Energy Level and Prey drive of my Malinois Mix - Page 1

   So now that I am pretty confident Odin is a Malinois mix. I've been reading the forums here on them. I'm wondering what his energy level and prey drive is relative to a well bred Malinois. I guess I'll give a description of his personality and exercise routine. 
 
  I got him from the shelter when he was 11 months. They explained to me that he was never socialized or trained. He was pretty much just kept inside the previous owners house and was driving the owner crazy.I informed the shelter that I have experience with my families Siberian husky (who required a lot of exercise and work) so they let me have him. 
 
   The first week home was hell. He would bark and chase everything. I took a month off work to do some intense training with him and I feel that there has been tremendous progress since then.  
  
   Every morning (almost every morning; I get lazy sometimes) I go on an intense bike ride with Odin for 30 mins. Then for 15 more mins he is lightly running. I do this at 4:00 in the morning b/c he needs minimal distractions. He's not distracted by cars anymore (he used to want to chase them down) but he does want to run after trucks, dogs, bikers and people. I come back home and play a chasing game with him in the back yard. Its a stick with a string and  feather tied to it (cat toy). He doesn't even need the feather, he'll chase the string. Most times I'll tie a plastic bag at the end of it.  And he won't stop until he gets it. I play with him for 15-20 mins like this. I leave him in his crate for an hour to go jogging. Come back and do some obedience training for 45 mins. Feed my pets then peace out for work. 
 
    This usually poops him out until I come back around 4:00. Where I would play for another hour (tug-o-war, feather chasing, hide and seek). Then do some more training for 30-60 mins depending on my mood.
 
   I don't know anything about breeding but I guess b/c he is a mutt he doesn't have that malinois energy level. I do feel that he does have a pretty high prey drive. But then again I have no experience with malinois or German shepherds. I guess I just want to know for the sake of knowing. Oh, he loves playing catch but I can only do that when I take him to the dog park early in the morning, when no one else is around. 
 
Any input is greatly appreciated. Thanks ahead of time and sorry for writing so much. 

Hi, I've seen your comment and not exactly sure what you're asking. Are you curious if your dog has any Malinois in it, or are you curious to see how his energy level stacks up with the rest of the breed?... or both I suppose. I'm a relative newbie to the world of Malinois, having rescued one myself—but from what I've gathered, the the general energy levels and prey drive for the breed are very high, but there is still a range within the breed and things vary with each individual dog. It does sound like you do a decent amount of exercise and play with your dog. From the responses on this forum, other forums, and from dog experts I meet in person, I'm pretty sure mine is a Mal, or at least a high mix of one. We go for a 3 mile hike every morning and that usually gets him tired enough to relax for a while. We play tug and/or hide n seek around 5 or 6pm and that usually sets him straight for the night, although he has more hyper days and more mellow days so it just depends. He does have a very high prey drive and will go after a tiny leaf that's moving every so slightly on the road, and he loves flirt pole and tug and games like that. I'm sure there are a lot of Mals who are much more intense than this and I just consider myself lucky that I got one whose personality and energy levels fit my lifestyle somewhat (we've had to adjust our schedules and routines to accommodate it but it's a welcome change). Hopefully someone with more expert knowledge of the breed will chime in but that's my $0.02 for what it's worth :)

I rescued a malinois who is full-blooded but of course I don't know how well- bred. She does require some more exercise than most dogs but its not just crazy. She has about normal prey drive (actually the dog I've had with the highest prey drive was a shish tzu), and analyze  I take her on a log walk in the morning (luckily I have fields for her to go off-leash), then a similar session in the evening, or across the street to play with her BFF, and then a patrol through the neighborhood after dinner. Saturdays we go to the  100 acre dog park for 3 or 4 hours, and Sunday afternoon to the little mid-town one for a while ( and may also make a brisk walk through the old forest trail). Where I really see her stand out is that her brain never seems to turn off, and she requires nearly the attention of a small child. I'd say that you're making sure you include him is so much of your life is the main thing.
 

Mals have very high energy. My male is now 1 year. 8 months. He's full of energy but loves to take a nice afternoon nap on most days.
In regards to what Jeffc mentioned about their brains, my pup is the same way. He is so smart. He will bring you his leash, picks up items that I point to, goes to his crate when asked, opens doors, etc. The list could go on and on. I've never had a dog this smart in my life. I was raised with GSD's all my life and they are also super smart. The Mal seems to just be it's own alien breed when it comes to smarts.