Summary

We believe that the major aim of breeding Drentsche Patrijshonden should be to preserve the breed as true as possible to its history and country of origin, while thoughtfully considering the realities of modern life and ever-evolving best practices in breeding. Consideration should be kept to maintain and improve the breed’s health, conformation, temperament, and working ability. While different breeders and individual pairings may have different priorities, we believe the long-term aim should be to keep all four of these qualities in balance.

At Meliora we specifically aim to produce Drents that excel in scent-based activities, whether that be real-world hunting, field trials, scent sports, search and rescue, tracking, or any other detection pursuit. Our ideal Drent oozes confidence, independence, and joy for the hunt/search, is cooperative with the handler and pleasant in the home, and has the physical soundness to hold up to long days and difficult terrain.

Health

Given its small population and the need to maintain genetic diversity in the long haul, we believe in breeding to avoid health issues in the Drent based on prioritizing by the seriousness of the effect on a dog’s quality of life and length of life of a disease. For the Drent, here at Meliora we place the heaviest emphasis on avoidance of epilepsy, followed closely by hip and/or elbow dysplasia and diseases of the eyes. Other inheritable diseases should be tested for and avoided where possible while considering the severity of the issue alongside maintaining genetic diversity in the population overall – as genetic diversity is one of the largest markers of overall health.

Conformation

We believe that form follows function, and therefore what a Drent looks like is inextricably tied to who they are. We value studying the breed standard, as well as historical images of noteworthy Drents of the past, and endeavoring to produce Drents as close to the ideal conformation as reasonably possible in balance with the other considerations of health, temperament, and working ability. Correct structure is also part of correct conformation, and lends itself to dogs who are less injury-prone and more able to hold up to long days and difficult terrain.

There are two acceptable “styles” of Drent – Nimrod and Clovis. At Meliora, we prefer the Nimrod type, for which the breed standard was written after, which has a tighter lip, less blocky skull, and is less heavily boned than the Clovis type.

Temperament

We believe a Drent’s temperament should follow the Three Pillars of the breed; hunting, watchdog, and companion. We aim to produce Drents who are cooperative, intelligent, and joyful. The Drent may be aloof to strangers and should be expected to alert bark, but should not be fearful nor aggressive to people or dogs at maturity when properly socialized and exposed to a wide variety of people, places, sounds, and activities as a young dog. The Drent should be a loyal and loving companion and should thrive when trained and treated with consistency, fairness, and fun.

However, that does not mean the Drent is the right breed for every family, or that every Drent is the right fit for any specific family. At Meliora, we believe in doing our due diligence (including external, unbiased evaluations) to successfully match puppies with families based on each individual puppy’s temperament and the family’s needs and goals – and, if for some reason there is not a good fit or circumstances change at any point in the puppy’s lifetime, we will support finding that better fit for the benefit of the dog and family.

Ability

We believe the ideal Drent should be a versatile dog who is capable of doing almost any activity, but should excel in hunting and/or related scent detection disciplines primarily due to it’s historical purpose as a hunting dog. While not all Drents will be active hunting dogs, we believe in endeavoring to preserve the ability within the breed and provide outlets for cooperative searching behavior through scentwork, tracking, and other detection activities.

Community

We believe that anyone who chooses to work with our program becomes part of our community network. We do not sell puppies and disappear – we endeavor to maintain an ongoing relationship with each family our program touches. We have a vested interest in these dogs, and will do our best to support, mentor, and encourage families near and far.

We also endeavor to maintain connections with other Drent enthusiasts and breeders, such that together we may have a greater positive impact on the breed together than as individuals.