Azuricoyotes Hollandse Herders FI (2025)

21/02/2025

What one trait unites all truly great competitors in all scenes, be it athletes, esports, dog trainers or even dog breeders? How do you truly get to the top?

📢 You must be able to take everything that goes wrong as an opportunity to learn.

When things don't go your way, it's easy to start blaming external issues; maybe the surface was slippery, your computer was lagging, the lights were too bright, the dog just had poor genetics (for owners) or the feeding wasn't exactly up to your standards (for breeders). Maybe some of these were true, but it gets tiring to find a place to place your blame every time. You get defensive and angry, and become an unpleasant person to be around. What if, every time there was an issue, the first thing in your mind was "what could I personally have done better?". This doesn't mean you are to blame for everything, and that is why I add:

📢 You must be able to let go of placing blame altogether.

Things happen. Most times hundreds of small things together contributed to them happening. It is nearly always both wrong, and a waste of time to attempt to find somebody to blame. Even if it's you! Remember, this is important: You also cannot learn if you just blame yourself for everything. Breeders who hide problems in their lineage directly connect their own self-worth to their breeding, and every problem is a personal attack against their very being. This is wrong towards the breeder themselves (who has to live with the guilt), but also the people who need information about different bloodlines to do better themselves. Just focus on learning, and doing your part even better next time. That is the only thing you can control anyway!

These musings were inspired by some really great conversations about autoimmune illnessess and behaviour problems I've had with people this year. And of course, watching my dear nerd friends rage while playing online games, and allowing that to stop them from ever becoming truly great at them. 😎

Photo: my beautiful "Tikka", CARIBBEAN MIST VALENTINA

02/02/2025

📝 𝙼𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚗𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚙𝚘𝚙𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

As a bridge to (or from?) my recent post about the rapid change in the longhair, here is a really cool and easy-to-understand study about how "new blood" would ideally be handled in in**ed populations.

Here are some bullet points:

─ Setting inbreeding limits on breeding pairs actually decreases long-term genetic diversity
─ New blood is badly managed, if it spreads to the whole population quickly
─ Instead, low MK (mean kinship) individuals should be paired with other low MK, and high with high, with occasional intermingling
─ In practice, this does mean the birth of differing bloodlines
─ Managing new blood like this would mean the benefit from it would last much, much longer

"An individual cannot pass its merit for inbreeding to its progeny—inbreeding is not heritable. Indeed, the current results show the potential danger in mate allocation to minimize progeny inbreeding without considering longer-term impacts."

"Valuable low–low MKi pairs would tend to be highly related, especially in smaller populations, and yet be rejected for allocation because of a limit on progeny inbreeding coefficient."

Let us remember that high inbreeding (in a population) is a symptom, not a cause! ☝️ The factors that cause high inbreeding (in a population) should be controlled in selection instead. A less in**ed combination is never automatically better for the breed, especially if the value came from data of just 5-6 generations. Let's not plan litters based on non-merits!

💌 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10445517/

Photo: AC THE FIVE FAR STARS "Brimi" (2012 Glen x Malta) & AC DRAGOS CAMBRIAN "Pip" (2019 Riddick x Sindi) demonstrating their "mean" 😈 kinship 😆

30/01/2025

Our puppy plans for 2025 have finally been locked 🔒

2025 pentusuunnitelmat on vihdoin lyöty lukkoon!

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Yhdistelmä 1 ─ Combination 1

Kevät/kesä. Spring/summer. 🌷

For people who want the working capacity of a working shorthair, but would prefer to live with a fluffy instead. 😌 This is a combination of two super social dogs with enormous will to work, and the pedigrees to match these claims. Recommended for more experienced handlers, with existing plans about their intentions with the dog. Not necessarily show star material.

Yhdistelmä 2 ─ Combination 2

Syksy. Autumn. 🍂

This combination was planned as true "allrounders"; longhairs that can succeed in nearly every role. A very special mix of different bloodlines I already love, and know to have produced solid characters. Recommended for people who maybe don't need a dog that is 300% into everything... But maybe just 150% 🤪 Potential for the dog show scene as well.

Both plans are for the *longhair variety*. Full FCI pedigree on both combinations. Photos, videos etc. available on request.

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Nämä samat kuvaukset tulevat kotisivuillekin suomeksi piakkoin.

