OUR COLORED KEESHONDEN
The Paper Trail
Suzette Lefebvre, Darkenwald Keeshonden
first published in JabberwocKEES, Vol
3 #5, Sept. 1995
The "Spitz"
dog, whether known as the Wolfspitz, LouLou, Grosspitz, or Keeshond, has been around since
pre-historic times, and in all colors.
In 1906, in
The solid black and
solid white dogs were used in breeding to sharpen the color of the coat. From
very early on, dogs with tawny undercoats were bred to a black or a white,
resulting in vastly improved color of the puppies' undercoats.
After World War II, classifications were made dividing the German Spitz into 5
categories based on size and color. The present FCI sanctioned varieties are:
a.
The Wolfspitz (Keeshond) - measures 17.7
to 21.7 inches, up to 23.6 inches permissible, acceptable colors are wolf-grey
(wolf-sable).
b.
The Grosspitz (Great German Spitz) - measures 16.5 to 19.7 inches,
acceptable colors are white, black or brown (dark chocolate).
c.
The Mittelspitz (German Middle Spitz) - measures 11.8 to 15 inches,
acceptable colors are black, brown, white red-orange or red, wolf-grey
(wolf-sable); other colors such as cream, cream sable, orange sable, red sable,
parti-color, and black and tan are also permissible.
d.
The Kleinspitz (German Small Spitz, or Larger Pomeranian) -
measures 9.1 to 11.4 inches, acceptable colors are the same as for the
Mittelspitz.
The Zwergspitz
(German Toy Spitz, or Small Pomeranian) - measures 7.1 to 8.7 inches,
acceptable colors are the same as for the Mittelspitz.
The so-called American Eskimo Dogs, recently accepted by AKC, in essence are
white Grosspitz, Mittelspitz or Kleinspitz depending on size and therefore
variety.
In Alice Gatacre's
book, The Keeshond, written in 1937, she stated that "nearly every winning
Keeshond in
While she may not have
set out to purposely breed for color, Mrs. Gatacre did experiment with color
trials to find out what colors would produce what results. Her grey son/mother
breeding of "
The orange and cream
dog mentioned in Mrs. Gatacre's book and again in Britta Schweikl-Ecklmayr's
recent article in JabberwocKEES (Vol 3, #5, July 1995), "Stropp vom
Laurhaas" (born in 1932) was himself one of a litter of one black and two
orange and cream dogs. The sire and dam were both grey in color. Stropp was
related to the aforementioned "Christel am Ziel" through the famous
"Alex von Olching" and he was used for breeding by Mrs. Gatacre to
produce the ancestors of many "Guelder" dogs.
Many of these Guelder
dogs were imported from
The orange and cream
puppies born in the U.S. in 1991 referred to in Ellen McDaris' article
"Keeshonden - The Rainbow Breed?" in the Winter, 1993 Keeshond Review
and Britta Schweikl-Ecklmayr's article "Colored Keeshonds?" in the
July 1995 JabberwocKEES were produced by our own kennel. The breeding was
intentional; the colors resulting were not! It began as a typical aunt/nephew
line - breeding. The bitch was major pointed and the dog was a promising
two-year old just beginning a show career. What a surprise it was to see not
one, but three orange and cream male puppies next to a normal colored bitch
puppy that October night! Now that the males have matured they are like
"dreamsicles": light cream undercoats, pale orange tips to the guard
hairs, with cinnamon accompaniments - muzzles, ears, etc. Eye rims, noses, lips
and footpads are a complimentary pink-brown. Their eyes are appropriately amber
in color and their toenails are white.
There was much speculation as to why the colors
happened. We felt, as Britta does, that this is not a new phenomenon. We
decided to research the pedigree back about 40 years, which amounts to 10 - 12
generations. It was not until we delved into the additional five to seven
generations that several dogs' names began to appear with greater frequency. We
know that CH. Racassius of Rhinevale had produced blacks. Littermates, although
grey, may also carry the gene for black, and therefore the recessive red gene.
Racassius, and his litter sisters (and foundations for the English Ledwell
kennel), CH. Ledwell Charlotte and Ledwell Catastrophe are found a combined
total of 17 times in 9 generations, and are grandchildren of two of the
foremost champions and stud dogs of the 1950's and 1960's CH. Big Bang of
Evenlode and CH. Rahida of Rhinevale, through Rondorf of Rhinevale and
Rumbelina of Rhinevale.
Another prominent Big
Bang of Evenlode granddaughter found seven times in nine generations was CH.
Keli-Kees Erin O'Mist, who was sired by CH. Sinterklaas Brave Nimrod.
Furthermore, CH.
Dalbaro Beachcomber is found five times in seven generations. Big Bang is his
great-grandfather through CH. Dutch Uncle of Ven. Beachcomber's son, CH.
