BELGIAN SHEPHERD COATS & COLOURS   

Coat

    There are three distinct coat types:

  Groenendael/Tervueren 

 Outer coat long, straight and abundant. Texture of medium harshness. Not silky or wiry. 

 Undercoat extremely dense. Hair shorter on head, outside of ears and lower part of legs.

Opening of ear protected by hair.  Hair especially long and abundant, ruff-like around neck,

 particularly in males. Fringe of long hair down back of forelegs,  long and abundant hair

evident on hindquarters and tail. Males longer coated than females.

 Laekenois 

 Harsh, wiry, dry and not curly. Any sprinkling of fluffy fine hair in locks in rough coats is   

 undesirable. Length of coat about 6 cms (21/2 ins) on all parts of body. Hair around eyes 

  but not to obscure them. Muzzle hair  not so long as to make head appear square or heavy.

 Tail not plumed.

 Malinois  

 

                           Hair very short on head, exterior of ears and lower parts of legs. Short on rest of body, 

 thicker on  tail and around neck where it resembles a ridge or collar, beginning at base of 

 ear and extending to throat. Hindquarters fringed with longer hair. Tail thick and bushy.

 Coat thick, close of good firm texture with woolly undercoat, neither silky nor wiry.

  No variation in these types is acceptable.

   

 Colour
   The acceptable colours relate directly to coat type.

GROENENDAEL

 Black or black with limited white as follows: small to moderate patch or strip on chest, 

 between pads of feet and on tips of hind toes. Frosting (white or grey) on muzzle.

LAEKENOIS 

 

  Reddish fawn with black shading, principally in muzzle and tail. 

 

 TERVUEREN/MALINOIS-

All shades of red, fawn, grey with black overlay. Coat characteristically double pigmented,

      wherein tip of each  light coloured hair is blackened. On mature males this blackening

 especially pronounced on shoulders, back and rib sections.  Black mask on face, 

 not extended above line of eyes and ears mostly black. Tail should have a darker or black tip.  

        Small to moderate white patch or strip permitted on chest, between pads of feet and on tips

 of hind toes  Frosting (white or grey) on the muzzle. Beyond the age of 18 months a washed 

                 out colour or colour too black undesirable.

 

 
 No variation on these colours by coat type is acceptable.

 

 

  UNITED KINGDOM KENNEL CLUB BREED STANDARD