Page 24 - ShowSight Presents - The Beligian Tervuran
P. 24
Originally developed as an all-purpose herding/farm dog, Tervs needed a “no fuss” coat that would keep them dry in the rainy “typical” climate of Belgium, cool in the summer and warm in the winter. Fast for- ward to 2013 and the fashion is to blow dry show dogs until they resemble large dandeli- ons ready to go poof! This is not correct - it spoils the texture, and masks the outline of the dog. This is a natural dog and we ask for minimal trimming of feet and hocks. Period. Sculpted outlines should not be rewarded.
Kindly remember that seasonal shed- ding is normal for both dogs and bitches. Note that the bitches never, ever carry as long or luxurious a coat as the males. Please do not penalize a more lightly coat- ed bitch. You will show your ignorance of our breed if you do.
So what about color? Invariably, every judge learner asks about color. The standard says: “Body rich fawn to russet mahogany with black overlay is deal and preferred. Predominate color that is pale, washed out, cream or gray is a fault.” Let’s look back in the history of this breed as we learn about color. The Belgian Tervuren was nearly dec- imated in the 2nd World War and the post war European “Father of the Tervuren vari- ety” a dog named “Willy de la Garde Noire” was described as a “pale fawn dog”. So it is really not surprising that the “cooler” col- ored (cream, grey, silver, grey beige) Tervu- ren continue to appear out of “warmer” col- ored (rich fawn to deep mahogany) parents.
For those of you who began judging Tervuren prior to 2007, the AKC stan- dard’s wording on color changed due to a 2/3-majority vote of the American Bel- gian Tervuren Club. Now, as a judge you must balance a simple color fault against the ability of each dog to do its work. As a breeder judge, it is my personal opinion that we must “build strong houses first... and then paint them”. There are those within the breed who would disagree with me. You must make your own decision. Know that there have been National Spe- cialty winners across all ranges of color.
I would suggest that color be consid- ered as a finishing aspect except for those colors that must be penalized more strin- gently—“absence of blackening in mature males is a serious fault. A face with a
