Good questions :) I'm definitely planning on showing Hokka in a few years. It depends if Ren takes to the training and becomes more outgoing, but if she does then it'd be neat to show her a few times.

It'd be pretty neat too if we had a ton of NKF members at the NIPPO show. I'm definitely planning to attend.

come to akiho show in L.A. Expert Judy and Sean will teach you how to handle.
It will be really fun and you will see alot of JAs.

They have multiple rings going on in this video but it gives you the clue. Some of the best handlers do an excellent job of showing the dog and make themselves(handlers) almost invisible. If you see photo of Mr. Kozaki showing, you almost never see him showing his face.

Yes, watching the video I was going to mention that in NIPPO we definitely do not hand stack. I've never been to an AKIHO show before, so the videos were very interesting to watch. Thanks, Sean. The announcer was having quite a bit of fun announcing winners eh?
But oh, Akita rear end construction makes me cringe.

Sean, I was talking about the Japanese video :) Nice explanation of how to position the lead. Judges over here in all the Japanese breed clubs hate when people show dogs by pulling the lead straight up.

*JackBurton* Could you maybe make a quick drawing/post pictures of 45degree vs. 90degree on the lead? I don't quite get it :p

Thanks for the responses everyone!

@timkim , I would LOVE to come down to Cali, it's quite far but it is definately something we will do soon. How about you come to NIPPO show in Ohio next year ;)

@thewalrus , thanks for the blog post, it was super informative!

@Sean, thanks for the videos and info. Showing looks easy, but I'm sure that's far from reality! I know the NIPPO show is in May, but I need all this time for practice, lol. I agree that the LA clubs have come so far in these past few years!

There's another post on this forum about Japanese show collars and leads. I'd love to get a set, but in the meantime are there similar collars/leads combos that can be used in the ring? I also know that Judy posted up some photos on Facebook on the choke collar/show collar combo. Is this what's used in the ring?

Good leash positioning. It can be difficult to keep the 45 degree angle while walking. Don't worry about pulling backwards while walking, but try not to pull up/forward and drag your dog around the ring. Give the dog its head and have a loose leash rather than have the leash be pulling up over its ears.







Good leash positioning. If you look at the angle by the neck, the leash is actually pulling upwards. However, by holding close to the dog's head, the handler has much more fine-tuned control and can put the dog in exactly the right spot. This is more AKC/UKC/FCI style than AKIHO/NIPPO but its perfectly acceptable in the Japanese venues as well.



Good leash positioning. Even though the leash is pulling slightly forward of the dog, the dog has its head and a natural posture, and is not being dragged around the ring. It would be even better if directly in line with or ahead of the handler instead of slightly behind.



Bad leash positioning. Notice how all of these dogs lean away from the direction the handler is pulling. Its natural to resist.







Sorry @jellyfish I had to... We all love Toki anyway! <3 Here's an extreme example of what pulling up eventually leads to -- the dog pulling down and back.



Bad leash positioning. The dog isn't leaning, but the curve of the neck is wrong. This can throw off the perception of the dog's shoulder layback, and also force the dog to shift some weight between front and back.



Lucky handler. The leash positioning is wrong, but the presentation of the dog still looks alright, because the dog self stacks very well and is tolerant of being pulled on at weird angles. If you have a dog like this, you can get away with bad positioning, but I wouldn't count on it; easier and better to just work on your own handling.



Please understand that none of the above statements or photos are meant to imply someone is a bad handler. Dogs are constantly in motion and getting the perfect shot which best presents the dog can be difficult. Getting a ton of derpy shots where the dog just moved out of line into a bad position is easy. So any of the "bad" positions above may have been handled correctly, and I just happened to snap a photo at the wrong moment.

The key thing is to constantly pay attention to how your dog is shifting and moving and adjust accordingly. Don't simply go out, set your dog up the way you want, and be a statue. If your dog moves, fix it. In the case of AKIHO/NIPPO that means changing how you hold the leash or walking the dog in a small circle. In the case of UKC, that means adjusting the dog by hand.

I personally prefer to be between 90-45. at 45 degree, akita's head looks too loose.
90 degree dog looks hanged. so i prefer in between. lol



and look at all these japanese breeders handling dog.

