Monday, February 29, 2016

Bird Dog Trials

I'm on the board for the regional hunter's association hunting dog department. They say hunting dogs, but it's sole purpose is bird dog trials. I've got no experience here, so I figure it's a new learning experience. Yesterday was our first trial of the year. Luckily it was held 5 minutes from my house at a disused cattle ranch, so I was basically able to crawl out of bed and still get there first thing in the morning.

Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した写真 -

I prefer pointers over setters, but I'm not really into the temperaments of these trial dogs. These are very high strung, high energy dogs they've got here. But still, it was fun to see what generations upon generations of hunters have created. That's a pretty amazing feat humans have pulled off, breeding a dog to stand on point and hunt in such a controlled manner.

Baron sat in the truck and watched. He behaved himself quite well, and later in the day San, one of the pups from the Baron x Tenko litter, dropped by. She's maturing nicely, a little small, but good tempered. Hopefully she turns into a good boar dog!

Saturday, February 27, 2016

Nihon Ken JKC Registrations 2014/2015

Registrations for 2014
128 breeds total

Shiba : 12454
Akita : 370
Kai : 140
Hokkaido : 38
Kishu : 25
Shikoku : 12


Registrations for 2015
128 breeds total

Shiba (5th place all registrations) : 12470
Akita (34th) : 450
Kai (52nd) : 150
Hokkaido (79th) : 38
Kishu (104th) : 14
Shikoku (105th): 13

To put this in perspective, 1st place for 2015 goes to Poodles with 78055 registrations, and 2nd place to Chihuahuas with 51329.

Friday, February 26, 2016

FCI and the Nihon Ken

There are quite a few glaring errors in the FCI standards for the Japanese breeds. If you've been following my blog for a while you'll probably remember that I've been bugging the Japan Kennel Club about this for years now.

Basically the JKC has to petition the FCI to correct the standard. Anyway, to leave out the boring details of the process, and what did and did not happen, the JKC has finally filed the paperwork. 

For the change in standard to be ratified, it needs to be ratified at some sort of general assembly that happens once a year. I'm not sure when that will be this year, but fingers crossed that they accept the corrections!!


Thursday, February 25, 2016

There Goes The Neighborhood

When you run into Wildboar twice in four days while walking your dogs at night, one starts to think about hunting closer to home.

It gets really exciting when you're walking five hunting dogs at the same time and they all pick up the scent.

Monday, February 22, 2016

Language Barriers

People email me in random languages all the time. I do not understand this. I stand on the side of many of the Japanese breeders who are offended or baffled when someone mails them in a language they do not understand. 

Do people assume someone can speak their language? Are they hoping they'll get lucky? Are they hoping the recipient will hire someone to translate a random email for them?

At least make an effort to communicate with the person you are trying to get to help you find a dog. How about hiring a translator? And please, don't rely on Google translate to help you import a dog... that one makes me cringe every time.

Sunday, February 14, 2016

All Roads

We were supposed to have a meet up today over in Kanagawa. The NIPPO members there have a get together before the show season starts to see everyone's dogs, and get some judges opinions. It's kind of a work shop, a real open environment since there's no scoring or anything like that.

As luck would have it the weather is insane. The wind is blowing at near typhoon strength which shuts down the ferry across the bay, and the bridge as well. So, had to turn around and head back. I had Baron, Masa, Chacha, and the 2 new Shikoku pups in the car, so gave my friend Suzuki-san a ring and headed to his place for a visit.

Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した写真 -

He helped to get my 2 pups to me, and since he bred Masa it was an opportunity to have him see how he's developing. The pup in the pic was born over at Nidai Iwahori Sou. It's a 4 month old male out of Kuromasa x Koharu. He's coming along very nicely, and we're just hoping his eyes open up a little more as his head grows. Other than that there's not much I can fault him for. Really nice type, structure, temperament, and coat. Of course since he's Koharu's son he felt the need to bark incessantly, but he's a real sweetheart.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

How Easy It Is

Random thought while hunting yesterday... It's really easy to ruin a good hunting dog. Even old dogs learn new tricks, and when hunting ichiju-ikku (one gun, one dog) it makes all the difference. Baron's six years old, and while we started off the season very well, taking other dogs with us, and usually having other people who want to tag along as well, has had an effect.

Luckily he's a fast learner so a few hunts with just the two of us should set things right again. I imagine everyone will be curious as to what has changed. He's less focused on exactly how he's going to hold the boar for me, so the boar end up slipping out of their beds. Since we don't get them right off (which is the culmination of the hunt process for Baron) he goes on a long chase, stopping them too far away from me which just tires us both out and is unproductive.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Buy. Sell.

I find it amusing how almost everyone shies away from using the words "Buy/Sell" when it comes to dogs. I laugh because I do it too. I think I will stop. What's with the guilt. If a dog is being bought or sold, it's being bought or sold. Let's quit the vaguery, and leave terms like "adopt" for dogs that are up for adoption (free) or rescue.

Just my 2 cents for today.

Every Night

There's not quite as many dogs around now, and it's cold outside, so I usually have all the dogs sleep in the house. It's nice to have the whole pack together, though it does get rowdy at times and I have to keep an eye on things. When there's multiple dogs playing, it's a high energy environment, and they can get amped up quickly. Things can get destroyed, dogs can get bullied, arguments can start etc.

Tonight everyone's chewing away.

Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した写真 -


Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した動画 -

Monday, February 8, 2016

The New Pups

Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した写真 -

Been waiting for these pups for a few years, and now suddenly they're here. They're 2 month old sisters out of working/show lines, from a proven (boar dog) breeding. Let's see how they do. I already see a lot of differences when compared to Shikoku pups I'm used to seeing.

Since I've been asked a few times, I've entered one of their pedigrees into the database. Sorry, but there were so many dogs that I had to enter into the DB to flesh it out that I don't have time to call all the kennels and ask what the correct readings of their names are. I just entered them in kanji straight off the pedigree. http://www.shikoku-pedigree.com/details.php?id=64356


Shigeru Katoさん(@katothewalrus)が投稿した動画 -

Sunday, February 7, 2016

Masamine Go HIPS

Masa's just passed his first birthday, so I checked his hips today.