Taking a Break

​The dog world is a busy and exhausting place, and sometimes, knowing when to take a break is important. It can be stressful and upsetting and times, and you should always put your health, your mental health, and your dogs' wellbeing first.
Due to this, we are taking a much needed break from things until next year!
​
But first, an update.
​

In October we were supposed to head to France to compete in the Nationale d’Elevage & Régionale du Club Français des Chiens Nordiques et des Spitz du Japon with both Akiko and Nami. Unfortunately, life got in the way: I got Covid, and both Akiko and Nami decided it was the perfect time to come into season. So we scrapped that plan and decided to focus ourselves on enjoying ourselves and having adventures at home.
October also brought us Nami and Flóki's first birthday. I can't believe how fast it has gone and these little dogs have really matured into lovely companions. Nami is taking strongly after her father, while Flóki is very similar to Akiko.

Nami at 1 year

Flóki at 1 year

December is coming soon, which means we will be taking our first ever trip to Japan to bring home Shoki. Shoki will be our first Japanese import, and is coming from the wonderful Daizen Kinoshita-san of Yuugiri Sou. Kinoshita-san is a fantastic breeder who trains his Kai for search and rescue. During our Norway adventure, I had the honour of meeting two dogs Kinoshita-san bred and was blown away by their temperaments, so I am hopeful Shoki will be the same.

Taihei Shokirou Go

2024 is around the corner and we have a few hopes and plans for the coming year.
Nami and Flóki will be having their first rounds of health testing in December-January time when they go for their yearly health check. We plan to do their cardiac, patella and dentition testing at this time and do hips and elbows next winter when they turn two years old. In addition to this, Hayami, who is owned by Flóki's co-owner, will be having her hips and elbows tested this winter, so look out for puppy plans from them in late 2024-2025.

We have hopes to breed Akiko again for a second litter, using imported semen from the United States from the fantastic Hayaikaze kennel. AI has not had a massive amount of success in the breed so this is something of an experiment, but both parents are proven and we hope this will work out and everything will be in place by Akiko's next heat cycle around March-April time.
I also have hopes to import more Kai from Japan with the hopes of placing these dogs in co-ownerships with owners who are interested in helping to preserve the breed further. This will likely be in the latter half of 2024, but if you would be interested in this, please get in touch any time, and if you are on my waitlist for an Akiko puppy but would be interested in an import, let me know and I can make a list of interest for this.

I hope we can once again take a step into the show ring in the new year, though where and when exactly, we don't know. I would like to attend Norway again, but we'll see where the road takes us. We will likely be at Crufts and maybe Dogstival in 2024.
Otherwise, we will be waiting for our younger prospects to age up and get their health testing completed with possible plans for 2025-2026 should everything come back good.

If you have gotten in touch lately, apologies for the radio silence, we will respond soon!

Otherwise, see you next year!