Last weekend we went to Leenderbos which is near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It was a cold, but sunny day and at days like this… hiking is just really nice.

Our Akita ‘Kensho’ doesn’t need much to be happy. He just needs to be with the people he loves, “the more the better” he seems to think. And don’t try to leave the group, since he’s counting all the time.

Just look at this happy face:

He’s great at posing for the camera. I taught him that. See this great face:

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Most Akita dogs aren’t that keen on getting wet. Perhaps it has to do with their dense coat. One time Kensho fell in a pond by accident and it took nearly 24 hours for him to dry.

But Kensho does like to get in the water up to knee height (like we do when it’s cold or forgot our swimming suit). He likes to run with his mouth open, gulping the water and he’s drinking just for fun (like we do when we go out; the ‘drinking for fun’ part I mean ).

It’s a perfect way to get the dirt of his coat from digging that big hole earlier today.

Police are searching for a beautiful and very much loved Japanese Akita dog which went missing from outside Widnes indoor market (Cheshire, UK) on April, 30th.

The Akita owner, Alan Killen, 69, said he had tied his dog to a post outside the market at 12 noon while he went inside for two minutes. However, after returning to pick the dog up it was nowhere to be found.

This is every dog owner’s nightmare!

Mr Killen said: “I think he’s been stolen because they’re quite valuable. I can’t believe he’s gone. I lost my wife in November and Ben is really special to me. Everyone in the market loves him too.”

You don’t see an Akita every day and they are very beautiful and charismatic. My daily experience when I walk Kensho is to hear multiple people saying: “What a beautiful dog”. I can imagine some people wanting to steal these kind of dogs.

The missing Akita’s name is ‘Ben’. He’s micro chipped and is 8 years old. His coat is white chested and black brindle. He has a white tip on his tale and four white marks on his paws that look like socks.

Mr Killen asks for anyone with information to contact him on 0151 228 6339.

My Akita Kensho has his passions. If I had to deduct his priorities from his behavior I would say this is his top 3:

1. Play with bitches, preferably when they are in heat
2. Digging
3. Tracking and hunting

In a dog whisperer workshop I have learned to never ever take away the passion of a dog. You’ll risk ending up with a lethargic animal, unworthy of a dog, without a fire burning inside. So find the passion of your dog, no matter how deep you’ll have to dig, and give him the chance to enjoy that passion (within bounderies ofcourse).

Kensho just loves to dig massive holes.

Until he just disappears…

This is one happy Akita !!!

As of today I have moved ‘digging’ from number 2 to number 1 in the Akita Passion Ranking. A bitch approached Kensho in a playful manner. He just looked up for a split second, slightly worried he was going to have to share his hole. As he ignored her, she moved on and Kensho went back to his important work.

Usually Kensho is pretty good at the ‘letting go’ thing. It’s a Buddhist skill to not get attached to belongings etc. Attachment is where the suffering starts. But today, Kensho wasn’t in a Zen state of mind. He was so preoccupied with ‘his’ hole that he didn’t want to leave. He made it perfectly clear he was determined to get to the other side… or back to Japan or something like that . Finally I had to practically drag him away to get back home. All good things come to an end.
As the Zen Buddhists say: ‘Everything changes’. The doctrine of impermanence says that everything is constantly changing. Impermanence can lead to suffering as one fails to accept the continuously changing nature of the world. This means that as one tries to relive an event or strives to keep things the same, suffering is caused by the discrepancy between impermanence and desire for permanence. As one strives for nirvana, it is essential to accept the impermanent nature of things.

T-Nell, a semi professional photographer, she also happens to by my aunt , has chosen a picture of Kensho to participate in a photo contest. This contest is held by Canon and you can vote as per May, 5th 2008. Please visit the photo contest website and help to get this picture of Kensho high up in the rankings! . Just use the button in the lower right corner on this page.
This first picture is submitted in the category Animals & Light, because the sun is so beautiful when it highlights the red pigments in Kensho’s coat.

Another candidate picture could have been this one:

Please don’t forget to go and vote for Kensho on May 5th.
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Just follow these simple steps and I’ll give you Karma points!

1. Visit the Canon contest website and sign up as a new user.
2. Check you mail account to find and click the activation link.
3. Go to Kensho’s picture and vote.

