What kind of dog is kooiker?

Kooikerhondje is such a new breed in Finland, the first kooiker here was registered in 1993. This breed is not well-known, and there are few people that really know what kind of breed kooiker is and what kind of person is suitable kooiker owner.



Oakmeadow Vain Vagabond and Oakmeadow Vital Spark


* Kooikerhondje is basically a hunting breed, and some dogs seem to have more "quarry blood" than the others. Although your kooiker seems to be very obedient, you may be not able to control your your dog if it finds something interesting. Keep your dog off lead only in places where is no cars usually. Every year many kooikers are killed by a car accident, when dogs find something interesting - without noticing the road and the car coming.

* Kooikers have lots of energy, and your dog will need some exercise every day and maybe something "brain working". Agility, obedience, hunting or maybe search & rescue -working is "The Big Thing" for your kooiker.. Try!

* Kooikers have still some hereditary diseases and some character problems, so choose your pup carefully. Kooiker is usually distant, but it mustn't be aggressive or fearful.The breed Kooikerhondje is a wonderful breed. The most important factor is health. With prob of hereditary diseases you should know about these things:


Von Willebrandt -disease. One kind of blood disease. You can take a blood test already from a young dog, but unfortunately the result is not 100% sure. If result is under 3%, the dog has vWd, and it is not recommended to use dog for breeding, if result is under 50%. The result is usually written as "vWf", eg. vWf 128%. Nowadays we have also DNA-test, that is better. It tells only if the dog has this disease or not.

Eye diseases. Kooikers have some eye problems, and before breeding the litter's parents should be tested.

Patella luxation. Kneecap luxation is rare but not impossible, and it is good to test knees. 0 in Finland means healthy, also 1 (limiting case) is allowed.

Epilepsy. There are few epileptic cases as a new problem, and you'd better to make sure, that there are no epileptic dogs in your pup's pedigree. Epileptic dogs or their siblings should not use for breeding.

Gido and puppies of Phee and Zhivago

Verening Het Nederlandse Kooikerhondje

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Oakmeadow Border Collies & Kooikerhondjes