The De Hoge Veluwe National Park in Otterlo is one of the largest and most beautiful national parks in the Netherlands. This national park covers around 5500 hectares of heathland, driftsand landscape and woodland, and is home to red deer, roe deer, wild boar and moufflon (wild mountain sheep), as well as being renowned for rare native plant species. The Kröller-Müller Museum, in the middle of the park, houses a large collection of Van Gogh paintings as well as works by Mondriaan, Picasso and Seurat. This national park is one of Holland’s hidden treasures. Hidden treasure, however, comes not only in the form of alluring landscapes but in the form of a highly accomplished sheepdog handler; Serge van der Zweep.
Serge and wife Ellen come from the eastern part of the Netherlands near Heteren, a small town 60 miles east of Amsterdam and just 30 minutes south of the De Hoge Veluwe National Park. Serge needs little introduction. He is a 12-time national champion in the Netherlands with 5 different dogs (Ken, Lynn, Roy, Glen and Lass), a 5-time winner of the Continental Championship and he is a 3-time winner of the brace competition at the Continental. In addition, Serge has captured 3rd place in both of the 2002 and 2005 World Sheepdog Trials. No doubt about it, Serge is a fantastic, and consistently top class, handler. Perhaps lessor well known is his prowess as a coach and mentor. Ellen would have to be among his star pupils. Her 4th place finish at the 2007 Dutch National championship solidified her spot on the Dutch team for the 2008 World Trial. Incidentally, Serge took first and second place at this event.
Serge did not grow up in farming families. At the age of 10, he got his first pet border collie. Eric Halsall’s Book Sheepdogs: My Faithful Friends followed and kindled Serge’s passion for sheepdogs. Until several years ago, Serge was actively farming and had one of the larger flocks of sheep in the Netherlands – 700 head. The deadly Bluetongue Virus (BTV) and resulting high veterinary costs saw Serge sell most of their flock. The upside to this is he has been able to focus more on his dogs, and spend more time leading sheepdog training clinics. Handlers around the world are now taking advantage of Serge's expertise and tutelage.
Serge has benefited from the advice and expertise of a number of people throughout his career. Jim Jones taught Serge about reading sheep, while Gwyn Jones (Penmachno, Wales) and the late Alan Jones demonstrated stylish handling and pure class on the trial field.
Serge will once again be competing with Lass and Jim at the 2011 World Trials. Both dogs are Irish-bred, and both are fighters when the going gets tough. Jim is a natural. He is a great outrunner and is kind to his sheep. Lass is a great bitch when it gets tough. Like many people, Serge likes dogs that are good listeners, good outrunners, have plenty of power, and good sheep sense. They especially like dogs that fight when it gets difficult and never give up. Serge counsels people to put their energies into good dogs if you want good trial results. He also suggests watching top level handlers at trials, and to keep an open mind when you are training and trialling. A good coach helps too!