A “romance” between two neighbors shortly after World War II lead to the creation of a breed still thought to be Germany’s youngest, the Kromfohrländer. It’s also likely the only breed descended from a military mascot dog.

A scruffly little dog that had befriended American soldiers quartered in western Germany later abandoned them and found a new mistress in the form of Ilse Schleifenbaum.  After cleaning him up, Schleifenbaum thought her new charge was a Grand Griffon Vendéen, though it’s possible that Briquet Vendeen, English White Terrier, Pyrenean Shepherd, Schnauzer, Brittany and Kooikerhundje were present in the dog’s ancestry.

Whatever his breed, the newly named “Peter,” was all boy and found love (winkie winkie) with a neighboring wench, a saucy Fox Terrier.  The resulting bundles of joy were remarkable in that they were fairly uniform to each other, but not to any other breed. Robust and engaging, the puppies were compelling enough to cause Schleifenbaum to breed more litters of these dogs in pursuit of a new breed.

It wasn’t a good time to start breeding a new anything;  Germany was war torn and food was difficult to acquire, but after some ten years, Schleifenbaum and Otto Borner, another breeder, had established dogs with uniformity and consistency. Their vom Wellersberg kennel was the foundation of the Kromfohrländer breed (pronounced krome-fore-lahn-dair) which was recognized by the German Kennel Club 1953 and soon after, the FCI. The breed came to America in 1997 where enthusiasts have found it to be a very loyal, ‘human’ companion. The breed nicknamed, “Kromi,” “Lander” or “Landeri” is currently on the AKC’S FSS list, but is hard to come by and in danger of disappearing.

We haven’t a clue what’s being said in the video, but it’s a nice visual overview of a dandy little breed:

Kromfohrländer by LA Shepard/thedoglover
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