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I've been showing Keeshonden since 1991, even though I bought my first in 1988. A few things had me preoccupied when I bought Misty, besides I didn't even purchase her with the intent to show her or any dog, for that matter.....

I was getting close to the end of my days in college, and had been waiting patiently to get a dog when I would have more time to spend with one. Being raised around dogs all my life, it was hard to be without one. My dad raised field trial beagles and pointers throughout my childhood. I attended many an early-morning beagle trial with my father during my younger days. He even took me coon hunting in the middle of the night when I was 12 years old, when we had Walkers, much to my mothers annoyance. And, there were many days of shooting at quail when we raised the Pointers. (Notice I said "at"). I assisted in many a c-section with our veterinarian in the middle of the night, which I guess would explain why I ended up in that field.

So......I saw an adult Keeshond at my boyfriends Optometrist. She caught my eye, for sure, and I asked about her. I liked her personality, so I checked out The Complete Keeshond at my local library. After reading this book, they seemed to be everything I wanted in a dog. After looking at a local litter out of the newspaper and hearing the sire didn't have "spectacles", somehow in my novice mind, that caught my attention enough to research further and not buy that first available puppy. This was a hard decision, because I had been waiting three years to have a dog.

My local kennel club pointed me in the direction of a breeder in my area, who referred me to a breeder in Texas. My initial intentions were to acquire a good quality companion. I drove to Dallas to get MISTY (Ch. Shalynn's Prairie Mist, CD ROM) when she was 8 weeks old. She was sold as a pet with the option to show.

After one fun match, I was hooked (she didn't even win!!!!). My first dog show was the Dallas specialty, where she did win her puppy class everyday. I won't bore you with the rest of the details, but I will say that I was very lucky to start with such a wonderfully sound, stable dog. She is the foundation of all that I have today. She only had two litters and a singleton puppy. Out of 12 puppies total, 7 finished their AKC Championship, which earned her the ROM title. She is the mother, grandmother, great grand mother and great great grandmother of all the champions I have bred, which to date, would be 50.

I used to spend a lot of time with the dogs visiting nursing homes, a developmental center for mentally handicapped young people, and chemical dependency rehabilitation facilities. I also train them in obedience and agility. Lately, it seems I am unable to participate in these activities with the dogs as much as I used to. The rigors of campaigning two specials and making major career changes have limited my free time. But, they will always be activities I enjoy doing with the dogs when I can. They certainly have the temperaments and intelligence for it and we still think that's most important to breed for in this wonderful breed.