The Keeshond is a very old breed, and one of the very few which throughout history have always been raised for family companions and watchdogs. The fact that they have not been bred to hunt, kill animals, attack or chase criminals undoubtedly accounts for their gentle, intelligent devotion to their owners as home-loving dogs with a special fondness for children, for which they are renowned.

They are descendants of the same prehistoric ancestry from which evolved among others, the much larger Samoyeds, Huskies, Norwegian Elkhounds and tiny Pomeranians, and apparently came into Europe with ancient voyagers from the North, a great many centuries ago.

In the 17th and 18th centuries, they were extensively used as watchdogs on river boats, farms, and barges and were known in Germany as “Wolfspitzen”; in France as “Chiens Loup”; in Italy as “Lupini”; and in Holland as “Keeshonden” – pronounced “kayz-hawnd-en,” being the Dutch plural. Because of their great popularity and historically political prominence in Holland in the 18th Century, the breed has become known as the “Dutch” Keeshond.