Bichon Frise
Van De Dijksteinhoeve
How to contact us for a visit?
Mevr. Douwen Rita, Erfstraat 36 , 2861 Onze-
Tel.: +32-
email: rdouwen@hotmail.com
Please telephone first as we are a busy family!
Welcome to our small family Bichon Frise kennel, always recongnized by the Belgian Kennel Club as an Elite Breeder.
In my childhood I grew up with dogs. The family first had a Pyrenees MinatureSshepherd, then a Chow Chow. My husband also grew up with dogs.
Why did I chose this breed in 1990?
Well I was looking for a white dog with long hair, but especially playfull, sociable, and .actractive but most of all non shedding because I'm allergic to ...... Yes dogs
When I first met this breed I was really surprised. Although I was to them a complete stranger, they came to me immediatly seeming fearless, I was then extensively sniffed at and kissed all over!!!
Throughout all this years the Bichon Frise has been part of our family. I have not regretted this for one moment although sometimes these white fluff balls really can raise hell inside the house. They all live freely in the house. Our doorbell hasn't been used a lot over these years as our rascals have already seen and announced visitors before they even reach the front door.
There is always one of them around and in the evenings we ALL lay comfortably on the sofa watching television. With kids they are fantastic. We have 2 daughters, both were introduced to the grown up dogs very early. You had to see it to believe it, there was always at least one of them under the cradle. Even now when the children go to sleep in the evening, they just pop into the childerns room to check if everything is in order. You can even set your watch straight but by the time the childern come home from school, they all line up at the frontdoor.
We told the children that Bichons were not toys, when they are asleep in their doggy beds, they have to respect this and leave them alone. The dogs have great faith in the girls and allow them to play all sorts of games with them.
Having a litter of pups is a fun time in our house. One litter a year or maybe 2 but that is more than enough for our home kennel. We always hope that there is one good enough for us to keep for ourselves so that we can show it at dogs shows when they are old enough. That is why we take seriously the planning of our litters. The puppy's are born in the house and stay with our family. We are all sad when the puppies go to their new homes, but the 9 to 10 weeks they spend with us give us so much pleasure. We like to stay in touch with our puppies through their new owners as we like to follow their development. We are always willing to help out with problems including care of their coats. Some even come back to us for their holidays.
The Bichon adores his family and likes to be the center of attention. Our dogs are sometimes left alone at home, because we also work. But when we come home it is partytime. The Bichon cannot be ignored it must have attention first then it will settle down.The Bichons greeting is often loud and the jumping up can be high.
Taking care of the Bichon coat needs dicipline but it is worth while. if you are walking your Bichon, people will stop, and others will say "look he has just had a bath" or " how do you get them so white?".
Fortunately this is a very healthy breed at this time, but we must not take this for granted and be aware that things might change.
Some Bichons have tearstaining but every dogs eyes run but unfortunately only with white breeds it shows more. Some times their beard also has the tendency to color as well.
As Bichons have long ears hanging close to the head regular cleaning of them is a must.
The Bichon will be your friend for life and for us he will always be considered as a real member of the family.
On the next page we would like you to meet OUR Bichons
Lots of Bichon fun