May 14, 2024

I knew that when the Riker/Roper litter was born in August of 2022, I was going to keep one of the girls. I felt that it was important, especially since these pups were linebred on Dillon. I was actually considering one of the other girls in the litter. Rae really wasn't on my radar, that is, until she picked me. It's super hard to explain, but the older the pups got, the more I knew that Rae was telling me she needed to stay here. I had to convince my husband of that fact, but now in hindsight, it was meant to be for so many, many reasons. One of my biggest selling points to him was the fact that Nana Holly was closing in on 14 years of age. We were kind of on borrowed time with her & I so very much wanted Rae to have the opportunity to learn from Holly as she was growing up. Holly was Rae's main playmate and teacher for her first 8 months. In May of 2023, Roper slipped out of the backyard gate, got turned around while running around, and never made it back home. As devastating as it has been for me to lose Roper (I still think she is still alive and has been taken into someone's home ...), Holly was bitten by a copperhead three days later and did not recover. Within five days, we had lost both Roper and her mother, Holly.

Over the past year, I have been watching Rae grow up and mature immensely. We have been learning agility. She loves it and throws herself into the process! She just about has the teeter mastered and we have begun work on the weave poles. She is a great problem solver, squirrel chaser (follows them in the trees), alerts to things going on, mole dispatcher and I think she may be my next snake dog. I know that Roper was teaching that skill to her a little over a year ago. This summer will tell me for sure if Rae is going to pick up that mantle or not.

One of the fun things I have witnessed is how Rae is following a bit in Riker's footsteps. She is a self entertaining girl with toys in the house. It's nothing to see her get her felt ball, toss it up in the air and retrieve it, all by herself. She will bring toys to engage you in tug play. She is quick to stay with you in the front yard, just like Riker. That is a good trait to have.

Physically, Rae reminds me so much of Nana Holly - from markings to coloring to Holly's innate kindness and head shape. She has some of Roper's devil may care ways in her sense of humor and of course, how much she loves to lick you.

This next set of sentences are from Roper's page. As I read through them, I realized it is the same for Rae as well .... All in all, I am very pleased with the girl. She does tend to get a little excited when greeting family members, but I expect as she gets a little more age on her, that will diminish somewhat. She is lovely, athletic, minds well, extremely smart and is a fun dog to have around. So glad that she was the one I kept!