Help ID a Dog Breed.

Sounds like a tervuren. Have a friend who shows her male and he is flashy!
http://www.akc.org/breeds/belgian_tervuren/index.cfm
This is my friends dog
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/belgiantervueren.htm

Did you see the links I posted?
Not all tervs are all black. There are many different types of tervs.
Some are all black some have the same markings of a german shepard, ect.
The second link I posted is a prime example of a Belgian tervuren.
From your description it sounds like this type of terv.
Very intelligent dogs. My friends dog loves water and loves to retrieve.

Check this dog out and see if its what you saw. Not too many of them so they really stand out when you see one. This is my friends Belgian Terv
http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/belgiantervueren.htm