ZENFULdog of the Month: Keiko

Welcome to the March 2026 edition of ZENFULdog Training’s Dog of the Month, featuring the adorable Keiko! Keiko is 35% Belgian Malinois and 15% Dutch Shepherd from her mother and 32% Chocolate lab and 18% Husky from her father. “In other words”, as her pet-mom Claire-Line says, “her brain is restless!” Claire-Line and Keiko are a great team and beloved members of the ZENFULdog Training community.

Age: She turned 6 years old on January 19^th

Meet Keiko’s Family

Keiko’s Family Life: Claire-Line lives alone with Keiko. Her son loves her, but he is allergic to her; fortunately, he lives in Cornwall with his wife and their 3 cats.

Claire-Line has an old female cat named Calli.  She explains: “They have a strange relationship. Keiko watches over her, shepherds her back home from the backyard. She tries to play with her, but Calli doesn’t understand why this huge black blob is jumping after her and what a ball is supposed to be about.”

Keiko's Personalities According to Claire-Line: Keiko is incredibly smart, but she likes her privacy; she enjoys being massaged and cuddled, but she won’t lie down next to Claire-Line because she values her space.

She chases prey. Until Clare-Line fixed her fence very tight, Keiko found many spots to slide under 10cm spaces and ran off in the forest to hunt bunnies.

She watches over Claire-Line like a hawk: “When we take walks, she keeps checking back at me to know where I’m going. About 3 years ago, I was hit in the knee by a German shepherd-husky at the dog park; my friends carried me to the hospital, and I disappeared for 6 weeks. She had a rough time, and this might explain why she seems to have lost confidence in other dogs. She suddenly became terribly reactive when dogs make unexpected moves. She is okay with calm dogs. At the park, with no leash, as long as she can smell the dogs, she is fine. She just sits 10 feet away from me and watches everything and everybody. She loves people, because they pet and massage her and give her treats!”

Keiko loves sitting outside and watching everything. She never learned to swim and doesn’t retrieve balls. Her only pleasure is taking long walks in the fields and forests with dogs and human friends. 

Claire-Line Shares The Most Unique Thing about Keiko: Keiko is incredibly obedient. Once she understands what Claire-Line wants, she does it: “I adopted her at the very beginning of the pandemic, she was 3 months old, and she went to have fun with the toilet paper roll in the bathroom. I exclaimed, ‘oh, Keiko, this is no time to waste toilet paper!’ and then she never touched a roll of toilet paper again. I was joking, but she took it very seriously!”

Keiko's favourite Treats/Foods according to Claire-Line: “Live rabbits? But I don’t let her chase them anymore, and they spread the word about the big bad black dog in our backyard, so they don’t settle here anymore. I just discovered she loves pumpkin. I don’t know how long it will last. She is choosy. She used to like carrots, but not anymore. She would eat only cat food if I let her! She gets Dentastix and duck treats. She loves freeze-dried treats. I don’t give her cheese very often, but that would be her favourite treat ever.”

Claire-Line Tells us About Keiko’s Favourite Activities: “Eating from games. Keiko has orange balls she rolls all over the house to eat her breakfast. We have 3 other types of dog games. She loves sitting and guarding the house, greeting white delivery trucks and drivers, and taking long walks in nature. She enjoys chasing anything that moves (cars, tractors, bikers, joggers, snowmobiles, etc.); she reaches them, passes them, and stops in front of them to smell the tires. She loves doing her canifitness and Parkour exercises in the evening before bed. She loves barking at the wild animals that hide in the forest behind the house, but the neighbours hate it. The crows answer her, they are funny! I subscribed to Mush Larose, so she trained with the huskies for about 4 years, in the fall. But she is terrified of huskies, they are too excitable for her.”

Keiko's First Mush Run!

Claire-Line Explains How Keiko Unwinds after a Full Day of Activity: It takes a long time; Keiko remains on adrenaline long after coming home from tiring outings. She keeps going and going, but after she sees Claire-Line sitting quietly for a while, she seemingly drops dead and starts snoring.

If Keiko had a human voice, Claire-Line thinks she would sound like: “Superman! Watch, help and protect. She has a deep, authoritative voice.”

Keiko’s Training 

Keiko has been training with ZENFULdog Training since the beginning of 2024, after Claire-Line started walking on two legs again: “We did several Parkour classes, tried the course for reactive dogs twice, and now settled on canifitness.”

Claire-Line Tells Us How Training Has Shaped Keiko: “It took more than a year for Keiko to understand that in class, we get our own corner and do exercises for treats, and we try not to bother about the other dogs. All her life, she had been used to running and tumbling freely at the dog parks. Now she is a perfect student!”

Claire-Line Describes Keiko’s Biggest Training Challenges/Successes: The leash is Keiko’s biggest training challenge! “I spent so much money on multiple gnawed harnesses and leashes all her life! She is an escape artist, she’d sneak out of anything. Also, dogs don’t trust each other when they are on leash. They want to walk freely to other dogs and sniff each other, then they interact calmly. Both she and I have learned to walk calmly with a leash.”

Keiko’s biggest training success is remaining calm and working in a tight space with other dogs she hasn’t had a chance to go and sniff (to get to know who they are).

Claire-Line recalls Keiko’s Most Rewarding Moments of Training in Action: Claire-Line loved seeing Keiko excel at Parkour: “I really wish to do more of it with her, but there is a lot of movement, so she gets nervous. However, I think doing these courses together tightened our bond. She loves to play with me, so we have a great time!” 

Claire-Line adds: “She is a wonderful dog, but I feel we have been competing for dominance all her life. We are only now starting to find an equilibrium, to find out how far we both can go, to respect each other’s space. Sometimes I feel she is more human than dog!”

ZENFULdog owner and trainer, Kendra, adds: “Keiko is a big sweetheart, and we absolutely love having her, and her equally kind guardian Claire-Line, join us in our programs. Her journey is a beautiful reminder that growth isn’t about perfection, but about showing up, trying new things, and building connections along the way. Keiko has embraced every challenge with heart, from confidently exploring obstacles and creative movement in Parkour, developing comfort around other dogs on leash as her needs evolve in our reactive-to-responsive course, to refining her technical skills in our fitness programs. She’s incredibly friendly, adores human attention, and is always happy to accept a well-earned treat. Keiko also cherishes her doggy friendships in class—especially with Violet and Frank."

2024

"What truly stands out, though, is the quiet, effortless bond between Keiko and Claire-Line. Watching them together feels like witnessing two kindred spirits moving through the world in sync—understanding each other without words, balancing effort with rest, and embracing the journey rather than rushing toward an outcome. We’re so grateful to have such a special pair as part of our community.”

A heartfelt “Thank You!” to Claire-Line for providing fantastic content for this feature! Don’t forget you can follow ZENFULdog Training on Facebook to stay connected with your like-minded, dog-loving community every day!