Damarkee the Party Crasher is related to Big Bang additionally on his dam's
side through CH. Vangabang of Vorden. Finally, CH. Wil-Los Jamie Boy, a Big
Bang cousin, rounds out the pedigree, appearing four times.
While there is quite a
bit of Wistonia farther back in the pedigree we didn't consider it particularly
meaningful in the color issue, though one dog, Commandant of Duroya, a grandson
of CH. Wrocky of Wistonia, is present eleven times in generations eight and
nine and may play a role. While we can trace his sire's line, information on
his dam's line has been rather sketchy.
We did find that nearly
every dog prominent in ten generations of the orange puppies' pedigree can be
traced back to one of three dogs:
1.
CH. Big Bang of Evenlode, found 83 times if taken to the eleventh
generation, mainly through Rhythym of Rhinevale (29 times!), Rhondorf of
Rhinevale (14), CH. Sinterklaas Brave Nimrod (11), CH. Volkrad of Vorden (9),
and CH. Dutch Uncle of Ven (9).
2.
CH. Rahida of Rhinevale, found 29 times, mostly through Rumbelina
of Rhinevale (15) and CH. Robinella of Rhinevale (8).
3.
Vader Kerstmis of Vorden, found 23 times
mostly through Robertina of Rhinevale (16) and
Sinterklaas Lass of Venkeena (6).
As it happens all three
of these dogs were sired by litter brothers - Big Bang by CH. Young Tom of
Evenlode, Rahida and Vader by CH. Young Geron of
Evenlode - leading us, of course, to their sire, CH. Rayvalen
Geron of Grovelyn, a CH.
Major of Broadcliffe son, and an outstanding English
and Irish champion of the 1950's.
Certainly, there are
many bloodlines carrying the colored gene and we wouldn't presume to declare an
exact origin concerning our unusual litter. Many parts of the puzzle may never
come to light unless involved breeders come forth to study and compare
pedigrees and to learn from our experience and those of other breeders willing
to share similar information.
As true Keeshond
fanciers, we need to see colors as legitimate throwbacks to an earlier era of
the breed when colors were appreciated on their own merits, according to what
was considered correct for that color. Nearly every breeder, nearly every
Keeshond, has the potential to produce colors and the occurrence should be
recognized for what it is, a glimpse into the past -
the foundation of what there is today - no more, no less. While it is not
important to include the unusual colors under "acceptable coat
colors" in our breed standard, neither is it necessary, nor desirable, to
disqualify the dogs of other colors. We have never personally seen a colored Kees shown in a conformation class and do not view them as
serious contenders for AKC championships. The current breed standard effectively
addresses the issue of colors in the conformation show ring.
However, since "colors" are considered a
serious fault in the breed standard, thereby making them
pet quality, and we ascribe to the KCA Code of Ethics which stipulates that pet
quality Kees should not be used for breeding
purposes, all three "golden boys" have been neutered. Two have been
placed in a pet and obedience home where they may participate in obedience
showing. The third boy, Darkenwald Orange Crush,
stayed home with us. These boys don't know they are the "wrong" color
and have the greatest temperaments and attitudes we have seen in any Kees. All are a little more laid back than their grey
counterparts and have been admirable PR representatives for the breed,
How many colored Kees puppies have been born and, due to the lack of
knowledge of the history of the breed on the part of their breeder, been culled
or given away because the breeder thought the bitch had been bred by a Chow Chow or otherwise produced a mixed breed litter? Have even
knowledgeable breeders acted similarly because they did not wish it known that
THEIR bloodline could produce colored puppies? It is inconceivable that our
experience was as unique and unheard-of an event as some would have us believe.
Certainly there have been "unusual" Keeshond pups that never made it
onto the rolls of AKC.
Considering the
accuracy, or inaccuracy, of records and the omnipotence of the American Kennel
Club registrations is an illuminating exercise. In our case, the puppies were
registered with AKC as a litter and as individuals. Since the three males were
not any of the listed color combinations, AKC required that several pictures of
each boy, clearly showing his color, and a narrative description of the color
be appended to the application. We described them as "orange and
cream" in the application forwarded to AKC. After several weeks and
further correspondence, we received the individual registrations. The American
Kennel Club officially registered each "orange and cream" puppy as
"white"! Because of such incorrect, or incomplete, accounts of
documentation there is no accurate way to determine how many colored
Keeshonden, and of which colors, have been born in the
We continue to be
interested in this issue and would enjoy seeing any pedigrees of colored
American-bred Keeshonden that may be available.
Copyright 2002 Suzette Lefebvre, Darkenwald
Keeshonden; first published in JabberwocKEES, Vol 3 #5, Sept. 1995. Penny Manser, editor. jabber@calweb.com All rights reserved. Please take a moment to view
the JabberwocKEES site.
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