ORIGIN: The Netherlands.
DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE OFFICIAL VALID STANDARD: 13.10.2010.
UTILIZATION: Sporting and Companion Dog used for duck decoy. FCI-CLASSIFICATION: Group 8 Retrievers – Flushing Dogs – Water Dogs. Section 2 Flushing Dogs. Without working trial.
BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY: In 1942, during the Second World War, the Baroness Van Hardenbroek van Ammerstol began to recreate the Kooikerhondje. She gave a picture of the type of dog she was looking for to a pedlar and asked him to look out for such dogs. At a farm in the province of Friesland he found the bitch now well known as Tommy. She became the founding bitch of the Kooikerhondje. In 1966 the Raad van Beheer adopted the interim breed and in 1971 the breed was officially recognized. The Kooikerhondje was and still is used in the duck decoys. His task is still to lure the ducks into the decoy with his gaily waving tail; he does not hunt the ducks. He calmly moves between the decoyscreens in order to provoke the ducks curiosity and lure them further down the decoy pipe where the ducks are captured in a trap. They are either killed for the table or ringed for ornithological research.
GENERAL APPEARANCE: The Kooikerhondje is a harmoniously built orange-red parti-coloured small sporting dog of almost square body proportions. He moves with his head held high; in action the well-feathered waving tail is carried level with, or above the topline. The ears have black hair at the tip, the so-called earrings. The dog is presented with a natural, untrimmed coat. IMPORTANT PROPORTIONS: The length of the body from the point of the shoulder (at the scapula/humerus) to the point of the buttocks may be slightly longer than the height at the withers. Skull and muzzle are of about equal length.
BEHAVIOUR AND TEMPERAMENT: Lively and agile, self-confident and with sufficient perseverance and stamina, good natured and alert, however not noisy. The breed is faithful, easy-going and friendly. Outside the hunting season the dog is expected to find and kill vermin, hence he needs to be keen, swift and tough. He is a true sporting dog, being attentive and energetic and having a zest for working and with a cheerful character.
HEAD The head is of moderate length, fitting in with the general appearance, clean-cut, with flowing lines.
CRANIAL REGION: Skull: Sufficiently broad, moderately rounded. Stop: Seen in profile clearly visible but not too deep.
FACIAL REGION: Nose: Black and well developed. Muzzle: Seen from the side not too deep and slightly wedge-shaped; seen from above not tapering too much and well-filled under the eyes. Lips: Preferably well-pigmented, close-fitting and not overhanging. Jaws / Teeth: Scissor bite; complete dentition is desirable. Pincer bite is accepted but less desirable.
Eyes: Almond-shaped, dark brown with a friendly, alert expression.
Ears: Moderately large, set on just above the line from the point of the nose to the corner of the eye. The ears are carried close to the cheeks without a fold. Well feathered; black hair tips (“earrings”) are highly desirable. NECK: Strongly muscled, of sufficient length and clean-cut.
BODY: Topline: Smooth line from the withers to the tail. Back: Strong and straight, rather short. Loin: Of sufficient length and width, strongly muscled. Croup: Slightly sloping and sufficiently broad; the length of the croup should be 1.5 times the width.
Chest: Reaching to the elbows with sufficient spring of ribs. Sufficiently developed forechest. Underline and belly: Slight tuck-up towards the loin.
TAIL: Set on so as to follow the topline of the body, carried level with the topline or almost straight up (gaily). Well-feathered with a white plume. The last vertebra should reach the hock joint.
LIMBS FOREQUARTERS: Shoulder: Shoulder sufficiently sloping in order to create a flowing line from neck to back. Upper arm: Well-angulated towards shoulder blade that is of equal length. Elbow: Close to the body. Forearm: Straight and parallel, strong bone of sufficient density and length. Metacarpus (Pastern): Strong and slightly oblique. Forefeet: Small, slightly oval, compact with well-knit toes pointing forward.
HINDQUARTERS: General appearance: Well angulated, straight and parallel seen from the rear. Strong bone. Thigh: Well muscled. Lower thigh: Length equal to thigh. Hock joint: Well let down. Hind feet: As forefeet.
