Kooikerhondje

These dogs originated in Holland almost about as early as the sixteenth century, this is based on the fact that these dogs have appeared in many Dutch paintings of that period. These dogs were bed for the purpose of catching ducks. They would attract the ducks with their bushy tail and lead along the canal banks and then in the end drawing them into the catching pen, where they would be sold. However they soon lost their popularity. They remain quite rare in the continent of North America.

These dogs almost became extinct to such an extent that only as few as twenty five dogs of this breed were said to be in existence. However they soon bounced back due to the breeding efforts made by Baroness V. Hardenbroek Van Ammerstool.

They are quite similar in appearance and even in size to a spaniel. They are medium sized dogs. Their coat is thick and of somewhat medium length. They are mostly white in color with a slight hint of chestnut red. Their most distinctive feature however, would have to be the black tips that are present at the end of their long and feathered ears, these black tips are known as earrings. The longer these earrings are, the more desirable are the dogs for the purpose of breeding as well as for showing purposes. In addition to all this, their legs are not heavily, but moderately feathered while, on the other hand, its white furred tail is quite heavily feathered. Like the spaniel’s, they have quite a thin muzzle and generally forms the perfect “scissor jaw”. Their upper teeth slightly overlap their lower teeth. Their eyes are dark and are said to have an alert expression on them all the time.

Today, they are bred for almost all purposes, they can be rightly called as an all purpose dog. They are extremely helpful and quite popular when it comes to duck hunting, which was their initial purpose. In addition to this they also make excellent watch dogs due to their friendly but yet a watchful temperament. They are also very good as a family companion. They are quite easy to train with no much harshness required from the trainer’s part. For any owner of this dog that wants to train it to do any work wanted, the owner should keep a few things in mind, the first of course being keeping the dog happy by providing it with a lot of exercise, a very healthy proportion when it comes to food. These dogs also require a lot of personal attention from the trainer as they crave for attention. These dogs have a medium length and thick coats. They are normally white in color.

These dogs are said to be very cheerful, brave, friendly, intelligent and self confident. These dogs are not friendly to everyone, but bond very very closely with their owner and their family. The do not make an ideal playmate to kids because they are very sensitive and tend to get quite touchy. These dogs are very eager to learn and highly intelligent which makes them easily trainable. If they are not handled firmly, they tend to become very dominant. Their natural cautiousness towards strangers is also another reason why they make excellent watchdogs.