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Nederlandse Kooikerhondje

The breeds · gun dog · decoy dog

AKC Sporting · UKC Gun Dog · FCI standard 314

Nederlandse Kooikerhondje.

FCI 314: 'Sporting and Companion Dog used for duck decoy.' The dog lures ducks into the duck decoy with its waving white-plumed tail; he does not hunt the ducks, and moves calmly between the decoy screens to provoke the ducks' curiosity and draw them down the decoy pipe to a trap, where they are killed for the table or ringed for ornithological research. Outside the season he is expected to find and kill vermin. UKC: widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries by Dutch hunters to lure ducks into traps. Royal Kennel Club: moved from the gundog group to utility because the breed does not work alongside hunters with guns..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

16 / 15INHeightdogs 15.7, bitches 15. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
20–30LBWeight, all linesbreed 20 to 30 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRoyal Kennel Club: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 15.7 in (14 to 16.5) · bitches 15 in (13.8 to 16)

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Centre is FCI's printed ideal (AKC prints 15 in). Low is FCI's ideal less 3 cm, high is UKC's 16 in.

Weight

20 to 30 lb

Breed clubAKC

Single source (the AKC box); no sex split and no centre.

Coat

UKC: water-repellent double coat of medium length with a softer, dense undercoat; slight wave but otherwise straight; soft feathering at the throat, behind the ears and the thighs. FCI 314: medium length, slightly wavy or straight and close-lying, soft hair, well-developed undercoat; clear orange-red patches on pure white; black ear tips ('earrings') highly desirable.

Breed clubUnited Kennel Club

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

3 of 5 · UKC: water-repellent double coat of medium length with a dense undercoat. FCI 314: medium length, well-developed undercoat, natural coat.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club

Derived: a medium-length double coat scores 3.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

Royal Kennel Club: up to 1 hour per day. AKC breed page: energy level 4 of 5, mental stimulation needs 4 of 5.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'Up to 1 hour per day' = 60 min by the ruled mapping. The AKC energy score sits higher than the RKC band; both stand.

Energy

4 of 5

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Grooming load

3 of 5 · Royal Kennel Club: grooming more than once a week, coat length medium, sheds. AKC breed page: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 3 of 5. FCI: presented in a natural, untrimmed coat; feathering on the ears, forelegs, breeches and tail.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'more than once a week' = 3 by the ruled mapping; the AKC grooming score reads lower (2 of 5, on AKC's own scale). Both stand.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 314: 'Sporting and Companion Dog used for duck decoy.' The dog lures ducks into the duck decoy with its waving white-plumed tail; he does not hunt the ducks, and moves calmly between the decoy screens to provoke the ducks' curiosity and draw them down the decoy pipe to a trap, where they are killed for the table or ringed for ornithological research. Outside the season he is expected to find and kill vermin. UKC: widely used in the 17th and 18th centuries by Dutch hunters to lure ducks into traps. Royal Kennel Club: moved from the gundog group to utility because the breed does not work alongside hunters with guns.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

FCI classes the breed Group 8, Section 2, Flushing Dogs, 'without working trial'. AKC places it in the Sporting group.

Primary game

Ducks, lured rather than hunted: drawn into the decoy trap, taken alive. FCI also lists vermin outside the season.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Also used on

Vermin (FCI: expected to find and kill vermin outside the hunting season). UKC: equally at home as a hunting dog or a family companion.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Search pattern

Not a searching or quartering dog: it works the decoy screens, drawing ducks along the decoy pipe by its moving tail, and does not hunt the ducks. No search pattern appears in the FCI or UKC text.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

Recorded so a handler comparing flushing breeds does not read the FCI 'Flushing Dogs' section label as a quartering spaniel.

Field trial standard

FCI 314: Group 8 Section 2 Flushing Dogs, 'without working trial'.

Breed clubFédération Cynologique Internationale, 2010

No AKC hunt-test, NAVHDA or other field-trial statement for the breed was found on a page that was read.

Water work

Royal Kennel Club: works as a decoy that lures ducks along streams until they are trapped in nets. FCI/UKC: water-repellent double coat; no retrieving or swimming work described.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

No source read describes the Kooikerhondje as a water retriever.

Cold water

3 of 5 · UKC: water-repellent double coat with a softer, dense undercoat. FCI 314: the work is luring ducks between the decoy screens beside the decoy pipe; the standard does not describe retrieving or swimming work.

DerivedUnited Kennel Club

Derived from the coat; the water-repellent double coat supports a middle mark, but neither standard describes cold-water work, and the decoy job (a dog working the banks, in all weather, in season) is not a swimming retrieve. The top marks are withheld.

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Hip dysplasia

4.3% · 327 OFA hip evaluations, all data as served Oct 8 2026; 4.3% dysplastic (all mild, 4.3; moderate 0.0, severe 0.0), 95.1% normal (28.1% excellent, 63.0% good, 4.0% fair)

MeasuredOrthopedic Foundation for Animals

OFA's own current breed statistics. OFA-evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock. The California clubs say hip dysplasia is rare in the breed and that hip testing is required for the CHIC number. OFA has no elbow row for the breed.

Most common disorders

California clubs (citing the Dutch parent club VHNK): patellar luxation (15% of tested dogs mild, up to grade 1; about one severe case a year reported to the VHNK); hereditary necrotising myelopathy (ENM, 'Kooiker paralysis', DNA test; affects about 0.2% of the population, carrier status possibly 25% worldwide, fatal before age 2; the clubs state no affected dogs are born in the VHNK population now); von Willebrand disease type 3 (DNA test, no affected dogs born in the VHNK population); polymyositis (about 1% of the population, research ongoing); epilepsy; rare eye disease (cataract, distichiasis). Wikipedia: a Dutch study of 842 dogs found patellar luxation in 24% (1994 to 2011, falling from 28% to 19%).

Breed clubNederlandse Kooikerhondje Clubs of California (NKC-SC and NKC-NC)

Club-reported figures; the 0.2%, 25%, 15% and 1% numbers are the clubs' own and carry no n on the pages read. The Wikipedia study is cited second-hand. Two source families (a US regional club quoting the Dutch club, and Wikipedia).

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 4; Mental Stimulation Needs 4; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 4; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; Drooling Level 2; Affectionate With Family 5; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 4.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

What to ask a breeder for

The health clearances the breed’s own club and registry name. Reference only: what to ask for, never a statement about any dog’s health.

No KENAI kennel lists the Nederlandse Kooikerhondje yet. If you breed them, list your kennel free: it shows on this page and in the hunting dog breed finder, under every handler whose answers land on the breed.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 7 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Kooikerhondje, Kooiker

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