Mrs. Ooms-Tiemeyer and the Bouviers "van de Zaanhoeve"

Caya Krijnse-Locker, with a little assistance from Jim Engel

For me a highlight of my trip to Holland last year was an introduction to Mrs. Omms-Tiemeyer, famous for so many years for her van de Zaanhoeve Bouvier line and then later as a Judge and friend of the Bouvier.  Her passing in October brought forth many memories in the Dutch Bouvier Nieuws.  This so much intrigued me that I wrote my friend J. W. Krijnse-Locker, who you may recognize as the owner of the Dutch Kennel "Caya's Home", and asked her to summarize some of the memories of this Dutch founder.  Her reply is as follows:

Mrs.  Ooms-Tiemeyer was born on the fourth of November in 1899 at Koog aan de Zaan, which is just North West of Amsterdam.  There were many mills along the river Zaan and in her childhood she loved to climb them to overlook the country.  At home they had a Dutch Shepherd and a Saint Bernard.  Among other interests, she excelled at sailing.  In a magazine of the time one can read that she was so successful in a sailing contest that she could not herself carry all the prizes that she had won.  It was for that time quite remarkable for a woman to sail a boat by herself, let alone compete successfully.

Even more remarkable was the gift she asked of her fiance; for she wanted a Bouvier.  She had seen such dogs on a vacation in the Ardennes, saw such dogs herding cattle on their own.   She was so impressed at this sight that she went to the farmer to hear more about these dogs.  So her fiance bought a Bouvier for her.  (In the Netherlands a woman often combines her maiden name after her husband's name when she marries.  Thus in this case Miss Tiemeyer became Mrs. Ooms-Tiemeyer upon her marriage to Mr. Tinus Ooms.)  This first Bouvier was Alwina van de Heysteeg, born on the 21st of April in 1927, a daughter of Champion Bruno de Rustique.

Some years later she began to breed under the kennel name "van de Zaanhoeve."  Her first breeding bitch was Santa, born in 1935 out of Fred Bea van Maarland and a female known simply as Uda.  Santa bred to Champion Kamboro produced Alida Santa van de Zaanhoeve, destined to have great influence on the breed in the future.

She had much support through the knowledge of Mr. Koeneman and the other Bouvier breeders of the era, such as J. Meyer, the first secretary of the Dutch club and Th de Haas who became well known as a judge.  These were exciting days for the Bouvier, where the breed was rapidly evolving.  The champions (Club Match Winners) of 1943, 1948, 1949, 1950 and 1952 were from her kennel.  In those times there was much more a spirit of cooperation among breeders and lovers of the Bouvier to preserve the good qualities of the breed.

Among the van de Zaanhoeve line was the influential Dutch Champion Basco, whose pedigree is shown elsewhere.

Mr. Koeneman persuaded her of the need to become a judge, so she could have more influence on the breed.  Just before the examination day she had an automobile accident, which caused a broken rib.  Dr. Oskam, Secretary of the Raad van Beheer (Dutch Kennel Club) cancelled the entire examination until Mrs. Ooms was able to attend the tests.  In 1957 she became a judge and from that day forward she ceased her breeding activities.  Later she also became a judge of the Belgian Shepherds.

In addition to her Bouviers, she had owned some Groenendaeler (Belgian Sheepdogs) and Laekense Shepherds (the rough coated version of the Belgian Shepherd, hardly ever seen in America) and a Cocker Spaniel called Pehter.

As a woman whose life was filled with Bouviers and Belgian Shepherds, Mrs. Ooms naturally became a member of honor of the Dutch Bouvier Club and the Dutch Association of Belgian Shepherds.  She received the "Prijs van Verdienste" from the Bouvier club, and, also, in honor of serving for more than 25 years as a judge she received the Golden Honor Pin from the Raad van Beheer.

As if this was not enough, she also provided animal first aid in the Zaanstreek district.  Informed by the police, she would go out on her bike to help injured animals.  Small animals were transported on the bike, bigger animals were no problem because she knew everyone in the region, and could always count on help.

Her home was also a shelter for Bouviers with a "bad attitude" and she trained them till they were completely re-socialized.  During the Second World War she had 17 Bouviers at home.  Later on this was no longer possible.

(Thus concludes Caya's report, hopefully she will continue to share with us news of the Dutch Bouvier scene.)