History



•The Keeshond is the national
dog of Holland.
•The Keeshond was accepted for registration by the American
Kennel Club in 1930.
•The Keeshond was the symbol of the Patriot faction in
Holland during political unrest in the years immediately
preceding the French Revolution.

•The Keeshond was
the symbol of the Patriot faction in Holland during
political unrest in the years immediately preceding the
French Revolution The Keeshond is a
very old breed, and one of the very few which throughout
history have always been raised for family companions and
watchdogs. The fact that they have not been bred to hunt,
kill animals, attack or chase criminals undoubtedly accounts
for their gentle, intelligent devotion to their owners as
home-loving dogs with a special fondness for children, for
which they are renowned.
•The are descendants of
the same prehistoric ancestry from which evolved among
others, the much larger Samoyeds, Huskies, Norwegian
Elkhounds and tiny Pomeranians, and apprently came into
Europe with ancient voyagers from the North, a great many
centuries ago.

•In the 17th and 18th
centuries, they were expensively used as watchdogs on river
boats, farms, and barges and were known in Germany as "Wolfspitzen";
in France as "Chiens Loup"; in Italy as "Lupini"; and in
Holland as "Keeshonden" - pronounced "kayz-hawnd-en," being
the Dutch plural. Because of their great popularity and
historically political prominence in Holland in the 18th
Century, the breed has become known as the "Dutch"
Keeshond.
•Keeshonden had appeard in England in the late 1800s under
such names as "Fox-dogs," "overweight Pomeranians" and
"Dutch Barge Dogs." After the turn of the 20th century, Mrs.
Wingfield Digby of Sherborne Castle, Dorset, and Mrs. Alice
Gatacre, a Dutch breed authority residing in Devon, aroused
great and continuing interest in the breed through their
European imports and their "Van Zaandam" and "Guelder"
kennels in England. An English breed Club was formed in 1926
with "Keeshonds" becoming the official breed name, and with
few exceptions the Keeshonden in the U.S. stem from British
breeding.

•The first Keeshond was
registered with The American Kennel Club in 1930 under
"Keeshonden," in the Non-Sporting Group and The Keeshond
Club of America, as it was later named, was organized in
1935.
•The breed progressed slowly but
steadily in the U.S. until after the end of World War II.
Since then, it was gone ahead by leaps and bounds as the
exceptional qualities of these sensible, all-around family
dogs have become more generally known and acclaimed by pet
owners, breeders, bench show exhibitors and obedience
enthusiasts.
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