you as clues. They paraphrase or briefly quote the AKC Belgian Malinois standard.

  1. “Rich fawn to mahogany” with “black tips on the hairs” giving an overlay
  2. Pronounced black mask and black ears
  3. Small ears set high, “distinctly triangular” with pointed tips
  4. Short, straight coat that is longer around the neck as a “collarette”; square body, tail carried down to the hock

Tell them apart

Belgian Malinois or German Shepherd Dog?

Check the outline and the coat. A Malinois is square, with a short, fawn-to-mahogany coat, black-tipped hairs, and a black mask and ears. A German Shepherd is longer than tall, with a sloping topline and a saber-shaped bushy tail, and it comes in many colors.

Belgian Malinois

Belgian Malinois

  1. “Rich fawn to mahogany” with “black tips on the hairs” giving an overlay
  2. Pronounced black mask and black ears
  3. Small ears set high, “distinctly triangular” with pointed tips
  4. Short, straight coat that is longer around the neck as a “collarette”; square body, tail carried down to the hock
German Shepherd Dog

German Shepherd Dog

  1. “Moderately pointed” ears “carried erect when at attention”
  2. Longer than tall; withers “higher than and sloping into the level back”
  3. Bushy tail that hangs “in a slight curve like a saber” at rest
  4. Long, wedge-shaped muzzle; most colors allowed, but never white

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