Keeper and Ishtar were a commission from a lady who has 10 Alsations. When I went to meet the dogs, I was a little worried that the company of 10 alsations might be somewhat overwhelming, in fact every one of them was a delight and I have fond memories of both the hospitality I received and the wonderful personalities of all the dogs. Keeper and Ishtar are mother and son, Ishtar being the mother lying down and Keeper being the son, sitting.

All 10 dogs are used to compete in obedience trials, and have been bred for agility and intelligence rather than the ring, I only mention this because none of them had that sloping back which is so often present with the Alsation. Being obedience trained they were model subjects. The landscape behind is in Shropshire, near Telford in their back garden. It was one of those days when it was sunny one minute, raining the next, the sky was very dramatic, which I found to be a perfect complement to the dogs.