BELGIAN SHEEPDOGS 101

Several people have asked me about Doc and what he is going to look like.
He is a Belgian Sheepdog or Groenendael (take your pick) and he will be about 50-60 pounds, square (German Shepherds are rectangular) and have a medium-long black coat and a ruff, similar to a collie ruff, but black.
For show, he may have a little white on his chest and a little on his back toes. The "frost" you see on a Belgian's chin is the hallmark of the breed, and they all have it. The tail is carried below the line of the back when in movement, and down when stopped.
The ears are pricked and upright. We hope they stay that way in the ring, altho mine have all had the habit of laying them back against their necks at just the wrong moment.

This is Doc's Mother

 

Ch. Liswyn's Quiche La Neige

 

Because I do not have a photo of Dad, I am going to borrow one of Cooper:

 

 

Cooper did not have as heavy a coat as some males. But generally, this is about the kind of coat Doc will have.

End of Lesson

 

LEARNING TO LEARN

Went to conformation training with Doc last night. Ummhmmm.
I made liver first.
I hate liver.
It stinks up the whole house. I nuke it first untill it is basically cooked then add some garlic powder and put it in a 320 oven for about an hour, hour & a half.
It doesn't look anything like the stuff you buy at the shows but the dogs don't seem to mind at all.

The trainer is a Judge and someone I have known for a long time.He had a dog from my Basset breeder, a wire-haired dachshund named Mikey who did really well. He doesn't judge herding breeds but has been around enough to know when a dog is well put together no matter what the breed. There really are not too many that had strange angles or extra special parts.

Anyway the trainer really liked Doc, liked his personality and thought he has very good structure which of course is what one wants to hear.

Doc did ok for a 4 month old who has no clue what it is I want him to do. By the end of 45 minutes (all he can do even tho the class is 2 hours: I do not think I have ever kept even a grown dog there for the full 2 hours.) he was doing pretty well but sitting a lot. I think he was pretty tired.
 He was very interested in the other dogs, but we were exceptionally cautious (I was ) since some of these were pretty good-sized dogs -- Setters and a portly Bouvier. (Bouvs always look portly to me. But I think this one actually was.) There were some itty bitties there too-- snack size even for Doc. He met a Malamute he liked.

Around we went and stopped and stood and stayed and around and stop and stand and stay. I have no fingertips left, they have been chawed right off.

He was  very dignified.

None of this:

 Or this:

(That's a tracking flag and no I do not know how he got ahold of it.)

and especially not this:

(That's what you get for playing Alligator Mouth with a Basset who needs a dental!!)