ORIGIN: Belgium.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD: 22.06.2001.

UTILIZATION: Originally a sheep dog, today a working dog (guarding, defence, tracking, etc.) and an all-purpose service dog, as well as a family dog.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I.:

Group 1 Sheepdogs and Cattle Dogs (except Swiss Cattle dogs). Section 1 Sheepdogs. With working trial.

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: In Belgium, at the end of the 1800s, there were a great many herding dogs, whose type was varied and whose coats were extremely dissimilar. In order to rationalise this state of affairs, some enthusiastic dog fanciers formed a group and sought guidance from Prof. A. Reul of the Cureghem Veterinary Medical School, whom one must consider to have been the real pioneer and founder of the breed.
The breed was officially born between 1891 and 1897. On September 29^th, 1891, the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club (Club du Chien de Berger Belge) was founded in Brussels and in the same year on November 15th in Cureghem, Professor A. Reul organised a gathering of 117 dogs, which allowed him to carry out a return and choose the best specimens. In the following years they began a real programme of selection, carrying out some very close interbreeding involving a few stud dogs.
By April 3^rd, 1892, a first detailed breed standard had already been drawn up by the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club. One single breed was allowed, with three coat varieties. However, as was said at the time, the Belgian Shepherd only belonged to ordinary people and therefore the breed still lacked status.
As a result, it wasn't until 1901 that the first Belgian Shepherds were registered with the Royal Saint-Hubert Society Stud Book (L.O.S.H.).
During the following years, the prime movers among the Belgian Shepherd enthusiasts set to work with great determination to unify the type and correct the faults. It can be said that by 1910 the type and temperament of the Belgian Shepherd had been established. During the history of the Belgian Shepherd, the question of differing but acceptable varieties and colours had led to many heated discussions. On the other hand, anything involving morphology, temperament and suitability for work has never caused any disagreement.

World ch. & multi ch. Opium van Kriekebos

GENERAL APPEARANCE: The Belgian Shepherd is a mediolineal dog, harmoniously proportioned, combining elegance and power, of medium size, with dry, strong muscle, fitting into a square, rustic, used to the open air life and built to resist the frequent atmospheric variations of the Belgian climate.
Through the harmony of its shape and its high head-carriage, the Belgian Shepherd should give the impression of that elegant strength which has become the heritage of the selected representatives of a working breed. The Belgian Shepherd is to be judged in its natural stance, without physical contact with the handler.

IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: The Belgian Shepherd dog can be fitted into a square. The chest is let down to the level of the elbows. The length of the muzzle is equal to or slightly longer than half the length of the head.

BEHAVIOUR AND TEMPERAMENT: The Belgian Shepherd is a watchful and active dog, bursting with energy, and always ready to leap into action. As well as its innate skill at guarding flocks, it also possesses the highly prized qualities of the best guard dog of property. Without any hesitation it is the stubborn and keen protector of its owner. It brings together all those qualities necessary for a shepherd, guard, defence and service dog.
Its lively, alert temperament and its confident nature, showing no fear or aggressiveness, should be obvious in its body stance and the proud attentive expression in its sparkling eyes.
When judging this breed, one should take into consideration its calm and fearless temperament.

HEAD: Carried high, long without exaggeration, rectilinear, well chiselled and dry. Skull and muzzle are roughly equal in length, with at the most a very slight bias in favour of the muzzle which puts the finishing touch to the whole head.

CRANIAL REGION: Of medium width, in proportion with the length of the head, with a forehead flat rather than round, frontal groove not very pronounced; in profile, parallel to imaginary line extending muzzle line; occipital crest little developed; brow ridges and zygomatic arches not prominent.

FACIAL REGION:

NECK: Well standing out, slightly elongated, rather upright, well-muscled, broadening gradually towards the shoulders, without dewlap, nape slightly arched.

BODY: Powerful without being heavy; length from point of shoulder to point of buttock approximately equal to height at withers.

TAIL: Well set on, strong at the base, of medium length, reaching at least to hock, but preferably further; at rest carried down, with tip curved backwards at level of hock; more raised when moving, although without passing the horizontal, the curve towards the tip becoming more accentuated, without ever at any time forming a hook or deviation.

LIMBS:
FOREQUARTERS:

HINDQUARTERS:

GAIT / MOVEMENT: Lively and free movement at all gaits; the Belgian Shepherd is a good galloper but its normal gaits are the walk and especially the trot; limbs move parallel to the median plane of the body. At high speed the feet come nearer to the median plane; at the trot the reach is medium, the movement even and easy, with good rear drive, and the topline remains tight while the front legs are not lifted too high. Always on the move, the Belgian Shepherd seems tireless; its gait is fast, springy and lively. It is capable of suddenly changing direction at full speed. Due to its exuberant character and its desire to guard and protect, it has a definite tendency to move in circles.

