The Keeshond has never been a fashionable breed, there has never been a craze for Keeshonds, as we have known occasionally for other breeds: Pekingese, Collies, Poodles, etc. Yet there always seems to have been a small group of faithful lovers of the breed, who, once having had a Keeshond, always want a Keeshond again. It is not so much for his looks, although a Keeshond is a handsome fellow with his thick grey coat, his intelligent foxy head and plumed tail, but mainly for his staunch and lively character. The Keeshond is a dog of great personality. As a puppy he is extremely sensitive and easily spoilt by harshness and stupid mismanagement. Some may become shy and timid, others will become fierce and aggressive, but for the owner, who rears him with love and patience, he will develop into a biddable, faithful and intelligent companion. He is easy to rear, hardy, untiring on a walk in the country, but also perfectly adaptable to city life and an excellent watchdog. The breed is a very old one. Remains of a medium-sized dog of Spitz-like appearance have been found in stone-age settlements near Swiss lakes, the so-called "Canis Palustris." The German author Manfred Kyber in his "Tiergeschicte" tells a charming little story called "Freundschaft" (Friendship), which describes a poor simple basketweaver living on the shore of the Zuger Lake with his grey Keeshond, who has flashes of remembering the prehistoric times when he lived in the same spot, with the same Keeshond, though the dog was rather bigger and rougher coated. In about 400 B.C. appear Keeshond-like dogs on Greek winejugs, vases and tombstones and well known is the tessellated floor in Pompeii which shows a barking Keeshond on a chain with a caption "Cave Canem." In Holland we begin to hear about the Keeshond at the end of the 17th Century, when Cornelius de Witt, burgomaster of Dordrecht and brother of the Grand Pensionary Jan de Witt, owned a white Keeshond. Several prints of these times show a Keeshond accompanying his master in the streets and even in church. Then a Century later, Holland was divided into two political parties, the "Orangists" or Conservatives, and the "Patriots" who sympathized with the ideas of the French Revolution. These two parties took different dogs as symbols of their political sympathies: the Orangists, the Pug, and the Patriots, the Keeshond. People event went so far as to call the Patriots "KEEZEN," which is the common abbreviation for "Keeshonden." From these times date the beautifully etched tumblers, still to be seen in the "Boymans-van Beiningen" Museum in Rotterdam, that show the Keeshond using the orange tree in a most disrespectful manner. The Keeshond is perfectly recognizable, although he is shorn like a poodle, as seems to have been the fashion in those days. The large Keeshond in the antique tiles in the "Korenbeurs" hotel in Goes is another relic of those days. After the domination of Napoleon's time, the Prince of Orange returned to Holland from England, where he had been in exile. He was crowned King of the Netherlands and the Keeshond, of course, was at a discount and stayed so for a long time. In Germany, his merit was recognized and he was taken up by breeders, who improved and perhaps refined the breed. But in Holland the Keeshond had got a bad name, because of his earlier associates and it was considered common to own a Keeshond! Luckily, however, even in Holland there were people who did value the breed and preserved it most carefully. Not the big breeders, not the exhibitors in later times, but the plain people: the skippers on the barges, the tinkers, the waggoners; all the people who needed a hardy dog that was perfectly trustworthy and faithful. They knew as we know, that a Keeshond is a one man dog, never leaving his master for a stranger, never leaving the house, the ship, the waggon (or for that matter, the motor-car!) that is entrusted to him. As a girl, I used to live near the water in Rotterdam. As we went to school, a favorite pastime of ours was to jump up and down on the boards that gave entrance to the Rhine barges and make a great noise, jerking these boards up and down. The Keeshonden on board the ships would be goaded into paroxysms of fury, but we, heartlessly, knew we were quite safe, as a Keeshond will never, never leave his ship, except with his master. Those plain Dutch people most carefully bred their Keeshonds, not for the beauty of coat or colour, nor for small ears and slanting dark eyes, as did the German breeders, but for the perfect staunch Keeshond character. What they needed, was not so much a beautiful dog, but a middle sized dog, very alert and intelligent, very hardy and perfectly reliable. It was certainly a very good dog they bred, worthy of the attention of other than tinkers and skippers. But, in our country we have a proverb: "What comes from afar, tastes best!", and we certainly do live up to this proverb. While clamoring for foreign breeds and enthusiastically importing Chow Chows, Samoyeds, Alsatians (Ed: German Shepherds), and other foreign breeds, the Dutch have never allowed their own national breeds to slip through their fingers. The quaint looking Sheepdog from Drente, one of the northern provinces, is