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Welcome to Rosewood Kennels!
Our
site features Hamlet and Elsinore,
two kooikerhondjes who came all the
way from Denmark to join our family.
They are shown here as pups romping
in their first snow.
What
is a kooikerhondje?
By
way of introduction to this little-
known breed with a strange-sounding
name (koy-ker-hon-dja), we will offer
you a short language lesson in Dutch.
A
"kooi" is a duck trap, used by hunters along the canals in the
Netherlands. A "kooiker" is a duck hunter who uses such a trap. A
"hond" is a hound or dog; "je" is an affectionate suffix meaning
small. Thus, the kooikerhondje is the small dog that works
with the hunter that uses the trap! 
Kooikerhondjes (sometimes called
Dutch Decoy spaniels) appear in history
as early as the 16th and 17th centuries,
but did not become an officially
recognized breed in Europe until 1966.
They are only now gaining recognition
and visibility in North America thanks to
their dedicated fans!!
- The Artist's Family, Jan Steen, c.1663 -
courtesy
of Web
Gallery of Art
Our site is full of useful information regarding the kooikerhondje and
our dogs Hamlet and Elsinore. Please visit our other pages
and contact us if you would like to know more about our plans for
future pups.
Thanks for
visiting!
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