SKIN: Elastic but taut over all the body; edges of lips and eyelids strongly pigmented.

COATS AND VARIETIES: Since the coat varies in length, direction, appearance and colour among Belgian Shepherds, this particular point has been adopted as the criterion for distinguishing between the four varieties of the breed: the Groenendael, the Tervueren, the Malinois and the Laekenois.
These four varieties are judged separately and can each be awarded a C.A.C., a C.A.C.I.B. or a reserve title.

HAIR: In all the varieties the hair must always be dense, close-fitting and of good texture, with the woolly undercoat forming an excellent protective covering.

COLOUR:

SIZE, WEIGHT AND MEASUREMENTS:

HEIGHT AT WITHERS: The ideal height at withers is on average

- 62 cm for males - 58 cm for females.

WEIGHT:

Males about 25-30 kg. Females about 20-25 kg.

MEASUREMENTS: Average normal measures for an adult male Belgian Shepherd of 62 cm at the withers:

• Length of body (from point of shoulder to point of buttock): 62 cm.
• Length of head: 25 cm.
• Length of muzzle: 12,5 - 13 cm.

FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree.

• General appearance: Cloddy, lacking elegance; too light or too slender; longer than high; fitting into a rectangle.
• Head: heavy, too strong, lacking parallelism, not sufficiently chiselled or dry; forehead too rounded; stop too accentuated or too flat; muzzle too short or pinched; Roman nose; brow ridges or zygomatic arches too prominent.
• Nose, lips and eyelids: traces of depigmentation.
• Dentition: badly aligned incisors. Serious fault: lack of one incisor (1 I), one premolar 2 (1 P2), one premolar 3 (1 P3) or three premolars 1 (3 P1).
• Eyes: light, round.
• Ears: large, long, too broad at the base, set low, carried outward or inward.
• Neck: slender; short or deep set.
• Body: too long; thoracic cage too broad (cylindrical).
• Withers: flat, low.
• Topline: back and/or loins long, weak, sagging or arched.
• Croup: too sloping, overbuilt.
• Underline: too much or too little let down; too much belly.
• Tail: set too low; carried too high, forming a hook, deviated.
• Limbs: bone too light or too heavy; bad upright stance in profile (e.g. front pasterns too sloping or weak wrists), from the front (feet turning in or out, out at elbow, etc.), or from behind (hindlegs too close, too wide apart or barrel shaped, hocks close or open, etc.); too little or exaggeratedly angulated.
• Feet: spreading.
• Gait: moving close, too short a stride, too little drive, poor back transmission, high stepping action.
• Coat: all four varieties: insufficient undercoat.
  • Groenendael and Tervueren: woolly, wavy, curly hair; hair not long enough.
  • Malinois: hair half-long where it should be short; smooth-haired; harsh hairs scattered in the short coat; wavy coat.
  • Laekenois: hair too long, silky, wavy, crisp-haired or short; filled with fine hairs scattered in tufts in the rough hair; hairs too long around the eye or the lower end of the head (the chin); bushy tail.
• Colour: for all four varieties: white marking on chest forming tie; white on the feet going beyond toes.
  • Groenendael: reddish tinges in the coat; grey breeches.
  • Tervueren: grey.
  • Tervuren and Malinois: brindle; tints not warm enough; not enough or too much black overlay or set in patches over the body; not enough mask.
  • Tervueren, Malinois and Laekenois: too light a fawn; a base colour which is very diluted, named washed-out, is considered a serious fault.
• Temperament: specimens lacking in self-confidence or overly nervous.

DISQUALIFYING FAULTS:

• Temperament: aggressive or timid specimens.
• General appearance: lack of breed type.
• Dentition: overshot; undershot, even if contact is not lost (reverse scissor bite); crossbite; absence of one canine (1 C), one upper carnassial (1 P4) or lower carnassial (1 M1), one molar (1 M1 -upper jaw- or 1 M2; M3 are not taken into account), one premolar 3 (1 P3) plus one other tooth or a total of three teeth (excluding the premolars 1) or more.
• Nose, lips, eyelids: strong depigmentation.
• Ears: drooping or artificially kept erect.
• Tail: missing or shortened, at birth or by docking; carried too high and ringed or curled.
• Coat: lack of undercoat.
• Colour: any colours which do not correspond with those of the described varieties; too widespread white markings on forechest, especially if they reach as far as the neck; white on feet going more than halfway up the front or the back pasterns and forming socks; white markings anywhere other than forechest and toes; lack of mask, including a muzzle of lighter colour than the rest of the coat in Tervueren and Malinois.
• Size: outside the limits laid down.

N.B.: Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

CROSSBREEDING - MATINGS BETWEEN VARIETIES: Any matings between varieties are forbidden, except in exceptional circumstances, when this ban can be lifted by the appropriate and official breed councils (Text 1974, drawn up in Paris).