I began in Belgian Tervuren in the early 1970's, when there were only a few in Arizona.

 

We obtained a female puppy and she became the love of my life and very soon,  I became hooked on obedience training, showing in conformation and the whole dog show atmosphere. I loved the look of the breed and what they had to offer.

 

As time went on, we acquired more and more dogs and became very interested in this beautiful and versatile breed and met so many wonderful people along the way.

 

I believe that the Belgian Tervuren has the ability to do  whatever you want them to do. They have an inherent desire to work with their humans; they like to stay busy and also enjoy learning.

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As the years have passed, I've noticed some changes in our breed - some exciting and some that concern me. Our breed standard calls for a moderate dog, and many of the more European dogs are showing up with extreme heads that sometimes are quite lovely; however the part that really bothers me the most is the structure and what is lost when you move away from moderate to extreme. I always keep in mind that if the BT cannot herd sheep all day long, then it is not put together properly.

 

It is of utmost importance to me to keep Form & Function at the forefront of my breeding program, so my goals are to produce healthy Belgian Tervuren who are structurally sound, could do the work they were intended to do if asked, and to have sound temperaments so that they can move around in public places with the confidence of an animal who is aware of his surroundings, but not over vigilant to the extent that they draw attention to themselves.

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 - Jo Fain