ZooEasy was invited to the Breeders’ Day of the Dutch Association for Stabij and Wetterhounen (NVSW). On this day dogs from twelve till eighteen months were invited for the nest inspection, to see how the young dogs are doing on their characters, looks and health.
It already started on the parking lot of the Hanzehal in Zutphen, Holland, where dogs jumped enthusiastically out of cars and kept on wagging their tales excitedly. In the sports accommodation it was swarming with black-white and brown-white dogs. Sometimes you could even see a very curly Wetterhoun. In the practice ring, the owners felt still a little bit awkward, while the young dogs looked around enthusiastically and responding to every bit of distraction, like passing people and other young dogs. You could hear Dutch and English conversations everywhere. Every now and then a male dog barked to another dog. On the side of the hall you’d find dog Eki on the grooming table with doggroomer Ingrid Coevert, who is cheerfully connecting with a Stabij, and tells her owner all about plucking and cutting the hair of her dog.
Across the hall there were different rings for inspection. For every inspection, the whole nest was reunited: the parents were at the front, followed by the oldest till the youngest dogs. While the parents were inspected, the dog owners tried to keep their dogs at ease, petting them or were talking to other dog owners. Ben Rothengatter looks at the inspection while his wife shows their dog Tjebbe. He often takes his dog to obedience training. “When you throw a ball, he even jumps onto you to catch the ball. If Tjebbe wants to, he is an excellent hound dog. But sometimes he’s just a pigheaded Frisian dog”, says Ben laughing. Tjebbe looks relaxed. It’s his second inspection: at his first in Hoogeveen, the Netherlands, he became the most prettiest Stabij of the show. Now they come to see the reunion of the nest and to talk with his breeder. “We will also take a DNA test. He might be suitable for breeding.”
The stud parade starts in the afternoon. The owners of the studs run in a wide circle to show their dogs to the public. Linda Jacobs is the proud owner of stud Wobbe, “but we call him Diesel”. Linda isn’t a breeder, but her dog Diesel is available for breeding. “When there is a match and the breeding commission gives permission, the owner of the bitch visits me at home. Most of the time we repeat it on another day to increase the probability of success. Diesel now has two nests with a total of ten descendants.”
A little further two dogs look down the hall from their own mat. They stand out, because they look so relaxed compared to the other dogs. Their owners can explain this easily: these two champions are used to shows. They came to visit the stud parade. Stabij Bine enjoys to be stroked through the entire conversation with her owner. Ancella Kloet tells us: “We practice a lot with our dogs and we spend much time with them. They’ve both been Danish and Dutch champions.” Ancella is well prepared: before this day she printed all the studs who are here today and she had a look in the association’s database to find out more about their ancestors, health, pictures and inbreeding percentages. “I now know which dogs would be a good match with her, but I would like to see them in real life”, says Ancella.
After the nest inspection all dogs join their owners outside for the group photo. While database manager Willem Stemerdink stores the inspection data in ZooEasy, some dogs jump into the water before they make their way back home. One of the owners shakes his head: “They’re the greatest dogs, but they will always be stubbern Frisian dogs!”