Schapendoes

The Schapendoes is an all-around sheepdog that can have his ancestry traced back to the 19^th century. He was most commonly found in the northeast part of the Netherlands in the province of Drenthe. He was the dog for the commoner and never attained royal status; therefore, his history was not well documented. Very little was known about the Schapendoes until the Nederlandse Schapendoes, a breed club, was formed in 1947. In 1952 the Schapendoes was provisionally accepted into the Kennel Club of Holland. Most people outside of the Netherlands did not know what the Schapendoes was, but he was very popular in the Netherlands until he faced extinction in the 1940s when Border Collies were imported to perform the same job. The newly imported Border Collie was something of a novelty and it took several breed enthusiasts to save the Schapendoes from total extinction. He was not actually recognized as a breed until after World War I. The breed standard for the Schapendoes was adopted in 1954 and the official studbook was established. The Schapendoes was not officially and fully called a Dutch breed until 1971. In 1989, the Federation Cynologique Internationale recognized the Schapendoes as a breed. He was accepted into the American Kennel Club’s Foundation Stock Service in 2005, but due to the limited number of Schapendoes located in the United States and Canada, he has not yet attained full registration recognition. In 2006, the United Kennel Club recognized him and allowed him to participate in all UKC events.