" The known history of Belgian Shepherds traces to the 1880s when these dogs (along with German Shepherds, French Shepherds and Dutch Shepherds) were called Continental Shepherd Dogs. On November 15, 1891, under the direction of veterinary professor Adolphe Reul, a gathering was held at Cureghem, on the outskirts of Brussels, to examine the shepherd dogs of the area. Professor Reul and his panel of judges concluded that there was a consistent type of native shepherd dog: a square, medium-sized dog with well-set triangular ears and very dark eyes that differed only in texture, color and length of hair. Similar gatherings in the remaining Belgian provinces resulted in comparable findings. In 1892, the first Belgian Shepherd standard was issued which recognized three varieties: dogs with long coats (no color specified), short coats, and rough coats.

The documented lineage of today's Belgian Shepherds can be traced to three foundation couples. A rough-coated dog, owned by a shepherd from Laeken, Vos de Laeken ("fox" in Flemish) was bred to a short-haired, brindle-brown female (known as Lise de Laeken), and then to his daughters. Vos sired a line noted for its similarity of type, both in the rough-hairs and the short-hairs.

The second foundation couple were two sheepherding, long-haired blacks, Picard d'Uccle and Petite who lived in the village of Groenendael, southeast of Brussels. The first known litter of Picard and Petite, born May 1, 1893, produced, among others, Duc de Groenendael, who, when bred to the long haired fawn, Miss, in 1896 sired Milsart, the first Tervuren champion of the breed.

The third foundation couple were two long-haired fawns who lived in the village of Tervuren. Tom, a working dog, used during the day to pull a beer cart and at night to guard the brewery, was bred to Poes, a fawn long-haired bitch. Through their fawn daughter, Miss, (bred both to Duc de Groenendael and Picard d'Uccle), Tom and Poes were the grandparents of the first Tervuren champion, Milsart, as well as the great-grandparents of Dax, who in 1906 became the first Groenendael champion in Belgium.

In 1911, two Groenendael and two Malinois were registered by the AKC as "German Sheepdogs" (changed in 1913 AKC stud books to "Belgian Sheepdogs"). They retained this registered breed name until 1959 when the varieties were split into three separate breeds: Belgian Tervuren (fawn long haired), Belgian Malinois (fawn short haired, and Belgian Sheepdog (Groenendael - black long haired).

Three separate AKC standards became effective July 1, 1959. These standards were almost identical in content, describing these dogs as alert, well-balanced, medium-sized and elegant in appearance, with the only deviation being of color and length of coat. (The Laekenois, the rough-coated variety, has not received AKC recognition in the United States to date).



Portions of this document were derived from:

Jiles, Mara Lee, "A History of the Belgian Shepherd Dogs." Pure-Bred Dogs/American Kennel Gazette, 40-46, November 1992.

Johnson, Karen, Barbara Krohn, and Edeltraud Laurin. The Complete Belgian Tervuren. Ed. Kay K. Maves. New York: Howell Book House, 1990.