The Merlsheimer is a new crossbreed hailing from Germany with loving, friendly and sociable temperament. It was developed in 2008 by Kerstin Wiehage-Mürmann by crossing various herding dogs, Poodles and a relatively unknown German dog breed known as Elo.

On average, the Merlsheimer is around 43 cm tall and 10 kg heavy, which is 17 inch and 22 lbs. The dog should not be much bigger than that, because one of the reasons why these dogs were developed was to create the best possible companion dog for families and even for seniors. And indeed, the Merlsheimer is perfect for both groups.

The coat of Merlsheimer is most often similar to Poodle coat, but they can have longer and straighter hair like Elo dog as well. But the typical coat is slightly wavy and curly just like the Poodles coat and the great benefit of this coat is, that it does not shed, or it sheds only minimally. This type of a coat will need some grooming and maintenance and it should be cut few times a year to keep it in manageable length. Regular brushing is also very beneficial to keep the coat in good condition and to redistribute natural oils all over the coat.

The coat should be in solid light color or in piebald color. The coat is light and the dog can be easily seen in dark.

The Merlsheimer has perfect temperament for living with family or seniors. Most often it is relatively calm, gentle and affectionate dog breed. They do like cuddling, but it is not a total coach potatoe and it is recommended to provide the Merlsheimer with at least two good hours of daily exercise. It can be longer walks, vigorous playtime or fun training sessions.

These dogs are pretty playful and can be good partners for kids, but of course, you should never leave any dog breed with very young child unsupervised. Most Merlsheimers are able to be socialized with other dogs or other pets in the family as well. But some Merlsheimers might show herding, do not forget, that this is still a crossbreed in development and its temperament is not completely predictable. But most likely, the Merlsheimer will be perfect companion dog with balanced temperament that will love its whole family.

​The Merlsheimer is typically quite healthy dog breed with average lifespan around 14 years. It should not suffer much from any serious health issues, but of course, it can still suffer from the typical doggy issue, like allergies, infections, some eye problems or joint problems. But overall, this is pretty healthy and hardy dog breed.

 A long believed theory claims that 1 dog year equals to 7 human years. Well, today we know this is definitely not true, especially during the puppyhood. During the puppyhood dogs mature much quicker and some 1 year old dogs can be fully grown-up individuals.
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In reality, different dog breeds mature in different pace. While most small dog breeds will reach their adult size at about 12 months, giant breeds may not reach full physical and mental maturity until they are 2 years old. So typically, puppyhood lasts somewhere between 1 – 2 years.

And even the puppyhood as a whole can be divided into several, very different stages. When the puppy is born up until 3 or 4 weeks, it is considered as a newborn. Their senses are not fully working, they dont see, hear or smell yet and most of the time they spend sleeping. After they are 2 weeks old, the pups start to interact with their mother, brothers and sisters and they are opening their eyes.

Typically, when they are 4 weeks old, puppies can walk, their teeth emerges and they are showing emotions by wagging tail or even by sweet barking.

The puppyhood phase between 4-12 weeks is one of the most important. During this stage, puppies will be aware of their surroundings and they are starting to create relationships with their siblings, but also with people. They are learning how to interact with others and they start to play with each other.

At the age of 8 weeks most pups will go home to their new owners and families. They are old enough to adjust to new environment and still have high fear treshold.

You can start training your puppy at the age of 8 weeks and they are slowly capable of understanding the basic commands, such as their name or sit. You should also start socializing your puppy as soon as possible, but in very safe and controlled manner.

Puppies are like sponge during this period, so you should try to give them as many positive experiences as possible. Definitely avoid any scary or painful experiences. Puppies are forming extremely strong bond with its owners during this time.

This period ends, when the puppy is around 12 weeks old. After that, the pre-adolescent, or someone call it as testing period, starts. It lasts from 3-6 months of puppy age. During this time, puppies are becoming less fearful and much more curious about the world. They are testing their boundaries within the world, but they also test limits with their owners and other animals. Problematic behaviour can occur.

After 3 months of age, puppies are ready for any training you want to do with them. They are capable of learning all the basic commands at this age and it is the best time to start real proper training or to sign them to training program.