Today we drove all the way to Holten. A small town in the Netherlands with beautiful surroundings. But it wasn’t for the lovely weather this day, the heathery hills or the green trees that we went on this trip. It was to meet Kensho’s family again. Just like last year we had planned a true Akita family reunion. Last year Kensho’s father, Musuko, was present but unfortunately he died a couple of days after the party from gastric ulcer (nobody had noticed a sign before it was too late… so typical Akita).
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This year not all Kensho’s siblings were present. We met his brother Daigo, his sister Musume and his mother Tamami. Also Akita’s from other combinations than Tamami XX Musuko were shown. Like half brothers and -sisters.

Some people actually manage to have more than one Akita . For the ones without any, this was a very convenient situation. One Akita per person and this way the two kids that joined our walk through the forest could also walk ‘their’ doggie and get first-hand experience with the Akita breed

I’m still awaiting the group photo with me and Kensho on it. Until then…. just another picture I took during the walk.

So many Akita’s, so many shapes and forms. It’s one breed but each dog has it’s own personality . Kensho for sure had a lot of fun. He likes jumping trees, fences and even jumps when there’s barely anything to see. He’s just a very energetic, playful and joyful Akita.Some Akita’s can be very laid back and relaxed. Kensho can be too, but outside and especially when he’s in a group he will always be alert. He was barking when a cigarette was smoking between the leaves on the ground (not a bad thing to do, right?). He was giving high sounds (like a light panic) when part of the group was split off (due to a different walking pace) or when a child was behind (just because she wanted to stay behind to pee behind a tree). Kensho’s just doesn’t miss out on anything. Not a surprise he was still tired up until the next morning. He always joins me when I go to the office but the next day (a Monday) he was cranky and just wanted to be left alone…sleeping.. behind my desk.

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Today we went for the weekend to my brother. He has his own company ‘CHOCLOC. Building and Event Support’ and he rents an art studio with his girlfriend who also owns a design company ‘FABSTRACT’ . So whenever you need a good designer, whether it’s for a new business concept, a dress, furniture (and you know what they say about Dutch Design, right ) or to provide a great light show for a band or TV show…. just go and Google them .

All right, let’s get back to Akita business…

Kensho was playing peek-a-boo with me

We spend the weekend in the art studio just fooling around and having fun. We even took Kensho to a concert but we didn’t stay for too long (Kensho didn’t like the music ).

I brought a present for my brother’s birthday. Whenever Kensho sees any object that is wrapped in gift paper his eyes grow about three times larger and become real shiny. This Akita just loves to help and unwrap presents. Perhaps, you would not expect this of such a large dog but Kensho is very – and I mean very – gentle.

It has been like since since his very first Christmas. His first present happened to be a new toy for him. Since that moment he’s been keen on anything wrapped in colorful paper.

Kensho likes the smell of beer, though he acts weird when he gets a little sip of it. My brother has found a method to let Kensho enjoy the taste of it without him drinking too much.

Looks like Kensho feels just a little bit guilty (have a close look at his eyes and how he turns away), haha

A short cartoon clip about the life of the famous Japanese dog Hachiko, who returned to Shibuya Station in Tokyo for nine years after the death of his master.

In this cartoon Hachiko has one drop down ear just like Hachiko had in real life.

Hachiko in the Japanese cartoon

The real Hachiko

From the 1987 film “Hachiko Monogatari” (aka Hachi-ko). Wonderful movie that tells the true story of an Akita’s devotion to his master.

You’ve got to see this! So beautiful, and yet… so sad.

Chu-ken Hachiko (lit. the faithful dog Hachiko) was born in Akita in 1923 and was first brought to Tokyo in 1924. He and his owner, Mr. Eisaburo Uyeno, were inseparable friends right from the start. Each day ‘Hachi’ would accompany Eisaburo, a professor at the Imperial University, to the train station when he left for work. Upon returning, the professor would find the dog patiently waiting, tail wagging. This happy routine continued until one fateful day in 1925, when the professor was taken ill on the job and unfortunately died before he could return home.

Despite the fact that Hachiko was less than two years old at the time, the bond between dog and owner was strong. Hachiko continued to wait each day at Shibuya station for a friend who was never coming back. At times, he wouldn’t return home for days at a stretch.

The Akita became a familiar sight to commuters as he kept his vigil for over ten years. On March 8, 1935, Hachiko finally went to meet his master. He died on the very same spot he last saw his friend alive.

Hachiko symbolizes so many different things to different people… innocence, fear, hope, joy, loss and loneliness.
Thanks for watching!