lost altogether. The Dutch "Smous", a game little rough-coated dog is not in a much better way and the Dutch Sheepdog, quite as handsome and as useful in his way as his Alsatian relation, is laboriously struggling back into favor. And our Dutch Keeshond was nearly forgotten while doglovers opened their arms wide to his Chinese and Samoyed brothers. In England it is the white Keeshond that seems to have been most popular in the 18th Century. He appears in several pictures by Gainsborough, of which perhaps the portrait of Mrs. Robinson the actress, as Perdite with her white Keeshond, in the Wallace collection is the most famous. Contemporaries of Gainsborough, like Sir Joshua Reynolds in the portrait of "Beau Brummel", Johann Zoffany in "Music Party on the Thames", W.R. Biggs in "Dolce Domum" or "The Return from School", also show the white Keeshond and there is a picture by Francis Wheatley in the Tate Gallery of a white Keeshond besides a barge that might be the portrait of a white Keeshond I used to see in 's Hertogenbosch, near my home. In Holland, the grey Keeshond, used to be kept as a guard on every barge, but it is only towards 1900 that Miss van den Blom started her Keeshond Kennels "van de Hofstad" with a few Dutch dogs and several imported German Spitzes, amongst which, the German Champion, "Fritz vom Harz" and the bitch, "Lotte vom Randersacker"; these dogs had progeny, but the strain was allowed to disappear. At about the same time (1899), we hear of Miss Beverly exhibiting a Keeshond in England. "Kees" was imported from Holland, breeder and pedigree unknown. His picture shows a very fine typical dog, but as far as we know, he was never used for breeding. It is curious to note, how in the beginning of our century there was a revival of interest in Keeshond breeding, both in Holland and England, quite irrespective of each other. In Holland it was Baroness van Hardenbroek who gave the impetus to this movement with her "van Walhallar" kennels. In England, Mrs. Wingfield Digby did the same with the "van Zaandam" kennels. When Baroness van Hardenbroek was a little girl, her father owned a grey Keeshond. She knew and owned many dogs afterwards, but no other dog could satisfy her after having known "Kees" (pronounced "Case"). So, when she married and came to Brabant, one of the Southern Provinces of the Netherlands, where waggoners, tinkers, etc., abounded at that time, she set out to try and find a Keeshond. In her very first search she was lucky, indeed "Beginners Luck" we might call it. Living with a tinker in filfth and dirt, she found a most disreputable looking specimen with a pair of lovely dark eyes. She decided to take the risk and buy him. When this dog had been thoroughly washed and brushed, he turned out to be an almost perfect Keeshond. "Bart", afterwards proudly figuring in nearly all pedigrees as Ch. Bart, may perhaps have been rather dark in color, in all other respects he could stand for the model of the Keeshond; lovely outstanding coat and ruff, perfect legs and ribs, curly plumed tail carried well over the back, foxy head with dark eyes and small ears and above all, the true staunch character. After this wonderful find, the search became more difficult, but Baroness van Hardenbroek (with a lot of trouble) managed to find several good bitches, not just curs that looked rather like Keeshonds, but dogs whose parents and grand-parents were all known to their owners. Their pedigrees had not been officially registered, they had not been given highflown names, but their owners knew all about the "Fik's", the "Pol's" and the "Keeses" from which their dogs descended. In many cases the pedigrees were to be found, written in chalk, on the stable door. It would take me too long to describe all the trouble, sicknesses and death Baroness van Hardenbroek met with, but in all her difficulties she was sustained by her one great triumph: Bart, and the bitches all proved to breed absolutely true! In 1925, Mrs. Van Hardenbroek started showing. Too early, some people said, of course. These first dogs were not perfect show specimens, but by showing her Keeshonds, she succeeded in reawakening the interest of the Dutch public for the Keeshond. It was surprising the amount of people who suddenly remembered, how in their youth, they had known a Keeshond on a farm, or on a barge and who clamored for a Keeshond, a Keeshond, and nothing but a Keeshond. It may seem surprising why so many people wanted grey Keeshond, and so few wanted white ones. Perhaps, if the persons who are surprised at this, had tried to keep a white dog in a big town, as I have, they would not be quite so surprised at the demand for a grey dog that does not show the dirt! At any rate, the public interest helped Mrs. Van Hardenbroek both morally and materially and soon she was breeding and showing excellent dogs like Ch. Dirk, Ch. Diederk van Walhalla, Leontientje van Walhalla and others that attracted a lot of attention, both in the streets and at the shows. In England the "revival" started in 1905, when Mrs. Wingfield Digby, then Miss Hamilton-Fletcher, went on a sailing trip on the Dutch Canals and saw the grey Keeshonds guarding the barges. She was so charmed with the breed, that