Wetterhoun

This breed was developed in a northern region of the Netherlands known as Friesland over four centuries ago. The Wetterhoun breed is considered to be a landrace dog breed, which means that they were developed without a formal registry, often in a way that adapts to the environment that they are in. As these dogs were originally developed without any official records, there is no way to know for sure which dog breeds contributed to the Wetterhoun although the most likely contributors include water spaniels such as the Old Water Dog, spitz-type farm dogs from the local area, and gypsy dogs. One of the earliest functions of these dogs were as hunters of otter, a predator deemed to be a threat to the area’s fishing industry, but they also proved to be adept at hunting other small animals and at locating and retrieving game birds, both in and out of the water. The population of the Wetterhoun, like many of the canine breeds in Europe, was decimated during World War II, and without the efforts of fanciers of the breed, most notably Jan Bos, the breed may have vanished. While these dogs are not yet officially recognized by the American Kennel Club, they have been recognized under the name of Frisian Water Dog by the Federation Cynologique Internationale under the heading of retrievers and flushing water dogs since December of 1959, and the United Kennel Club officially recognized them under the classification of Gun Dog in 2006, also listing the official name as the Frisian Water Dog.