A SPORTING BREED UNIQUE IN PURPOSE AND HISTORY The Nederlandse Kooikerhondje
BY DEBORAH BEAN AND BETTY DALKE WATHNE photos provided by the authors
J udging dogs requires more than a general knowledge of the structure of dogs, their movement characterstics, or even the main points of each breed’s standard of perfection. Instead, it requires some knowledge of the history and traditional work of each breed. Breed standards seek to describe dogs whose conformation and temperament are perfectly adapted to the work for which they were originally bred. With this in mind, it is critical that we use historical records to accurately describe the past and the present, and to plot the future of the breed.
invention consisting of a pond with multiple catching arms or “pipes” that extend from the pond, terminating in hidden cages. The literal translation of the Kooiker’s name is “The Dutch Duck Trapper’s Little Dog,” and the Kooiker worked in partnership with his handler to lure ducks from the pond into the pipes for capture. In his 1886 work, The Book of Dutch Decoys , Sir Ralph Payne-Gall- wey notes, “The sprightlier the dog works, the better, so long as he is absolutely mute and obedient.” The modern development of the Kooikerhondje is thanks to the Baroness Van Hardenbroek Van Ammerstol, who rescued the breed from the brink of extinction. As part of her silent resistance to the Occupation during the Second World War, she undertook
FORM FOLLOWS HISTORY AND FUNCTION The Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, often called “Kooiker” for short, is a lovely orange-red and white parti-colored spaniel with sable ear tips called “earrings.” Well-known and established in the Netherlands by the 1500s, the Kooiker appears in the paintings of numerous Dutch masters of the age, Jan Steen being especially fond of the cheerful appearance of the striking little dog. The Kooiker’s long history is intertwined with its unique meth- od of capturing ducks for the table. Prior to the development of accurate fowling guns, elaborate man-made duck decoy trapping systems were built, called Eendenkooi . The Eendenkooi is a Dutch
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