Belgian Shepherd Dogs

	Belgian Shepherd Dog

	Long Hair - Tervueren

The Tervueren
is fawn with black overlay
and black mask and ears

It is the dog which resembles the Groenendael like two drops of water, with the exception of the colour of
the hair. Besides, they have a common origin. The black overlay extends on the dog like a veil.
It is as if one had cherished it with soot coated hands. The black mask is produced by a gene responsible for the black hairs which invade the face, the ears and the tail at middle height, in the form of a triangle, as well as on the end of the tail.

The fawn-coloured coat with black overlay and sable are very widespread in the canine species.
It undoubtedly corresponds to the "wild " coat of the canine species. The fawn-coloured coat with black overlay varies enormously in its appearance according to the nature of the hair.
Whether the hair is rough, long or short, the aspect is not exactly the same any more.

Where does the sable colour of the Belgian Shepherd Dog come from? The sable comes from a dilution of the fawn colour caused by the presence of a gene called Cch, but the traces of black, the overlay subsists. A coat with an overlay on a pale fawn basis, gives the
impression of grey. In the modern cynological terminology, the exact word is neither grey or isabella colour, but sable. All the long-haired could be carriers of this recessive gene, which is very rare with the short-haired and the rough haired.
The history of the variety tells us that a lot of lines of the actual Tervuerens descend from sable ancestors.

The Tervueren sable