In the late 1700s this breed became known as the Dutch Keeshond because of its political prominence, even though it was not officially the national dog of Holland. In 1781, Holland was divided into two factions -- the Orangists, whose leader was William of Orange; and the Patriots, who followed Cornelius de Gyselaer. Cornelius' nickname was "Kees" and he had one of these Spitz dogs as his constant companion. It became known as Kees' hond ('hond' being the Dutch word for dog). Because of this the breed became the mascot of the rebelling party. It is interesting to note that in those days it was fashionable to keep the Keeshond in a cut similar to the Poodle cut. After the defeat of the Patriot party, it became dangerous to own one of these dogs because of their political significance and most of them were destroyed. Fortunately the breed was revived about a century later because of a few loyal farmers who kept these dogs to herd their flocks and hunt skunks, and barge owners who valued the dogs as watch dogs and companions.

I find that there are many incorrect pronunciations given to the word Keeshond. The correct pronunciation is "Caze - hawnd". It is not pronounced "Keys hound". The breed is not classified as a hound. It is a hond, which as explained earlier is the Dutch word for dog. The plural is shown by adding "en" to the end of the word, which is the Dutch plural, thus giving us the word KEESHONDEN.