This stage is also probably the worst for chewing and biting, since the pups go through the teething. Make sure your dog has enough chewing toys enable, so they do not chew on your shoes or furniture.

The last puppyhood stage starts when the dog is 6 months old. It is possibly the most challenging one and yes, it is the teenage phase. It can last from 6 to 12 or even 18 or 24 months, depending on the breed. Your cute little puppy starts to produce a lot of hormones, which may lead in behaviour changes.

They may challenge their owners or other dogs in household to find their place in the family. They are very often bored and need plenty and plenty of exercise. During this period, most puppies will reach their sexual maturity, which can lead to some problematic behaviour, such as disobedience. Be very patient with pups, do not physically punish them, but be very strict and firm.

Many puppies will become extremely curious explorers during this time and they might run on further distance away from you.

Here are some of the signs that your dog hits puberty. Their testicles descend, or they start first heat cycle. They might become less friendly, moody, more interested in roaming, dogs might start lifting hind legs while peeing, they might start scent marking, they might start to show agression towards dogs of the same sex. Some pups will suffer from something called „selective defness“, which means they obey your commands only when they want to, some might become manipulative with you and some might become destructive.

Most of these behaviours will start to diminish as your puppy matures as long as you keep up training and socialization through these periods. But this is most likely the hardest period of dog ownership. Prepare yourself with a lot of patience, you will need it.

After the age of 18 months, most dogs will reach full emotional maturity. Of course, there are some dogs that acts like playful pups much longer than that and they are known to be puppylike for whole their life. Such breeds include Golden Retrievers, Boxers, Labradors or Bulldogs.

And as i said, physical maturity occurs much sooner in smaller dogs like Chihuahuas or Yorkies. Those are fully physically mature at the age of 12 months. On the other hand Great Dane, Bullmastiffs, Saint Bernards or English Mastiffs will not reach their adult size until they are 20 or 24 months old

As you can see, each dog breed matures differently. But now you will have approximate idea about the different puppyhood stages and remember the rule of thumb, smaller dogs mature faster, giant dogs mature slower.

 We all know the Shar-Pei dog breed. But did you know, that they might look like this as well? It is because Shar-Peis come in three different coat types. The traditional very short, bristly and harsh „horse“ coat, the slightly longer, about 2 cm long „brush“ coat and the rarest of all, long and fluffy „bear“ coat.
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It is important to say, that the bear coat variety is not officially recognized in the breed standard, so you wont be able to participate in dog shows with the bear coat Shar pei. The long and fluff bear coat is caused by a recessive gene, which both parents must carry. We do not know on 100% what is causing this gene, but the most likely theory is, that it is throwback to their Chow Chow ancestors. And indeed, the coat of a Chow Chow and bear coat Shar Pei is very very similar.

It is important to say, that this gene can be carried by the horse and brush coated Shar Peis as well, which means, that rarely, a bear coated pup might be born in a litter of short coated parents. Most breeders do not encourage breeding bear coated Shar Peis, mostly due to the fact, that this kind of a coat is not standardized and it is by far the rarest of the three coat types.

But even though the bear coat Shar Pei is not officially recognized by majority of kennel clubs, it is still a Shar Pei. Their temperament is the same as the temperament of horse coat and brush coat types and the only main difference is the coat. The bear coat Shar Pei also have a soft undercoat under the beautiful fluffy outer coat. It is also harder to see the traditional wrinkles of Shar Pei, but they are present under the coat.

The dense coat makes the bear coat Shar Pei little bit better for colder climates as well. The bear coat Shar Pei does shed some deal of fur, more heavily during shedding seasons. You should definitely brush their coat regularly to remove any dead and loose hair, which will help to minimize the shedding.

The grooming routine is slightly harder with the bear coat than other coat varieties. Longer fur can be prone a little bit to matting and tangling and again, regular brushing will help with this possible issue.

You should also take proper care about the wrinkles and skin folds and ensure that they are clean and dry. Otherwise, they might develop skin fold infections or mange. It is adviced to start cleaning the skin folds from the puppyhood, so the dog is used to it.