GAIT / MOVEMENT: Should be flowing and springy, well extended, with good drive. Limbs parallel.
COAT: Hair: Of medium length, slightly wavy or straight and close lying. Soft hair. Well-developed undercoat. Front legs should have moderate feathering reaching to the pastern joints. Hind legs should have fairly long feathered breeches; no feathering below the hock joints. The coat on the head, the front part of the legs and the feet should be short. Sufficiently feathered on the underside of the tail. Longer hair on throat and forechest.
Earrings (long feathered black hairtips) are highly desirable.
Colour: Distinct patches of clear orange-red colour on pure white although a few small spots on the legs are accepted. The orange-red colour should be predominant. Some black hair intermingling with the orange-red colour and a slight form of ticking are accepted but less desirable. Colouring on the head: A clearly visible blaze running down to the nose. There should be colouring on the cheeks and around the eyes. A blaze that is too narrow or too wide or only partly coloured cheeks is less desirable. A black tail ring where the colour changes from orange-red to white is permitted.
SIZE: Ideal height at the withers: Males: 40 cms. Females: 38 cms. Tolerance: 2 cms over or 3 cms under the ideal heights are permitted. FCI-St. N° 314 / 19.01.2011 6
FAULTS: Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and the functional health and welfare of the dog and on its ability to perform its traditional work. • Ears too small. • Ears half-erect, “flying ears”. • Tail that is curled. • Hackney gait. • Curly or silky hair. • Colour that is heavily interspersed with black hairs in the orange-red patches. • Too much ticking. • Over maximum size or under minimum size.
SEVERE FAULTS: • Anxious behaviour. • Distinctly low on legs, out of proportion. • Wall eye. • Undershot or overshot bite. • Tail too short, not reaching hock-joint. • White colour on ears, partly or completely. • White hair around eyes, one or both.
DISQUALIFYING FAULTS: • Aggressive or overly shy. • Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified. • Colour that is black and white or tricolour. N.B.: • Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum. • Only functionally and clinically healthy dogs, with breed typical conformation should be used for breeding.
A list of all known hereditary diseases in the kooikerhondje follows below.
Von Willebrand Disease (VWD)
A coagulation abnormality that causes bleeding (wounds, heat cycle) to last longer and to be life threatening.
Symptoms
In the Kooikerhondje, type 3 of this bleeding disorder is found (total absence of vWFactor). Often, gastrointestinal bleeding and urogenital bleeding occur.
Frequency
Because DNA analysis is available since 1990, nowadays no affected animals are born within the VHNK population.
The VHNK offers a subsidy arrangement for members for VWD DNA testing at Utrecht University, provided it concerns a breeding animal.
Hereditary Necrotising Myelopathy (ENM)
Also known as ‘Kooikerverlamming’ (Kooiker paralysis)
Neurological disorder that affects the spinal cord white matter and leads to paralysis.
Symptoms
Affected dogs show symptoms from the age of 6 to 15 months. At first, the symptoms are mild: subtle coordination problems in the hind limbs. As the disorder advances, the progressive character will be emphasized. The dogs will ‘walk like a drunk’ in the rear end. At this time, the front will also show functioning problems and postural reactions are disturbed.
Affected animals are not in pain, but the disease is progressive and will lead to the dog’s death before it has reached the age of 2.
Frequency
Since a few years DNA analysis is available, therefore nowadays no affected animals are born within the VHNK population.
The VHNK offers a subsidy arrangement for members for ENM DNA testing at Utrecht University, provided it concerns a breeding animal.
Patella luxation (PL)
In this disorder, the patella (knee cap) spontenaously dislocates or moves out of its normal location.
Symptoms
The Kooikerhondje is generally known with medial patella luxation, but in some cases the luxation is lateral. Severe forms (PL grade 2 and higher) cause instant lameness in the dog. Often they cry out of pain. The leg can not be used anymore. If the kneecap spontaneously moves back to its location, the dog will immediately be able to walk again.