Mikäli ajankohta ja pentueen kuvaus kuulostavat itsellesi sopivilta, voit aina ottaa yhteyttä [email protected] ja kysyä lisää. Lähiaikoina otan taas kiinni vanhempiakin maileja, joten jos et ole kuullut minusta vielä, ei hätää! Olen vaan maailman huonoin myyntimies ja verkostoituja silloin, kun mitään konkreettista ei ole vielä tulossa. Disclaimer 🤣, näiden taitojen puute ei millään lailla korreloi kykyyni olla kasvatinomistajieni tavoitettavissa, tai haluuni olla apuna ja tukena "meidän pennun" elämän tuiskeessa!

Toivotaan että onnetar on tänä vuonna meidän puolellamme. 🤞

Photo: AC SO MANY POCKETS SO LITTLE TIME "Pockets" (2023 Ruuti x Mina)

24/01/2025

Tiesitkö?

Suomen Hollanninpaimenkoirat ry:n jalostussuosituksissa pentueen vanhemmilta edellytetään korkeintaan 3 vuotta vanhaa silmäpeilaustulosta. Suomi on hollanninpaimenkoirien silmien suhteen edelläkävijä:

1) Hollanninpaimenkoirien silmiä ei tutkita yhtä säännöllisesti missään muualla Euroopassa.
2) Saati että tuloksia olisi yhtä pitkältä ajalta (pitkäkarvoissa jalostuskoirat oli tapana tarkastaa jo 90-luvun lopussa).
3) Saati että nämä tulokset olisivat julkisesti kaikkien nähtävillä maan jalostustietokannassa!

Hyvä Suomi 🇫🇮

ECVO (European College of Veterinary Ophthalmologists) kuitenkin peräänkuuluttaa vielä säännöllisempiä silmätutkimuksia: organisaatio suosittelee, että jokaisella jalostuseläimellä tulisi olla alle vuoden vanha silmätutkimustulos voimassa astutuksen aikana. Myös ei-jalostuseläimelle suositellaan silmätutkimusta kolme kertaa elämän aikana.

Alla lyhyt- ja pitkäkarvaisissa hollanninpaimenkoirissa Suomessa diagnosoidut silmäsairaudet, ja ECVO:n suositukset niiden merkityksestä jalostuskäytössä:

* harvinainen ** esiintyy *** yleinen

🟨 Silmäsairaudet, jotka eivät uhkaa koiran näkökykyä ja elämänlaatua, eivätkä täten estä harkittua jalostuskäyttöä:

*** Distichiasis/ektooppinen cilia (lievä, kohtalainen)
** Muut kataraktat kuin kort., post.pol. & nukl.
* Puutteellinen kyynelkanavan aukko
* PPM iris-iris
* RD, multifokaali
* Sarveiskalvon dystrofia (lievä)

🟧 Silmäsairaudet, jotka uhkaavat koiran näkökykyä ja elämänlaatua, ja joista kärsivät koirat tulisi jättää jalostuksesta:

** Keratiitit/pannus, plasmooma
** Kaihit: "kortikaalinen", "posterior polaarinen", "nukleaarinen"
* Distichiasis/ektooppinen cilia (vakava)
* Glaukooma
* Näköhermon coloboma
* PHTVL/PHPV aste 2-6

🟥 Silmäsairaudet, jotka uhkaavat koiran näkökykyä ja elämänlaatua niin voimakkaasti ja/tai ovat niin selkeästi periytyviä, että niistä kärsivät koirat, niiden vanhemmat ja jälkeläiset tulisi jättää jalostuksesta:

* Linssiluksaatio - vain 1 tapaus, diagnoosilla "epäilyttävä"

///

Kuvassa AC SWEET SKOOMA "Mina" (2018 Messi x Pants), jolle tänään silmien uusintatutkimuksesta 76 kk ikäisenä puhdas tulos. 🤩

Photo © Sanni Sirviö

19/01/2025

Kotisivujen omat koirat -sivu on vihdoin päivitetty! Päätin kirjoittaa kullekin taas oikeammat kuvaukset, ja lisäksi Tikka on saanut myös oman profiilinsa. Rakkain Pants-bubunen on myös siirretty edesmenneisiin koiriin. ❤️‍🩹Vielä kirpaisee turhankin tömäkästi.

https://www.azuricoyotes.fi/koirat/

Sivuilla on taas viime aikoina ollut kaikenmaailman ongelmia, ja ainakin eilen ne taisivat olla taas osan päivää kanttuvei. Kannattaa siis katsastaa uusin blogipostauskin, jos et vielä saanut niin tehtyä! 😊

Photo: CARIBBEAN MIST VALENTINA "Tikka" 7,5 mo.

