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Frankie is a Big Boy
Frankie, who lives in Seattle, Washington, is growing into a large and lovely kooiker. From his dad, Robert:
 Frankie is 18 in. at 8 months. “I have not gotten a sense for how large Frankie’s siblings are at this point. We have been surprised at how large Frankie has grown so quickly. He was close to 30 lbs (but slender) weighed at the vet a month or so ago at about six or seven months of age, and he is currently about 18 inches at the shoulders.  It seems that he is already quite a ways above the breed standard as published on your website. Have you gotten any feedback from the owners of the other kooikers from litter D about their dogs’ height and weights? We love him, he is a very sweet guy, and he is a valued member of our family that we are VERY attached to. As his proportions develop and his coat fills out, he should be a very majestic looking dog. We could not picture not having him with us. But since he is our fourth Kooiker and is so much larger than what we are used to, I was just curious and wanted to ask. How large is Yorick? At what point do they usually stop growing vertically and just fill out?” –Robert
 Frankie, a puppy and Frannie, a 4 yr. female adult The mid-size of a standard kooiker is an important aspect of their breed identity, and a reason many people are drawn to the breed. A full grown male kooiker should be 40 cm at the shoulders, and may not be taller than 42 cm., or 16.5 inches to compete in performance events. Both Frankie and his father, Yorick, are 45.7 cm., and therefore over the official breed standard as set out by the US club and the Dutch club. Bianca is 48.3 cm.
 Sometimes breeders will introduce a larger, stouter dog in order to add bone, and to give more substance to a line of otherwise light and wispy dogs. The kooiker is a working dog and needs to be sturdy. But their job also demands that they remain small, light and agile, as illustrated in this photo (compliments of Birgitta and Cirtap’s).
Litter D people, how big are your dogs? You can put your questions and observations here in the Comments section, or contact me to send me photos and comments and I will post them for you.
Duncan is a Big Boy
“Duncan is big. He weighs about 31 pounds. He doesn’t stay still enough for us to measure him. Maybe at the show (Detroit Kennel Club Dog Shows, where kooikerhondjes will be at the Meet the Breed booth) Rod will bring his measure instrument and we can measure him. We’re happy with his size but understand that he is big for the standard size kooiker.” –Wayne and Barbra Ritenour
 Duncan six months  Duncan at Dinner
Frankie and the Grenley family said goodbye to Phoebe in December. Phoebe was not a Rosewood dog, but was the beloved friend and housemate of one of our Litter D puppies. In Robert’s words:
We lost Phoebe, our 12 year old Kooiker, in December. It was very sudden…she showed no sign of illness, had gone for a nice, long walk earlier that day, had eaten earlier that evening, showed no sign of distress, and was found a short time later outside the dog door having passed away. The vet examined her…no sign of trauma or foul play. They think she may have had a stroke or something like that. Fortunately Frannie, our 4 year old Kooiker, has Frankie (née Drake) to keep her company, and she has assumed the role of matriarch, even though Frankie towers over her.
 Good bye, Phoebe! We'll miss you.
 Check out those ear-rings! Look who got a nice pair of earrings for Christmas, they’re growing nicely. His coat is also growing longer and stays so clean. We went for a short hike where Darby ended up covered in black mud, yuck! By the time we got home the dirt just fell off and he was a nice bright red & white again.
I’ve had the flu for a few weeks so we’ve only been doing 1-2 short walks a day but he’s been demanding to play tug-of-war instead. I know that he’s going to make me play catch up as soon as I’m a little better. I also bought him a large bag of oxtails, I pop a few in the toaster oven and he stays occupied for hours.
 Please, I'm begging, here!! What more do you want? The new trick he learned is crawling across the floor, I still can’t believe he can pick up commands so easily. I need to think of some new ones to teach him. I’ve been making him do freestyle tricks, I hold up a treat and he runs through every trick he knows (then makes some up!).
Over the past few weeks he’s also been getting better with greeting people, not so scared anymore. He’s still a bit cautious but his natural curiosity eventually wins out.
Merry Christmas from the Gordons!
 Walter and Posie with the Gordons The puppies are six months. Posie (Daesha) was one of the tiny puppies in this litter, and you can see at half a year that she is still petite. Erin describes her: “Posie must be French Kooiker, because her figure is just as trim and leggy as a Parisienne.”
 
Walter (Deacon) takes more after his daddy, and is a big, solid kooiker!
 Walter and Posie when they were four months old  The puppies at six months
 At the Kooiker Booth (photo courtesy of Pierre Revol) It was an amazing day! I can’t tell you how many people came to our table squealing excitedly, “I came here just to meet these dogs!” There’s a huge cohort of people out there who saw the Dogs 101 Kooiker segment and felt that they had to see one and hope to adopt one. Pierre and Harry were there Sat morning and DuncanDragon and I arrived around midday, expecting to stay til 2 pm. Pierre and Harry hung around til after 3 pm, and Dunkie and I stayed til the 5 pm closing time. Every time I tried to slip out, there would be another swell of people squealing and oohing and aahing. Dunkie was a real trooper — after five hours of hard labor as the Kooiker Emissary, he was still cheerful and chipper as we left the expo hall. Two blocks away from Javits Center, people were coming up to us and asking, variously, what kind of dog Dunkie is, and if he’s a kooikerhondje or — in the alternative — “one of those duck dogs that was on Animal Planet.” At one point in the afternoon, a woman with a Leonberger tag came over and we bonded over having had “our” respective dogs in the same episod of Dogs 101.
