Walk through the airport in Amsterdam, and one quickly notices two things (in this order): The color orange, and chocolate.
The Dutch Royal house is called Oranje-Nassau, a name and association that dates back at least to William of Orange who founded the house in 1544. Orange is taken both from his name, and his coat of arms. As for the chocolate thing, when cocoa prices began to drop in the 19th century, and cocoa production subsequently increased, chocolate factories sprung up all over Europe, but in the Netherlands, it was the province of Zeeland that saw the biggest number of chocolate factories. Today, Amsterdam remains one of the world’s most important cocoa ports. If you’re like us, and we know we are, avoid Amsterdam because you will not resist the call of chocolate.
Orange and chocolate aside, Holland also gave us a dog. A hardy, close-working breed that’s a walking hunter’s dream. Hank Brandes said in an interview: “I started hunting behind griffs [Wirehaired Pointing Griffon] that were owned by my brother and his friends in Iowa some 25-plus years ago. I’m just shy of 72 [now] and my griffs have slowed down for me so I can still keep up and hunt with them. A griff makes an ideal gun dog for those of us in the ‘senior set.’” He added, “They also had German shorthairs and my brother had an English setter. One problem I noted with these dogs was that while they worked hard, fast and furious, they burned themselves out in about two to three hours, whereas the griffs, being slower and more methodical in their work, worked all day and were ready to go the next day and the day after that and the day after that.”
Griff coloring blends in with the low lying marshes of its home country. Its coat can withstand just about anything the North Sea threw at it in its native country, and the breed learns quickly. Griffons are thorough, and superb at picking up singles. As one owner said, “They’ll go through the thickest brush to retrieve a bird and then will sit in the blind quietly until their whiskers are frozen waiting for the ducks to come.”
There are, however, caveats. The breed can’t be rushed. It’s a thinking breed, not a charging breed, and it doesn’t do well with repetition. This is a happy breed, so a sense of humor is a must when training a griffon. Every dog needs a job, but the Wirehaired Pointing Griffon really has to have a job or s/he will frazzle from boredom.
Wirehaired Pointing Griffon by Dan Pearce is available as a print, pillow, phone case and more here.