I'm Jules and it's with a lot of joy and happiness that we got to take home our girl Bella 8 weeks ago. Bella is a 4 month old Dutch partridge dog. These are a fairly rare breed of what is referred to in the UK as an HPR breed. They were bred in the Dutch province of Drenthe to be a family, farm, and hunting dog and they are closely related to the Epagneul Francaise and Small Munsterlander of Germany and probably the English springer spaniel. As puppies, it would be hard to determine which breed is which as they are so alike. As adults, the Dutch dog will be larger and a little bit more robust in size. We decided on this breed because my husband and I are both very active and wanted a dog breed that could keep up with our horse riding, running, cycling, etc...We were also looking for a breed where the registry worked hard to produce a healthy, stable animal and not just a showpiece. We met with the breeders of our girl and I absolutely fell in love with the gentle and friendly nature of the bitch. When I watch video of her doing field trials, I was absolutely sold. She had a determination and joy to her work while being gentle and the most happy to be around people when she was at home. Before we got Bella I had not really considered doing gundog training with her as having a license to hunt or shoot here is very difficult to acquire. But, after talking with the breeder and the trainer where we take lessons I realized it would be important to at least work at this while she was a puppy to help give her confidence but also discipline and as a way to develop our mutual bond. We have had some minor stumbling blocks as she needed encouragement to retrieve and a LOT of encouragement to swim. What she lacks in confidence she makes up for in smarts. I just love her to death and while she is driving me a little bit mad with her teething mood swings I can't help but laugh at the comedic mess she gets herself in if given a chance. This will be my first pup, and before she arrived I had gotten the Happy Puppy Handbook before Bella arrived. Through that book and some google searches I found this forum. So Hello! from me and Bella!
Oh Bella you are beautiful! Welcome to the forum from me (Kate) Benson our chocolate and and Casper our black lab..plus whatever our next foster will be!
Hi there,we have Dexter a yellow boy who is nearly 3.Bella is lovely ,looks like a great place to walk her. Welcome to the Forum Angela x
Hi and welcome to you both . From me (Ternaya) and 23 month old fox red lab Harley. I look forward to seeing pictures of Bella as she grows
Hello gorgeous Bella and welcome from my two, Willow and Shadow. I can't say I've ever heard of a Dutch partridge dog, so great to hear a bit about them
Hi Jules and Bella, welcome to the forum from Poppy and me! Looking forward to learning all about the Dutch Partridge Dog.
Hello Dutch Partridge Dog Bella, and Jules! You are very welcome. Looking forward to hearing more about Bella. I have Charlie, a mad-as-a-box-of-frogs Chocolate Lab. He is on rest at the minute, but usually we train with a lot of HPRs (he only fetches stuff though, and sometimes brings it back, although he is quite good at finding pheasants too he is not as multi-skilled as the HPRs).
Hi there from me and Simba, a Labrador/Newfoundland mix, two Canadian breeds which is very appropriate as we live in Canada! Never heard of a Dutch partridge dog before,looking forward to seeing her grow!
Welcome Jules and lovely Bella, we are Hattie 7 years and our rescue boy Charlie 4 years. Look forward to your write ups and how you go about training Bella a new breed to us. Helen xx
Thank you everyone for the very warm welcome! Bella's breed is known in Dutch as the Drentsche patrijshond usually shortened to Drent.
