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Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) breeders

The Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) is one of four Belgian Shepherd Dog varieties on The Royal Kennel Club (RKC) register, alongside the Groenendael, Malinois and Tervueren.

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Advertise your Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) puppies, litters and stud dogs

Do you breed Belgian Shepherd Dogs (Laekenois)? With so few registered each year, buyers need a straightforward way to find you. List your kennel on caninebreeder.co.uk to advertise Laekenois puppies for sale, promote your Laekenois stud dog, and set out your health testing, location and contact details in one place. You can add litters as soon as they are planned and link your website and social media, so people who are prepared to wait for the right puppy can reach you directly.

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Yes. A breeder profile and your litter and stud dog adverts are free. Premium profiles, featured placement and sponsored articles are optional paid extras; see pricing.

Do I need a licence to advertise puppies?

In England you need a dog breeding licence from your council if you breed three or more litters in 12 months or breed and sell dogs as a business, and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own schemes. Licensed breeders show their licence number and issuing council on every advert. Puppies must be at least eight weeks old before they go to new homes.

Is my listing already here?

We add licensed breeders from councils' public registers. Search for your kennel name; if it is listed you can claim it and edit everything.

About the Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois)

The Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) is one of four Belgian Shepherd Dog varieties on The Royal Kennel Club (RKC) register, alongside the Groenendael, Malinois and Tervueren. All four are in the Pastoral Group and share one breed standard, differing only in coat colour, texture and length.

Origin and purpose. Sheepdogs of this kind have been known in Belgium since the Middle Ages. In 1891 the first breed club was set up, and Professor Adolphe Reul of the Belgian veterinary school assessed 117 dogs and sorted them into varieties, each named after the part of Belgium it came from. The Laekenois takes its name from the Château of Laeken, a royal residence, and the RKC notes that Queen Marie Henriette favoured the variety. Bred to herd and guard flocks, Belgian shepherds have also been widely used by police and armed forces.

Size. The RKC classes the breed as medium to large. The standard calls for a square, muscular dog balancing strength and grace, with nothing overdone. Ideal height is 61 to 66 cm (24 to 26 in) for dogs and 56 to 61 cm (22 to 24 in) for bitches, with weight in proportion. The RKC gives a lifespan of over 10 years.

Coat and grooming. The Laekenois is the rough-coated variety. The standard asks for a harsh, dry, wiry coat, not curly, about 6 cm long and shorter on the muzzle, forehead and legs. The only colour allowed is reddish fawn with black shading, mostly on the muzzle and tail, with a little white tolerated on the chest and toes. The coat sheds, and the RKC suggests grooming more than once a week.

Exercise. The RKC recommends more than two hours of exercise a day and a large garden, in town or country.

Temperament and suitability. Under the standard, the ideal Laekenois is clever, alert and watchful by nature, loyal to its family and possibly reserved on first meeting, but neither nervous nor aggressive. The Northern Belgian Shepherd Dog Club says Belgian shepherds need a lot of socialising as puppies, thrive on activity and close contact with people, and react badly to punishment, so training should be reward-based. The Laekenois is scarce in the UK: the RKC recorded five registrations in 2025, so expect a patient search.

Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) health tests

The Laekenois is in Breed Watch Category 1: the RKC has not flagged any concerns specific to the breed for judges' special attention, beyond what the breed standard already covers.

In its pre-breeding guidance for the Laekenois, the RKC puts prioritising genetic diversity in the good-practice tier, the minimum it strongly recommends before breeding. Hip, elbow and eye screening make up the best-practice tier, and the RKC says best practice means completing both tiers. It does not offer a breed-specific DNA test package for the variety, although individual DNA tests are available. With so few Laekenois registered each year, the RKC's inbreeding coefficient calculator is a practical way to act on that advice.

The Northern Belgian Shepherd Dog Club reports, for Belgian shepherds generally, that hip dysplasia is relatively rare though most responsible breeders still hip score; that hereditary juvenile cataracts affect some dogs; and that epilepsy, which appears to be inherited, often does not show until around five years of age, by which time an affected dog may already have produced litters.

The BVA hip and elbow schemes accept dogs from one year old. BVA Canine Health Schemes advises breeding only from dogs with hip scores under, or near, the breed median and an elbow grade of 0.

  • Prioritising genetic diversity (RKC good practice), checked with the RKC inbreeding coefficient calculator
  • BVA/KC Hip Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice)
  • BVA/KC Elbow Dysplasia Scheme (RKC best practice)
  • BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme (RKC best practice)
  • Breed Watch: Category 1

Choosing a Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) breeder

With so few Laekenois registered in the UK each year, the breeder you choose matters a great deal. A careful breeder will have hip and elbow results and a current eye certificate for both parents, and will be happy for you to check them on the RKC Health Test Results Finder. They should be able to give you the litter's coefficient of inbreeding and explain why they chose the stud dog. Breed club advice stresses early socialisation, so look for puppies raised with regular handling and new experiences, and expect the breeder to ask how much time you have for exercise and training before agreeing a sale.

The law sets a minimum. Every puppy in the UK must have a microchip and be registered on a database by eight weeks old. In England, anyone running a dog-breeding business, or breeding three or more litters in 12 months and selling any of the puppies, needs a council licence, and licensed breeders must show puppies with their mother where they were born.

  • Can I see the hip, elbow and eye results for both parents?
  • What is the coefficient of inbreeding for this litter?
  • Can I meet the mother with the puppies at your home?
  • Do you know of epilepsy or cataracts in the parents' close relatives?
  • Will you take the dog back if I can no longer keep it?

Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) questions

How is the Laekenois different from the Malinois?

Both are varieties of the Belgian Shepherd Dog and are judged against the same RKC breed standard, with the same height range and temperament. The difference lies in the coat: the Laekenois has a harsh, wiry coat about 6 cm long in reddish fawn with black shading, mainly on the muzzle and tail, while the Malinois has a short, dense coat in shades of red, fawn or grey with a black overlay and black mask.

Are Laekenois puppies easy to find in the UK?

No. RKC registration statistics show five Laekenois registered in 2025 and one in the first quarter of 2026. Contact breeders and breed clubs well in advance and expect to wait for a planned litter.

How much exercise does a Laekenois need?

The RKC recommends more than two hours of exercise a day and a large garden. The Northern Belgian Shepherd Dog Club adds that Belgian shepherds enjoy plenty of activity and close contact with their owners, and lists obedience, agility and herding among the things they enjoy, so training and mental work matter as much as walks.

Which health tests should a Laekenois breeder have done?

The RKC puts prioritising genetic diversity in its good-practice tier for the Laekenois and lists hip and elbow screening under the BVA/KC schemes and an eye examination under the BVA/KC/ISDS Eye Scheme as best practice. Ask for the coefficient of inbreeding of the mating and check the parents' results on the RKC Health Test Results Finder.

More for Belgian Shepherd Dog (Laekenois) owners and breeders

Official sources