Support Dog

We (Willem and Alinda) have two daughters. Lisanna is 7 years old and Rosalin is 4 years old. Rosalin is multiple disabled and has the development of a 6 month old child. Through a previous encounter with a service dog, we saw that Rosalin was very curious and that the dog quietly approached and they had 'contact' together. It was very special to see what this did to her. After many conversations and careful consideration we made the choice to get a dog that could also play a therapeutic role in our family. We came across Zaanse Doodles in a very special way. We told Monica our story and she was immediately enthusiastic and knew for sure that there would be a litter of puppies suitable as assistance/therapy dogs. And when Pucky and Sepp's puppies were born, we were called by Monica. She told us that a beautiful litter had been born and that there might be the right pup for us. To see if there was a match between our youngest daughter and one of the puppies, we put her in the middle of the litter. She is quite busy and noisy, so it could easily happen that the pups would sit anxiously in a corner. But the opposite happened, the pups ran up to her and greeted her enthusiastically. After that most of the pups went their own way again, but there was one pup that stayed next to her very sweetly and patiently, until the moment he had the chance to sniff her and make contact. And not only did he respond so sweetly to our youngest daughter, but he also climbed on our eldest daughter's lap and they both enjoyed each other's attention. Monica observed the whole situation and she quickly saw which puppies might be suitable. And just that sweet, patient puppy came into our family, named Puck.


Puck is a perfect match for our family. He is very sweet, tolerant and sociable. He is not a busy dog, which suits our daughter very well. He has an important role for everyone in our family. My husband and I enjoy the attention we give him. The walks on the beach and in the woods do us very well. For our eldest daughter, he is the playmate she never had. With him she can play and run, which she cannot do with her sister. And for our youngest daughter he is an incentive to move more, she follows him when he walks through the house, she reaches for him when he comes to her and she enjoys his warmth and breathing when he sits with her. We receive special training so that we can develop and deepen the contact between our youngest daughter and him. Our daughter cannot talk, so she cannot give him commands. So we train him to approach us when she asks for his attention in a certain way. Of course you can't force this and it has to be a natural process, but you can stimulate and reward it.

Puck is an enrichment for our whole family, we are very blessed with him.

Monica guided us well on the way to finding a puppy and gave us tips. We are very grateful to her. Her knowledge, experience and empathy have led to us having a wonderful dog.