Why do I have this domainname ?
First of all I never wanted a homepage or website.Second, I believe it is not necessary to give more publicity to this kind of breed.
In addition, I already delivered some material to the site of DIGI DOC
When in 1998 Dieng died I decide that there must be something more then a scrapbook with some photos.
Therefore, this is a site about the Saarlooswolfhond, but for me it is for Dieng, Bromo and Gentle.
My wife and me decided that we want dogs that are very close to nature, so our first thought went to a Siberian husky.
We came back from Indonesia in 1987 and we saw on the airport somebody with two beautiful dogs, we never have seen that kind of dog before.
After a little talk with the guy, we found out that this are Saarlooswolfdogs at the age of 7 months.
Then we ended up at madam Zwart, and we bought two Saarlooswolfdogs.
Our preference went out to two gray dogs, but when they where born we get two brown pups.
There where eleven pups and the one we choose, we named Bromo and Dieng.
These are names from two volcanos on Java.
Bromo was the boss of the whole litter of pups, when he went to eat the rest must wait until he was finished.
He even tried to impose his mother and sometimes he succeeds.
Dieng was more in the background he was much lower in the hierarchy of the litter.
So Bromo was the Alfa and Dieng was a Beta dog.
Bromo and Dieng or there full names Luna Bromo Zwart van Helmond and his brother Lobo Dieng Zwart van Helmond arrived at our place when they where 7 weeks old
My father and my wife drove to Helmond to pick up the newcomers.
Before they leave at Helmond Bromo take's his first swimming lesson in the local pond, he did not liked this experience.
My father was not happy with these two in his car because they where very sick, they puke and did all the other dirty things to.
When they arrived they where empty, so they where hungry we feed them but they never stopped, on the photo it looks they can explode any moment.
When they grow up they never has broken anything in the house, but in the garden a lot more.
Stealing like "de Dief" they only did once. Dieng stool once a big peace of cheese and Bromo a box of cookies, but whit the cookies he walked to his floormat where Dieng was waiting for him, so I was in time to take it back.
When we are at home, then they can walk everywhere they want on the yard, most of the time they are outside in the garden.
Dieng was more are "housedog" I mean he liked to be inside with the family, Bromo was always outside in the garden.
The first years they where very interested in gardening, they cut a lot of trees and bushes.
Also they replaced a lot of trees and bushes, if we want to plant some new trees we wait until they are out of side.
Most of the time they have a different taste of gardening, so they pulled everything out what we try to plant.
Once we have plant a small bambooplant it lived for 2 hours, then Bromo and Dieng came outside and the wiped it from the face of the earth.
For some holes they must have worked together, because they where very steep, so one of them has very dirty eyes (filled with sand).
It was not that they have the intention to brake out of the garden or kennel, because if they really wanted to escape it was possible.
They do not like fruit either, because they killed two fruit tree in the garden they are meat eaters especially rabbits.
Sometimes we take them out to the countryside together with Sjakie the Briard.
Sjakie was not interested into rabbits or something else, he walked together with us.
Therefore, the two brothers started their own hunt at the rabbits and everything else that moved on four legs.
Dieng runs along with Bromo but he was never the winner, Bromo was still the Boss.
Bromo is also a big hunter for cats, in other dogs he was not interested "why give attention to the lower class" that is what we think he thought.
Dieng therefore was always interested in other dogs.
When they get older every year in the spring, they start a fight to set the hierarchy.
Dieng was never able to win from Bromo but he was getting stronger every year.
So the battle was getting heavier and heavier, one time things look bad Dieng had a very big cut from his nose to his eye.
It was so bad that I took him to the vet and there he was getting some stitches under narcose.
Then we made a big mistake because Dieng must sleep inside the house because of his narcose, and we put Bromo in his kennel outside.
In the morning when we let Bromo out the fight starts again, because the loser "Dieng" has won the price "sleeping inside" so Bromo jumped at him again.
In spite of their battle every year, they never let each other down when there were troubles with other dogs.
One day Sjakie came for a visit, but Sjakie thought that he could play the boss on there own territory.
Bromo and Dieng where thinking something completely different, at that moment they worked perfectly together.
So I have to rescue Sjakie otherwise the two brothers made a mess of him.
From that moment it was not possible anymore to visit Sjakie because of his dominant behavior.
I think that, when this litter has came together after 8 years that Dieng was moved some places up in the hierarchy of the litter.
Because all these he has to fight against Bromo, so he had a good education.
For the record, these dogs are no fighters and Bromo and Dieng never started a fight they only defend themselves.
When Dieng was 11 years old he gets ill and there was no way to make him better.
So after 3 months we made the most difficult decision in our life, and we must put him to sleep.
We where afraid what should happen with Bromo they where together for 11 years, we decided that Bromo come with us to the vet.
Bromo was looking how his brother was put to sleep forever but he was not much interested.
When we left the vet we never noticed that Bromo was missing his brother.
I think that he 3 months ago made up his mind about Dieng.
Bromo is at this moment 14 years old and he is still the boss, but Gentle give's him a lot of resistance.
Sometimes it looks difficult for Bromo to put Gentle on his back, but he succeeds every time until now.
Gentle is now 3 years and getting stronger and Bromo is not so supple anymore.
Bromo has a problem with his back, sometimes he avoids a confrontation with Gentle.
So Bromo is getting older and he sleeps a lot, when Gentle is playing with my mother in the garden he looks at them with one eye from his favorite place under a tree.
Bromo is still the Boss ?
