Keeper found us in January of 1995 on a very cold night. I had left the garage door open in anticipation of Deb returning from tennis practice, and when I opened the kitchen door to close the door I startled, and was startled by this BIG monster of a dog on the steps. At that time we had one very cool little cat and one very, very little, old, mean, grouchy, tiny -teacup poodle who doesn't like anyone except Deb and has not the first idea of how to be a REAL dog. The BIG, startled dog started to run out of the garage, but he stopped when I said something to him, and when I sat on the steps to re-assure him that he was not in trouble, he did me in - he walked over to me and put his HUGE head in my lap and let me scratch his ears. This was a REAL dog! I left some food and water out in the garage for him along with a blanket expecting him to be gone the next morning. He wasn't - he bounced around through the neighborhood for several days, returning to us for food and a place to sleep, but visiting all the kids and fellow canines in Streamwood. We placed ads in the paper and called local vets and the shelter, but no one claimed this BIG, friendly, high maintenance pooch, (the "big dog" did not like to be made to stay outside, and his XX large paws began to make mincemeat of my exterior doors). We came to a decision point with this lovable beast. We knew we could not just send him to a shelter and hope he found the perfect home and I accepted the fact that I could always repair any damage that he caused to the house, so "the big dog" officially became our new pet. We named him Keeper because of our involvement in soccer and because in spite of our efforts to " throw this fish back, he was a keeper". So, today, Keeper live in our house as much as he possibly can and our lives are far better for it. Oh yeah, the little grouchy poodle dog thing still is as ornery as ever and only gets along with Deb, but who cares, we've got " 'da man" in our house.