17/01/2025

AIOSEO is telling me this article has too few images or videos, too long paragraphs, too long sentences, and too much text between subheadings. 🥲 But if none of that bothers you too much or you're just really great at reading walls of text, here's a piece about some important developments in the longhaired variety.

"How’s it going with the longhaired Dutch Shepherd?"
https://www.azuricoyotes.fi/2025/hows-it-going-with-the-longhaired-dutch-shepherd/

Suomenkielisille lukijoille: olen pahoillani ettei tätä kirjoitusta ole suomeksi, vaikka aihe on erittäin tärkeä. Pohdin pitkään kummalla kielellä sen kirjoittaisin jotta se päätyisi mahdollisimman monen ulottuville, m***a päädyin lopulta englantiin sillä ajatuksella että ehkä voin kääntää sen suomeksi jälkikäteen. En ole kuitenkaan niin lahjakas kääntäjä, että pääsisin kunnialla näin pitkästä tekstistä läpi, etenkin mikäli tarkoituksena olisi säilyttää laatu edes jonkinmoisena. Mikä englanti kääntyy lainkaan, olen iloinen jokaisesta suomalaisesta lukijasta vaikka kieli väärä onkin!

Photo: AC RASZA SPARROW "Neva" (2019 Cosmo x Ruusa) & AC DRAGOS CAMBRIAN "Pip" (2019 Riddick x Sindi)

12/01/2025

HH DASHBOARD

Päivitetty 2024 pentueilla! :)

Updated with 2024 data! My aim for this year is to develop this website further, for ease of access, search & readability. I would also not mind updating a little more often, but every time a "new addition" is used for breeding, I have to spend a full workday to update MK for the new population. My PC is ancient, and handling such large datasets is not easy. But whenever you have to choose to use your money either on dogs OR a new computer, we all know which one wins every time... 😂

http://hhdashboard.azuricoyotes.fi

Photo is of a teeny-tiny Link (Azuricoyotes A Wolf Among the Pines) from 2023. 😚

22/12/2024

HYVÄÄ JOULUA /// MERRY CHRISTMAS
to all followers of my page! [where are all the Christmas tree emojis?!]

We're spending lazy holidays with no theme-fitting photos this year. But here is one of our young promises, AC ANVIL SUN AND SHADOWS "Maagi" (2023 Ruuti x Mina) during training from past fall. She is a very fast and explosive little thing at work, while still handling herself well in a family with children. Love her a lot. 😍

05/12/2024

CARIBBEAN MIST VALENTINA "Tikka" in a blue world. ❄️

28/11/2024

AC CLASH OF FANG AND FLAME "Midoriya" (2023 Ruuti x Mina)

En itse ehkä odottanut että tästä pentueesta olisi ilmaantunut hyviä paimentajia, m***a on ollut todella ihanaa seurata Midoriyan matkaa lampaidentuoksuiseen maailmaan. 😊

Kiitos koiran omistajalle ja päivän kouluttajalle kuvista!

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Kasvattajana en koskaan lupaa pentua tiettyyn lajiin sopivana. Lajiin sopivuus on monimutkainen asia, enkä halua pentujeni päätyvän kodinvaihtajiksi, ja siksi oma päätökseni on olla antamatta pentua koteihin joilla ei ole koiralle käyttöä mikäli se ei tiettyyn lajiin sovi. Toisaalta tälläiset kodit usein kaikkoavatkin jo siinä vaiheessa, kun sanon että mitään en voi luvata; ehkä he ovat tottuneet siihen, että kasvattajalta saa takuita ja vakuutuksia siitä, että kyllä aivan varmasti tällä pennulla pääsee juuri sinne minne haluat.

Itse näen maailman niin, että kukaan kasvattaja ei voi luvata että yksikään heidän pennuistaan varmasti sopii johonkin tiettyyn rooliin. Kasvattajana voin ainoastaan luvata, että tiettyä lajia harrastavalle valitaan siihen mahdollisimman todennäköisesti sopiva pentu, m***a takuita ei voi antaa kukaan. Lopullinen sopivuus on summa genetiikkaa ja sitä kuinka pentu kasvatetaan sekä kuinka sitä aletaan viemään eteenpäin lajissa. Sinnikäs ohjaaja saattaa päästä kilpailemaan haluamassaan lajissa, vaikka koira ei olisi siihen hirvittävän sopiva. Vastakohtaisesti toisille koiraan uskominen voi olla haastavampaa, ja lahjakkaammankin koiran koulutus voi tyssätä jo alkuvaiheessa lukemattomiin erilaisiin ongelmiin.