Frequency
15% of the tested dogs are mild cases (up to grade 1). About one time a year a severe case (grade 2 and more) is reported to the VHNK.
More information
The breeding policy (obligatory testing of all breeding animals / using a minimum of affected animals) makes sure the frequency of affected animals is kept at a low level.
Epilepsy
Epilepsy is a disorder that causes dogs to have recurring seizures. Depending on the type of epilepsy, seizures can be described as recurring abnormal behaviour with a number of distinctive characteristics.
Epilepsy falls into two categories: primary epilepsy and secondary epilepsy. Primary epilepsy is the hereditary form.
In the veterinary world the definition of epilepsy requires that seizures, in any form, are recurrent.
Symptoms
Seizures can vary from small, atypical seizures, showing a broad variety of symptoms, to classic generalised seizures. Classic seizures generally occur within the age of 6 months to 5 years (not strictly!).
Seizures often happen at night or in early morning. The dog is unconscious and will fall on its side, has extended legs and moves its head over its back to the rear. After that, the dog will paddle with all four limbs. The seizure lasts between a couple of seconds and a couple of minutes. Sometimes a seizure can be predicted, most of the time it can’t.
The next stage is called the post-ictal period. This recovery can come in many forms and takes seconds to hours. Atypical seizures can limit themselves to abnormal muscular movement of paws or eyelids etc. and the dog is generally more conscious.
Frequency
Because of the special attention the VHNK is paying to this disorder, the number of affected dogs reported is declining. In recent years the number varied between 1 and 5 dogs a year.
More information
If a dog has over one seizure a month, it is recommended to start treatment. The usual medication prescribed is Phenobarbital. The response varies per dog. For more information we refer to a veterinarian or veterinary specialist in neurology.
The Information committee is willing to help finding more information or making contact with a veterinary specialist.
(Poly)myositis
Autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of one or more muscles, preventing them to function, which results in muscle weakness of the affected muscles. Myositis is a progressive disease with a very poor prognosis.
There are two groups. A group of relatively young dogs with mainly swallowing or eating problems. The second group of dogs is young to middle aged and has musculoskeletal problems or a combination with swallowing problems.
Symptoms
Depending on the location and kind of myositis, the most common symptoms are:
Because many symptoms are also indications of other diseases and often start as “vague complaints”, myositis will often be difficult to recognize / distinguish. To make a definitive diagnosis, additional blood tests for muscle enzymes (CPK / CK) are required, as well as an EMG, and a muscle biopsy for diagnosis and prognosis. Sometimes a swallowing film or scopy is needed.
Frequency
Unfortunately we see polymyositis more regularly at the moment. The frequency is around 1% of the population.
More information
Treatment with medication is not always successful and the dog will die. At this moment research is done to the (genetic) cause of the disease in the kooiker breed and to the best treatment. For more information, please refer to Dr. P. Mandigers, working as a veterinary specialist at Evidensia Dierenziekenhuizen – department Arnhem p.j.j.mandigers@veterinair-neuroloog.nl.
February 2017 – 10.000,- euro for research to polymyositis:
A donation of €10.000,- from the Deutsche Club für Kooikerhondje
August 2018 – How researcher and owner can help eachother. Read here: Polymyositis in Het Nederlandse Kooikerhondje
April 2019 – Some important steps forward in the research around polymyositis: Genotyping and Fit2Breed
November 2020 – Update polymyositis research and improvement in the treatment of polymyositis:
Mutation found
December 2022 – A Beta-version of Fit2Breed is now available:
Fit2Breed
Hereditary eye diseases
Within the Kooikerhondje population are only a few hereditary eye diseases, for instance:
Cataract
Non congenital cataract, clouding of the lens inside the eye that can lead to blindness.
Because of restrictive breeding, the disorder is rarely seen in the breed.
Distichiasis
An extra set of eyelashes, can be corrected surgically with a good prognosis.
A strict breeding policy makes sure that there are very few dogs with eye problems within the breed.
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