Late jumping in here but I thought I'd post a bit on the size thing with Mals and Belgians in general. All of the Belgian breeds (or varieties, depending on where you are) have the same ideal height: 22"-24" for the girls, 24"-26" for the boys. There is some leeway, sometimes quite a bit of leeway on that depending on the organization. Like any other breed, dogs who are above or below that height happen and exist in all lines. I took in an Oops litter of Groenendaels from a friend a few years ago and they are all small. The males who remained local to me are 20"-21" at the shoulder and right around 40lbs. Undersized no matter what standard you look at but definitely purebred Groenendaels from fairly common lines. Most of my Groenendaels have been at the smaller end of the standard my 24.5" male who's around 53lbs and a couple 22" bitches around 40-43lbs. They are just as correct per the standard as 26" males or 24" bitches though. They aren't selectively bred for smaller size or anything, it just happens to be the size they are. My Mal is from a combination of FCI and KNPV lines. The KNPV lines can be quite large but he's going to end up being on the smaller side I think. Probably mature to about 55lbs.
I think there is a lot of misconception with Mals and the show vs. working line dogs. One is that show line Mals are all huge and hairy and that is the "type" that wins in the AKC ring. There is as much size and coat variation in show line Mals as there are in working or sport bred Mals but some working bred Mals are way bigger than any show bred Mal (mostly the Mals that aren't really purebred Mals). I think this misconception comes from people seeing most dogs from one show kennel that are heavily campaigned. In my area, you can finish a Mal as long as the dog is decently put together, has no disqualifying or serious faults and looks enough like a Mal. People finish working line dogs in AKC. Show line dogs can be competitive driven performance dogs and some people do bite sports with them as well. There is not same degree of differences in show vs. working with Mals as there is with working bred and AKC show GSDs. Maybe more like the difference between German working and German show lines, although show Mals have much more variance in type than German showlines. It's fairly common in the culture of the AKC Belgian crowd to promote the breed's versatility and for people involved to want to see CHs with other titles, not just entry level titles either. We have CH/MACHs, CH/OTCHs, dogs winning BOB the Nationals who are titled in advanced levels of performance or herding or obedience. A lot of people involved in breeding AKC Belgians of all varieties do stuff with their dogs beyond conformation. It is just a totally different scene from the AKC GSD scene.
As for settling in the house, most Mals I know (working or show lines) are good house dogs. I think people often tend to exaggerate their difficulty when talking about them on the internet for whatever reason. They are high energy dogs and do thrive in homes that keep them mentally and physically engaged but they aren't really supposed to be hyper dogs either. Some Mals certainly can be difficult to live with for a wide range of reasons, like some GSDs can be. And I think to people who aren't suited for them, they will seem really difficult just like any breed with a mismatched owner. My PyrShep Savvy is almost 2 and Roust (Mal) is 10 months. Roust is already a far better house dog than Savvy LOL I will trust him loose in the house for shoter periods of time, he isn't destructive and he's overall a really good boy in the house. Savvy tries to be a good boy but it's just so hard to be still and not think about the gazillion other things you could be doing at any given moment. PyrSheps are hyper though, that's part of their charm
I really like Ivan Balabanov's Malinois FAQ:
The Malinois FAQ Belgian Malinois Frequently Asked Questions
Oh and that Scrabble dog looks like he could be a relative of Roust! He's a sport mix?