Jokainen pentu on perimänsä synnyttämä suurinpiirteisen muotoinen veistos, josta ohjaaja lähtee muokkaamaan itselleen sopivaa yksilöä. Kasvattajana tiedän millaisia "raakaveistoksia" tuotan, m***a koskaan en varmasti pysty sanomaan mitä tapahtuu maailmalle lähdön jälkeen. Se ei kuitenkaan tarkoita sitä, ettenkö uskoisi pentujeni kykyihin ja ominaisuuksiin, päinvastoin! Toiveeni on tietenkin se, että mahdollisimman moni pennuistani pääsisi sopivan omistajan käsiin ja sitä kautta nauttimaan työnteosta sille sopivien lajien parissa. 👌

12/11/2024

🧬 PEDIGREE HIGHLIGHT

Dogs near and far from Azuricoyotes dogs’ past:

♀ POLKA * 1999

This female is the perfect choice to start this little series. Polka is the origin of our current dam line(s); she is the mother, and the maternal grandmother of my foundation females Niva van de Kibi “Jadi” & Calypso de la Horde d’Artémis “Malta”.

In the early history of the Dutch Shepherd Dog long-coated puppies born from shorthaired parents were common. At some point the gene for long coat seemed to have disappeared however, and decades went past without any longhairs born into shorthair litters. Finally in the 90’s this changed, when kennel “Bourg Bernard” had long hair in their 1993 litter, and then kennel “Hyènes de la Sensée” in 1996. 3 years later this happened again, and Polka was born.

In early 2000’s Polka and her brother Pacha were purchased from their breeder by Hameau des Trois Fontaines kennel, who recognized the value of this type of new blood for the variety. In 2003 and 2004 Polka had two litters, the latter one accidentally with her brother Pacha. Dogs from these 2 litters are numerous in offspring and are the basis for the majority of “shorthair background” longhairs of today. It is my belief that they have also improved the overall trainability of this variety without bringing in “difficult” traits. For example, the first longhair to ever title in French Ring was Ucko, a son of Polka. Malta was a daughter of Urba from Polka’s first litter.

In 2005 Polka was sold to Switzerland, where she whelped two more litters for the "Kibi" kennel, one with a shorthaired male (this offspring did not have papers). I owned a daughter from both of these litters; “Boya” van de Kibi who died in an accident as a puppy, and my Jadi who came to me when she was 2 years old.

Polka was described as a biddable, sweet dog very close to her people. This is indeed similar to what I have observed in my own Polka offspring. Additionally, I have made a note that this type of character has a tendency for unnecessary softness if not balanced properly with mate selection. Polka was a medium-sized female with a solid build and quite little coat. She lived to be 10 years old. Many of her offspring lived very long lives, until 15-16 years, with the average lifespan being 12 years (3 years more than breed average).

As stated before, Polka is a maternal nth generation grandmother to all of my litters. Additionally, my 2019 litter from Cosmo x Ruusa was a 3X3 linebreeding to Polka, to solidify the uncomplicated natures in this bloodline. I am grateful to everyone who worked to introduce these “new longhairs” into the variety, without their influence to both dogs and owners we would definitely not be where we are at today!

The photos were taken by my friend Liisa Kukkanen during her trip to France in 2004. She is the one who introduced me to this new bloodline from very early on.

04/11/2024

AC SWEET SKOOMA "Mina" (2018 Messi x Pants)

🏆 𝐇𝐊𝟐 𝐩𝐚𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐤𝐨𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐮𝐤𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐚
─ Lisäksi tokon voittajaluokka korkattu hyväksytyllä tuloksella!

AC NIVA ALEXSTRASZA "Ruusa" (2014 Geb x Jadi)

🏆 𝐑𝐓𝐊𝟑 𝐫𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲𝐭𝐨𝐤𝐨𝐧 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐚𝐣𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐚
─ Ruusa on upea 10-vuotias kilpailija 🔥

Kuvat omistajien albumeista. Kiitos aktiivisuudestanne ja suuret onnittelut ahkerasta työstä! Molemmat tytöt ovat myös muiden AC-koirien äitejä.

