I’m looking to connect with some fellow Kooikerhondje owners out there! As much as I absolutely love this breed, they are an elite level of quirky.
They are so incredibly smart and stunningly beautiful, but also so so weird. Everyone tells you how sensitive they are, and I thought I knew what a sensitive dog behaves like, but they are entirely on their own level... Loud noises are a no go. Add their incredible side-eye, and the way they can be fiercely independent one second and total velcro dogs the next... they are definitely not your average dog breed.
For example: We are currently on Year 2 of "The Great Hallway Incident." He slipped once on a hallway tile back in 2024. Didn't hurt himself, just a tiny slip. To this day, he treats that specific tile like it’s a pit of boiling lava. He will literally just stand at the edge staring at me like, "You expect me to cross that? In this economy?" until I lay down a towel or carry him over it. And this is just one example, he has the memory of an elephant. It took me a year to convince him that the stairs won't kill him.
Also, God forbid a trash can moves two inches to the left, instant crime scene. And don't even get me started on the classic Kooiker "stranger danger". If a nice person on a walk dares to try and say hello to him, he gives them a side-eye so incredibly judgmental it could cut glass. He doesn't bite or bark, he just LOOKS at them.
But still, I love this breed to pieces. When it's just us at home, my boy is the absolute sweetest, most affectionate, bouncy little shadow. And he is so clever, he picks up new training in about two repetitions and he’s so naturally athletic.
But the second there’s a crowd? Game over. We tried to do dog sports because he has all the raw talent to absolutely crush it, but the noise and the crowds just completely overload his sensitive little soul.
I wouldn’t trade his quirky little bugger for the world, but I definitely need some solidarity here. What is your Kooiker's current, deeply irrational nemesis?
(Dog tax of the drama king attached)