At the moment Hollywood is producing a remake of the original. Starring Richard Gere as the professor.

Back to the original…
A happy ending as Hachiko and Eisaburo reunite in the afterlife.

27 March 2008 OneNews – New Zealand’s News A man in New Zealand was attacked by a Japanese Akita. Now he wants the popular dog out of the country, or at least added to the country’s dangerous dog list.

He says “they just kill us”. He thinks Japanese Akita’s are three times more dangerous than a pit bull. He wants them all out. Next time he sees a Japanese Akita, any Japanese Akita, he’s going to kill it.

The victim was working on a job in a home in Auckland, New Zealand. The dog was the very loved family house dog of his clients. Just hours after the attack Dog Control Officers were on the scene. The owners said their dog had never attacked before. It was handed over to authorities. The Akita was brought to death row for dogs and was destroyed less than 24 hours later. The decision to whether or not the owners will be prosecuted is still being decided.

All dogs are capable of biting. All dogs can launch an attack. There is no evidence that Japanese Akita’s are more violent than any other breed. Experts say you can’t single out just one dog breed as the new public enemy number one. This resembles the nature-nurture debate. Dog’s behavior, is just like ours, not fully controlled by the genes.

A predisposition to behave in a certain way is only a small part of the equation. The environment has a bigger impact as to whether or not the aggression is going to surface or not.

The triangle: dog breed, the individual dog and dog training/the owner is what’s important. A dog that has had negative experiences with people is more likely to develop a fear of people which can result in unprovoked bite incidents.

Don’t stare a dog right in the eyes. Imagine a human stranger doing this to you. How would you feel? When a dog gives a warning, then accept the warning. Socialized dogs will give light warnings first, then stronger and stronger and only if you can’t take any hint then the dog would have to escalate the warning further.

When we as humans are the superior breed, then act superior. Learn doggy language as they cannot learn ours. Education is very important. Up to 75% of dog bites are actually by the victim’s own dog.

You can’t decide a whole breed is aggressive because of a biting incident with an individual dog. If so… then what conclusions can be drawn about the human race after reading some random newspaper headlines?

The bond between dogs and humans is based in part on trust, and part of that is eroded once you are bitten. If the victim is a bystander and not a dog owner, he is likely to be lost forever to any relationship with dogs and may become hostile to them. Hostility coupled with activism can sound the death knell of a breed.

John Payne, President of New Zealand Institute of Animal Control Officers, only today heard for the first time of a Japanese Akita attacking and he’s 21 years on the job. In order for a breed to be designated as a dangerous dog breed they need to be disproportionally featured in dog attacks and there aren’t really any dog breeds that fit into that sort of category.

For instance, German Shepherds account for a large number of bite incidents, but that’s just because there are a lot of German Shepherds around. Before jumping to conclusions you have to know how to interpret quantitative data.

Scientist are examining aggressive genes in dogs. Swabbing that dog and analyze it’s gene profile can help predicting whether a dog that has never been aggressive in the past is likely to be aggressive in the future. Then what? Are we going to allow these dogs to be destroyed whilst they haven’t done a thing wrong so far? Like in the pre-crime unit in the movie ‘Minority Report’? Within 24 hours, without a jury?

The truth of the matter is, all dogs can be provoked or egged on to bite. Aggression is of course part of the dog psyche (as it is also part of the human psyche); young dogs, particularly males, do frequently test the dominance status of higher-ranking males. There’s no such thing as a ‘bad’ breed. Practically all kinds of dogs are trainable. Proper training and socialization can make otherwise violent dogs, such as pit bull terriers and Rottweilers, adorable and gentle ones.

Dog owners should have their beloved pets trained to follow basic commands like come, sit, lie and stay. Obedience training school is one way of effectively preventing many dog-biting incidents, but you should try to find time for day-to-day instruction between dog and master, as well. This helps build the bond between you and your dog; when your dog trusts you enough, he dare not attack other people, particularly YOU.

Need help training and socializing your dog?

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Myth #1: The Akita was used to bring down bears. This is wrong and believing this is really underestimating the power of a bear. Two Akita’s could corner a bear, but it was man who made the kill. So which one is the more dangerous creature in this story?

Myth #2: Akita’s are unpredictable. Any dog that is not raised properly can be unpredictable. It’s not in the breed to be like that. A good dog owner is prepared and knows how to socialize and train a dog. Akita’s are known for their loyalty towards their owner (see the story about Hachiko).

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