// A couple of Azuricoyotes mamas adding to their sport titles this fall!

31/10/2024

WHAT IS COMING UP IN 2025? 🎆

As some people might have noticed, the puppy page on my website has been updated and no longer has information about upcoming combinations. I do still have plans for 1-2 longhaired litters for (the first half of) 2025, but have decided to not publish the combination(s) until we have a confirmed pregnancy and/or puppies on the ground.

I know that for many people it is essential to know before inquiring about getting one, and I appreciate that. However, as things have been I feel that it is much less stress for me as a breeder to not have to keep everyone updated on the one combination that they are interested in, and then have to let them down if it doesn't happen in the end.

In the end, all my litters have similar goals, and I am confident in my ability to select a suitable puppy for each future owner with honesty and no compromise. Some combinations might have several suitable puppies for any given person, some none. That is why I love to work with people who want to support my efforts in this breed and trust my vision the most. I will of course still discuss possible combinations with interested parties, this has not changed.

I also want to touch on something that has risen up repeatedly with other breeders with similar bloodlines as mine: it is not clear for many people who look for a longhaired Dutch Shepherd that there are vastly different types of dogs in the variety already. By buying a longhair with strong working shorthair background you are not getting the traditional longhair "with a little more drive", but a dog with an entirely different set of needs. Over 10 years ago, when I embarked on this journey to improve both genetic diversity and working qualities in the variety, it was a surprise to both myself AND my puppy owners to see what our "mixed" dogs would be like. By now I know enough to recognize exactly the types of homes my puppies need, and want this to lead into consistently good matches for them in the future as well.

The beauty of the variety fools a lot of people into thinking they are simply "just" a beautiful dog. But these are dogs with a strong need for guidance and a handler who enjoys working with a dog like this. Their qualities should not be a burden to you, they should be a source of joy. For many years, since I began with my breeding, I was always against talking about "working" and "non-working/traditional" lines (I still maintain that there is no show line in Dutch Shepherd Dog). However, I cannot deny the large difference in breeding stock anymore, and I am starting to think diminishing these differences can harm dog owners and breeders looking for a good fit for their needs. Maintaining & improving sociability & stability will always be above everything for me, but this does not mean that most Azuricoyotes dogs will be happy as "just" pets.

I am happy to discuss more about the differences of different types of longhairs when requested. It benefits everyone when you find the type of dog that fits YOU. 🦦

// Suomeksi paljon asiaa siitä minkätyyppisiä pentueita meillä on mahdollisesti odotettavissa löytyy kotisivuilta azuricoyotes.fi //

Photo: Caribbean Mist Valentina "Tikka"

22/10/2024

We have a new pack member!

USA/Puerto Rican import "Tikka", officially CARIBBEAN MIST VALENTINA has joined us at home. She is my future hope for both sports and breeding.

Tikka has a very nice working pedigree behind her. On her father's side she is a granddaughter of the well-known Mexican Ring Champion CARONTE, who in turn is a grandson of the well-known Mexican Ring Champion LEIRU. Tikka's dam's side includes some great KNPV dogs originating from Holland, e.g. Mido PH1, Boris Doezé, Rudie PH2 Obj. & Jarco PH2.

So far Tikka is presenting a solid, very social and balanced character. Stay tuned for news about the development of this little Tasmanian (Caribbean) devil. 😈

For Finnish readers: a veeeery long story about how she came to be with us.
// Uutta blogissa!

https://www.azuricoyotes.fi/2024/yksi-unelma-toteutettu/

15/10/2024

AC CLASH OF FANG AND FLAME "Midoriya" (2023 Ruuti x Mina)

Paimennustaipumustesti PAIM-T suoritettu hyväksytysti.

// NHAT from herding

Suuret aplodit hienolle koirakolle! 👏👏

01/10/2024

AC ANVIL SUN AND SHADOWS "Maagi" (2023 Ruuti x Mina)

Mukavaa syksyä kaikille sohvaperunoille 😘

28/09/2024

AC SHADOW OF BAAR DAU "Merri" (2023 Ruuti x Mina)

Merri is a high drive boy with a high-tempered, strong character. At the same time he's very social and safe with strangers. This type of dog is not suitable for everyone, but boy does it feel nice when you have one working with you (instead of against you! 😉)

MH testing of this litter had to be pushed to next spring, but I can't wait to see how they compare to each other when evaluated in identical conditions.

Azuricoyotes Hollandse Herders FI