Aomori NIPPO Spring Regional 2017
All four medium size breeds were represented at the Aomori regional show today, though in not in very impressive numbers. There was about 100 dogs competing. All shibas with the exceptions of:
Kishu-1 male, 1 female
Shikoku-1 male (Ajax), 1 female
Kai- 1 male, 1 female (not competing)
Hokkaido- 1 female
Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the shibas. I was surprised to see quite a bit of hand stacking going on in the ring with the shibas, but I don't think those who did won anything. The medium size females did much better than the males with the the number 2 and 3 spots overall going to the female Kishu and the Hokkaido, respectively. The top 3 males were all Shibas. Ajax walked away with first in the Waka 1 class even though he was blowing his coat and sporting a bite on his muzzle from one of his lady friends that he got yesterday. We had him walking around the entire show. He got some great socialization in. I just wish that he wasn't such cry baby, but that did make him appear more approachable than some of the other dogs. One lady came back twice and even removed her face mask so he could get some mouth licks in. He was much more comfortable around the other intact dogs then he was last fall and his back hair never went up. Such a happy boy.
Happy dog.
So windy.
The male kai. I didn't like the shape of his head, but he had nice color and he was honestly in better condition than either Ajax or the Kishu.
The female kai who wasn't competing. She was really friendly and got along well with both Ajax and the male kai.
The female shikoku.
The male Kishu on the left and the female on the right. Apparently these two are siblings. The female wanted to eat her brother. The male was blowing his coat (he was in the butt chaps phase) and spent most have his time in the ring fighting his handler.
The lone Hokkaido female. She showed very well and was friendly.
Ajax actually stacking at the start of the comparative judging.
Then the judge lines us up and he sits. He also let out the most pitiful whine right when the judge came over.
And last but not least, a shiba puppy.
Kishu-1 male, 1 female
Shikoku-1 male (Ajax), 1 female
Kai- 1 male, 1 female (not competing)
Hokkaido- 1 female
Unfortunately I didn't take many pictures of the shibas. I was surprised to see quite a bit of hand stacking going on in the ring with the shibas, but I don't think those who did won anything. The medium size females did much better than the males with the the number 2 and 3 spots overall going to the female Kishu and the Hokkaido, respectively. The top 3 males were all Shibas. Ajax walked away with first in the Waka 1 class even though he was blowing his coat and sporting a bite on his muzzle from one of his lady friends that he got yesterday. We had him walking around the entire show. He got some great socialization in. I just wish that he wasn't such cry baby, but that did make him appear more approachable than some of the other dogs. One lady came back twice and even removed her face mask so he could get some mouth licks in. He was much more comfortable around the other intact dogs then he was last fall and his back hair never went up. Such a happy boy.
Happy dog.
So windy.
The male kai. I didn't like the shape of his head, but he had nice color and he was honestly in better condition than either Ajax or the Kishu.
The female kai who wasn't competing. She was really friendly and got along well with both Ajax and the male kai.
The female shikoku.
The male Kishu on the left and the female on the right. Apparently these two are siblings. The female wanted to eat her brother. The male was blowing his coat (he was in the butt chaps phase) and spent most have his time in the ring fighting his handler.
The lone Hokkaido female. She showed very well and was friendly.
Ajax actually stacking at the start of the comparative judging.
Then the judge lines us up and he sits. He also let out the most pitiful whine right when the judge came over.
And last but not least, a shiba puppy.
Comments
Kinda not surprised that only 1 Kai and 1 Hokkaido were competing- those breeds have their own registries and very few are reg'd NIPPO.
Good job Ajax!
I was happy to see the Hokkaido place third overall among all the females beating out large number of shibas. When I saw her at first, I thought I was looking at a big boned female kai with urajiro. She was surprisingly small, no larger than I'd expect from a female kai, but then again, I'm used to nearly 50lbs of Ajax so that skews my size perception. Unlike the kai's, its nice to see that they can still take the top awards even though there's not many of them registered.
That kishu male was funny. Both he and Ajax were blowing their coats, but he had the opposite problem compared to Ajax. Ajax was over-trained while he was was acting like it was his first time on a lease. Ajax wanted to turn around, look at me, and sit. The kishu had to be dragged around the ring and was attempting to chew through his lead. I swear that that and the only other dog being kai was the only reason we placed the way we did. Ajax whined the entire time in the ring. All he wanted to do was fight... I'm mean play with the other dogs and I wasn't letting him.
By the way, does anyone know what this certificate is? I see it says my name, Ajax's name, the date, the Aomori branch of NIPPO, and something about about a good job at the show. It looked like they had them pre-printed for every dog at the show (must of cost a fortune), but only a few of them actually got handed out. I wouldn't have even got mine if someone hadn't directed me to go pick it up. I'm going to take it to my next Japanese lesson for a full translation, but I'm curious if it's just the award for first in class? I think some of the 2nd and 3rd dogs in the more competitive classes may of got one too. I couldn't figure out the pattern for when one of these was awarded at the show.