she bought a couple of puppies to take home to England. When she started breeding from these imported dogs, she found to her surprise and joy, that they bred absolutely true to type. These first importations registered under the name of "Dutch Barge Dogs", were called "Zandaam", "Schi", "Edam", etc., after the places Mrs. Digby had visited in Holland. It was many years later, that a specialist Club was founded at Sherborne Castle, first under the name of "Dutch Barge Dog Club", afterwards changed to "The Keeshond Club." At this time, Mrs. Wingfield Digby and other English breeders, advised by the Dutch Keeshond breeder, Miss van den Blom, imported several dogs from the very best kennels in Germany. Mrs. Digby brought over "Billo von der Maiblume," "Horst am Ziel" and "Alli von der Sternwarte." Other importations were "Cely von Jura," "Christel am Ziel" and "Bertle von der Maiblume," and Mrs. Gatacre started her "Guelder" kennels with "Ado and Flora von Thierlstein" and their dam "Ada von Thirlstein." The breed now improved rapidly and became more and more popular. Several Dutch judges were invited to come and judge: Mrs. Van der Spek, Mr. Schuld, Mr. Van de Roemer and Mr. Krebs. When I was invited to judge the Keeshond Club Show in 1936, I found a very fine collection of dogs, many of them differing slightly in type from our Dutch dog. On the whole the English dogs were somewhat more striking than the Dutch, rather larger in size and with profuse coats. Many heads I found less refined and foxy, sometimes with too pronounced stop and somewhat blunt muzzle. My best dog was the very lovely "Ch. Simonium van Zaandam," son of a Dutch sire, "Ravensdowne Chefke." I considered myself very lucky to be able to secure a bitch puppy, "Fiumara van Zaandam" by Ch. Simonius out of Ch. Fina van Zaandam and hoped to breed her. Shortly afterwards, in 1938, I stayed with Mrs. Gatacre in her Dutch home at Vorden. At that time, we were all worrying about the war, that we felt was coming. Mrs. Gatacre was leaving for England and asked me to help her find good homes for the dogs she had to leave behind. I took home with me Guelder Veracity, a rather small but lovely silver-grey daughter of "Guelder Jan Anton," who that same year had a fine litter by my "Robert Roy." These two bitches, Fiumara van Zaandam (Chef) and Guelder Veracity (Truth) were the first importations from England into Holland. In 1932, the Dutch Kennel Club (Raad van Beheer) decided to divide the Keeshonds into two different breeds: The Dutch Keeshond and the German Spitzes. The Standards of breeding points were very much alike; about the only difference being that the Keeshond's height at the shoulder was given as "not more than 18"" whilst the German Standard said: "At least 18", and the colour of the Dutch Keeshond was described as "as much as possible evenly shaded over the whole body." The only dog of this "even" colour, that ever appeared was Mrs van der Hurk's "Rebel, a small pale dog of unkown ancestry, that was chosen as the ideal for the Dutch Keeshond. (Very soon this point was tacitly dropped.) There was a good deal of fiery controversy in the doggy papers about this question, in which Mrs. Gatacre of the "Guelder" kennels, who is Dutch by birth, repeatedly maintained, that this system would ruin the breed, making small dogs smaller, the big dogs coarser and that a breed cannot be divided by frontiers, with which opinion I heartily agreed. However, the plan was carried through. The system was to bring all the Keeshonds, entered at a show, before the judge in the ring, who then divided them into the Dutch and the German types before judging. The queerest things happened, litter-brothers and sisters were classified in different breeds, dams and sires were ruthlessly parted from their offspring and it even happened, that dogs were differently classified by different judges! This new breeding system was definitely not a success. The breeders who conscientously confined their breeding to the dogs, that were approved as being of the Dutch type, found their stock growing smaller, more puny and poorer in coat, without gaining the pale grey coat required by the new Standard; very soon the system of dividing the dogs was dropped as impossible to carry through and shortly after the war, officially abolished and the Keeshonds and Spitzes were recognized as one breed again. The war was of course a very bad time for dog-breeding in Holland, as it was in England and at a time I feared I would lose the English strain of which I had such high hopes. Luckily, out of Guelder Veracity's litter, three dogs and a bitch were used for breeding. All her puppies grew into fine, upstanding dogs and Ido Roy, the only one that was ever shown, was made a champion in a very short time and was a favorite stud dog for several years. The breeder of a promising litter, sired by Ch. Ido's brother, Itam Roy, lived in the center of Rotterdam and when the town was bombed in 1940, the house was hit and all the inmates and dogs were killed. At that time, Fiumara van Zaandam, born in 1938, was just about the age for breeding, but as I lived in Rotterdam, I felt this was no time to start a litter and I put off all thoughts of breeding