Stabyhoun
A Stabyhoun
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| Other names | Stabij Beike Stabijhoun Friese Stabij |
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| Common nicknames | Staby | |||||||||||||
| Origin | The Netherlands | |||||||||||||
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| Domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) | ||||||||||||||
| Classification / standards | |||
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| FCI | Group 7, Section 1.2 Continental Pointing Dogs: Spaniel type #222 | standard | |
| AKC | standard | ||
| UKC | Gun Dog Group | standard | |
The Stabyhoun or Stabij is one of the top five rarest dog breeds in the world as of 2013. It is from Friesland and in particular from the Frisian forest area, a region in the southeast and east of Friesland. The breed has been mentioned in Dutch literature going back to the early 1800s, but has only extended its range from the 1960s outside of Friesland and not until the 2000s did the range officially extended beyond the Netherlands. The name Stabij translates roughly as "stand by me" with the last part simply Frisian, meaning dog, which is pronounced "hoon". The dog is considered a Dutch national treasure. There are only a few thousand Stabyhouns in existence today worldwide.
The Stabyhoun is found in historic literature from Joost Halbertsma, Waling Dijkstra and Nynke fan Hichtum dating back to the early 1800s. In earlier days it was used for hunting foxes, small game, and birds. While on farms, Stabyhouns exhibited fine skills as a mole-catcher. During the hunting season, it was used as an all-round gundog. Today, the Stabyhoun remains a competent hunter, although British and German breeds are more popular. Renowned for its peaceful disposition, the Stabij is a soft-mouthed retriever, a fine pointer, excellent tracker, and a good watchdog. It has also been used by dairy farmers as a dog-carts.
Historically, these dogs were nearly exclusively owned by farmers, whose limited financial means dictated the need for a single farm dog capable as an all-around working, hunting, guard and gentle house breed.
The breed's appearance and purpose have not changed. In order to optimize the working traits of the working farm dog in earlier days the Stabyhoun was often mixed with another old and rare Friesian breed, the Wetterhoun.
However, in 1942 Stabij owners organized for official breed recognition and crossbreeding between the Stabyhoun and Wetterhoun was halted in an effort to prevent the extinction of the increasingly rare breeds.
Today the Stabyhoun enjoys a small but thoroughly devoted following among Dutch sportsmen and homeowners. Its numbers are increasing slowly but steadily. This breed has caught the attention of dog lovers in the United Kingdom, Scandinavia and North America.
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Wikipedia