Breeds / Large
Belgian Tervuren puppies
The long coated fawn Belgian shepherd, intelligent, endlessly active and strongly attached to their people. They are aloof with strangers, highly trainable, and need demanding daily work to settle.
The facts
- Size class Large
- Country of origin Belgium
- Adult weight 20.4 to 34 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 45 to 75 lb
- Adult height 56 to 66 cm
- Energy level High
- Grooming Moderate
- Coat type Medium double
- Shedding Moderate
- Typical lifespan 12 to 14 years
- Good with children Fine with supervision
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
About the Belgian Tervuren
The Belgian Tervuren is the long coated fawn to mahogany variety of the Belgian shepherd, named after the village where their early breeders lived. They share the frame of their relatives, 56 to 66cm and 20.4 to 34kg, under a double coat with a black overlay and a heavy ruff. Tervs are busy, observant dogs that seem to be in motion the whole time they are awake, devoted to their own household, aloof with strangers, and rated at the very top for trainability.
A Terv needs a great deal of activity and prefers to do it beside their owner, so herding, agility, obedience or long working walks suit them far better than a garden. Coat care is a thorough brush once or twice a week with a pin and slicker brush, expanding during the annual moult when a rake comes out. This is a sensitive, thinking breed, and shouting backfires. Owners most often underestimate how much mental work it takes to get one to settle indoors.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Belgian Tervuren puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A large breed puppy at eight weeks looks deceptively normal sized and will roughly double every few weeks for a while. Keep exercise short and low impact, the growth plates are wide open. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and they will need a job to do long before they need long walks. Grooming needs are moderate, so build the brushing habit now while the coat is still short and easy. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything they meet calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of their life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Hip dysplasia, a malformation of the hip joint, screened by hip evaluation and x-ray
- Elbow dysplasia, screened by an elbow evaluation of breeding stock
- Progressive retinal atrophy, which causes gradual vision loss and blindness, found on an ophthalmologist evaluation
- Epilepsy, diagnosed by ruling out other causes of seizures
Your Belgian Tervuren puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Large for a Belgian Tervuren.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 20.4 to 34 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Kit sizes: crate 42 inch (42 x 28 x 30 in, 107 x 71 x 76 cm) for an adult of up to 34 kg; chew toys made for large breeds. Worked out the same way as the crate size calculator. PetMD bases a crate on the dog's own measurements, not weight or breed alone, so measure once the puppy is home.
Buying guides for this
Other large breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.
Sources
- akc.org for adult weight and height, life expectancy, energy, grooming, shedding and the temperament ratings, coat type and health notes
- fci.be for country of origin
- Health notes from Belgian Tervuren breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/belgian-tervuren/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Photo: Mwinda, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons, cropped. All photographers are listed on the photo credits page.