In the 1880s, French, German, Belgian, and Dutch herding breeds became commonly known as the Continental Shepherds, and this gets confusion because the black Belgian Shepherd that we know today as the Belgian Shepherd was called the Chien de Berger de Races Continentales, or Continental Shepherd around the same time. The first dog show in Belgium in which Belgian Shepherd Dogs were included saw them shown separately from the Continental Shepherds.

It was Adolphe Reul and a panel of judges who concluded that there was actually a consistent type of native shepherd dog in Belgium that varied from the others only in coat texture, color and length. The dog we know in the United States know as the Belgian Shepherd was officially renamed the Groenendael in 1910 (after the village of Groenendael, the home of an important kennel of the breed), and is still known in Europe by that name.

Belgian Shepherd by Anne Zoutsos
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