EddieWalker
Epic Contributor
A couple years ago my wife said she has always wanted to show Akitas. She has no experience with this, and really didn't know what made one show dog better then the other. She already had one female Akita, but even though it's a pure breed AKC with papers, she knew that she wasn't show quality. For dog shows, they are looking for the perfect representation of the breed.
After a lot of searching, meeting and talking to breeders and reading what she could, she found Raiden. A show quality male Akita. He did well in the ring, but then suffered tick paralysis at 14 months of age and never fully recovered. He runs around and plays hard all day, but he never reached his full height and he is the runt in the show ring next the to other dogs. We've decided that he's never going to be a show dog, but he was great for learning and he is a fantastic pet that we love a lot.
With what we learned, we started the search for another Akita puppy. We found Kaminari "Kami" in Northern CA and arranged to pick her up last August in Wyoming while the owner was showing other dogs there on their way to Akita Nationals in Denver.
In her first show, when she was just 4 months old, she won the puppy division, the Akita, the Group and won Best of Show beating out every other dog, in every breed, of all ages, that where there!!! Unfortunately, being a puppy that young, she didn't earn any points toward her Championship.
Last week was her first show where she could earn points towards her Championship. In the dog world, and AKC rules, dogs can win a single point in small shows, but they have to have two major wins of 2 points or better to finish off and become a Champion.
Kami won two majors that weekend for a total of 9 points. Then this last weekend, she won two more majors for a total of six points, giving her the 15 points needed to become an AKC Champion. While it's not common, it is rather special that a 9 month old puppy finishes in just four shows, with all major wins for her points!!!!!!
Karen showed her for her Best of Show win when she was a puppy, and our friends that are professional handlers, and who worked with Raiden when we where showing him, told Karen that Kami comes alive when Karen shows her. So against her will, and fighting her fears of messing up, Karen was the handler showing Kami for those wins,which is even more spectacular!!! Also, they where competing against several top ten Akita's in the nation and the number one Akita Professional Handler in the nation!!!! Every other Akita at this past show, and it was a HUGE show in Ft Worth, where pros making six figure salaries showing dogs all over the country. There is just something very special about Kami, and in each show, she gets better and better. Karen and the other handlers all think that Kami is watching what the other dogs do, and then tries to do it better.
As you can tell, I'm very proud of my wife, what she's accomplished so far, and of our puppy, who is just amazing!!!





And to add to the excitement, one of the top breeders in the country contacted us after Kami's win and asked if we where interested in breeding her. I'm not sure where this rule comes from, but you have to wait until they are 2 years old before testing them, and after the tests come up positive, then you can breed them. Tests include hips and some other medical issues that have been known to exist in the breed. Only if the dog is perfect, does breeding happen. Finding the right match to improve the breed is every breeders goal. They have huge contracts, crazy amounts of money spent, and if it's done right, you end up with something like Kami. This lady is one of the people responsible for AKC accepting the Akita breed. She helped set the standards, and she has had several number 1 Akitas over the last couple decades. You don't just go up to her and buy one of her puppies, she doesn't even tell anybody that she has any for sale. She selects you.
This puppy is in Edmonton Alberta. From what we've seen in the pictures, he is perfect. Better then Kami!!!!! We're not sure when we'll be getting him, but it's in the works and it should happen in the next week or two. Exciting times for us right now!!!!
After a lot of searching, meeting and talking to breeders and reading what she could, she found Raiden. A show quality male Akita. He did well in the ring, but then suffered tick paralysis at 14 months of age and never fully recovered. He runs around and plays hard all day, but he never reached his full height and he is the runt in the show ring next the to other dogs. We've decided that he's never going to be a show dog, but he was great for learning and he is a fantastic pet that we love a lot.
With what we learned, we started the search for another Akita puppy. We found Kaminari "Kami" in Northern CA and arranged to pick her up last August in Wyoming while the owner was showing other dogs there on their way to Akita Nationals in Denver.
In her first show, when she was just 4 months old, she won the puppy division, the Akita, the Group and won Best of Show beating out every other dog, in every breed, of all ages, that where there!!! Unfortunately, being a puppy that young, she didn't earn any points toward her Championship.
Last week was her first show where she could earn points towards her Championship. In the dog world, and AKC rules, dogs can win a single point in small shows, but they have to have two major wins of 2 points or better to finish off and become a Champion.
Kami won two majors that weekend for a total of 9 points. Then this last weekend, she won two more majors for a total of six points, giving her the 15 points needed to become an AKC Champion. While it's not common, it is rather special that a 9 month old puppy finishes in just four shows, with all major wins for her points!!!!!!
Karen showed her for her Best of Show win when she was a puppy, and our friends that are professional handlers, and who worked with Raiden when we where showing him, told Karen that Kami comes alive when Karen shows her. So against her will, and fighting her fears of messing up, Karen was the handler showing Kami for those wins,which is even more spectacular!!! Also, they where competing against several top ten Akita's in the nation and the number one Akita Professional Handler in the nation!!!! Every other Akita at this past show, and it was a HUGE show in Ft Worth, where pros making six figure salaries showing dogs all over the country. There is just something very special about Kami, and in each show, she gets better and better. Karen and the other handlers all think that Kami is watching what the other dogs do, and then tries to do it better.
As you can tell, I'm very proud of my wife, what she's accomplished so far, and of our puppy, who is just amazing!!!





And to add to the excitement, one of the top breeders in the country contacted us after Kami's win and asked if we where interested in breeding her. I'm not sure where this rule comes from, but you have to wait until they are 2 years old before testing them, and after the tests come up positive, then you can breed them. Tests include hips and some other medical issues that have been known to exist in the breed. Only if the dog is perfect, does breeding happen. Finding the right match to improve the breed is every breeders goal. They have huge contracts, crazy amounts of money spent, and if it's done right, you end up with something like Kami. This lady is one of the people responsible for AKC accepting the Akita breed. She helped set the standards, and she has had several number 1 Akitas over the last couple decades. You don't just go up to her and buy one of her puppies, she doesn't even tell anybody that she has any for sale. She selects you.
This puppy is in Edmonton Alberta. From what we've seen in the pictures, he is perfect. Better then Kami!!!!! We're not sure when we'll be getting him, but it's in the works and it should happen in the next week or two. Exciting times for us right now!!!!