Westminster Meet the Breeds – The Kooikerhondje

by Joan Harrigan

“Meet and Compete” combines the annual Masters Agility Championship At Westminster with an enormous AKC “Meet the Breeds” display. The event has become a staple of Westminster Weekend, and beginning last year, welcomes cat breeds. The crowds are large, even for New York, and attending (whether as an exhibitor or spectator) takes considerable stamina, as well as comfortable shoes.

At Pier 92, families congregated in a large booth devoted to a Dutch breed few had heard of, much less could pronounce— the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje. On January 1, 2018, the “Kooiker” achieved full AKC recognition, becoming the newest member of the Sporting Group. Next year, Kooiker breeders look forward to competing at Westminster—this year, they saw Meet the Breeds as an opportunity to acquaint the public with their breed—as well as to educate them.

Rod Beckstead traveled from his home in Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania, to help with the booth. He is the Kooikerhondje Club of the USA’s AKC liaison, and has bred dogs for some 40 years. He’s had Nova Scotia Duck Tolling Retrievers, Tibetan Spaniels, Siberians, and Border Terriers, and even ran a sledding team of huskies. When he wanted to downsize to a smaller dog, the Kooiker was a natural progression—the breed was a precursor of the Toller.

“It’s fun and personally gratifying to bring a brand new breed into the AKC,” Beckstead says. He went to Switzerland to find his foundation stud dog “Iron” (Iron Ravenswood Von Wicthelhau). Kooikers are hard to find—the breed was almost extinct in the Netherlands after World War II. It was saved through the efforts of a baroness who sent emissaries throughout the country to find examples of the little orange and white dog. Today, there are about 10,000 Kooikers worldwide, and only 500 in the U.S., with about eight breeders nationally.

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Posted by Alex on Apr 19 2018. Filed under Current Articles, Featured. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.