01/05/2024
Pacific Wild Kennels, with Wilderness Kennels, is pleased to announce the proposed breeding between Tarot and Flynt! This breeding is pending breed warden approval.
A brief summary of the Tervuren cross:
The ISSA chose the Belgian Tervuren due to the breed being one of the most distantly related shepherding breeds from the Shiloh Shepherd, which means the progeny of this cross will have much greater genetic diversity than breeds more closely related to Shilohs (such as the German Shepherd Dog or Berger Blanc Suisse aka White Swiss Shepherd.) Phenotypically, Tervurens share a lot of the ideal physical traits we like to see in Shilohs, including body proportions slightly longer than tall (9:10 ratio), strong front and rear quarters, and small high set ears. Tervurens are smaller than Shilohs, and generally have narrower muzzles, heads, and builds. They are also considered to be more intense and drivey than we like to see in our Shilohs, due to their close relation to Malinois, Laekenois, and Groendals(1). Likewise, the Tervuren helps maintain the herding instincts and traits that many value in the Shiloh Shepherd. All four of the subsequent F1 puppies showed an increase in genetic diversity from their purebred counterparts when sampled through BetterBred, while still maintaining or improving on desired physical Shiloh traits. As anticipated, we also saw much more Belgian temperament traits and mannerisms such as aloofness, higher intensity, and higher drives.
About Flynt:
Flynt is an F1 Tervuren from Wilderness Kennels’ Mixal/Fortune 2022 litter, bred as part of the ISSA’s genetic diversity and outcrossing project. Flynt exhibits traits more in line with his Tervuren ancestry than Shiloh ancestry – he is an aloof dog, preferring his family (human and dog) over being social. Flynt also exhibits more Tervuren style drives and intensity, which means he is performing well in multiple sports including racing (AOK9) and disc, but also has a stronger prey drive. In addition to being titled in sports, Flynt has also earned his breed Championship with the ISSA and has competed against and placed above purebred Shilohs in both ISSA and non-ISSA events. Structurally, the Terv brought a lot of much needed physical traits to the table with small, high set ears, good angulation front and back, and nice slightly longer than tall body proportions. Flynt’s dam (also from Guardian lines) added height, width, and density of structure and Flynt has this in spades.
About Tarot:
Tarot is a big, solid girl from Guardian Kennel’s Eleiko/Django 2020 litter. She is a social, outgoing dog with a wonderfully weird, quirky personality. She’s a medium drive dog and actively competes in scent detection and disc based sports, boasting titles and placements in both, as well as multiple conformation championships. Structurally, she has nice body proportions with being slightly longer than tall, heavy bone, broad muzzle and head, good ear set, and nicely assembled front and rear (though she could use more length in the foreleg.) She has successfully raised 9 puppies across two litters and has routinely produced nicely structured, playful, and confident puppies, and we will continue to collect health data on these puppies as they reach the appropriate ages.
What We’re Expecting:
Overall, we’re expecting strong, athletic puppies with more drive than your average Shiloh Shepherd. These puppies should be structurally correct with ample size, as both Flynt and Tarot have sizeable dogs behind them. Additionally, both dogs have good angulation, correct toplines and croups, as well as heads and ear size/placements. Temperament wise, the hope is that Tarot will stamp these puppies with her social butterfly personality and bring them more towards the ideal temperament of the Shiloh. However, with these pups being only 2 generations removed from a purebred Tervuren there is a probability that we may see persisting Terv-like traits such as aloofness and higher energy/drive/intensity, as well as higher prey drives.
All plush coats are expected and likely medium to dark shades of brown due to the dominance of Flynt’s genetics. Shaded sable (ay) and wolf sable (aw) will be the prevailing patterns with dual (at) and recessive black (a) as recessive traits. Tarot’s recessive white may be passed on to some puppies, however, no white puppies will be possible.
These puppies will be best suited for active households that are interested in advanced and continuing training and/or sports. This litter will be evaluated by an ISSA certified evaluator using our standard LER testing, as well as being evaluated by one or more Belgian Shepherd experts between 7.5 and 8 weeks of age. Due to the potential for retained Tervuren temperament traits, these puppies will not be suitable for first time owners or as service dog prospects. Experience with herding and/or working dogs is preferred.
As this litter is a crucial part of the ISSA’s genetic diversity project, every puppy will be placed with the assumption that they will be bred and will need to complete full health and temperament testing. While all puppies will be listed as 25% Tervuren by pedigree, they will all be Embark tested to determine breed percentage through DNA prior to their placements. Because DNA inheritance isn’t as evenly distributed as pedigree, we are anticipating seeing variable percentages of Tervuren markers. These puppies will not be listed as purebred Shiloh Shepherds but they will be fully registered with the ISSA just the same as any purebred Shiloh Shepherd. As of today’s date, they will be able to compete in conformational events organized by Shiloh Shepherd clubs such as the ISSA, and are eligible to earn championships through the ISSA.
This breeding is still pending ISSA breed warden approval. If approved, this breeding is estimated to happen Winter 2025 and will be raised in Victoria, BC, Canada. If you’re interested in applying for this litter, please contact [email protected] directly.
(1) In most of the world, Tervurens are considered a variety of Belgian Shepherd along with Malinois, Laekenois, and Groendal. It's very common to see litters of Belgian Shepherds that have a Malinois parent crossed with a Tervuren parent, and the puppies are registered according to their coat type and colour. In the United States, the AKC has required the four varieties to be separated into different breeds and it is less likely to see approved crossbreeding of varieties. However, DNA testing can still show ancestral variety mixing of the four varieties of Belgian Shepherd.
