About Tervurens
 Groenendael |
 Tervuren |
 Schipperke |
 Malinois |
 Laekenois |
What are the above pictures all about?
The Belgian Shepard really consists of
four different varieties - the Groenendael, Tervuren, Malinois, and
Laekenois. These four varieties can be crossed to one another - this has
happened in the past, and still does today in some placed in the
world. The most common inter-variety breeding is done between
the Groenendael and the Tervuren. Some of the more famous and successful
results of this type of outcross are multiple Champion Cartoon du Perigort Vert
and his sister Cartouche, Tiakie and her sister Teksa du Sart des Bois, as well
as several others.
In the United States, however, AKC considers these dogs to be four separate
breeds in this country. As such, they are shown as different breeds, they
have separate clubs, they cannot be bred together, and if a Tervuren is born
into a Groenendael litter, or vise versa (both of which can happen!), they are
simply registered as the same breed as their parents - but with a disqualifying
fault.
However, just to make things confusing, AKC will now allow imported dogs to be
registered as they would be in the country of their birth - with the exception
that neither parent be registered with AKC as another variety. The
result? Tervuren born from Groenendael now can be and are imported as
Tervuren, and I even know of a case of a Groenendael born from Tervuren being
imported as a registered Tervuren.
How does the Schipperke fit into all of this? Well, the further one goes
back into history, the harder the details of these breed are to find. It
wasn't until the late 1800's that the Belgian Shepard began to be examined
and an attempt made to distinguish different varieties. By this time, the
Schipperke was already a distinct breed and even being shown!
However, when the histories of the breeds are traced even further back, it is
apparent that at one time the Groenendael and the Schipperke were a size variety
of each other. So the breeds ARE related!
Below you will find more pages containing information on the Tervuren
breed. It is a wonderful breed, but not for everyone, so please consider
carefully before you decide to try to buy one!
The AKC Belgian Tervuren Standard