As a young girl growing up in the Netherlands I was lucky enough to have a little red and white dog that greeted me everyday as I came home from school. My Kooiker was very protective of me and is one of my favorite memories as a child.
Some of us have come to love the Dutch Kooikerhondje through having seen one in passing. Some of us are of dutch heritage and through research have stumbled across the Kooikerhondje and feel a bond with the breed for this reason. In my case it has been a lifetime of growing up with the Kooikers!
Growing up with my Frisian cousins, the encounters with my best friend for life, Boeffie, were numerous. I first met her when my aunt from Friesland came to visit our family and delivered the new puppy. The first thing my father said, 'This is not a black and white dog. Since when have the Frisian Staby Houn changed colors?'
Kooikers do have long memories. One early morning when it was milking time and my father went about his morning rituals as normal. When he stepped into his wooden shoes this morning, however, it resulted in a loud profanity that we all knew was the first thunder of the day. Some wooden shoes have leather straps on the top instead of the regular wooden shoe that most people recognize. Boeffie had chewed through the leather strap, all Kooiker puppies will go through a little bit of teething. My puppy was with me most of the time, sometimes we smuggled her inside to our bedroom or to the big hayloft where a rainy afternoon was enjoyable with a book and the company of a most intelligent dog.
Some of us have come to love the Dutch Kooikerhondje through having seen one in passing. Some of us are of dutch heritage and through research have stumbled across the Kooikerhondje and feel a bond with the breed for this reason. In my case it has been a lifetime of growing up with the Kooikers!
Growing up with my Frisian cousins, the encounters with my best friend for life, Boeffie, were numerous. I first met her when my aunt from Friesland came to visit our family and delivered the new puppy. The first thing my father said, 'This is not a black and white dog. Since when have the Frisian Staby Houn changed colors?'
Kooikers do have long memories. One early morning when it was milking time and my father went about his morning rituals as normal. When he stepped into his wooden shoes this morning, however, it resulted in a loud profanity that we all knew was the first thunder of the day. Some wooden shoes have leather straps on the top instead of the regular wooden shoe that most people recognize. Boeffie had chewed through the leather strap, all Kooiker puppies will go through a little bit of teething. My puppy was with me most of the time, sometimes we smuggled her inside to our bedroom or to the big hayloft where a rainy afternoon was enjoyable with a book and the company of a most intelligent dog.
After moving to North America and raising a family of my own, I decided that I wanted my children to experience the joy of the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje breed. When I shared the idea with my family, they were very excited and we started researching the breed. We quickly found that this breed is still relatively unknown in the USA. To find a Kooikerhondje puppy seemed near to impossible and there were long wait lists. This is when we decided to find some puppies and maybe breed a few litter our selves if these puppies would be of the right quality so we could bring the happiness and light of the Kooikerhondje breed to some other people as well.
After doing extensive research in the USA and talking to the few US breeders who were actually already breeding Nederlandse Kooikerhondjes we decided that the Kooikerhondjes available were not from the bloodlines we wanted as we wanted to stay close to the (original) Dutch dog's bloodline I grew up with.
Having family involved in animal care and breeding in the Netherlands, we decided we would ask them to help us find some Dutch breeders. My brother-in-law, a veterinarian, and my niece helped us to get into contact with them. We adopted both a male and female pup from two separate bloodlines.
Amazing Ralph and Amazing Queen, now known as Friso and Evie, were our first two pups and have grown into fantastic animals. They have brought so much love and laughter into our home.
Having these little rays of sunshine has been a great experience for our whole family. Both dogs have their own personalities, and both are completely loyal to their separate owners. Evie is a very active dog that keeps an eye on everything going on in her surroundings. Friso, on the other hand, is more relaxed, loves to go for hikes, is extremely playful, and loves to cuddle. Both of these dogs are excellent swimmers and love to run through our large backyard and along our hiking trails. They come to work with us and play in the showroom of our business during the daytime, and at night they curl up next to us to keep us warm and safe!
If you are interested in a Nederlandse Kooikerhondje puppy of your own, make sure you have the energy and patience! They love to please their owners, but they can be a handful if they feel ignored or neglected. They are loving, caring, protective, and make excellent companions. They excel in agility, barn hunt, nose work, luring, dock diving, fly-ball as well as the conformation ring They are great dogs to have indoors as well as outdoors.
If you are thinking of becoming a proud Kooikerhondje parent, make sure you have the time and energy!
D. Ann Knoop-Siderius
After doing extensive research in the USA and talking to the few US breeders who were actually already breeding Nederlandse Kooikerhondjes we decided that the Kooikerhondjes available were not from the bloodlines we wanted as we wanted to stay close to the (original) Dutch dog's bloodline I grew up with.
Having family involved in animal care and breeding in the Netherlands, we decided we would ask them to help us find some Dutch breeders. My brother-in-law, a veterinarian, and my niece helped us to get into contact with them. We adopted both a male and female pup from two separate bloodlines.
Amazing Ralph and Amazing Queen, now known as Friso and Evie, were our first two pups and have grown into fantastic animals. They have brought so much love and laughter into our home.
Having these little rays of sunshine has been a great experience for our whole family. Both dogs have their own personalities, and both are completely loyal to their separate owners. Evie is a very active dog that keeps an eye on everything going on in her surroundings. Friso, on the other hand, is more relaxed, loves to go for hikes, is extremely playful, and loves to cuddle. Both of these dogs are excellent swimmers and love to run through our large backyard and along our hiking trails. They come to work with us and play in the showroom of our business during the daytime, and at night they curl up next to us to keep us warm and safe!
If you are interested in a Nederlandse Kooikerhondje puppy of your own, make sure you have the energy and patience! They love to please their owners, but they can be a handful if they feel ignored or neglected. They are loving, caring, protective, and make excellent companions. They excel in agility, barn hunt, nose work, luring, dock diving, fly-ball as well as the conformation ring They are great dogs to have indoors as well as outdoors.
If you are thinking of becoming a proud Kooikerhondje parent, make sure you have the time and energy!
D. Ann Knoop-Siderius