 Dragon and Harry (photo courtesy of Pierre Revol) Harry is clearly Rosy puppy’s sister — the similarity is astonishing. He’s a like-minded kooiker soul, with great dignity and elegance. Harry weight 18 lbs at four months to Dunkie’s 20.5 lbs at five months, but Harry seems to have a much smaller frame than Dunkie. Immediately upon meeting, Harry and Dunkie began acting like old old friends, rumbling and playing and tussling with such ease and familiarity that visitors to the table assumed they live together.
 Harry and Baby (photo courtesy of Pierre Revol) At one point, several people came to the table and announced that the two kooikers were, without doubt, the cutest most irresistible dogs in the entire hall. (And this was with some pretty stiff competition!)
I’m extremely hoarse from having said “It’s pronounced kooikerhondje” at least 600 times today. Dunkie barely made it to his food bowl and water bowl before he plopped down on his pillow and fell deeply asleep. Looks good to me!
Pierre and Harry will be there Sunday morning, and a “mystery kooiker” will be coming with a Thomas Tresen in the afternoon tomorrow, as will and Dunkie and I. Looking forward to another day of kooiker-filled fun and exhaustion!
–Karen Dean, Nov. 13 2011
 Toby's sweet face, 4 months old  Toby's left side, 4 months
 "I'm so happy, I think I'll explode!" My baby’s six months old today! He’s spending the night terrorizing my nieces but they love every minute of it. We’re going to a Christmas party at work tomorrow. He also now has more toys than your average five year old.
I still can’t believe how smart he is, he’s been picking up tricks faster that any dog I’ve ever had. In one of the pictures I was trying to get him to beg, but I couldn’t get him to do it exactly when I took the shot. I’ve heard that it can take months to teach a dog that, he’s got it but just needs to work on the balance. This week’s trick was learning how to crawl on command and he’s nailed that one too.
He’s still a little leery on meeting new people but if I tell them to let Darby come to them first he’s great and will lick their hand. I brought him into a local pet store chain, Daves’s Soda & Pet Food City, (mainly for socialization) and we met a woman who actually knew what a kooikerhondje is. She said she’s always wanted to meet one, and yes, now she wants to get one!
I hope you all enjoy your holidays, we’ll be enjoying ours!
Thanks again for such a wonderful puppy.
  
Dugan is doing very well! He is a center of my family and everyone thinks of Dugan first now.
 Dugan in September 2011, 3 months old. He likes running around and playing ball in a park. At home he likes chewing bones, toys as well as socks and clothes…
We went to a beginners training class for 8 weeks in Sept and Oct. It was very good experience but we are still learning so many things beyond the class everyday.
Big news for him is that he was successfully neutered on 11/4 and put his ID micro chip in his body too. The immunizations are complete as well.
 Dugan gets beesy for Halloween! Four months old.
 "Are you sure I'm not part Husky? I love this stuff!" Darby had his final Lyme disease booster this week and weighed in at 20.2 lbs. He’s done with all his vaccinations for the year and is otherwise doing well. I still have to schedule his hernia repair and neutering but the vet said it isn’t an emergency. We’re currently having an early season blizzard right now and we just went for a walk. I was just going to go across the street to the woods so he could go poop but he had so much fun we did the whole route. And you’re right about being waterproof, he dried off faster than I did, which is a good thing because he’s now sprawled out all over my couch!
The Kooikerhondje Club of the USA (KCUSA) held it’s fourth Fun Match last weekend in Weyers Cave, VA. Participating were 10 dogs from five different states: Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia. Next year’s Match will be held in a different geographic location to accommodate the kooiker population not on the East Coast!
AKC judge Carol Noe was the professional eye evaluating the animals on that sun-splashed autumn afternoon. Many of the dogs and owners were in the ring for the first time, and Carol was patient in explaining what was expected of everybody.
 Fall Fun Match Participants We took four Rosewood dogs to the Match: Hamlet, Elsinore, Yorick, and the new puppy, Rosalind. One of the advantages of having a very small number of participants in each category was that every dog placed and got a ribbon!
 Hamlet and my niece Carissa Taga’s Quarto-Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: ……….. First Place, Altered Adult
 Joyce and Elsie Taga’s Weika, Lady Elsinore………………………….First Place, Altered Female
 Rose and Yorick Germanic (Yorick)…………………………………… Second Place, Intact Male
 Pat and Dwayne Martin with AKC judge Carol Noe and Rosy Ammervills Rosalind……………………………………………Best Puppy
Two other Rosewood dogs were there–Duncan and Dragon, litter-mates from Bianca’s and Yorick’s litter this June.
 Dragon takes Nathan for a turn around the ring.  Wayne and Duncan show their confidence in the ring.
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The great pleasure of a dog is that you make a fool of yourself with him and not only will he not scold you, he will make a fool of himself too.
– Samuel Butler
Personally, I would not give a fig for any man's religion whose horse, cat and dog do not feel its benefits. Life in any form is our perpetual responsibility.
- S. Parkes Cadman
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read.
- Groucho Marx
To his dog, every man is Napoleon; hence the constant popularity of dogs.
- Aldous Huxley
Dogs are our link to paradise. They don't know evil or jealousy or discontent. To sit with a dog on a hillside on a glorious afternoon is to be back in Eden, where doing nothing was not boring—it was peace.
- Milan Kundera
Heaven goes by favor; if it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
- Mark Twain
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It seems that he is already quite a ways above the breed standard as published on your website. Have you gotten any feedback from the owners of the other kooikers from litter D about their dogs’ height and weights? We love him, he is a very sweet guy, and he is a valued member of our family that we are VERY attached to. As his proportions develop and his coat fills out, he should be a very majestic looking dog. We could not picture not having him with us. But since he is our fourth Kooiker and is so much larger than what we are used to, I was just curious and wanted to ask. How large is Yorick? At what point do they usually stop growing vertically and just fill out?” –Robert
