Page 33 - Absolute Final 13 Spring 2025 Newsletter

By Kit Wadmore-Smith and the Hunnivoles

The Keeshond, a medium sized,
exceptionally hairy dog, was bred to
be a companion animal; that’s his
job, as much as, for example, a gun
dog is bred to do his thing in the
field. Our Keesie has a head start
in this work by cutting a strikingly
handsome appearance yet also
managing to be impossibly cute at
the same time.
The gentlemen amongst us can feel proud to walk such an eye-catching
individual, whilst us ladies can bill and coo over the fluffiness of his coat.
Kiddies - they just melt at the teddy bear cuddliness of him.
But, what’s going on in that head of his, that shines out of those meltingly
deep brown, almond shaped eyes?
Who is this Keeshond fellow? Well,...

The Keeshond is blessed with a great deal of
natural intelligence. Back in the 90’s Stanley
Coren, a psychology professor, established a
ranking list of 137 of the world’s most
intelligent dog breeds; Keeshonden came in at
18th, well within the ‘highly intelligent’ category of the top 50. This intelligence
coupled with his desire to please us means that he is easy to train and enjoys
plenty of mind games to keep him stimulated. Boredom can lead to either
depression or him making his own fun and this can often be very different
from your idea of it!

Sentience is the ability to feel, become aware of something or experience
something in a way personal to yourself, your tastes and your own opinions.
Science has proven that dogs have this ability and feel love, happiness,
attachment, grief, sadness, depression etc. at the same level as a two to two
and a half year old human child; the age difference based on the breed’s
intelligence level. Keesies are as the two and a half year old and have the full
range of emotions already by four to six months old.

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