On April 1, Jessie & Mojo became again parents. Pup Bijke, dialect Dutch for little bee, was born. This time it was a 'au naturel' birth and all went very well. Bijke weighted, just like her big sister Venture, below average but she's is growing every day. We started the first socialization exercises and Bijke responses are great. Of course she can't see or hear anything yet, but her nose is already put to work. I decided to keep this Furry wonder, for now. Because honestly I don't think I can give up another singleton pup. In the following weeks I'll put all about Bijkes progress, growth, socialization, etc here on the website.

By naming my B-litter the Beehive, I am asking attention for the bee population decline. Bees, these little hard workers are in trouble and thus mankind is in trouble.

Because without bees our ecosystem would be disrupted big time. Without bees we have almost no pollination and thus no fruit and crop diversity
Without bees we do not have the very nutrient honey.

What can you do? Like me you can draw attention to the bee population decline, but there are other things you can do. I included an image

Berger Blanc Suisse, when translated literally into English, simply means Shepherd White Swiss, or more commonly, White Swiss Shepherd. This may seem obvious to you, but unfortunately, many people are unaware of this distinction. Consequently, unscrupulous breeders exploit this ignorance by selling their white shepherd puppies as Berger Blanc Suisse, or White Swiss Shepherd. The reason behind this practice is simple: they can charge higher prices for these puppies.
 
For instance, Dances with Wolves Ranch is a breeder that claims to breed with Berger Blanc Suisse (BBS) or White Swiss Shepherd (WSS), but they fail to register the puppies with the Fédération Cynologique Internationale (FCI). As a result, these puppies are not officially recognized as either BBS or WSS. Surprisingly, they charge an exorbitant price of $6,500+ for these non-registered puppies.
 
Another example is the ‘kennel’ bergerblancsuisseshepherd.com
 
When looking for a BBS/WSS puppy, ensure both parents are registered with the FCI. If not specified, ask if the puppies will be registered.
 
Registration with the FCI is crucial. It indicates that the puppies are bred according to FCI standards and may turn out to be the desired dog.
 
Breeding with purebred, registered, and health-tested parents is expensive and time-consuming, often resulting in a loss before the first puppy is sold. However, it’s worth it for the quality of the dog. Any breeder who doesn’t register puppies, health test parents, or socialize them during the first eight weeks is prioritizing profit and may cut corners.
 

Already one year has past
Since we welcomed our first litter
Starting as a duo
Continuing as a solo

So fragile, only half in weight of
What is average.
But she survived and flourished
A little fighter, and so beautiful!

Americas Adventure is her name
'Best pup ever' Venture for the ones closest to her.
Living her best life!

Happy Birthday to you Venture! You are in our hearts, always<3<3<3!!!

Evie her parents are both White Swiss Shepherds registered in the Dutch department of the FCI, but for some reason her breeder decided not to register their litter with the FCI, but only with the UKC. I had hoped to register her myself once her ownership was transferred, but that wasn't the case because they told me she was too young when she left The Netherlands.

But now I have her registered with the FCI as a White Swiss Shepherd also. Had to send 3 pictures of Evie to proof she is within the FCI breeding standards. Because she doesn't have a FCI 3 generation pedigree, her parents are according to the FCI formerly 'unknown'.

But I'm happy she's now also part of the White Swiss Shepherd!!!

On January 26, 1924 the Newspaper "News of the Day" placed this lost dog alert. More then 100 YEARS AGO!!!! How cool is that?! Even then this breed was something you wanted to see. Not only because of their looks, but also of their abilities.

The caption translated:
WHO HELPS TRACK DOWN THIS DOG? The trained white shepherd dog "Herta" with which Otto Schumann performs in "Carré" in Amsterdam, has run away. Although this is not the place to publish such photos, in this case, where the animal is the livelihood of a variety artist, we want to make an exception and give an image of the dog, which can be returned to "Carré" for a reward.

Theater Carré opened its doors in 1887 as 'Royal Dutch Circus Directorate Oscar Carré and is still operated as a theatre. From cabaret to concerts and from opera to musicals, Royal Theatre Carré has something for everyone.

