The present found it's past at the Maryland K.C. show last November and our search for a beginning is over! It is now an established fact that the first specimens of our breed in the United States were imported from Germany in 1926 by Carl Hinderer, a resident of Baltimore for the past 40 years. My story unfolds:

My day to remember, Nov. 28, 1965 commenced at 5:00 am, when I crawled out of bed for an uneventful three-hour drive to Baltimore. Arriving early for a 2:00 pm ring assignment, I found myself with loitering time in an empty Keeshond benching area. I was "dog-sitting" our "pride and hopeful" when a pleasant looking man approached me with the question, "Are these Keeshonds?" My reply was quickly followed by, "Do you know what this is?" and my visitor was pointing to his silver tie tack. Noting a German accent in his speech, I answered, "Sure, it's a Wolfsspitz" (the German counterpart of Keeshond). Then, the stranger introduced himself, and he was, indeed, Carl Hinderer!!

Fate had arranged this day, for this Baltimore exhibition was the first dog show attended by Mr. Hinderer in 31 years, and it was at this same event that he had judged Keeshonden in 1932! Can you imagine my thrill and excitement! Throughout the day our visitor was an integral part of the Kees crowd at the bench and at ringside, and I am sure none of us could measure his feelings as he watched and studied his favorite breed after a lapse of three decades.

To explain the importance of this episode let me quote from Alice Gatacre's book, "The Keeshond," published in England in 1938. . . ."The first importation came direct from Germany, and on Jan. 31 and Feb. 1, 1930 six dogs were exhibited at the Maryland Kennel Club show, described as 'Wolf Spitz' . . . In 1930 the breed was officially classified 'regardless of color' by the name 'Keeshonden' under Group VI, 'Non-Sporting Dogs'. . .The first Keeshond registered in August, 1930, was Carl Hinderer's German bitch, Bella von Trennfeld (by Ch. Geron am Ziel ex Hilde am Ziel), bred by Herr Franz Schwab of Trennfeld."

Carl Hinderer lived in Stuttgart, Germany, in 1921 when his interest in the Keeshond-Spitz was inflamed at the local show by the appearance of dogs owned by Miss J.G. van der Blom of Holland, a pioneer of our breed. In his words it was "love at first sight" and he acquired his first puppy in February 1922. A year later at the age of 23 he decided to emigrate to Baltimore where his sister lived, but alas, he had to leave his dogs in Germany with the promise that as soon as he was able, he would bring them to his new home.

It was September of 1926 that his first two dogs arrived in America, followed by two more a few months later (total - two males, two females). It was only after their arrival that he learned the breed was not recognized by the American Kennel Club! This, plus other factors, created four troublesome years of breeding: the name "Wolfsspitz" was not generally accepted by the public and the selling was slow, even though his stock came from champion bloodlines. With each breeding he had to register the puppies with his club in Germany and obtain German pedigrees.

In 1928 he became a member of the Maryland K.C. and proceeded to enter small shows in and around Baltimore. At the Maryland K.C. event in 1928-1929 he was not permitted to enter the ring, since the breed was not officially recognized, so Mr. Boswell, president of the Club, drew him aside and judged his dogs in a corner of the building.

The following year Mr. Hinderer and his wife planned a trip to Germany with one of their dogs, "Wachter" (his first import). Since had had been writing to the AKC regularly, he decided to visit its headquarters while in New York and present his dog. The president, Dr. John de Mund, was very impressed with the animal and asked Mr. Hinderer to bring all the data from Germany, in order to lay the groundwork for a recognition of the breed On his return to this country and at the request of Dr. De Mund he translated the Standard and agreed to the name of "Keeshond", as the breed was known in Holland. The great year of 1930 has been doubly etched in his memory in that the AKC officially recognized the breed and in the same period he and his wife became American citizens . . .at last they were accepted! In his words, "These two great events made us forget all the hardships of our past four years."

With the Maryland K.C. show scheduled for Feb 6-7 1931, their excitement mounted, as they would be judged inside the ring for the first time by a licensed judge. However, misfortune again dogged their lives . . . two days before the big event Mr. Hinderer discovered a large hole cut into the fence surrounding his kennel and his two best dogs had disappeared! Reporting his loss to Mr. Robertson of the Maryland K.C., the story was released immediately to the Baltimore newspaper offering a reward, which resulted in the return of the dogs just a few hours prior to show time. The day was climaxed with Winners (undivided by sex) and Best of Breed, for Wachter. Again his joy was short-lived, for a few months later tragedy struck when a contagion swept his kennel with the resulting loss of 17 dogs, leaving only three survivors, one of which was Wachter.

In 1932 and 1933 he made no entries for the shows and instead he was invited to judge the Keeshonden at the Maryland event as an "Honorary" judge. Papers were filed with the AKC and he had his first assignment in America. However, that, too, had its shortcomings . . . his best friend had entered a dog with a sale dependent on its getting the best-of-breed award, and in Carl Hinderer's words, "I judged the dog and not my friend." To this day he has never learned if the sale was completed, as he lost the friendship.

In November of 1934 Carl Hinderer attended his last dog show. His faithful Wachter was 10 years old, yet in spite of his age he was selected for BB that day by Alfred Delmont. Withdrawn from active participation Wachter lived to the age of 14 when, in 1938, he was fatally poisoned. A saddened master buried him in his flower garden and never again owned a Keeshond.

Our destinies cannot be denied however, and neither could the one patterned for Carl Hinderer. He and his wife journeyed westward in 1963 to visit their two married children who lived in California and in San Jose he saw his first Keeshond in 25 years! Then, in the spring of 1965 his daughter attended a PTA meeting, met a member of the Nor-Cal Club and subsequently related the story of her father. Since that time Mr. Hinderer has been corresponding with Mrs. Sims and Mrs. Stark on the West Coast.

With his interest revived he started inquiries on Keeshonden around Baltimore and finally wrote to Miss Roselyn Terhune of the News-America who forwarded his letter to Lois McNamara. Lois' prompt answer brought a telephone call in which he promised to meet her at the Maryland K.C. show on Nov. 28. Yes, his life had run the full cycle when he arrived early for the great occasion and approached me with his first question,

"Are these Keeshonds?"