Why is the Belgian Malinois and Dutch Shepherd considered different breeds?

The way I see it, a malinois is just a tan dutch shepherd and a dutch shepherd is just a brindle malinois.

in the 1800's there wasn’t as much to distinguish between the Belgian Malinois, German Shepherd and Dutch Shepherds as there is today. They were all considered shepherd dogs and while they were different breeds, they were also cross-bred with each other on occasions. Some of the early German Shepherd dogs were brindle in color and after a few years into this breeds development the brindle color was taken out of the gene pool.It wasn’t until the 1890’s that these three breeds went their separate ways and became breeds of their own right, and hence, the Dutch Shepherd became the brindle Short Coat shepherd dog. The Belgium Shepherd Became the long coat variety. And the same with The Belgian Malinois Became the short coat German shepherd we have today Hope this helps.

They do have common roots, but the four varieties of Belgian Shepherd Dogs were established as a breed before the Dutch Shepherd Dogs and from 1914, the breeds were bred separately from each other with their own breed standards regarding temperament and physical appearance with possibly some Malinois and Belgian Shepherd Dog Tervueren mixed in after WWII because just like the Belgian Shepherd Dogs, the Dutch Shepherd Dogs had been used and often killed in duty during WWII and their numbers were frighteningly low. Some say the breeds only survived because dog owners were hiding their dogs to protect them from the drafting.I agree that they are similar when it comes to temperament, drive, and physical appearance, but even though they come from some of the same stock and have possibly been carefully and controlled mixed again at some point, there has been enough separate selective breeding to make them two different breeds.

I have no clue. DNA tests shows them as the same.I am a proud owner of a KNPV dutch shepherd. I can't imagine life without one.