One of two breeds* making their debut the 2019 Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show next month is the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje, or “Kooiker” to its fans.  One of the hallmarks of the handsome breed is distinctive black-tipped hair on the ears called “earrings.”

Another is its working style. Used in duck decoys (and did you know that duck decoys are originally a Dutch invention and known  in its current form for more than 600 years?),  the dogs lured and drove ducks into “‘kooien” (or cages in the form of canals with traps at the ends) with their gaily waving tails. There, the hunter, or Kooiker, could easily catch the birds. Over time, the dogs used by the Kooiker for this kind of hunting were referred to as the ‘Kooiker’s hondjes’ (literally Kooiker’s dogs), and it’s not hard to see how the dog was eventually called Kooikerhondje.

There are still about 100 duck decoys in The Netherlands, and only a few Kooikerhondje are still used to entice ducks. Most of the duck decoys are involved in scientific research, and the dogs are used primarily to lure the fowl into traps made of rush matting for conservation purposes, namely banding, identification, recording. The ducks are typically released. 

*The other breed making its WKC debut in 2019 is the Grand Basset Griffon Vendéen.

Image of Kooikerhondje standing by a kooien found on Pinterest and happily credited upon receipt of information