breeders
Jason and I are dead set on getting a shikoku as our second dog.
Brad-I have contacted the 3 breeders you had recommended. I understand that Koyote Kennels is no longer breeding shikoku (my heart breaks for them, that had to be devastating to go through). Peggy has gotten back to me, I am still waiting to hear from Katja (is she typically slow to get back with emails? I am slightly impatient, I am just so excited to get the process started and I know I will have to wait some time).
Dorothy mentioned that most of you got yours from Katja and they all look so strong and beautiful.
Does anyone have one from Peggy's litters?
I have always rescued dogs. This is my first time going through breeders. I feel like a kid trying to get into college.
Would anyone be so kind as to inform me a little more on how the whole process works and what to expect?
One thing Jay and I know is we want to pick the puppy up our selves and drive them home (regardless of whether we drive to BC or Ohio). I don't want a new little puppy to have to fly (scary) We have no preference as to gender. Just healthy.
Advice please!
Thank you in advance!
Comments
Peggy has some excellent dogs, and she really cares about the breed, so I'd say she's good.
Katja is probably uber busy with those new pups of hers. And she's had some email problems in the past, so hang tight.
I flew to Vancouver to pick up Ronan. Flew back with him under the seat. Interesting trip... but he was a very good little boy.
The process - you've started it by contacting them both. You'll make a decision as to which breeder to get your pup from and sign a contract and put money down. Then, you'll wait until a litter is born and your 'number' in line comes due. When your pup is born, they'll let you know. That's when you'll start getting the house ready - food bowls, crate, toys, etc. You'll probably pick up the pup when it is 8 wks old. You'll of course have food ready at home. You'll also be sure to have the pup to a vet within 24-48 hours of arriving home.
I don't know where you live, so you'll have to take into consideration if you are getting the pup from a country you don't reside in. If so, that changes things slightly.
There is one forum user with a pup from Peggy, her username is "jenbrunenkant" - she could probably get you some pics of her pup or something. I think all the other Shikokus are from Katja. Keep in mind there are probably less than 100 Shikokus on this continent, so the pickings are slim and the waits are long.
I found that there is a lot less read tape and bureaucratic crap to deal with by driving a pup over the US border instead of flying them. I have never flown with a pup through customs tho, but I did have Hilo "shipped" in from Madrid.
I'd even go as far to say less then 40 Shikoku existing in the North American continent.
Katja would be your best bet right now for a pup, as she breeds more frequently.
It is easier to some degree by driving to pick up your pup as oppose to flying. If the puppy flew in baggage then you have to wait and wait and wait at the airport, it can be a short wait or an hour or more (i.e. LAX).
In 3 months I leave for Japan to pick up my Shikoku puppy. Driving isn't an option for me and I'm not too fond of swimming long distances with a pup, lol. So, I'm hoping that he'll be under the weight limit enough to fly in cabin with me, it would be ideal. At 12 weeks, he should be under 10 lbs. I'll just have to wait and see. I'll let you know how the flying goes. The prep-process can be such a drag though, that I already know, lol.
Um... Ronan weighed 12 pounds at 8.5 weeks... that's pushing the limit for Delta and most carriers. I'd ping both Peggy and Katja and ask what a 12 week old male might weigh.
Delta was the worst - the space under the seats wasn't as high as the smaller airlines I flew. I couldn't fit the carrier under the seat very well. The area wasn't as tall as Delta had led me to believe, and I ended up breaking part of the carrier just to appease them and squish half the carrier under the seat.
Air Canada doesn't allow pets in the cabin at all. I suspect that's true of more carriers. I think I'd start checking with the airline you plan on flying and find out the weight limit, any restrictions, and the measurement under the seat for the type of craft you'll be flying. You don't want to find out at the last minute your pup needs to be in a hard-sided crate (and you won't have one).
Hi, does anyone know of Shikoku breeders. I've found two so far, Peggy and I'm phone taggin' it with Akashima.
Thanks.
Brett
Brett,
Welcome!
I'm afraid Akashima and Ikon are the only two in North America.
Thank you for the welcome, it's much appreciated. By the looks of things I'll be hanging around here every now and then.
Brett
Can anyone provide me with information on the Akashima and Ikon breeders, please? My husband and I have always owned Shiba Inu, but I'm determined to add a Shikoku to our loving family. Obviously, the dogs are very rare, and so are their breeders.
Many thanks!
Most of the Shikokus on this forum came from Katja at Akashima Kennel.
Peggy, at iKon Kennel, has one Shikoku dog owner on this forum. Her breeding program is newer than Katja's so there are less dogs.
Most of the Shikokus in the states and Canada, right now, originate from Katja's dogs - but iKon did bring in some other bloodlines.
Both Akashima & iKon are great breeders.
Is there any specific info you are looking for?
Ahi, our Shikoku, is from Katja.
Hi, brada1878 and thank you for that information. It's always good to hear that breeders are reputable. I did manage to contact Peggy at Ikon and am waiting on a response from her to a few questions that I had... basically about the cost of a puppy and the current length of her waiting list. I emailed Katja at Akashima, but haven't received a reply yet. I know that it will probably be quite a while before a Shikoku is available, so it certainly doesn't hurt to start asking now.
My husband and I have always loved our Shibas, but lately we've been wanting a slightly larger breed and can't seem to pull ourselves away from the Japanese dogs. My Anakin is currently six years old, and we've been debating whether or not to wait until he has passed (hopefully a LONG time from now) to add an addition to our family, or to add a puppy now so that he can take part in the puppy's upbringing and hopefully develop an equally amazing personality in the new puppy. I'm ready for a puppy, but I worry about my beloved Anakin feeling at all left-out or unimportant, since he is such an attention-addict.
