Dutch Shepherd

GENERAL APPEARANCE
A medium sized, middle weighted, well-muscled dog of powerful and well-balanced structure. A dog with lots of endurance, a lively temperament and an intelligent expression. Depending on the coat the breed is distinguished in the following varieties; short, long and wire haired.
The length of the body (from point of shoulder to point of buttock) exceeds the height at the withers at a ratio of 10.9 as suits a trotting dog.
Height at the withers (shoulders); Dogs: 57-62 cm: Bitches: 55-60 cm
Short Hair: All over the body, quite hard, close-fitting, not too short coat, with woolly undercoat. 
Long Hair: All over the body, long, straight well fitting, harsh to touch, without curl or waves and with a woolly undercoat. 
Wire Hair: Dense, harsh tousled coat and a woolly, dense undercoat all over the body except for the head. 
The coat should be close.  
Colour: Brindle: The basic colour is golden or silver. Golden can vary from light sand-coloured to chestnut red, The brindle is clearly present all over the body, in the ruff, breeches and tail. Too much black is undesirable. A black mask is preferable. Heavy white markings on chest or feet is not desirable.
CHARACTERISTICS & CARE
In a modern family environment he needs regular exercise.  He is very loyal and reliable, always alert, watchful, active, independent, with persistence, intelligence, prepared to be obedient and gifted with true shepherding temperament. The Dutch Shepherd Dog works willingly together with its owner and deals independently with any task which is assigned to him. When herding larger flocks he must have the capacity to work together with several other dogs. 
HISTORY
Originally the main function of the Dutch Shepherd Dog was that of a shepherd’s dog in the countryside. From early times, the Dutch had an arable culture that was, among other things, maintained by flocks of sheep. The dogs had to keep the flocks away from crops, which they did by patrolling the borders of the road and the fields. They also accompanied the flocks on their way to the common meadows, markets and ports.
At the farm, they kept the hens from the kitchen garden; they herded the cows together for milking and pulled the milk carts. They also alerted the farmers if strangers entered the farmyard. Around 1900, sheep flocks had for the greater part disappeared in the Netherlands. The versatile skills of the Dutch Shepherd Dog made him suitable for dog training, which was then starting to become popular. Thus he started on a new career as a police dog, as a search and tracking dog and as a guide dog for the blind. He is however, still capable of herding sheep. The breed’s first standard dates from 12 June 1898.