for the time being. In fact, I put it off for such a long time, that it was 1944 before I decided to mate her to Ch. Ido Roy. Her litter was born on D-Day, one dog and three bitches. The following winter was the miserable famine winter, the very worst time for raising puppies. When food first began to grow scarce, I had sent Guelder Veracity and one of her daughters to the country, where they found a happy home with an old lady in Oosterbee, near Arnhem. During the battle of Arnhem, this lady's son managed to rescue his mother and take her to a safer place, but in the hurry and turmoil, the poor dogs were left behind and never heard of again. I managed to find good homes for two of Fiumara's puppies and struggled through the winter with four Keeshonds, although Fiumara's daughter, Kezia Roy and Itam Roy died soon afterwards of a particularly virulent distemper, which the Germans brought to Holland with their dogs from all over Europe. When I came to England after the war, I saw many of the well-known kennels again; Van Zaandam, Evenlode, Kultz, Wistonia, Vorden, etc. In the beginning it struck me that the diverse strains showed some differences in type which I ascribed to the difficulty of getting about the country during the war, which would oblige breeders to make use of the dogs to be found in the neighborhood, but very soon, when I was invited to judge, I found the breed in excellent condition. In Holland there was a marked improvement in size and coat at this time, for which I gave much credit to the English importations. In 1950 I imported Bright Lad van Zaandam, a most typical dog with the correct type of coat. He was a good stud dog and was used by many kennels. Comparing the dogs in the two countries, I still found the English dogs more striking with lovely, luxurious coats. Although I admire these coats, there is a danger that they are apt to grow too soft and will not have the harsh, standing-off texture required by the Standard. There is a slight difference, too, in the type of heads between the dogs of the two countries. In some cases, the stop of the English dogs is rather more pronounced and the forehead rather wider than the dogs of the true Dutch type. I had good opportunity for comparing the two types at that time, as I was judging regularly in Holland and also on different occasions in England. I was very proud to be invited for Crufts in 1953! In latter years I greatly admired the dogs of Mrs Emerson's "Rhinevale" kennels and the "Merrybelle's" of Mrs. Merry. Great interest had now arisen in Holland in the English dogs. Many breeders visited Crufts regularly, a lively correspondence started between the two countries and two more judges were invited to judge in England: The President of the Keeshond Club, Mr. van den Broek and our very active secretary, Mrs. Vos-Treskes of the "Mah Ling" kennels. These contacts resulted in several more English importations, of which the most important were "Kolumbine of Kamara" imported by Mr. (?) of the "Krashof" kennels and "Graajax Panjandrum" (son of Ch. Vaalsmeer of Vorden") and "Wraitimi of Wistonia", who both came to Baroness van Heerdt's "dt Benthuis" kennels. Two other kennels, that had come to the fore lately, were Mrs den Hartog's Arida kennels and Mr. Elshout's "Sigelinksi". Several of the latter dogs have gone abroad to America, Brasil, etc. New importations have been very successful. Not only have "Panjadrum" and "Wraitimi" themselves done very well at our shows, but mated to Dutch bitches, they have given beautiful offspring; it is especially young "Yarl van't Benthuis," son of "Wraitimi of Wistonia" and "Désirée van 't Benthuis that excels. In 1965, when only ten months old, Karl was made Best of Breed at the Champion Club Show, by the German judge Herr Robert Pönsgen. In that same year, he won the Title "Junior Winner" at the "Winner-Show" in Amsterdam. That year the English judge, Mrs. Collins, was invited to come over to judge our Clubshow. Much to our regret, she was prevented, so it was the French judge, Dr. Bresson, who this time made Yarl best of the 50 Keeshonds; and at a recent show at Nijmegen, Karl was not only Best of Breed under Mrs. Vos-Treskes, but went on to win "Best of the Spitz Breeds", which included Chow-Chows, Samoyeds, Elkhounds, Po, and Schipperkes. Yarl has (at time of writing) not yet reached the age of 27 months, when he can qualify for full champion, but he has all of a Keeshond's good points: square build, fine coat, refined foxy head with small ears and dark eyes, curly tail with rich plume, sprightly action and lively temperament. He reminds me forcibly of two dogs that in the past have made an unforgettable impression on me: Ch. "Bart", on which Baroness von Hardenbroek founded her Walnalla Kennels in 1925 and just before the war. Mrs. Wingfield-Digby's Ch. "Simonius van Zaandam" son of the Dutch importation "Ravensdowne Chefke" and Ch. "Fina van Zaandam. The striking success of young Jarl, whose pedigree combines the British and Dutch strains is a fresh proof of the happy cooperation between breeders on either side of the North Sea, of that intelligent, vivacious and most faithful dog, the Keeshond, that has won so many hearts in both our countries! |
