# Happy birthday to Ahi (and Rakka)! Ahi & Rakka turns 2 year old today! Heidi - Hope you don't mind me making this post, I was not sure if you knew Rakka's b-day. :o) ---- ## Thread In Shikoku Ken · started by brada1878 · 34 replies - **Category:** [Shikoku Ken](https://nihonken.org/community/c/shikoku-ken) - **Forum:** [Nihon Ken Forum](https://nihonken.org/community/) ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-08T13:16:21.000Z Ahi & Rakka turns 2 year old today! Heidi - Hope you don't mind me making this post, I was not sure if you knew Rakka's b-day. :o) ---- ## okiron · 2008-09-08T13:35:05.000Z Happy birthday you 2!!!! Woot! 2 years old, they're big girls now :D ## sunyata · 2008-09-08T13:35:58.000Z Happy Birthday Ahi and Rakka! :) What, no birthday spam? ;-) ## ljowen123 (moderator) · 2008-09-08T13:36:16.000Z Happy Birthday Ahi & Rakka! ## brandon_w (admin) · 2008-09-08T13:38:03.000Z Happy Birthday to the doggies! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-08T13:43:32.000Z Here is Ahi's birthday pictures - I had to dig a little to find some of the earliest ones... Picking her up at Katja's: Random Puppy pics: Adolescence: ---- ## okiron · 2008-09-08T13:59:42.000Z *melts* How adorable. *pokes Heidi* Rakka spam!! ## _dlroberts · 2008-09-08T14:02:02.000Z Holy hell she was a cute puppy! Happy birthday Ahi and Rakka!!!!!! (Brad: is that a G-class Benz you're loading her into?) ## tobyshiba · 2008-09-08T14:08:28.000Z awwwww! Ahi looks so stinking cute as a puppy! :D ## sunyata · 2008-09-08T14:09:50.000Z AWWW! Ahi was such a cute puppy! That makes me want to go home and force Nola to cuddle! :) ## Leonberger (admin) · 2008-09-08T15:25:28.000Z Happy birthday girls! You're ladies now! ;-P (Dave:we must be thinking along the same lines, I thought about that too) ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-08T15:26:30.000Z I LOVE the first picture - she doesn't even really look like a dog... lol! She looks like some type of monkey or something. lol. ---- Dave - Yes, that's my dad's Geländewagen. We drove that from ATL to Vancouver Island, it was great and extremely wasteful of us [wasteful of gas]. lol! I'm impressed you could tell that from such a poor picture of the G. :o) I have wanted a "G" since I was 8 years old when I saw my first on in Greece. When my mom and dad started looking for a vehicle that would work for Bush's "company truck" tax reimbursement program [in 2006] I urged my dad to check out the G class. He thought it was kinda silly looking, then he drove it, that was it - he ordered his the next day. :o) That truck is AMAZING! My family has always owned Mercedes-Benz. ---- ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-09-08T15:29:49.000Z 2 years old and already a celebri-dog! Happy birthday to Rakka, too! So what have you learned since owning a shikoku for two years? ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-08T17:31:56.000Z I have been thinking about your questions, Jen, trying to give a good answer... My first response was going to be something like: "There is no way I can summarize all we have learned from Ahi in one post". Then I really got to thinking about it and I can sum-up everything we have learned from sharing a life with Ahi in 2 words: Heart -and- Confidence Ahi overflows with both heart and confidence and I think it has taught us that those are the 2 qualities we value most in a dog. I would say that Shikoku-Ken, in general, posses these two traits at a higher level than our other dogs - when they are into something [good or bad] they put their entire heart into it. If you watch them interact and move, even Loa who is a little shy, you can tell they have confidence - and it’s a humble kind of confidence, the type that allows them to be total goofs or spazzes without caring. Another thing I have learned is that, imo, confidence is the most important trait a balanced dog posses and one can’t have too much. I used to think that high levels of confidence could be a bad thing, something that could cause trouble in a dog – but over time, watching our dogs interact with each other – specifically Ahi – I have noticed that the more confidence they have the better they are at handling situations [with dogs or people - good and bad]. I always thought that choosing a dog that was more in the middle of the confidence scale was the way to go, but I am now starting to think the more confidence the better. Hope that answers your questions well. ---- ## Romi (admin) · 2008-09-08T20:58:24.000Z HAPPY BIRTHDAY AHI & RAKKA!!! Ahi was such a cute puppy...her pics kill me! BTW, you and Jen haven't aged one bit! :) ## asia · 2008-09-08T21:03:59.000Z Ahi is absolutely adorable in these pics!! Happy Birthday ladies! ## okiron · 2008-09-08T21:19:07.000Z Romi I think you have a point...Brad, are you a vampire?!?! ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-08T22:08:26.000Z lol - no, I don't think I'm a Vampire... I mean, come on, that was only 2 years ago - do people really age that much in 2 years? I have actually changed a lot - I lost a ton of weight right before we got Ahi, I was thin all my life then got relatively large for a while. lol. ---- ## Romi (admin) · 2008-09-08T22:21:06.000Z I think we need to start a thread with before and after photo's! LOL...You're right...2 years is not that much...but from when I was 16 to now...I don't think I would even recognize myself! LOL ## JessicaRabbit (admin) · 2008-09-08T22:41:18.000Z Happy Birthday Beautiful Shikas!!! ## Sangmort (moderator) · 2008-09-08T23:16:38.000Z HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! :D!~ ## baanton · 2008-09-08T23:26:31.000Z Hppy, Happy, Joy, Joy! Best to both doggies on this momentous day, and to their owners, too! Here's to many more happy years together! ## hondru (moderator) · 2008-09-09T00:33:20.000Z You beat me to it! Happy B-day, pups! Fun fact: it's also my FIL's birthday. ## _dlroberts · 2008-09-09T00:48:43.000Z Yay for Heidi's FIL! ## Sangmort (moderator) · 2008-09-09T00:51:54.000Z Happy Birthday to Ahi, Rakka, & Heidi's FIL! lol ~ ## brada1878 (admin) · 2008-09-09T00:59:20.000Z Happy B-Day Rakka! :o) ---- ## sujewel · 2008-09-09T10:36:47.000Z Happy Birthday Ahi and Rakka! Ahi was one little cutie! (And still is) I love her black belly. ## tobyshiba · 2008-09-09T12:25:10.000Z And on a totally random note -- I didn't realize how far away Vancouver Island was from me. I checked mapquest, and it says 49hours, and like 3,000+ miles. That'd be a hell of a lot of driving if I ever wanted to go visit. I e-mailed Katja like ... half a month ago, and she said she liked people to come visit the kennels. That'd be like, a vacation + a visit. haha. ## tsukitsune (moderator) · 2008-09-09T12:32:46.000Z that was a great answer, Brad. How many confidence-charged shikokus do you think could live together openly as your pack does? --- **Navigate:** [Forum home](https://nihonken.org/community/?format=md) · [Sitemap](https://nihonken.org/community/sitemap.xml)