Any of four varieties of herding and guarding dog developed in Belgium: the Groenedael, Turvuren, Malinois, and Lakenois. Similar in build and size, they stand about 62 cm/24 in tall, the main difference between them being the variations in colour and type of coat.

The Groenedael has a long all-black coat; the Tervuren has a long tawny coat with black markings on the face; the Malinois is similar to the Tervuren in colour, but with a short coat; the Lakenois also shares the Tervuren's colouring, but with a short, coarse, wavy coat.