Part 3: Tervuren History

 It seems that around the turn of the century setting up breed clubs, with breed standards and records of pedigree, became the popular thing to do.

To understand the establishing of these breed clubs, we have to think in terms of the day. Prior to this, dogs were known by their varieties, and those were often named for the regions in which they had developed.
 With the advent of the Age of Industry, dogs began to lose their important place in the lives of their people. Cities grew, factories did not need dogs. The local varieties began to diminish, and at the same time, a moneyed class unconnected with the daily work of the farm was emerging. These people often took it upon themselves to preserve the breeding of the dogs they fancied.

   In southwest Germany, the town of Rottweil had a type of muscular dogs of mastiff descent which helped both with herding the livestock, protecting it, and also pulling small carts for deliveries around town.
   So suddenly, in 1901 the Rottweiler & Leonberger Club came into being.


  In the fall of 1891 a group in Belgian formed the Club du Chein de Berger Belge (Belgian Shepherd Dog Club) "for the purpose of determining if there was a true shepherd dog representative only of Belgium." Shortly after, veterinary professor Adolphe Reul headed up a gathering on the outskirts of Brussels to find the dog for the club. Seeing a distinctively different type consistent among the shepherd dogs of Brabant, they settled on this as their Chein de Burger Belge, and the Belgian Shepherd was born.

  It would take a decade for the club and it's dogs to be recognized by the Societe Royale Saint-Hubert (the Belgium equivalent of the AKC,)  but the Belgian Shepherd was here to stay.

   And the year 1911 saw the first Belgian Shepherds to be registered in the AKC.