Moonshadow Silky Terriers

Maggie Keuser

About Me and Pure Bred Dogs

I've been in pure bred dogs just about my whole life. At the age of three, the first dog I can remember our family having was a little beagle pup named Dino. My dad got him from the breeder next door to us in Wyandotte, Michigan with the intent of using him for hunting. See my dad was a hunter and so is my oldest brother Mike, it's important for hunters to always have a dog.

My folks moved me to Panama City Beach, Florida in 1970 leaving the rest of the family behind in Michigan. Getting a dog helped to fill a big empty hole in my spirit. Tina was a mixed breed dog, German Shepard and Collie.

When I was 17 I was introduced to the American Cocker Spaniel and instantly fell in love with those eyes and ears. What's not to love. Saved my employment earnings and contacted a local breeder and was able to purchase a fine specimen out of champion parents. Kelsey was the love of my life. When I moved to California with my fiancé it was extremely difficult to leave him behind with my folks but that was the best thing in the world for my dad. He sure did love that dog and so did mom for that matter.

A few years after the kids were born our family decided we needed a dog. Kids need a dog growing up! A friend had a beautiful English Springer Spaniel named "Smudge" that he for his own personal reasons wasn't able to keep, so we adopted Smudge and gave him his forever home where he lived out the rest of his life under the shade of the oak trees in our front yard. Smudge was beautiful out in the field and we know why they are called Springers.

A few years of living in Phoenix and having our vehicle vandalized in our own driveway I decided it was time for another dog. I distinctly remember saying, "I'm getting a dog and it's going to be a big dog!" That brought my beloved Fritz Von der Keuser into my life. He was a German Shepard with German bloodlines. He was magnificent and undoubtedly the most intelligent dog I have ever had the pleasure of keeping. We then purchased a female with illusions of grandeur of breeding. Her name was Lady Ruth Louise Von der Keuser. My mother had passed away in August of 2001 and I named Lady in her remembrance. Lady and Fritz never produced any puppies together, Lady wouldn't have anything to do with the process. I left her intact for years hoping, but she obviously knew something that we did not, and who am I to mess with mother nature. Fritz did prove himself as a stud with another bitch and produced 13 offspring. It was quite heartbreaking when we lost them, they were such great animals.

Nine months after Lady passed, I decided I could not live without a dog any longer. My husband was bent that we would "rescue" a dog from the pound. Keeping an open mind, I went through the pound a few times, always looked at pets for adoption, but HONESTLY, I am a purebred dog enthusiast through and through. I never could "connect" with a pound or rescue dog. I knew that my next dog must be a small dog and then I remembered the little dog I fell in love with when we first moved to Arizona, Tinker Bell was a Silky Terrier that belonged to a friend on my son's baseball team. I just adored her and had the opportunity to dog sit for her a few times when her humans went away for week-ends and weren't able to take her.

Then one day while driving, I saw a sign on the shoulder of the road that said "PUPPIES". I turned around to see what kind of puppies and low and behold AKC purebred Silky's were available. Needless to say within 3 days one of those babies came home with me. That was Ruby Moonshadow Dancer. She is the one that started it all for me. We Took every training class that PetSmart had to take, and then we moved on to Rally Obedience training. At one year of age Ruby had earned her Canine Good Citizen title and became a member of Therapy Dogs International. We continued training for Rally Obedience and began competing at AKC Dog Shows. At most dog shows Conformation is also available and I started observing that arena and as Ruby's interest in Rally decreased I began my journey in search for a comformation dog.

I hit the floor of the conformation rings running, finished Pearl in less than one year, put a Grand Championship Title on her as well. Got some experience in the Group ring and in the Owner handler ring. I enjoy AKC dog shows very much and have learned so many valuable lessons from so many people, to many to mention and thank. I enjoy bonding and spending time with each and every one of my dogs and bringing them out to show them off.

If you can or want to teach a dog to come, sit, stay, down, stand, shake, roll over, you can do anything your heart desires with your dog. If you need a little help teaching your dog to do those things and more, I am qualified to help you get there, contact me.

The remainder of my pages are in the order in which my pack has come into being. For further information and photo's of all please view their stories. And as I progress with the development of this web site, so will an application for dogs from will appear. Please be patient with me as I tend to work slowly. You may always contact me by telephone or e-mail. Thank you for your interest and visiting my site.

Maggie Keuser