What health problems do Malinois have?
Malinois’ in general are a very healthy breed, so far. They have a low incidence of Hip Dysplasia, and genetic eye disorders. While all varieties (Groendael, Tervuren, Malinois and Lakenois) of Belgian Shepherd are affected with epilepsy, it seems to be more prevalent in the long coated varieties. There is effective testing available for most genetic eye related issues, however to date there is no test that can determine the status of epilepsy in dogs. Genetic epilepsy will present in an affected dog by age 4 – so any dog that is age 4 or greater and does not have epilepsy should be free of it, but it is possible that they may be a carrier for it and when mated with another dog who is also a carry, could in theory produce a pup with it. There are numerous genes that can cause genetically inherited epilepsy and it is thought that they all must be inherited to produce an animal affected with the disorder; making its mode of inheritance polygenic.