The wrinkles might not be that visible as with other Shar Pei coat types, but they are there and you should take care of them. Other than that, you should regularly check their eyes, ears, nails and teeth and clean them or clip them if needed.

There are not many other differences between the bear coat and traditionally coated Shar Peis. The height, weight and body type, face type, it should all be the same. The typical temperament is also identical for all coat types. The official breed standard describes the temperament as calm, independent, loyal and affectionate to his family.

And indeed, this is amazing loyal family companion. They might be alert and suspicious towards strangers and they might have stronger protective instincts. Some of them are also very independent, some even say stubborn, but this is vastly influenced by early socialization. But overall, this is very loving, gentle, curious and affectionate dog towards its own family.

1) Ancestry
The Wetterhoun is an old Dutch breed. The exact ancestry and history of this breed is unknown, but it is believed, that the Wetterhoun is at least 400 years old dog breed and that it was developed by crossing various Gypsy dogs with local indigenous Frisian dogs, very likely the already extinct Old Water Dog. The breed is native to the province of Friesland in the Netherlands.

​2) Name
The name Wetterhoun comes from the West Frisian Wetterhûn meaning “water dog.” In english speaking countries the breed is often times named as Frisian Water dog. Sometimes, the breed is also nicknamed as Dutch Spaniel or Otterhoun.

3) Almost extinct
Just like many other European hunting breeds, even the Wetterhoun almost dissappeared after the Second World War. Without the efforts of breed fanciers and lovers, the breed would most likely completely vanished. But these fanciers, most notably Jan Bos, found remaining specimen of the breed and they saved the breed from extinction. Today, the breed is still considered as rare, but definitely not on the verge of extinction anymore and it is officially recognized by all the major kennel clubs around the world, such as FCI or AKC.

4) Hunting
Originally, the Wetterhoun was used to hunt in water and they were most often hunting otters and polecats. Today, they are most often used for retrieving game, both in and out of the water and to hunt small mammals and waterflow. This is outstanding hunter, which is very loyal to the hunter, have very high prey drive, excellent nose and great stamina, all very important traits for a hunting breed.

5) Watchdog
The Wetterhoun is primarily a hunter, but it can also be a very good watchdog. Their extreme loyalty to its owners and family combined with their alertness makes them perfect for being a reliable watchdog. This breed is naturally suspicious of strangers, but they should never be agressive without a reason. This is not the biggest barker, but they will most likely bark when they will hear or see something suspicious around their home.

6) Companion
This is not only a worker, but also confident, strong willed, loyal and quite lively companion. I would not recommend this breed to novice owners, but with patient and firm training, these dogs can learn almost anything, it really is very smart dog. They can be socialized to live with other dog without problems, but other household pets might be problematic due to their higher prey drive. The Wetterhoun can also be good playful partner for kids, but of course, you should never leave any dog breed with a very young child unsupervised.

7) Water lover
The Wetterhoun is not a coach potatoe. If they are not used for hunting, than they will need proper amount of exercise every day to stay healthy and happy. It can be long walks, jogs, hikes, vigorous playtime.. You name it. And of course, they will love to swim and you should let them to swim from time to time! It is a water dog after all. Without enough exercise, this breed can develop some unwanted behaviour, such as destruction.

8) Size
The Wetterhoun is a medium sized dog breed with average height between 55-59 cm, which is 21-23 inch and weight between 25-35 kg, which is 55-77 lbs. Females are naturally slightly smaller than males.

9) Coat and color
The Wetterhoun is characterized by a very dense, curly coat of medium length. It is an all purpose weather resistant and water repellant coat which is extremely good for their purpose as water dogs. The coat is oily to touch. The coat colors include black and brown, either solid or combined with white, with or without ticking and roaning.

10) Maintenance
Speaking of coat it is important to mention the maintenance as well and luckily, the Wetterhoun has only minimal grooming requirements. Occasional brush will keep the coat in best possible condition. No other grooming is required. Just like with any other breed, you should regularly check their eyes, ears, nails and teeth and clip them or clean them if needed.