Courtland Keith with Sachi and Kiyoshi.
After a month, the previous owners called to say their escrow had fallen through and asked if Beene would mind keeping Latte a little longer. Two months after that, Beene still had the cat. “Three months into it, I felt like I couldn’t let go,” he said, describing how the cat and her daily routines had comforted him during the new stage in his life. At one point, the owners finally stopped by their old house and asked Beene if he wanted to keep Latte forever. He said yes. “I feel blessed by the previous owners; Latte was one of the first blessings of this new chapter in my life. I need her to stick around for a while.”
Courtland Keith Chiropractor
Sachi and Kiyoshi Ever since he was a young boy living in Ridgecrest, everyone who knew Courtland Keith considered him the Dr. Doolittle of the desert. Even now, he said, he’s an animal magnet. “They love hanging around me. As a little kid I’d go to people’s houses, and the dogs and cats would attach to me.” Today, Keith is a real doctor (a chiropractor), has been married five years (to Heather) and is the proud owner of two long-coated Akitas. Not standard among the breed, these two have long, thick coats in comparison to what the typical Akita looks like.
But the Keiths don’t breed their dogs. Besides finding time to breed these two would be another full-time job as Sachi, the youngest, is an enormous handful. “She is a counter-surfing beast. Her resume of food that she’s stolen off the counter is monumental,” said Keith as he checked off a list of edibles that include persimmons, avocados, 10 pounds of frozen chicken, a three-pound homemade cheesecake and dozens of cookies. “She now has a taste for bananas. She’ll grab a banana, take it to the backyard and will peel it. She actually peels it. We haven’t seen her do this, but she will leave the peel on the ground for us to find.” Sachi, 4, was the Keith’s second Akita, a sister to Kiyoshi, 6, who seemed to need a friend. “My wife decided we needed another dog, and the breeder had a long-coated puppy. So, Heather got herself a Valentine’s present, brought the dog into my office and dared me to say no.” Clearly, Keith gave in, and now said that the two female Akitas have beaten the odds and live in peaceful harmony. Akitas, said Keith, are supposed to be aloof and aggressive, and two females aren’t supposed to co-exist well in the same house. No one explained that to Sachi and Kiyoshi. “The two dogs are completely inseparable and can’t have fun without the other. They play rough but are attached.” Continued on page 48 www.BakersfieldLife.com
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