I was on a trip to Oregon this past February and at breakfast one of the mornings, a friend was talking about someone being the “keeper of an orchard”. Suddenly it came to me – Keeper! That’s it! That is going to be our new golden retriever’s name! And so it was to become~

Keeper aka Tony, was on his way from China at that very moment, going through customs and being bathed in New York and then being flown into Las Vegas – an arduous process for sure. We had been waiting 5 years to get another golden retriever and we couldn’t be more ready to meet this new boy. Keeper was picked up in Las Vegas by Bob and Becky and taken to Prescott to be fostered for a week until I got back from my trip. I am so appreciative to both. We got some great pictures of Keeper playing with Becky’s two golden girls in the snow and then finally the day came for us to have him. When Becky arrived with him, I couldn’t keep my eyes off him. He was so handsome! He got introduced to our two cats, as well as our two dogs, Murphy, and Thor. Everyone settled in nicely.

Keeper didn’t know anything about water or swimming when he arrived. He was quickly introduced to the concept so he would be safer when beaching or boating (he wears a life jacket when he’s on the boat). He was scared to death the first time we went to the beach. I was finally able to coax him out into the water where he clung to me for his life despite us being in about 2 feet of water. He soon launched out on his own and has become a regular water dog. He can’t contain himself when it’s time to go “shwimmin’”. We have also taken him on RV glamping trips, and he is a natural camp dog – a great surprise!

Keeper is a handsome, rascally, love bug, and we are so happy he’s ours. We are so thankful to everyone who worked so hard to get these dogs from China – we will never know how much work and expense went into this project. We are also deeply grateful to the Chinese people involved in rescuing these beautiful animals.

Susan & Jill