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GCHS CH Keelypso's On The Threshold Of A Dream Polar Star, HOF

Cricket is out of the breeding between our Chili and Granite (Chipper's father). From early on, it was obvious she was going to be a spectacular girl. She won Winners Bitch and Best of Winners all three days that she was shown at the Nolan River Kennel Club shows in January, 2020 at 6 months of age. She then won Reserve Winners Bitch and Best Bred By Exhibitor the first day of the Colorado Kennel Club shows in Denver in February. Unfortunately, during the Bred-By group competition, she was scared by the Judge. It took some work to get her past that fear, so that she would stand for the Judge's exam. But, she came around and during a six show weekend in Kansas City that included two Keeshond Specialties, she won Reserve Winners Bitch three times, including at the first Specialty, and Winners Bitch once, at the second Specialty, for a 5 point major, which won her the Nan Greenwood Bred-By Exhibitor medallion. She received many high compliments from the Judges. One even commented she was one of the best put together Keeshonds she had ever judged and she would take Cricket home with her that day, if it weren't for the grooming requirements! We only had her at one show after that, In August 2020, after the Covid shutdown. She was totally out of coat and still won Reserve WB each day. This girl has impeccable movement and is very typey and we expect lots of wins for her!

May of 2021 and the shows opened up in Colorado! Yeah! Unfortunately, Cricket was deep into a coat blow and had some of her mane coat pulled out by our new Aussie puppy. She was still shown at the Flatirons show and won Reserve Winners Bitch the first day, but no such luck the other two. July was her second show for the year, still pretty out of coat, so no better than second in her class. August came along and she had put on a decent amount of coat. She took Winners Bitch 2 out of 3 days at the Greeley KC shows, both for 5 point majors, which completed her championship. A couple of weeks later at the Cheyenne KC shows she took a Select the first day, Best of Breed the second day, followed by a Group 1 in the Owner Handled competition. The last day she took Best Of Opposite. A week later she won Best of Breed 2 out of 3 days, with heavy competition, and BOS the other day at the All-Breed shows at the Evergreen Colorado KC shows, and got a Group 3 on the first day in the OH competition.

In October we were visiting family in Texas and decided to enter the Tyler KC shows. Cricket was the only Keeshond, so she won BOB. She then won a Group 4 the first day and Group 3 the second day in the regular groups, shown by another Keeshond breeder. And, she won a Group 2 in OH the first day and Group 1 and Reserve Best In Show in OH on the second day.

Her next show was in November at the Southern Colorado KC shows. She won BOS all 3 days and a Group 3 in OH on the first day. We then traveled to Chandler, AZ for the Scottsdale Dog Fanciers shows and the Arrowhead KC shows, with Cricket shedding coat the entire time. She won BOS the first, second and fourth days and Select on the third day. She took a Group 1 in OH the first day, a Group 3 the second day and a Group 2 the fourth day. Cricket is a real thrill to show!

Cricket has had so many wins and placements that it is hard to list them all. In January 2022 she won BOS each day at Nolan River and had an OH Group 3. Then she won BOB each day at the Corpus Christi shows and won an OH Group 2, Group 4, and Group 3 and a regular Group4. Her next shows were Big Spring KC and West Texas KC where she took BOS 3 days and BOB 1 day and won an OH Group 1. She then went to the shows in Kansas City, MO where she won a Select Award at the first Keeshond Specialty and an Award Of Merit at the second Specialty, a Select Award and a BOS at two of the All-Breed shows, along with an OH Group 1 and OH Best In Show at one AB show and an OH Group 3 at the last AB show. She then went to the Terry-All KC shows and got a Select Award one day. She was entered in the shows in Garden City, KS, but all of our dogs contracted kennel cough from a dog at the Terry-All shows, so we stayed home to recuperate.

We traveled to the Keeshond Club of America National in Ohio in early May where Cricket competed in the Top Keeshond Event, having ranked in the top 5 Keeshond bitches for the 2021 show year. She made the judges cut at the second show, but got no further. We then headed to Albuquerque, NM where she took BOS the first two days and BOB the last two days and won 2 OH Group 1's and 2 OH Group 4's. We went to Farmington, NM next for the Durango KC shows where she won BOS the first two days and BOB the last two days, as well, and took home 3 more OH Group 1's and 1 OH Group 3. Her next shows were in Longmont, CO for Flatirons KC. She had started blowing coat in Ohio and had really blown heavily the week before Flatirons, but she still managed to win BOS two of the three days.

Cricket only completed her AKC Championship in August, 2021, having not shown but once in 2020, after the COVID shutdown and not showing again until may of 2021. Yet, she managed to end 2021 ranked in the top 5 Keeshond bitches and top 20 overall, completed her Grand Championship in two weekends in September 2021 and completed her Bronze Championship in May, 2022. She completed her Bronze level Owner Handled ranking in late 2021 and her Silver level in March of 2022 and her Gold level in September of 2022.

Cricket's human Mom was her handler, but she fractured her femur in August of 2022 and was no longer able to show her, so Dad took over and won several BOB's with her, as well as taking a Group 2 in the Seminole shows in Oklahoma and a Group 4 at the Chickasha, OK shows. She completed her Silver level Grand Championship by taking a Select Award in March of 2023 at the Kansas City shows, shown by Dad, followed by Best Of Breed at one of the Heart Of America Keeshond Club Specialties, shown by our friend Brenda Heimbach. Not knowing she had completed the requirements for her Hall Of Fame, we continued showing her and Brenda took another BOB in Garden City, KS followed by a Group 4. We received confirmation of her HOF in April 2023.

The Keeshond National Specialty shows were held in Denver, CO, which meant Brenda was able to show Cricket for us, again. Having completed 2022 as the #4 Keeshond Bitch in the country, Cricket was invited to compete in the Top Keeshond Event held during the National Specialty week. Brenda and Cricket won the Top Keeshond Event at those shows, followed by taking Best Of Opposite Sex at the RMKC Specialty and winning an Award Of Merit at the KCA National Specialty. Cricket is such a joy to show and even better to live with! She has really enjoyed showing with Brenda and we thank her with all our hearts for doing such a fantastic job with her!

After having a hip replacement in January, 2024, Cricket's human Mom was able to begin showing her again in April. She took a BOS and Select at the Terry-All shows. We then travelled to the KCA National Specialty in California where Cricket won Best of Opposite at the Top Keeshond Event with Mom showing her. She took her back into the All-Breed ring where she won two Owner Handled Group 1's and one OH Group 3 at the shows in Albuquerque, NM. Then, she won two BOS's and one Select at the Flatirons shows in Longmont, CO with one Best Owner Handled in Breed and an OH Group 2, showing she is a winner no matter who is handling her!

Cricket's OFA Certifications:

Hips - KE-5583G32F-P-VPI
Elbows - KE-EL1745F32-P-VPI
Cardiac - KE-BCA89/32F/P-VPI
Patella - KE-PA1823/32F/P-VPI
CERF - KE-EYE881/33F-VPI
Thyroid - KE-TH458/35F-VPI
PHPT Negative by descent
CHIC - 169525