Breed Feature – Keeshond

KEESHOND

The Keeshond is a great friend and buddy to any loving household. They are loyal yet like to push the boundaries, loving yet stubborn at times, cuddly yet cheeky, adaptable in all senses of the word yet like to think it was their idea to try change, quick learners yet get bored easily, reward driven yet food-a-holics … this breed is fun and loved by all their owners …

The Keeshond (although originally known as, the Dutch Barge Dog) is a Spitz type breed of ancient origin that has been traced back to prehistoric times with fossils found from the stone age in the lakes of Switzerland, Moscow and Scandinavia as far back as 5000BC. There are relics of wine jugs made in Athens with clear and distinct etchings of this type of dog on the pottery dated 400BC.

Today, the breed is developed and thus recognised as its own entity as the Keeshond, a member of the Spitz breeds family with its grey black glamourous coat, easy going but fun nature and being an exceptionally quick learner. The breed is actually a German breed of more recent centuries past that travelled on coal and other cargo barges into Holland, but through greater development and notoriety in (the now known as) the Netherlands is considered today thus a Dutch breed.

The breed changed its name from the Dutch Barge Dog to Keeshond through its more modern and controversial history of being the mascot for the Eighteenth-Century middle class Dutch Revolutionary, Cornelius de Gyselaer, who unsuccessfully attempted to overthrow the House of Orange in 1781. The dog’s name was changed by his followers as recognition of its symbol to the Dutch Patriot Party to “Cornelius’ Dog” or “Kees Hond” (Kees being short for Cornelius) and is actually pronounced “Kayz Hond” as opposed to the regular English pronunciation as “Keish Hound”. Due to the conflict, the breed was near driven to extinction but through local nurturing and then export onto other countries, the breed is certainly thriving and enjoyed as a loving companion across the world today.

Besides being a revolutionist’s leading mascot in times of conflict, the Dutch Barge Dog / Keeshond was mainly a companion watch dog that lived primarily on (as its original name states) barges and / or boats (hence Barge Dog) as the family companion but as the watch or sentry of the boat as well. Although occasionally known for limited herding and farm work, their primary development was that of Barge Dog. Their high-pitched and loud bark combined with extremely sensitive ears and a very quick and sure foot, let any owner know of the imminent arrival of a friend or foe to the barge but also in the fog on the rivers of other boats on the water as they travelled through limited sight. As one dog barked and the next responded on the other vessels, the barges could manoeuvre the waters without drama. These days, a Keeshond owner knows they need no doorbell as their dog will always let them know when guests arrive with a very exuberant greeting.

The modern-day Keeshond that we now know and love across the world has become more recognised and considered as a companion pet rather than a working watch dog particularly once they were introduced into the UK in the early twentieth century by Mrs Wingfield Digby where she developed the breed, started the first Keeshond Club of England and gained UK Kennel Club breed recognition in 1925. Mrs Wingfield Digby was also fondly remembered for her walking her dogs within the grounds of the family’s Sherborne Castle and having them constantly by her side as true companions and beautiful friendly minders. From there the breed was exported into the USA, Canada and then Australia post WWII.

The Keeshond, as a Spitz breed, is most closely

related (from the array of Spitz type breeds) to their smaller cousins, the German Spitz (Mittel and Klein) and the even smaller, Pomeranian and on the larger side, the Wolf Spitz … although all considered separate breeds worldwide today, under the FCI breed standards, they are all considered as one breed standard with various heights and colours as their defining breed parameters.

TEMPERAMENT:

Known also as the Smiling Dutchman, the Keeshond when it’s happy or being cheeky will curl its upper and even sometimes its lower lips and reveal its teeth to smile at you … those unexpecting of this at first think this is aggression but soon learn that it’s play or cuddle time to the Keeshond.

The Keeshond is a great friend and buddy to any loving household. They are loyal yet like to push the boundaries, loving yet stubborn at times, cuddly yet cheeky, adaptable in all senses of the word yet like to think it was their idea to try change, quick learners yet get bored easily, reward driven yet food-a-holics … this breed is fun and loved by all their owners … but don’t give into those cute and loving eyes or your Keeshond will be the boss of you before you know it!

This breed are very quick learners which also make them stubborn as repetition is not really their thing … they like a challenge, a game, something that interacts them with you as you are their best mate and they want to be your all. Puppy school is fun and always great to teach puppy and the owner a few great tips for learning, but many a Keeshond puppy has been sent to the naughty corner for getting bored and rough housing with the other pups as the trainer has taken too long to teach the next trick. Thus, throughout their life, teach them new things and don’t keep repeating it … keep those training sessions short and the challenge will be met, learnt and remembered, but if no reward is given at the end you might have a cheeky Keeshond do the opposite to what you just taught it … have fun and keep laughing as you are going to be entertained as you go!

