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by BelgianLaekenois on 05 February 2013 - 23:02
ColdPaws, as far as I know, I am the only person breeding Laekenois for protection in the U.S. I have had German Shepherds all of my life and I got a Mal/GSD cross in 1993. I got interested in the Laekenois variety in 1998 and I imported my first bitch January 2006 and my first dog in late 2008. They have good genetic diversity for Laekens with one line in common. Both of my European dogs had issues with nerves. The girl is very social and loves everybody but she is too nervous to hold a tug. The boy loves the tug, but is nervous when people want to touch him. He is a serious personal protection dog (I need that in my neighborhood) and handles himself well in public but his nerves are not stable enough for sports. I bred these two once and I have calm Laekens, but none of them are "perfect" for protection sports. All of my dogs love to learn, so they are great trainers' dogs. They are all agile and enjoy work-focused play.
The dogs of my breeding are fairly good with the tug and they are all appropriately protective, they enjoy getting out in a variety of environments and social situations, but they are a little more aloof than good Mals. At least one breeder in Belgium is building a working line of working Laekens (http://www.deroudur.be/) and some Laeken owners and breeders in Europe try their Laekens in protection sports. It will be a few generations of dedication before Laekens can compete with Mals in ring sports. My Laekens have great personalities, they are generally very biddable, their noses are excellent and they enjoy using them. They take longer to mature than German Shepherds and they never outgrow their enjoyment of being puppies. They can have a very intense drive and then they have an "off" switch. I have noticed that Mals do not always have an "off" switch.
Laekens are very sensitive to their handler's emotions. On the positive side, they can alert to changes in emotions and to changes in the environment that can trigger emotions. On the negative side, a person who may overreact to situations by getting angry in public or being fearful may trigger aggression or fear in a Laeken. My Laekens can get a little bit "psychic" and pick up on queues that most other dogs would miss. This really helps with communication when the dog may need to do something that it was never trained to do.
There are a lot of options building a rewarding relationship with a Laeken. Getting a working Laeken is possible, but not easy. The primary issues that I see are nerves and bite. Rather critical issues for protection sports...
I do not see a lot of value in combining the Laeken variety with the Malinois because the breeding lines are too far removed and the dogs have been bred for different traits for so many generations that a Laek/Mal will not necessarily exhibit the best of each variety. A Laeken with nervousness in its genetics bred to Mal with a strong protection drive may produce a nervous and fearful dog that wants to protect for the wrong reasons.
The dogs of my breeding are fairly good with the tug and they are all appropriately protective, they enjoy getting out in a variety of environments and social situations, but they are a little more aloof than good Mals. At least one breeder in Belgium is building a working line of working Laekens (http://www.deroudur.be/) and some Laeken owners and breeders in Europe try their Laekens in protection sports. It will be a few generations of dedication before Laekens can compete with Mals in ring sports. My Laekens have great personalities, they are generally very biddable, their noses are excellent and they enjoy using them. They take longer to mature than German Shepherds and they never outgrow their enjoyment of being puppies. They can have a very intense drive and then they have an "off" switch. I have noticed that Mals do not always have an "off" switch.
Laekens are very sensitive to their handler's emotions. On the positive side, they can alert to changes in emotions and to changes in the environment that can trigger emotions. On the negative side, a person who may overreact to situations by getting angry in public or being fearful may trigger aggression or fear in a Laeken. My Laekens can get a little bit "psychic" and pick up on queues that most other dogs would miss. This really helps with communication when the dog may need to do something that it was never trained to do.
There are a lot of options building a rewarding relationship with a Laeken. Getting a working Laeken is possible, but not easy. The primary issues that I see are nerves and bite. Rather critical issues for protection sports...
I do not see a lot of value in combining the Laeken variety with the Malinois because the breeding lines are too far removed and the dogs have been bred for different traits for so many generations that a Laek/Mal will not necessarily exhibit the best of each variety. A Laeken with nervousness in its genetics bred to Mal with a strong protection drive may produce a nervous and fearful dog that wants to protect for the wrong reasons.
by dragonfry on 06 February 2013 - 00:02
Very cool to have someone that owns this rare breed comment. I think they are nifty and i'm glad you enjoy them. I know they are not for the likes of me. I like 'um big and dumb :D How is the health on this breed? Any serious problems beyond nerves?
Fry
Fry
by Hundmutter on 06 February 2013 - 12:02
I'll second what 'Fry said; thank you very much for posting, an extremely
interesting and educational contribution. Particularly because of your
knowledge of GSDs previously to the Belgians, you are on our wavelength !
