We waited about a year after we lost Natsumi to begin looking for a new dog. There weren't many litters at that time, and none of them seemed to be what we were looking for. Specifically we wanted a red female, and a Natsumi descendent. Then our friends, the Kawasakis, told us that their Yuka, from our last litter, was preggers. They had just obtained a stud from Tetsuyuki kennel in Japan to replace Taiyo, their Tokuyu-winner, Yuka's sire, who had just passed away, and wanted to see if he "worked". Quite well, thank you. While there were only two survivors from a litter of five, they were both red females. We were promised one of them.
We picked our new puppy up at about eight weeks. She adapted quickly to her new environment, a whole new world to be explored and beaten into submission. It was quickly clear that her character was very different from her grandmother's. More dominant, more inquisitive, and more intelligent. And a good bit more active and athletic. In all, more of a handful than we had been expecting.
A "serious" problem arose: what should we name her? The litter couldn't be registered with Akiho headquarters until she had a name, but Hiroko and I couldn't agree. Finally Matsu was decided on. Matsu was the name of the wife of Maeda Toshiie, a general under Oda Nobunaga, and the main character in a serialized Japanese historical drama. An excellent fit, since we are registered as Matsuura with Akiho as breeeders.
Matsu's "debut" was at a local Japanese-American cultural event, the parade that kicks off Nisei Week. Akiho's Los Angeles branch has had a presence at the parade and an information booth for the last several years. After the parade I was interviewed by a reporter for Rafu Shimpo, the local Japanese-American newspaper. A nice photo was included in their parade coverage.
Her second public showing was at the JACA/Akiho double-barreled show in February '03. She had just finished blowing her coat and had injured her foot the Wednesday prior to the show, but we were entered, and we were going to participate. It's a good thing we aren't serious about showing, since we didn't do very well.
Currently we're working on socializing her with trips to the local dog park. Obedience training is also planned but not yet started. I've got her started on leash-work with what I remember from 12 years ago, but formal classes are needed. And breeding is in the future; a litter in 2004 is a likelihood