Spotlight Breed: Belgian Sheepdog 

Welcome to our Spotlight Breed article of the week. This is where we help you learn about a fun and unique dog breed from around the world. We are excited to spotlight the Belgian Sheepdog today! This medium-sized dog is a herding breed that originated in Belgium where they were used to herd sheep. They later graduated to police work, and today their versatility makes them suitable for many jobs and dog sports!

Belgian sheepdogs are alert, devoted, and protective. Another thing is that they are highly sensitive. They live life with a full heart. They make wonderful family companions and love to form strong bonds with their “pack”. This breed needs plenty of mental and physical stimulation to keep them happy. The Belgian sheepdog is the type of breed that gets bored easily which may result in destruction. We do not recommend that you adopt this breed if you live in an apartment or small home. They need room to run and exercise.

Let’s talk about the friendliness of the Belgian sheepdog. All in all, they are super friendly! They are affectionate with family, kids, other dogs, and even strangers. A Belgian who was socialized and exposed to lots of different types, ages, sizes, and shapes of people as a puppy will always respond better to people as they get older. This is a dog breed who has truly never met a stranger! They love the attention, and it shows. Don’t let the friendliness fool you though. They act as great guard dogs and will have no problem alerting their owners of suspicious activity.

The intelligence of this breed makes them an easier dog to train. The Belgian sheepdog is more adept at forming an association between a prompt, an action, and a consequence very quickly. They do have a “what’s in it for me?” attitude so you will need to implement positive reinforcement into your training sessions. Another thing to note is that they have a high prey drive. If they see something that they want, they are going to do whatever it takes to go after it!

If you are looking for a loving, intelligent, and active dog breed then the Belgian sheepdog may be for you! We will leave you with our favorite quote about the breed: “WARNING!!! This property is patrolled and protected by: Belgian Sheepdog, Inc.”