And welcome to the PDB, hope you post again.
interesting and educational contribution. Particularly because of your
knowledge of GSDs previously to the Belgians, you are on our wavelength !
And welcome to the PDB, hope you post again.
by BelgianLaekenois on 07 February 2013 - 21:02
Thank you both. The health of the variety is fairly good but there was a line with bad elbows and another that had progressive retinal atrophy. The nerves on Laekens are not bad as far as energetic dogs go, but they tend to be a hindrance or something to deal with for protection work. I really love the energy level and intuitiveness of the variety. To enjoy Laekens, I think a person must really like comedians and clowns. It is also important to sense when a Laeken may get serious because mine can turn off the "funny" in an instant.
Laekens, like other Belgian Shepherds, are crafty and far removed from "big and dumb." My dogs can open doors and windows, they turned on water faucets so they could play in water, they turned on a shop fan a few times before I suspended it from the ceiling, they collect things and put them in piles, and they hide things under sofa cushions. They will "redecorate" when left alone too long, even when they are left in the living room while I cook in the kitchen. Mine are also great "inspectors" who like to take a complete inventory of everything in a room and everything on a person. I hear comments like, "your dog probably smells my dog." "Nope. My dog is taking inventory of you." Not everyone understands a Belgian.
Lauren
Laekens, like other Belgian Shepherds, are crafty and far removed from "big and dumb." My dogs can open doors and windows, they turned on water faucets so they could play in water, they turned on a shop fan a few times before I suspended it from the ceiling, they collect things and put them in piles, and they hide things under sofa cushions. They will "redecorate" when left alone too long, even when they are left in the living room while I cook in the kitchen. Mine are also great "inspectors" who like to take a complete inventory of everything in a room and everything on a person. I hear comments like, "your dog probably smells my dog." "Nope. My dog is taking inventory of you." Not everyone understands a Belgian.
Lauren
by coldpaws on 10 February 2013 - 15:02
Thanks for your post-just the sort of info I was looking for. Always interesting to hear from people with first hand expeience in rare breeds. As I said, my Malinois keeps me busy but I'm always curious about other breeds, especially closely related ones.
by kyto on 13 March 2013 - 06:03
contact brigitte broeks, kennel from laeken paradis, sche still works her lakenois in protection work and wants to preserve natural quallity's of this varity, sadly sche stands pretty much alone in her strugle to keep the lakenois as a working dog
her daughter scharon selected herself for agillity championschips whit troubles one of the few remmaining lakenois who's titled ipo3
the legendary lakenois max van kriekenbos was owned by johan weckhuyzen and he became belgium fieldwork champion in 1993
his grandson quichot van de duvetorre is probebly the most world reknown lakenois because of his participations on many ipo world championships, quichot was a very hard selfconfidend dog and had an extreme hard grip, social dog but protetive of who he considerd to be on his side, extremly dominant towards other dog's even at age of 13, i remember a trainning when jos trew a dumbell for torre (bichotte van de duvetorre) and quichot was playing on the field whit marleen(wife of jos) quichot just took torre's dumbell and retrieved it voor jos
bichotte is a proven stud for policedog and high level competition dogs now located at slovakia so he certainly isn't the most easy one (did helperwork for him to) quichot was already 13years old when this happend
he was one of the first dogs i got on my arm when i started learning helperwork and untill this day i remember him as it was yesterday i consider myself extremly lucky to have known such a wonderfull, legendary dog
his owner (jos) i still consider one the people who teached me the most upon today he's a friend for life
her daughter scharon selected herself for agillity championschips whit troubles one of the few remmaining lakenois who's titled ipo3
the legendary lakenois max van kriekenbos was owned by johan weckhuyzen and he became belgium fieldwork champion in 1993
his grandson quichot van de duvetorre is probebly the most world reknown lakenois because of his participations on many ipo world championships, quichot was a very hard selfconfidend dog and had an extreme hard grip, social dog but protetive of who he considerd to be on his side, extremly dominant towards other dog's even at age of 13, i remember a trainning when jos trew a dumbell for torre (bichotte van de duvetorre) and quichot was playing on the field whit marleen(wife of jos) quichot just took torre's dumbell and retrieved it voor jos
bichotte is a proven stud for policedog and high level competition dogs now located at slovakia so he certainly isn't the most easy one (did helperwork for him to) quichot was already 13years old when this happend
he was one of the first dogs i got on my arm when i started learning helperwork and untill this day i remember him as it was yesterday i consider myself extremly lucky to have known such a wonderfull, legendary dog
his owner (jos) i still consider one the people who teached me the most upon today he's a friend for life
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