5 Important Facts About the Keeshond

two keeshond puppies in a basket

The Keeshond is a small spitz-type dog breed that is alert, energetic, and intelligent. They bond closely with their owners and tend to be a great family companion. Here are a few more facts about the Keeshond:

1. The Keeshond Was a Dutch Barge Dog

The Keeshond is a spitz-type dog breed, which means their ancestors can be traced back to the arctic or sub-arctic sled dogs. Although they are a descendant of sled dogs, the Keeshond originated in The Netherlands.

They were commonly found on Dutch barges and ships. In addition to being a fun companion for sailors, they were also working on these ships as watchdogs and often also did some pest control too. They were also popular companions for families.

2. They Are Still a Working Dog

Although they aren’t often found on ships and barges these days, the Keeshond is still a working dog. They can often be found working as comforting emotional support dogs and also as therapy dogs. But, most of the time, their “job” is to be a loving family pet and companion.

3. The Kees is a Fantastic Family Companion

When they weren’t working on barges, the Kees was a popular companion for Dutch families. They are still a popular family companion as they tend to get along well with children, other dogs, and other pets in the family.

As long as they have been properly socialized, they even tend to be open and friendly with strangers. They can be prone to barking through, so you may want to start to train your dog to stop barking early on. You won’t be able to stop the alert barks completely, but this can help keep barking from becoming a nuisance behavior.

4. The Keeshond Can be Clingy

The Keeshond is one of the “velcro” breeds. They bond closely with their families, are devoted to them, and love nothing more than being near them. Because of this, they can be clingy and don’t like to be left alone for long periods of time.

This also means that they can be prone to developing separation anxiety. Doing some work early on to make sure your Kees can be confident and entertained if you need to leave them for a short period is worth it to keep them from developing destructive or severe separation anxiety.

They will probably never like being away from you. But, you can help prevent them from becoming destructive or from hurting themselves as is common with some cases of separation anxiety.

5. They Are Almost Too Easy to Train

The Keeshond is highly intelligent, they pick up on things quickly, and they are eager to please. This makes them easy to train, but it also makes it easy to accidentally train them into undesirable behavior.

For this reason, it’s even more essential to keep training consistent and to avoid awarding behavior you don’t want to continue. Because of this, it can also be a good idea to enroll in puppy training classes.

These are just a few facts about the Keeshond. If you think this could be the right dog breed for you, learn more about them to make sure they are a good fit for you and your life. Then, check out the available Keeshond puppies for sale. You never know – you could end up finding your new best friend!