Definitely should have been an alien race in Galciv2.

I didn't expect it to be broadcast. I was setting up one of those little blogs on Joe User and was trying to do the start part.  Oh well,

They are beautiful animals though so cross posting is cool....I think.

I've owned (or they've owned me) one or more Tervuren continuously since 1986. Along the way I've also owned some Malinois. One was a former police dog who was one of my search dogs. Very talented dogs - SAR, competitive obedience, conformation (beauty) shows, sledding, protection, herding (including one dog that did all of those in his lifetime) I know I've left something out. Hubby, on the other hand, had chocolate Labradors.

We have a coated shepherd that many mistake at first for a terv.  Tervuren are regal, beautiful dogs.

LOL. I've been asked so many times, "Is that a German Shepherd and Collie cross?" The people who have the breed rescue them from dog jails. Everyone is sad when it turns out to be a mix or some other breed. The German Shepherd and Shilo Shepherd folks keep watch for Belgians and we tell them if we find one of theirs. The Malinois need more people to rescue them, the people trying to sell protection dogs throw a lot away in the shelters and there is just not enough people to even take them temporary. The breed as a whole does not do well abandoned in a kennel, they have to have people and an active job.

Back when I lived in Brooklyn my sister used to raise Malamutes. Big husky dogs with a very sweet disposition. Only thing is if you wanted to play they played and played and played well after you got all tuckered out.

You can see why people might wonder:

Beautiful. Depending on the weight I would say it was a Shilo Shepherd or long coated German Shepherd. Probably the first. I've seen a picture of a similar dog in the Middle East - a MWD

He's a long-haired (coated) GSD, from a Czech line actually, and was raised (by us) to be a seeing eye dog; flunked out of eye dog school at age 18 months & we got to take him back.  About 10-15% of litters are coated; they were at one time culled and are not considered show quality (go figure - they're gorgeous).  He has the straight topline, rather than the sloping-to-the-rear topline of 'American' GSD's.  It's a bitch to keep up with the shedding, but he's a terrific animal, very smart and incredibly affectionate.  His weight is usually 78# give or take.

That is what gives the color - Czech lines. I don't know how we lost it with US lines, but they have that drop-dead gorgeous color. If he is neutered that is what makes the coat impossible (as you probably have learned) Not really a good choice for a working guide dog as their human in most cases doesn't have the time to be combing out a long coated dog. I raised three guide dogs. Mother/Son GSD that both became breeding dogs and a black Lab that had entropic eye lashes so bad that they finally gave up trying to correct it. (5 surgeries) They said otherwise the dog was perfect as a working dog but a blind person wouldn't be able to care for the eyes. She went to a local family so that the school could continue to care for her eyes. I sure miss raising guide dog puppies.

My first purebred was a GSD. Besides showing him, I was going to train him for Schutzhund. SchH has three parts, manwork, obedience, and tracking. This dog did pretty good at obedience, passable at manwork, and, as much as he loved his ball, he couldn't find it with his nose when I hid it behind a small lump of grass in an open field.  For obvious reasons he was never bred. The GSD show ring is so cut-throat the best we got was a fourth. Surprising enough that was at a supported entry. In the show ring Tervs and their Belgian cousins are still fun, and I have never had one fail at anything I asked. It was always the handler that failed.

There were other things that were odd in the context of a blind person caring for their service animal with this particular foundation.  They had us use the BARF diet, for one, which I couldn't envision a visually impaired person being able to maintain long-term, even though it was great for the dog and the cost was the same as or less than commercial dog food.  We were willing & able to do it for the first 14 months we had him but we switched to dry kibble once he was ours to keep, for obvious reasons, as the time devoted to meal prep was too great with the BARF diet.  Commercial grooming would be needed I'd think as well - we harvest barrels of hair ourselves.

As for the show ring, we've owned & shown bloodhounds - I know where you're coming from.

Bloodhounds - then you know the SAR end of it too. I'll take my Tervuren in the show ring to something that slobbers like a hound. I am always amazed to the professional handler in his nice suit when he stuffs a slobber-soaken wash cloth in his pocket. Then he takes an equally slobbered piece of cooked liver out of that same pocket to stick it into his mouth so he has it for his dog. ewwww!

Barf (Bones And Raw Food) is an interesting and well worth way to feed. I've recommended to many an old lady whose dog is covered with fleas and flea products are killing it. It is a wonder what real, good quality, food will do for anyone. Man or beast.

Gotta really love BH's to have/show/trail 'em.  They are (usually) very sweet dogs.

I have been led to believe that BARF stands for Biologically Appropriate Raw Food ('invented' by an Australian vet) - bones were never on the menu, but cartilage (turkey necks mainly), tripe, raw veggies & fruit were, along with occasional raw beef.  Stool would turn to white powder & blow away within 24 hours, literally.  His coat was absolute silk and his teeth sparkling white when he was on it, too.

Marrow bones were in fact discouraged because of the risk of tooth injury.

One of my Tervuren can't have raw wings. Everyone can eat necks. The problem is finding them. Everyone loves carrots, broccoli, and apples. They keep trying to convince me they like lettuce too. Ick, tripe... Again hard to find here. We have fed raw heart and a tiny bit of raw liver (guess where that comes from) We do feed kibble mostly, my favorite being Eagle Pack (they have another name now - Holistic Select I think) Of course, we can't get that either since I quit selling it. That's a better (and more likely) name for BARF.