Keeshonds love to be the centre of attention,

they are beautifully stunning to look at when all groomed up in their big coats … so do not expect a quick trip to Bunnings if you take them with you as be assured you will have everyone wanting to give them a pat and they will expect a pat from everyone just as much.

Do not expect to own this breed and have them as an outside dog only. This breed must be part of the family and household or you will have a noisy and destructive dog … but with their loving temperament and tactile coats - you will want to stroke, pat and cuddle up to them everyday … those that think this breed will not win your heart and will only be laying on the floor beside you … give up now as you are sure to let them lay on the lounge with you or take over half the bed as they will always win you over with those adorning eyes and cheeky ways.

Males are always loving and will be your shadow. Females will generally be more independent. Although these are general traits between the sexes, they are not rules of thumb. The local household environment and the way you interact with your Keeshond as a puppy form the start will be the way your temperament in your Keeshond will be throughout its life.

Do Keeshonds get aggressive? A Keeshond should never be an aggressive breed. They can and will guard their owners and their small children friends if needed, but in general they very much enjoy the company of people and a range of fur friends such as other dogs of all breeds, cats, rabbits and even chickens and other farm animals when introduced correctly. It is known that a Keeshond is a great watch dog and will alert you when visitors arrive, but that bark and standing their ground attitude soon stops when you say hello to that friend and invite them in, then the Keeshond also wants to be their best friend too.

THINGS KEESHONDS EXCEL IN:

Keeshonds certainly excel in cheekiness, beauty and brains. They love dog sports as they love to play, so agility is great, but training sessions need to stay short to keep the attention span for obedience. Keeshonds have also done well in tracking and endurance test work in Australia. Showing a Keeshond is also very rewarding as

they will give their all as they know they are going to be groomed multiple times (or to them, massaged by you), you are going to give them all your attention and reward them with food often … and when they are all groomed and if sound and of good breed type, are often viewed by judges as potential high placements.

Keeshonds due to their tactile coats, great easy temperaments, adaptability and love of people / other dogs make them ideal service dogs too. Many have been trained as therapy and service dogs across the world and here in Australia. From being an alert dog for children with life threatening disabilities; to comfort dogs for people in therapy, hospital or nursing homes; to even individual support service dogs. A Keeshond was even part of the service team to the rescue crews during the 911 atrocity.

Overall, Keeshonds also excel in being great family pets as they were primarily bred to be companions to humans. They are great at keeping the floor clean under the dining room table and convincing all your guests that it’s ok to feed them treats. KEESHOND COLOURS:

Keeshonds come in one colour combination but there are various shades of lighter to darker markings. The only colours associated with the Keeshond should be cream, grey and black. They have an agouti coat whereby the hair follicle on the guard hair (or outer coat) is lighter at the base and transitions to black at the ends to produce that outer harsher coat. Their undercoat which is thick, abundant and softer to the touch than the outer coat is from light cream to light grey, often referred to as silver but not a word used in the breed standard these days, but silver is a light shade of grey.

Part of the interesting colour marking in the Keeshond is one that they are known especially for … their spectacle markings and shadings around their eyes which is uniquely distinct about this breed.

The Keeshond should never be any tawny colouring (like the colour of a flat white coffee) in their coats once an adult and over twelve months of age. Sometimes puppy coats may have a darker cream colour in their undercoat (and often just before they blow their puppy coat to transition to adult coat as the undercoat dies off/loosens ready to drop out) but they can often loose this (considered) puppy tawniness and come back

Likewise, there should be no white markings nor a white undercoat in a Keeshond. Having said that, there are lines that have been known to produce full white Keeshonds from time to time, it is rare, but can happen and would not be considered to be able to be shown in the conformation show ring as the colour is not recognised in the breed standard.

COAT AND GROOMING A KEESHOND:

The Keeshond coat changes dramatically in the first year of a puppy’s life. From born black, straight tailed and short coated to looking like mini adults at 8 weeks old. The puppy Keeshond by four months goes through what is generally termed in the breed as the monkey uglies. This is when all the undercoat grows its thickness and depth and overtakes the outer darker and harsher top coat / adult guard hairs … hence the creamy body but the black mask of the face remains and so the Keeshond puppy will look a little foreign to the unexpected and a little like a monkey coloured dog. By six months you will see the guard hairs growing and the Keeshond look starting to come back. By 10 months a stunning puppy in bigger coat starts to return to looking like a young adult as they begin to turn 12months old.

