Problem with the lakenois and in a lesser extend with the Groenendael and the tervueren is that basically they are the same as a Malinois with the exception of the coat and color.
But due to their looks they came in the hands of showbreeders and thier character is gone.
Give me a malinois from good working stock an i'm a happy man

( have 2 so i'm really happy )

Andrew I recently got a male DS who is now going on 5 months old. The girlfriend and I made the decision back in the fall to get a dutchie and since then I have read as much as I can on the breed. Of course I also lurked on this forum quite a bit. I really hadn't had any "pets" since I was a teenager (almost 30 now) and at the time we had very nice import Rotties growing up. Impressive animials to say the least. So I figured the DS wouldn't be that much to handle. HAH...boy was I wrong! This little guy is like a freakin mako shark. He will pace and roam all over the place looking for fun (trouble). Not only that, but he bites every and anything he sees. The dog is cracked out, like one poster said he either sleeps or he is in drive. I honestly thought we got a wolf cub for a while. He is barely starting to let the gf and I give him affection, before that he could care less. I'm finding it is a full time job with this little guy. If he was a kid the docs would be prescribing ritalin.

The breed is a lot more difficult than I anticipated, but at the same time it's unlike any other breed I've been around. He is incredibly intelligent, agile, alert, full of drive and head strong. Of course he also needs plenty of pack structure and any family member not willing to set the example will get run all over. He can sense weakness.

As far as training goes, his house training could not go any better, he is already going to the door when he needs to go and hasn't had any accidents in a month. Leaving him alone in the house and worrying about messes is not a problem, having him chew and destroy everything else is! His basic obedience work is also going extremely well. Our main goal was to make him the gfs running partner and take him on our backpacking/mountain climbing trips, but seeing how he is and the potential he has we are thinking of training him as a PPD of course he still has quite a bit of time to grow and mature, but we couldn't be more happier. Is he a real pain in the butt? Heck yes, but what a remarkable animal. Huge learning curve, just have patience.

We bought our first Dutchie just a week ago, I was luckly enough to find a good mentor that knows all about them and willing to share lots of information. With that one key advise that was told to me was be honest with your self and your breeder in what you can handle.

With that said I told my breeder what I was looking for. Coming from the German shepherd world I knew I wanted something with more drives, sounder temperament and less health problems. The old saying goes "becareful what you ask for" Our little girl is so full of her self it is boarderline scary sometimes. She does things I would only wished my shepherds would do and she is only 10 weeks old. Her drives are non stop (that is no lie).

One thing that I will add that I have seen is nothing and I mean nothing is safe! in the week that she has been here I have lost shoes, handles to my desk drawers, hangers, toys, soda bottles,cell phone anything and everything is in her mouth and it is in a split second that she does this.

The children have requested that she be put up when they are watching tv due to she will launch herself at them and want to use them as a chew toy, NO ONE wears shorts around her cause she will jump up and pull them down, socks are fair game and cuddle times are far and few in between. But when she does you think she is the cutiest sweetiest thing until she bites you.

Would I tell a first time handler to get a Dutchie? No, they are a handful and can be over whelming, not what most people can handle first(second or third) dog out. But that is just my opinion. Keep Mike J Schoonbrood name and number handy if you do

 Quote: barbara earnhardt

But when she does you think she is the cutiest sweetiest thing until she bites you.

Thats so true. Don't worry, by the time she is about three, she'll be the sweetiest thing more often, Unfortunately, she might not bite you any less but you'll learn to consider them "love nips".

LOL I get bit by my dutchie unexpectedly...he sneaks up bites and runs. *sigh* Or like last night, I was on the phone in the back yard...he pounced out of the dark and knocked me into a tree...ran away laughing I swear. He only does it when I'm vunerable. They're hyenas.