INTRODUCTION

By the end of the 19th to the beginning of the 20th century, Belgian shepherd dogs (Belgische Herdershonden, in Flemish), including the short-haired Mechelse herder (Malinois, in French), had a ragtag collection of coat colors and coat varieties. To this point, these dogs had been crossed and bred without much thought put into their appearance. The most important selection standards for breeding at the time were character, temperament, stamina, and agility.

Belgian shepherd dogs traditionally specialized in working with goats and sheep, as well as performing other farm tasks, including guarding properties, people, and other animals. These dogs lived with the “ordinary” person, who could only afford a dog if he earned his meals in return. Belgian shepherds’ services proved valuable to the farmers and shepherds of the Belgian and Dutch border regions, especially when it came to guarding the house and yard, and herding sheep. Hence, the dogs were carefully bred and selected for these tasks for many centuries. By the end of the 19th century, however, people other than farmers and shepherds began to interfere with these dogs. This period saw the rise of cynology, and the serious study of dogs drew the hard-working canines of the country into urban areas, where breeders molded them into the different varieties of separate Dutch and Belgian shepherds for the purpose of exhibition.

The names of the different varieties of Belgian shepherd dogs still remind us of the regions where they originally performed their duties, for they were named for the Belgian cities and villages of Groenendael, Malines, Laeken, and Tervueren. At the time these varieties were named there were still plenty of sheep on the farms, and there was a great interest in the working dogs. Farmers and shepherds continued to employ them, and dog lovers in Malines enjoyed the company of their good working dogs.

The cynological interest that emerged at the end of the 19th century meant a lot of excitement for everything dog. Today, however, we doubt that cynological practices related to the Belgian shepherd dogs were good for the breed. The cynologists saw the opportunity to transform—over only a few years—the rough worker into a beautiful dog. By exhibiting Belgian shepherds, people ensured that the main characteristic of the dogs became their appearance, a practice that would begin to dilute the working-dog qualities that had made these dogs valuable to rural people. Long-, short-, and rough-haired dogs were separated, and each variety was classified by its permitted coat colors, something that had been meaningless to the working people who had used these dogs for centuries. Farmers and shepherds simply bred the best dogs, regardless of coat and color.

Today, Belgian shepherd dogs are separated into four closely related varieties, with three coat types:

• The Belgian sheepdog (Groenendael): a long, straight, and abundant coat with a collarette around the neck. The Groenendael is completely black.
• The Belgian Tervueren: like the Groenendael, a long-haired dog. The color is gray with black overlay, or the more favored rich fawn to russet mahogany with black overlay (a requirement for the Malinois). The coat is characteristically double pigmented; the tip of each fawn hair is black. A black mask and a minimum of eight pigmented points is obligatory: black at both ears, both upper eyelids, both upper lips, and both under lips.
• The Belgian Laekenois: a rough, wire-haired coat. Unlike the long-haired Belgian shepherds, the coat on the Laekenois’s head is also long. This harsh, wiry, dry, and straight coat is reddish fawn with black shading, principally on the muzzle and tail.
• The Belgian Malinois: a comparatively short, straight coat, hard enough to be weather resistant, with a dense undercoat. The coat should be very short on the head, ears, and lower legs. The hair is somewhat longer around the neck, where it forms a collarette, and on the tail and backs of the thighs. The basic coloring is rich fawn to mahogany, with black tips on the hairs giving an overlay appearance. Other colors are not allowed. The Malinois has a black mask and the same pigment points as the Tervueren. The tips of the toes may be white, and a small white spot on the breastbone/prosternum is permitted, but should not extend to the neck. Other white markings are faulted.

Despite the dilution of the working-dog qualities inherent to the Groenendael, Tervueren, and Laekenois since the early 20th century, the Malinois continued to be used very intensively for guarding and police tasks, and is still one of the best working dogs, bar none. The Malinois is found more and more everywhere in the world in the service of the police, customs, and armed forces. In this book, we will introduce you to this exceptional working dog.