Dogkeeper

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Someone who keeps, feeds and looks after dogs, often as a job at a kennel or hunting estate
2. A person responsible for caring for dogs, particularly one who tends a pack of hounds
3. The keeper of a group of dogs, responsible for their feeding, housing and general welfare

Etymology: "Dogkeeper" is a plain compound of "dog" and "keeper," and its history is as transparent as its parts. "Keeper," from the verb "keep," has been an English agent noun for someone who looks after or guards something since Old English times, so a dogkeeper is literally one who keeps dogs. The word names the worker in charge of a kennel, the person who feeds, exercises and tends the animals day to day. The word's usefulness lies in how neatly it fits a specialised job. English compounds like this one were built freely from everyday vocabulary whenever a new role needed a name, and "dogkeeper" follows that pattern without any borrowing or sound change to untangle. What you see in the word is what it means.

Synonyms: kennelman, handler