Is this puppy a German Shepherd - Page 1

Hi Everyone,

I am hoping that the German Shepherd/Belgian shepherd experts can give some advise.

We have now had Lily for over a month. We were of the understanding that she was German Shepherd.  We brought her originally just to rescue her from the trauma's of the dirty Egyptian pet shops.  We really don't care about what breed she is because it do she is just a fantastic little pup. 

However, some after speaking to this lady we would like to know what we are in for.

We were walking Lily in the gardens this morning when we met an American lady with a very beautiful long coated German shepherd.  She was very fascinated with Lily and had a really good look at her. She said she is a wonderful little puppy but she did not think she was a long coated German shepherd.  She said that her face, her shape, her tail length reminded her of a Belgian shepherd.

She said she is to square, she is to small, her tail only comes to her hocks and she has feathering down her front and back legs all of which is not typical of German shepherd but very typical of a belgian shepherd.

She also advised me to be careful because Belgian Shepherds can be very vicious dogs. This is what worries me.
 
I have looked at pictures of Belgian shepherds and they seem to be either black, not coated or a sandy/red colour.

Can anyone say if she is indeed just a long coated German Shepherd or maybe belgian?

If she is belgian how do we stop her becoming vicious?



Regards

Samantha

She is a German Shepherd

She is a German Shepherd.

That is nonsense about Belgian Shepherds being vicious btw.

Melissa

German shepherd and....adorable!

Yes, Belgian shepherds can be very high energy, but are NOT vicious!

She is a very cute GSD puppy. It's hard to guess what lines (German, American etc.) she might be from, but not all of them have that long back and sloped rear your friend is thinking of. Most of the slope is due to the way the dog is positioned, anyway. The handler deliberately stretches the legs out, and presses on the dog's back to make the rear look low.

The woman you met may have tried to pass herself off as a GSD and Belgian Shepherds expert, but she certainly was not.  

There is absolutely nothing Belgian about your dog whatsoever, she is pure German Shepherd and her coat is a typical and correct plush-longstock.  There are variations in the types of longhairs in GSDs, that woman was clearly not familiar with what the desired type of longcoat is.  

I'm going to put my money on that the woman you met is used to the American style of show/pet GSD and not to the European types of GSD.  The American type is larger, lankier, very angulated and not square, very long tailed and their longhairs are different too...typically softer, thinner coats, especially at puppyhood.  

The comment about Belgian Shepherds being vicious dogs is hogwash....just like how many ignorant people think GSDs are vicious dogs too.  


Here is a photo of one of my past dogs, a pure working line GSD.  Once while taking a walk at a park with her, a person stopped me and thought that my dog was a Belgian Malinois.   Does she look mal to you??? 

You can't expect a very breed typey dog when buying it from a pet store in Egypt :)
It's a GSD and you need to be prepared for people to fill your head with all kinds of stuff.

I have an untypey Labrador and it's been years since I stopped listening to people telling me stuff about my dog.

One lady at the vet said he looked just like a Golden Retriever.

Oh yeah did i mention I have a solid black Lab ;)  Just smile and nod, it saves you a lot of energy .

Solid black Golden. I see. Umm...new breed, mabye? 

Look at that pup's face. She looks SO vicious, doesn't she?? 

ROTFLOL!

I agree, all German Shepherd, I have had my share of "experts" come to my house too and inform me my long coats are Belgians also.
And some want to argue it.

   We here in the USA have had German Shepherd Dogs in this country so long most common people think they are experts of the breed. The rest of the world is probably better at knowing what a GSD is than what we know. It was very common when I grew up for someone to describe a GSD that had anything other than black saddle markings on tan as being a GSD / Belgian Shepherd cross. They probably don't mean a Malinois but are miss identifying the darker Groenendael. To this day I get comments from people who think my black and red male is not a GSD when in fact his father is VA1 and both of his mother's parents are VA1. Fewer yet of them recognize that my breed surveyed sable female is a German Shepherd Dog. Jaymas100 your dog will also be a beautiful long coated female once she grows into her ears. Thank you for giving her a life of respect that this noble breed deserves.