BELGIAN TERVUREN Q&A
Is the Tervuren a “busy” breed? Does it like to have a job to do? Most definitely they are a busy breed, although they can relax in the house. If they don’t have a job they tend to become self-employed, not usually for the good. They do best if stimulated mentally as well as physically. Would I consider the breed to be possessive of its people and property? Most Belgian Tervuren are protective of their people and, to a lesser extent, of their property. I have a ranch with people com- ing out to herd a lot, so my dogs are much more tolerant of people in and out of the property or even my house than they were when I had fewer people visiting. Mine are bonded to me, but not especially possessive, and are very welcoming to any of the people who regu- larly work their dogs here. I’d also like to share that I like to see my dogs get DCs (con- formation championship and herding championship), but Tervuren excel at a variety of performance sports. I find their combination of athleticism and beauty hard to beat! KATHRYN WAGNER
“The Belgian Tervuren is a herding dog and versatile worker. The highest value is to be placed on qualities that maintain these abilities, specifically, correct temperament, gait, bite and coat.” The funniest experience I’ve ever shared with a Tervuren in or out of the ring? Oh my! At an outdoor show in the rain I was showing my National Specialty winning boy, Luke. He was a rather prissy dog that didn’t like getting his feet muddy. We were doing the down and back. He was trying to avoid the mud. On the way back, I was attempting to distract him from the mud and focus forward instead of down at the muddy ground. I had a piece of bait in my hand and made the hand motion as if I was going to throw the bait. The second time I made the hand motion, the wet bait flew out of my hand and just happened to hit the judge, Mr. Don Rog- ers, in the chest. The bait slid down the front of him and landed at his feet. Almost simultaneously, Luke pounced on the piece of bait splashing mud onto Mr. Rogers’ trousers. Of course, I’m completely embarrassed and apologizing. Mr. Rogers looked at his trouser legs, looked at me, and simply stated, “I believe you owe me a dry clean- ing bill.” Luke won the Group that day. EVELYNN MCGUINNESS I live in the high desert near Lancaster, California. I am a psy- chologist with a ph.d. in psychology/neuroscience; I retired last year. I have been involved with purebred dogs for 35 years, initially with Belgian Sheepdogs, but switched to Belgian Tervuren. I rode and showed horses all my life. Gradually, the dogs com- peted more and the horses became pets. I am also a big opera fan and get season tickets to LA Opera every year. What first made me interested in the Belgian Tervuren? I want- ed a dog to take out to the stable with me and liked the tempera- ment of herding dogs. Like a good academic, I read a lot about the breeds and when I went out to look at dogs, I fell in love with the intelligence and beautiful movement of the Belgians. A Belgian Tervuren breeder, Becky Steiner, helped me with handling my first Belgian Sheepdog in the show ring and we became close friends. I got my first Tervs from her in the late 1980s and stayed with Ter- vuren ever since. In what ways does the breed differ from its Belgian cousins? The Malinois are a more intense dog and have been bred for pro- tection, police, and military work far more than the Tervuren or the Sheepdogs. I think, historically, the Tervuren club, ABTC, has emphasized breeding dogs with titles on both ends more than the other breed clubs. How important are carriage and proportion in the Tervuren? Carriage and proportion are important, when you look at a Terv it should be recognizable as a Belgian Tervuren. It is a Herding breed, and structure and movement are extremely important. The dog has to have correct structure to work. If a dog cannot cover ground effortlessly it is not a good example of the breed, no matter how pretty it may look standing still. Can I describe the breed’s coat color in detail? The breed stan- dard is very explicit on color. “Body rich fawn to russet mahogany with black overlay is ideal and preferred. Predominate color that is pale, washed out, cream or gray is a fault. The coat is characteristi- cally double pigmented whereby the tips of fawn hairs are black- ened.” Males typically have more black tipping than bitches, but both sexes tend to get more black tipping with age and the head should have a black mask. Absence of the mask is a serious fault. I personally prefer the red mahogany; love to see the coat glow in the sun. What should judges look for in the Tervuren’s movement? I do herding with my dogs, mainly tending style herding, and they need to be able to cover ground effortlessly for longs periods of time with- out tiring. Short, choppy strides are not correct and interfere with the dog doing the job it was bred to do.
I started showing German Shep- herds around 1988 and became a member of the Greater Clarksburg K.C. While teaching Conformation Class in 1991, one of our members came into my class and told me that they had a Tervuren in Obedience and that maybe I should go meet him. I stopped my class so I could approach this person about her Tervuren. I did
offer to buy him, for I knew this was not a good home. One year later, she called me and said she could not handle the dog, so I went and picked him up. This was my start with a wonderful dog by the name of Bach. Two years later, I acquired my foundation bitch (Tessa). With these two my breeding program began. I feel lucky, and fortunate, to have produced the 1998 Nation- al Specialty BOS CH Shumaker Hill’s Bedtime Story C-Bar, her daughter, 2009 National Specialty BOS CH Shumaker Hill’s Turn the Paige C-Bar, and Paige’s daughter, WB and BOW GCH Shu- maker Hill’s Never Ending Story. (Also that year, Paige’s son, GCH Shumaker Hill’s In Kase You Missed Me, won Best of Opposite in Puppy Sweeps.) Our puppy owners have achieved the following: BIS, multiple BISS, and titles that include obedience, agility, herd- ing, flyball, lure coursing, tracking and dock diving. I have been a show chair, mother to a junior, conformation instructor, professional steward, and a member of ABTC since 2003. In 2008, I became an AKC judge of the three Belgians and Junior Showmanship. This year I have added our newest addition to the Belgians, the Laekenois. I was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Michigan. We moved to Buckhannon, a small town in rural West Virginia, nearly 40 years ago. I own and run a dog boarding facility. This year marks 40 years for owning dogs and 31 years of showing. Do I have any hobbies? I really don’t have any hobbies other than judging, showing and breeding dogs, although my husband and I love to travel, especially in the winter months to one of the islands in the Caribbean. What first made me interested in the Belgian Tervuren? Actu- ally, a friend of mine was teaching me about GSD. (This is what I owned at the time.) She invited me over to look at a couple of books she had. While flipping through, I dead stopped at this beautiful picture of a Tervuren. I promptly told her that was going to be my breed someday. In what ways does the breed differ from its cousins? It does not differ a whole lot from the other four. Of course, coat, color, length and texture are different. Also, the AKC standard for each of
224 | SHOWSIGHT MAGAZINE, JULY 2020
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