Italian Greyhound vs Belgian Shepherd - Breed Comparison

The Italian Greyhound is an ancient breed, a purebred originating in Italy but with evidence to suggest it was also to be found in Turkey and Greece.

It's a small breed dog that became popular with Italian royalty in the 16th century. Over the centuries, the dog's appearance has remain unchanged, although breeders tried to make it even smaller, leading to problems with the health of the dog.

Towards the end of the 1800s, it was fortunate that breed fanciers implemented breeding programs to restore the dog's look's and strength. The American Kennel Club registered the Italian Greyhound in 1886. Today the dog is a wonderful companion dog.

There are different varieties of the Belgian Shepherd Dog – but these all differ only in color, length and texture of coat. The interesting aspect of the names of the different Belgian Shepherds, is that the names of the different varieties are taken from the individual towns in Belguim from which each variety comes from.

This breed dates back to the middle ages, but it was only in 1891 that Professor A. Reul of the Cureghem Veterinary Medical School established standards for the types and actually separated- and distinguishing them. In the UK they are shown as one breed.

The sweet Italian Greyhound is much like the regular Greyhound, just smaller but every bit as sleek, elegant and fine-boned. He stands at between 33 and 38cm at the withers and weighs just 3 to 7kg. He is slender and elegant.

He has long, fine-boned legs and his short, smooth coat makes him easy to groom too. The coat comes in a number of colors such as fawn, tan, grey, reddish, chocolate and black.

Temperament.

Described as sweet, intelligent and playful, the Italian Greyhound adapts easily to life in the city or to country life.

He is easy to train too, and even though he is small and amicable, it is still a good idea to have him trained and socialized as he is just a simple pleasure to have around then. He just loves the company of his human family and becomes a gentle friend to other dogs, to children in the home and to the elderly.

He is a frail toy dog, and he needs to be constantly watched over that he isn’t handled roughly by disrespectful children or from bigger pets. He is an active breed and will love to be played with and join you on your walks. Even though he is such a frail, fragile looking dog, he has a feisty, stubborn, defiant side to him and that is why training and socialization becomes important. He will be reserved around strangers.

Different Varieties

The Belgian Shepherd is a well proportioned, muscular medium-to-large dog breed. There are the different varieties but they generally stands at 56 – 66cm in height and weighs anything from 25 to 30kg. You get the short haired Malinois and then you also get the Belgian Tervuren and the Groenendal which are fairly long-haired varieties. Their colour shades vary so you can find black with white markings on the chest and feet, you can find light to dark brown and some are even inclined to be brown.

Not Aggressive but a Great Guardian

All the varieties have long tails, pointed, fully erect ears and black noses. While the Belgian Shepherd isn’t an aggressive dog, he makes an excellent guard dog, being alert, highly energetic and intelligent and easy to train. As with most other dogs, you’ll want to see to it that he is trained and socialized because then he makes a super pet suited to life with a family where there are children and other pets. He has an independent nature and is loyal and protective with his human family.

If you’re looking for a sweet, gentle canine friend, the Italian Greyhound promises to be just that. They just crave human companionship and are eager to please.

He isn’t the ideal playmate for children, simply because he is frail and can get hurt easily in rough play.

Small he may be, but he is intelligent and alert, and he will bark to warn you of strangers. They are essentially indoor dogs, and when you bring one of them into your home, you’ll be rewarded with a devoted, loving and loyal canine friend.

Energy is a big factor with this beautiful dog, so before you consider one as a pet, be sure that you can take care of his exercise needs. He belongs to the working group of dogs so he won’t enjoy just lazing around day after day. He is wired to be herding livestock and that natural instinct doesn’t disappear once he becomes a pet in your home. With so much energy, he wants a nice sized garden and wouldn’t do well cooped up indoors at all.

He is a strong, loving dog, and in exchange for your care of him, he will be a loyal, loving, protective friend who will love you to the end.

Your small Italian Greyhound isn’t a sickly dog breed, and in fact, with the right care, he can live to be between 10 to 14 years of age.

As with any dog breed however, there will be some more common conditions to watch for in the Italian Greyhound. Some of these are epilepsy, hyperthyroidism and periodontal disease.

Epilepsy:

There are different types and causes of seizures, and there are actually no definitive tests for epilepsy. One seizure isn’t enough to make a diagnosis and more than one seizure is usually recorded before a diagnosis can be made and treatment prescribed.

These treatments don’t cure Epilepsy but rather control the symptoms and keep the dog seizure-free so that they can have a normal life.

Seizures are not all the same – some are life-threatening and advice from the internet can’t be looked upon as adequate. With a dangerous disease such as epilepsy, excellent and qualified veterinary help will be required.

Periodontal Disease:

Gum disease can be terrible for your pet. Apart from bone loss and loss of teeth, your pet will experience pain. Periodontal disease may well be common in dogs, but it can be prevented.

Once an animal has eaten food, particles of food, saliva and bacteria form plaque over the teeth and this doesn’t only cause damage to the teeth but to the entire immune system.

This disease can cause inflamed gums and loss of teeth. It is important to brush your pet’s teeth with special canine toothbrush and toothpaste.

The truth is, periodontal disease can cause more problems than just tooth pain which is bad enough. Dogs with gum inflammation may be at higher risk for heart- and kidney disease too. If you’re worried about your dog, take him in to your vet for an oral examination and teeth cleaning.

The Belgian Shepherd is a hardy dog so if you do your part to provide him with good quality nutrition from the food he eats and you exercise him, he’ll reach the 10-14 years allotted to him. Just like with any dog, there will be some minor concerns that you need to watch out for -

epilepsy, eye problems, cancer, skin allergies and hip dysplasia.

remember to check his teeth and for ticks and parasites as both, if just left, can jeopardise his health seriously.

see that he get his first puppy vaccinations at 6 to 8 weeks of age.

Grooming:

The Italian Greyhound has a short, smooth, satin-type coat which is easy to maintain. Gently brush him once or twice a week, being careful not to press down hard as he has frail, bambi-like legs.

He also sheds little, making him a low maintenance breed. Because of the short coat, take particular care of him in the Winter and don’t allow him to become overly cold.

Diet:

Your Italian Greyhound will require a diet rich in nutritional value, and if your particular dog is quite active you will need to feed him about 450 calories a day and sometimes more.

Each dog is an individual and will have different dietary needs. If you feed your pet a top quality commercially manufactured food, read the packaging for guidance on food portion sizes.

Speak to your vet if you are unsure how to feed your dog so that his food and the amounts you feed him contribute to his good health. He must always have access to fresh, cool water.

Exercise

Your Belgian Shepherd is an energetic dog breed who is social and who wants to be included in your family activities. You can’t just keep him cooped up in your back yard and expect him to do well. He’ll need daily exercise – walks, swims if there is water close by, chasing the ball as well as your companionship.

Grooming and shedding

These dogs are shedders so you’ll certainly be needing to watch your clothes for hairs. You will need to give them a good brush at least twice a week to get rid of all that loose hair and to keep his coat shiny and in tip top condition. Also, he likes the closeness the brushing provides between him and his human caretaker.

Feeding your Belgian Shepherd

The Belgian Shepherd is a robust, healthy breed of dog, but many ill dogs are brought to veterinary clinics because they are suffering with itchy skin problems, they have digestive problems and they’re generally run down. This is because they aren’t provided with a varied and balanced diet plan. Apart from eating a quality dry- or wet dog food as recommended by your vet, he’ll most certainly need some raw meat in his diet too.