The Keeshond could be called the lazy man’s poodle. Why? Because they have a stunningly beautiful full coat, but there is no trimming (only the feet and hocks) and as a spitz breed, they have a very forgiving coat to groom. You can groom the undercoat quite harshly to remove the loose excess and it will come away and grow again just as quick. The breed tends to drop their coat, typical of most spitz breeds, in the heat of summer for males and usually with each season for females. A neuter or spayed Keeshond can grow an excessive and soft coat when desexed later in life rather than as a puppy and will generally be like the entire males and drop coat once a year in the heat of summer.

You do not need to be an expert groomer to groom the Keeshond, just part the coat to ensure you groom through to the skin not just sweep over

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the top of the coat. When maintenance grooming you can groom in any direction that is easiest for you then at the end just groom the body coat forward and the chest and trousers downwards and you have the finished beautiful looking lion or lioness style coat depending if you have just groomed a male or female Keeshond.

For ease and as a great pet / human relationship it is recommended to give a mid week light groom (such as having the Keeshond lay on your lap whilst you watch tv) and a good weekly thorough groom. This thorough groom will likely be up to an hour for the newer owner when the Keeshond is an adult but as they get better and more use to what they do is usually about half an hour to thoroughly go through.

Considered like roof insulation, the Keeshond coat keeps their body naturally warmer in winter as it thickens up and cooler in summer as it thins out. The traditionist Keeshond owner shuns the thought of shaving a Keeshond off but if a coat is not groomed completely and left for many months without care both the coat condition may be so poor and the skin of the dog may gain infections that they may have to be clipped. Thus, if an owner is not prepared to do some regular grooming and maybe consider a three or six month professional groom to ensure their dogs skin and coat is healthy, then maybe this breed could be a bit too much to handle coat wise, for them.

The Keeshond coat is considered low allergenic as it is a dry wool coat and great for people with allergies too. When wet, the Keeshond smells like a wet wool jumper but when dry returns to that “no doggy” smell. Once dry also, the coat

naturally drops that sand or dirt from the roll in the yard or that digging session when they helped you garden … so in general, the coat stays reasonably clean and odour free and as such as a pet only requires a maintenance bath every 6 to 8 weeks. The religious show person though will likely bath and groom their Keeshond before most shows to present the coat in its most outstanding form.

THE SIZE OF KEESHONDS:

The Keeshond has a single height requirement for males and females, that is, there is no height range. In older breed standards there use to be but in the modern standard a male stands and is measured at the wither as 18 inches / 46cm tall and a female 17 inches / 43cm tall.

As a breeder would know, breeding to a defined height is extremely difficult and there is going to be variation as much as a breeder will try to strive for uniformity in height. The old breed standard allowed an inch in either side of the height requirement, but today there is no such luxury so a little leeway is required within reason for the conformation ring, but for companion pets, height does not change the loving nature of the breed.

WHO ARE BEST SUITED OWNERS FOR A KEESHOND:

As the Keeshond is such an adaptable companion breed, they really are a great breed to a wide range of people to have as their own loving pet as long as they are prepared to a few realities about this breed. Those realities are … must be part of the family lifestyle, challenged with training and activity, groomed regular, and patted and smooched often – but not to be let to get away with everything!

Keeshonds are wonderful with children and will sit up in bed for story time or lay back and be groomed to have bows in their hair too. Likewise, they are great tactile comforters for older generations who like to have some company. They adapt well to supporting people with disabilities when trained for service work in a range of areas. Families with teenage kids keep the family on their toes as everyone will have their role and job with the Keeshond of the house. Single people or couples of all ages that want a companion to watch tv and be a lounge lizard with through to going jogging or walking with them also find this breed ideal.

Keeshonds are fine in dense city living such as in apartments as they are generally very clean dogs and love going out for their walks. Likewise, a town house or general house block is great as there is plenty of space from the large to smaller blocks for outdoor and indoor play sessions too. Acreage is fine as long as the owner is prepared to make sure there are no burr style weeds as they are attracted like Velcro to the coat of the Keeshond. Grey nomads love a Keeshond as the Keeshond loves car rides, so travelling in Australia is always a new adventure with another fun car ride for the Keeshond.

THE LAST WORD:

The Keeshond is a wonderfully adaptive breed and sometimes overlooked by prospective owners as they are frightened by the coat and the assumed amount of work to maintain it. In fact, this breed is therapeutic and easy to groom if done regularly; leaves less hair around the home, on the furniture and in the car that short coated breeds; and will always love you no matter what. A lint roller may become your best friend in shedding season but that’s only because you wanted another cuddle from your best mate because you couldn’t resist their love for you. So, if you like fun with a bit of challenge, true friendship, a loving companion nature and want fluffy cuddles in your life, then maybe a Keeshond is the next breed for you to consider.