Our new Puppy wins her first dog show with a Best of Show!!!!

[skylarkguy]

Neat! Congrats!

 

[cat fever]

That's a good looking dog Eddie, thanks for sharing.

 

[nybirdman]

Congratulations.We see all breeds of hunting dogs but of course never an Akita.A friend had one years ago;he(the dog) would let anyone in the house but wouldn't let them leave!Does yours act like this?I know they were bred as guard dogs at one time.

 

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations. You might find a local dog club and take some handling classes. There are a lot of finer points that aren't obvious to new handlers. Best of luck in the future and you are off to a good start.

Thank you. There are several classes that she is planning on going to, the end with a real judge coming on the last day and critiquing them. That's in Feb. There are a few other options before then, but the season just started up last week and it's non stop, every weekend until the new year except the holidays.

With their heavy coats, summer is a terrible time for showing them since they are shedding so much. My wife sweeps every day, and vacuums a couple times a week. With the cooler temps of fall, their coats are in perfect condition for showing.

 

[EddieWalker]

Congratulations.We see all breeds of hunting dogs but of course never an Akita.A friend had one years ago;he(the dog) would let anyone in the house but wouldn't let them leave!Does yours act like this?I know they were bred as guard dogs at one time.

I'm not really very knowledgeable about the breed. My wife lived in Japan for 3 years when she was first married to a guy in the Air Force. That's where she discovered the breed and fell in love it them. From what I understand, they where used for hunting bears in Japan, and as protective guard dogs. They have a reputation of being fiercely loyal, which also leads to aggression to new people and other animals. For home owners insurance, they are in the same category as a pit bull.

We have three of them. Two show quality, and one that is pet quality. They behave totally different. The pet quality one, Athena, kills everything gets into the yard. From snakes to racoons, to birds to cats. She doesn't bark, she just takes off like a bullet and kills it. No warning at all. When she barks, its because she cannot get to what she is after. She is very alert and knows when somebody is coming down the driveway before anybody else, or the other two dogs.

The show dogs are easy going, friendly with everyone and very playful. They all get along with each other, but she sets the rules and when they get too playful, or annoying, she puts them in place with either a growl or a quick attack. So far she hasn't hurt them, it's not like she is trying to kill either of them, but she has bit both of them hard enough to get her point across and teach them who is in charge. With them, there is always a growl first, and if they ignore her, it's at their peril.

Cost of a show dog over a pet dog is ten times the money. You also have to go through interviews, background checks, provide references and fill out page after page of questions. Then there is a contract that is several pages long. It's not legally binding, but you wouldn't want to violate it if you want to compete in the show world.

There where 8 puppies in Kami's litter. She was the first born female. People from all over the country wanted the, plus several in Europe. I wont saw what we paid for her because it's ridiculous, but I will tell you that two of the male puppies went to England and the owners paid $7,000 each for them. A lot more then what they go for here in the US. After all the interviewing, the owners picked the 8 people that would get a puppy, and who had first choice. Because of what we did for Raiden, how we share what our dogs mean to us and how they live on Faceboook, and what the people in the show world said about us, we where given first choice. We chose Kami. We where getting pictures every week of all the female puppies. We did not want a boy since we already have Raiden. Our goal is to improve the breed with the perfect female mated with him. We spent a year searching, learning and talking to breeders. Who the parents of the puppies are, and who their parents are played a huge part in the decision. It's also a big part of the price, and why so many people wanted one of those puppies.

We feel we won the lotto with Kami. She is unlike all the other Akita's in Texas, and the Southern states. She has made a impression on the judges, and the other Akita people. She is special.

Back to the history of the Akita's. During WWII they where almost wiped out. What remained wasn't enough to keep the breed alive, so the Japanese people bred them to German Shepherds, and then later worked to get that bloodline out of them. The breeder we bought Kami from was very involved in getting the Akita accepted into the AKC. I forget when this happened, but would guess it was in the 80's. There are still a few traits that breeders are working towards in creating the ultimate standard for the breed. The size of the butt is a big deal. Shepards have small butts, and an Akita should have a big, wide, powerful butt. Ears, jaw, shoulders, height and weight are all a big part of it too. Kami seems to have it all, Raiden is weak on the size of his butt, but his head is becoming very impressive. He won two points this weekend competing against mature Akita's. One of them is ranked number ten in the nation. At 21 months, Raiden wont be fully gown and mature until he is between 3 and four years old.

For breeding, we will wait until Kami is 2 years old. She should be a Grand Champion by then. We will have her hips tested, along with a few other things that have to be done by a vet before she will be allowed to breed. If she fails her medical exams, she will be fixed and never be allowed to breed. This is a huge thing with show people, if your dog isn't perfect, it doesn't breed and pass on those defects.

Last weekend I fenced off about 4,000 square feet in our backyard/garden to keep them separate when Kami comes into heat. This weekend I'm installing a doggy door in the wall of our Garden Kitchen so Raiden will have a cool place in summer and a roof over his head in winter while he is kept away from her until she is no longer at risk of getting pregnant.

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Congrats y'all!

 

[Wagtail]

Last weekend I fenced off about 4,000 square feet in our backyard/garden to keep them separate when Kami comes into heat. This weekend I'm installing a doggy door in the wall of our Garden Kitchen so Raiden will have a cool place in summer and a roof over his head in winter while he is kept away from her until she is no longer at risk of getting pregnant.

The best of luck keeping them separated when she comes into heat, Mate.

Around here a "***** box" is used... a dog house on stilts with a wire cage around it. A male will dig a hole under anything, to the point of bloody paws, and bark himself hoarse to get at the female in heat.

 

[Code54]

Congrats! GREAT looking dog!

 

[roadhunter]

Congrats.

This is one of those events that I never quite understood but to each his own if you enjoy it. Good looking dog. There are plenty of others that I dont' understand but like beauty pageants, pigeon races, video game events, comic book conventions, horse jumping contests, star trek conventions, medieval fairs,etc..

 

[EddieWalker]

I don't get it either, but my wife and the other ladies that she hangs out with all love it. The dogs seem to really enjoy it to. They get excited when it's time to load up, which I would think wouldn't happen if they didn't enjoy it. Maybe it's all the grooming that goes into it, or maybe it's all the interaction with everyone. I don't know. We talked about it a little last week when four of her friends where here for the Canton show, and the best I can figure is that the all take great pride in their dogs and just love taking care of them.

I've never been to a dog show, or any of those other things you listed. But I have to admit that it makes me happy when the dogs do good!!!

One other thing that I just found out, people at the show where wanting to take selfies with Kami. Nobody has ever seen this before. She is just a puppy that is at her very first show, and it's only puppy competition, but total strangers, other dog owners and even judges wanted their pictures with her. None of the other dogs, including some top dogs in the country got a second look, just her. It was so unusual that it became interesting.