I rarely see 45 degree. note that I'm only talking about Akiho show. I don't know any about UKC/AKC.









all these dogs are at show, got tokyou or meiyosho rewards, I see alot of 90ish degree position, or between 45-90. I don't see single 45 degree stock.

With @timkim 's photos, it makes me wonder how these dogs would look naturally, off leash and without handlers. Some UKC/AKC handlers of other breeds will adjust their handling to hide or lessen structural faults.

I admire the more natural look, like in Claire's examples, the 45°ish ones.

That's kinda why I was wondering- I think holding it in Ohio could cause some people to not want to go there, whereas if it was in Pennsylvania or MD they wouldn't think twice.

One UKC judge suggested to my friend handling the Jindo to smooth out the neck before re-positioning the collar higher up under the jaw.

A lower collar that gathers skin as the handler pulls up gives the impression of dewlap instead of a tight skin. Dewlap = serious fault.

Shrug. Take it as you will that suggestion.

Sorry, but those handlers are wrong. Its not about AKIHO vs UKC/AKC. Its about understanding how to present a dog. The correct way to stack a dog is true for all breeds* and all venues. The dog should not be posting or leaning and should have its weight correctly distributed from front to rear and side to side.

* GSDs are the exception, cause they're too damned crippled to put their legs up under them properly.

On the bright side, a good judge won't be swayed too much by experienced handling vs. inexperienced handling.

I'd trust the judge for the next Feb's JACA UKC show to not be swayed by good or bad handling. She may make you run around the ring several times to give the dog the best chance to show off their structure though. :-)

Also showing in Akiho is totally different than AKC and UKC I've never seen a Nippo show.

The NIPPO Classic shows pretty much exactly like LA AKIHO and the AKIHO shows in Japan I went to. The only difference was that the judge in 2013 was more "hands on" and interested in feeling the texture of the coat, layback of the shoulders, musculature, etc. I don't know if that is just his personality or a NIPPO thing, since the 2011 judge didn't do that. Also we did a triangle in the ring which AKIHO doesn't do, but this might be because the Colonial Shiba Club that puts it in is primarily an AKC organization and there was an AKC assistant judge.

With regards to my previous post, I feel I should stress that what matters most is the position of the dog. Pulling up on the leash can lead to the dog being in a bad pose. It happens even with the pro handlers, who should know better. If the dog is stacked correctly, pulling up on the leash to give it a fuller face is fine. See the last picture in my post, with the black brindle, as an example. But doing so should only cause the fur to move forward -- not the head, neck, and body. It is difficult for a person new to handling to get this right, and I don't recommend they try it, since they're more likely to hurt the presentation of their dog than help. That's all.

I like that pic, @Calia! The dog looks ready to spring into action, brimming with energy, not yanked around by its head.

I want to thank you guys for this discussion- i've learned a lot! Given me some things to think about if I get to show Matsu again, as well as what to look at when I see photos of dogs AND the skill of handling/showing a dog, as well as the knowledge that not everything I see in fancy pictures of show dogs is good presentation. I have long thought many akitas looked super uncomfortable in the noosey presentations but figured, you know: what do *I* know? :)

@poeticdragon or *JackBurton*- I was looking at the videos and I had a few questions.


Touching the tail is really allowed in AKIHO? I know that tail-touching is not suppose to happen in NIPPO. Lots of grumbling from the Beikoku shiba crowd when they see somebody doing that in the ring.

Also, a dog that sits any time during judging is viewed as weaker in NIPPO. Is it the same with AKIHO?


I know that folks in any venue might reset the front of the dog by lifting straight up on the lead. This keeps things hands-off.

But some folks use their feet to remind the dog to move it's back feet further back. How is this viewed in AKIHO and NIPPO?

What we say is not allowed at LA AKIHO is very different than what i saw Japanese people doing (with and without the judge looking) in Japan. I saw lots of touching going on.

Also, a dog that sits any time during judging is viewed as weaker in NIPPO.

Oh no, we're doomed! I picture it now... Ajax is going to sit down and start whining.

I entered Ajax into the Aomori NIPPO regionals taking place next weekend. Wish us luck!