I suppose that once we have more information about when a puppy might be available, how long the wait might be, etc... we'll make a final decision. I definitely want a Shikoku as our next "child", it's all a matter of 'when'...
I know you mentioned in another post you have been spending time with a Shikoku - so it's good you know the breed. Where you around the Shikoku when it was a puppy (under 12 months)? I ask because you should be warned, and this is not an attempt to turn you away (I just wish I had been warned), Shikoku puppies are a HANDFUL!
Your adult Shiba may not be totally stoked at first with a CRAZY Shikoku puppy. The puppy will be close to his size at 3 - 4 months but 100x the energy level. They play very rough, and get pretty crazy and hectic.
I'm telling you these things so you know what to expect - you may already know all this.
We mixed Ahi w/ our male Shiba, Maui and our female Shiba, Kaia. Maui is a reactive dog - so we expected trouble... but I gotta be truthful, for the first few days it went REALLY bad. Maui was very upset and wanted to kill Ahi. Eventually he learned to live with her, and now they play and love each other.
So, my point is, I would expect some drama from the addition of the Shikoku pup - but it will eventually pay off and Anakin will have a playmate. It will probably even make him act younger, which means he will be happier.
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As for the breeders. I know Katja has a litter she is shipping soon, and Peggy is very busy with some new pups and other prospects (and travel). So if you get a slow response I'm sure it's due to that.
Currently "Akita u Izis", a kennel in Poland, has a small litter:
http://www.shikoku.pl/
I guess Ahi is too then! :c)
The "Sachi" Izis breed her Aiko too is a mystery to me - I had never seen a picture of him till I looked at the puppy page on Izis's site, then I realized it's "Sachiko". Sachiko is a good looking Shikoku.
Thanks again, brada1878. The Shikoku I've been spending time with is somewhere around 9 months old right now (slightly less than a year, according to his owner). He's still very much a puppy, but gives me a fair enough ideas of what to expect from an adult Shikoku. He is quite a handful, I've noticed, but I'm certainly up for the challenge. I only hesitate because I can't say the same for certain about my husband and our Anakin! Hehe
Anakin's current playmates are much larger than he is. Currently, we rotate three dogs so that Anakin can spend time with them and have a playmate at all times. My mother's 8 year-old female Siberian Husky - Nika - is his favorite playmate. He was raised by Nika and by my mother's previous female, a 13 year-old Samoyed named Keesha who is, sadly, no longer with us. As far as playmates go, however, there is also Nikita, my grandparents' 9 year-old male Australian sheep dog. And there is Sasha, my uncle's 2 year-old female Goldie-Poo. He gets along with all three of his "friends" quite well, but occasionally becomes territorial protecting the Husky from the Australian sheep dog. He does not get on well at all with my uncle's 7 year-old male German Shepard mix, or with the 12 year-old female German Shepard, so we choose not to socialize them together.
Anakin is extremely active whenever he is around Nika, the Siberian Husky. He does get quite lazy around the other dogs, however. They're more often "napping buddies" than "playmates". As you mentioned, I've been hoping that getting a puppy would make him more active, and help him to act younger. (Which is the same reason that my mother purchased Nika - the Husky - for her Samoyed, Keesha.) My biggest concern is that Anakin will not act younger or be more active, but would become depressed and sulk.
I'm hoping to get one of Peggy's pups, even if I have to be placed on a waiting list, because she is located in the USA. I could wait for Katja's puppies, but crossing the border with one of them might prove difficult. My husband would like me to find a puppy as close to home as possible, versus importing.
Importing dogs between Canada and the US isn't a big deal at all. From what I understand, you pretty much just have to prove they've had their rabies vaccination. That's how it was bringing Rakka to Canada from the States and I think it's the same vice versa... of course, there are lots of people here who have bought from Katja who live Stateside, I'm sure they'll chime in!
I just got back from a walk with my pups and Rakka and Tojo were playing beautifully together. They were both adults when they met (just adopted Rakka recently), but Tojo is only two, so I'm not sure how things would have gone if Tojo were older and Rakka were a puppy. I'm really glad to see them getting along so well today because when they first met it was constant screaming and growling, but things just keep getting better and better. At first, Tojo did sulk. He spent all day in the bedroom (where Rakka wouldn't go because there was a babygate and she refuses to jump it) and just acted depressed all the time. We actually forced him to spend time in the living room for supervised periods and then eventually, he started coming on his own. He still goes to the bedroom if he feels violated by the relentless, invasive play style of a shikoku. I agree with Brad that there is likely to be drama (there certainly was in my case!) but we stuck it out and the payoff so far has been great!
Bringing a pup from Canada to the US was a joke - we drove Ahi over the border and, as an American, it was a little embarrassing how little they boarder guard questioned us.
Shipping Hilo from Madrid is a different story, it was rather stressful and odd; but we got him, and didn't have to pay any taxes.Having said that, my dad took the trip with me, and is part of Homeland Security, so his credentials might of skewed our experience.
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Heidi - it's nice to hear how well things are going, I'm sure you guys are relieved.
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ShibaMom - wow - Anakin sure has a lot of play mates! That's cool! I'm sure you will be pleased with either breeder, they are both top-notch.
hello
the pups from the (breeder)from polen on her site are sold
i know that she capt 1 her self and 1 is now in france
sachi and her pup has traveled to holland to the breeder
from their is the pup traveled to france
sachi is travel from holland to canada a few days later
to katja
now is sweedje in holland she have Giff Burt to 6 pups
about a week she fly together with 3 pups(i think) back to peggy
i'm crazy about the shikokus thay surprise you every day
I'm pleats to read that there are more people who are crazy in love with the shikoku
greatings from holland