Welcome to the Torfheide Kennels
Why Entlebucher Mountain Dogs?
I started with the Encyclopaedia of Dogs and found a breed that was not only beautiful to look at but which was described as ‘very gentle, cheerful, amusing and friendly, inclined above all to playing with children, and, if necessary, defending them.’ I fell in love with the idea of the breed and in over eighteen years of ownership I have not been disappointed. No two dogs are the same and our dogs have had energy levels varying from low to high. However, they are all great ambassadors for the breed.
Why Torfheide?
Every Kennel name tells a story. Alfie’s is ‘van de Tiendenschuur’ which means ‘from the tithe barn’ in Flemish. Shadow’s was attributed by the Kennel Club as her breeder didn’t plan to have other litters. Wilma is ‘vom Rickental’ from Rickental in Switzerland.
We were living on ‘Torfheidedreef’ when Alfie came into our lives. It is a beautiful Flemish word meaning ‘turf and heather street’ – so Torfheide simply means ‘turf and heather’ in Flemish.
Why the commitment to do things right?
We love this breed. Globally it has a very small gene pool. In order to ensure there is a strong healthy breed for the future we are committed to breeding to the very highest standards. We aim to ensure genetic diversity is improved through low inbreeding coefficients. We endeavour to avoid repeat matings of the same pair, to broaden the gene pool. We try to avoid overbreeding of any stud dog for the same reasons. Good dog breeding is not about how many puppies you produce. It is about the quality of those puppies in terms of health, temperament and conformation to the breed standard in the short term and about the long term development and sustainability of the breed in the long term. We want future generations to enjoy this breed as much as we do now and that requires long-term thinking rather than short-term gain.