Keeper acquired her name when Kelsea finally produced a litter with GIRLS in it, and I kept saying, “There’s gotta be a KEEPER in there!” Keeper had a great topline, harsh coat, wonderful ear set, and great movement that set her apart from her sisters.  Here she took a Terrier Group Three at a Match Show.		Much to my disappointment, Keeper’s tail curled over her back after six month of age; we only showed her a few times, but felt that was literally waving a fault under the judge’s noses and decided to discontinue showing her.
Despite her “fault”, Keeper still had a lot to offer the breed; she passed all her health clearances (CHIC), and obtained her CGC (AKC’s Canine Good Citizen exam).  She just seemed too nice a dog to waste in a breeding program, so she was bred to Ch. Conundrum Rambling Blues, CGC (CHIC)		As it turns out, Keeper did not enjoy pregnancy and had a difficult partial delivery of her litter in which two puppies had to be revived, and ended up with a C-section for the final pup, which was dead.  Only one of the surviving pups thrived, and so Keeper was eventually spayed.
I have always admired those who did agility — it looked like the dogs had such fun, and Keeper had such a quick mind (look at that intense gaze in the photo above center right!).  I always said she’d make a good agility dog, and since she obviously decided against motherhood, I thought I would pull her out of retirement and see if she would like this sport.  Well, it would be an understatement to say, “She loves it!”, as this dog *knows* when it is Monday (our night for class) and “bugs me” all day, letting me know that *she knows* it’s our night out!		At our first trial weekend (dog *and* owner), Keeper captured TWO legs in Novice Jumpers With Weaves.  Not only did she “pass”, but she garnered a First and Second Place with two big rosette ribbons!  On to complete that title!! At our second trial weekend, Keeper finished her Novice Jumpers With Weaves title with a first place.  She was moved up to Open Jumpers and ran a clean run her first time in it — but in my caution to make no errors, we ran 10 seconds over time.  🙁   On to Standard and Jumpers!

In September of 2018, Keeper reached her 16th birthday, alert and in good health. She continues to run the house, letting us know when it’s time to eat and time to go out!