One year ago today I went to pick up our youngest White Shepherd, Evie. Beautiful and feisty she is. She was born in The Netherlands and at 7 weeks (*) she was picked up by my then friend and breeder of Mojo, O. It turned out that the time Evie stayed with O was at least very stressful and unstable. I didn't know that and trusted that she would be taken care of, raised like I would have done. But that wasn't the case, on the contrary. And so when I finally took her home Evie:

• Peed & pooped in her bench, in the house
• She jumped up constantly, especially when her food is being prepared
• She nipped when you wanted to touch her, leash her, put on her harness, etc
• Reacted like a crazy dog when she wanted out of her crate
• Didn't go in her crate voluntarily
• She got car sick
• She growled when one of other dogs are to close to her bowl or bone (
• She leaked urine when (over) excited and or not sure of the situation.

I really felt hopeless because I've never had a dog that was so 'out of control' before. For a long time I wasn't sure if I wanted to keep her. Especially because of her the pack became 'out of balance' too. But here we are, one year later and Evie is doing much better. A lot of her 'bad habits' are gone. The only mayor thing she really has a hard time dealing with, is when there is a lot of energy going on, like just before we go for play & walk to the pen, and the anticipation gets to much. She's barking and whining, it hurts my ears big time. Because of that I walk with ear protectors. And I try a lot of things to get her distracted, to stop barking. But as I've written in other blogs before, unlearning a dog something, like barking, is very hard, maybe impossible even. It takes a lot of time.

And I do stay positive that one day Evie will be relaxed and doesn't make a sound when going out. So on a positive note Evie is not going anywhere. I love her and she can be sweet at times. Knowing she will be ok one day, keeps me going in helping her to make her life more easy, more in balance.

(*)I would never have my puppies leave the litter before 8 weeks old. But O. advised me that it was better to get Evie at 7 weeks because she felt that the breeder of Evie wasn't taking care of the puppies the way O would do. And O. also argued that it didn't matter if Evie was another week with her litter, her 'pack' while she also would be in a pack at O's home. However that only works when the pack is stable and in balance. Relaxed. I didn't know that then, but O's pack was far from stable. It was a complete chaos, especially bc O had one of her pups returned (at 11 years old) and she brought a lot if stress with her.

Anyway, I now know and learned that taking a puppy too early from their mother, is a big 'No No' and can lead to serious behavior problems. Like with Evie when she first got here.

Overnight the world turned white! Winter fun!  The doggies were very happy! Running, playing and eating snow were favorite! Fetch the ball was a little more challenging, because of the deep snow the balls disappeared completely. And with snow in their nose it was hard for the doggies to ‘sniff those balls out” -))))

I made a short movie of all the snow fun!!!

Another year passed. But what a year it was!
We had our first litter (A) (Jessie x Mojo), 1 pup, Venture. Her start in this world was not without a struggle, but from the moment that she was born her health only improved and she became the happy, beautiful and healthy 10 month old pup she now is.

In 2024 we also completed our pack with our fifth White Shepherd, Jolie Evie van de Witte Klaver (Evie). A beautiful short coat WSS with a feisty spirit and so I also call her my 'spitfire':-) When she arrived here in the USA, at 4 months old, she was pretty 'out of control' and I must admit the first months with her haven't been easy. On the contrary, she had to learn a lot, even basics like potty training, but she did eventually. in another blog I'll write all about this ordeal.

For 2025 we have some interesting plans. We'll try to have another litter with Jessie & Mojo, however don't hold your breath because it will be more luck than anything else.  Furthermore we'll have Evie's hips & elbows OFA evaluated in the Spring and when positive, we are looking for a nice stud for Evie to have a litter with in the Fall.

Anyway, we are looking forward to what 2025 brings us and we hope you all have a wonderful, joyful and healthy 2025!!!

And don't forget about the White Shepherds that still need to be rescued

On behalf of the pack, the cats, the chickens and Martijn & me we wish y'all a wonderful Christmas!!!

For most people Christmas is a joyful time, with a lot of love giving and receiving.

Our dogs are part of celebrating Christmas, are part of the love giving and receiving. But not every dog is so lucky this year. There are a lot of dogs waiting in a shelter, rescue, with a foster to be saved by a human, a family. Will you be that human, that family?

IF you consider buying a White Shepherd and it doesn't have to be a pup (i do have people calling from time to time looking for an older dog so i know you're out there), the following rescue organizations do have white shepherds: Echo dogs (operating East of the Mississippi), Shenandoah Shepherd Rescue has often White Shepherds. They adopt also out of State and Virginia Shepherds Rescue

​Merry Christmas everyone!!!