Kishu Ken to be at Westminster "Meet the Breed"

CarleenCarleen
edited November 2014 in Kishu Ken (紀州犬)
Hi everyone.......just to let you all know that I have been asked by AKC to bring a Kishu Ken to their "Meet the Breed" forum held in New York City in conjunction with the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show in February. I will, of course, also take the opportunity to attend the Westminster Dog Show while I am there.

It will be many years before the Kishu Ken might show in the Westminster Show (and it's really not something I am pressing for) but it is interesting to note that they have been classified as a Working Breed.......their kind of hunting is considered to be "work" for their masters rather than "sport". They are in the same group as the Akita.

Any of you in that area (New York) come see us! February 14, 2015.

Regards to all,
Carleen Newman
Kishu Ken-nel

P. S. I have a new litter of puppies born November 3rd........all white, of course! :-)

Comments

  • CrispyCrispy
    Yay! Congratulations!

    I'm in Providence, Rhode Island, which is only about 3-4 hours from NYC. I'd love to come and meet you and whoever you bring! Is the show open to bring dogs not competing? I could bring Fionna or Nami, if it's helpful, or leave them at home, either way.

    I'd heard that the Kishu was going to be in the Working group, too. Very good news!
  • sunyatasunyata
    That is awesome to hear! I think it would be cool if @Crispy could bring Nami, too! This will show an example of the breed that is not white/cream. :)
  • CaliaCalia
    That's cool, I've been doing the shiba booth with a few others for the past few years when it was separate from Westminster. Not sure how it will go this year since some of the coordinators for the shiba booth aren't liking this change, but there is a good chance that I'll see you there :)
  • CrispyCrispy
    I'm sure Nami would love to attend. She's very people-oriented. Fionna gets a little overwhelmed with many people and would need breaks. Nami made many friends when we were invited to the AKC Meet the Breed booth at our local pet expo the other day!

    Do you think the Shikoku will have a booth this year, @Calia?

    @Carleen - You can always post your litter announcement in that section of the forum, too, if you have pups available!

    Litter Announcement Read-Me:
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/6843/litter-announcements-please-read#Item_1

    Litter Announcement Board:
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/categories/litter-announcements
  • CaliaCalia
    @Crispy - Probably not since the breed is still in the early FSS stages. Plus, a good chunk of the Shikoku are pretty far away so the booth would be pretty sparse. Though I wonder if they would let the Shiba and Shikoku combine booths some day, since the breeds would be next to each other regardless (breeds are in ABC order), it would allow an extra large area to help reduce crowding.

    Not sure how it's going to be at Westminster, but at previous MTB events it would get so crowded in the booths at times that even the most confident pups would get a little overwhelmed. There were times where all of the dogs would be crated as it just wasn't safe for them, the booth area was only about 6'x15' so squishing 15+ people in there (plus tables, dogs, and handlers) was no fun.
  • CrispyCrispy
    Too bad TK is a brat. Meeting people isn't his thing, or I'd go with him. Bringing Fionna, from the sounds of it, would probably be out as far as the Kishu go (if I can/do bring a Kishu). Nami would be the only one that could handle that kind of environment among my NK. She's good for all things human-centric.

    I'll go either way, so maybe some of us NK people can meet up afterward? :)
  • CaliaCalia
    If I'm not working the booth, I'll most likely not go. I hear that tickets are going to be pretty pricey and they may not allow non-participating/competing dogs on the grounds. Though I wouldn't mind doing a city meet up, take a walk in central park and visit some shops. Weather pending of course :)
  • aykayk
    I've also heard the generalization that Westminster is crowded and that you get a lot of novice pet people there.

    Eukanuba MTB pulls in the more serious "dog people".
  • CarleenCarleen
    I don't think it would be a good idea to bring a dog, Crispy.....The booth will be a bit crowded as it is......they are bigger this year, but not by much.

    Would love to meet any of you who can drop by.......Carleen

  • shishiinushishiinu
    @Crispy: I say take Nami, she's the only example of what a kishu ken used to be and having a little diversity will further enhance the breed to the general public. It would be paramount to show people the difference in the breed from old generation to what they are today. This is especially important since you cant do that with the other NK breeds.
  • shibamistressshibamistress
    This is great news! Very cool!
  • CrispyCrispy
    I think Nami would have fun - she's been a great ambassa-dog - and it would be nice to show a little diversity, but if there's no space... then there's no space. :(

    Maybe I can just get a hotel for the weekend, bring both the Kishu, and make a weekend of it hiking as long as the weather isn't awful, and just go without the dogs on the 14th to the Meet the Breeds.

    If anyone is interested, looks like "Meet the Breed" tickets may be $35 if I'm reading everything correctly.
    http://www.westminsterkennelclub.org/2015/show/tickets.html
  • CaliaCalia
    There really should be a minimum of 5 dogs and 3 people attending the booth, any less and it can get overwhelming for both. In the previous years, we've had as may as 7 people and just as many or more dogs attending the booth, it was a lot of fun and the dogs didn't get stressed with crate rotation. This year should be even more crowded and needing of booth volunteers more than the previous years. Add the fact that there will probably be less breed booths, or more booths monitored by first timers since some of the previous year's booth organizers aren't too happy with the location change, which makes for higher concentration of grabby hands for each booth.

    As I'm not sure if visitor dogs can attend or not, @Crispy should really see about signing up to help tend the breed booth with Nami. Breed booths can use all the help and dogs they can get, especially the rare breed booths, people really like to touch rare breeds and act like they are touching a celebrity. Plus, it would be cool to show off a greater variety in the breed since Kishu don't just come in white/cream.
  • sunyatasunyata
    I agree with Beth. The meet the breed shows (and pet expos) that I have been to have all had multiple dogs of the breed being rotated, otherwise it can get extremely overwhelming for the dogs. Most of the breeds that had multiple accepted colours also had examples of those coat colours to show off, too, which is often fun for the spectators to see the different variations.
  • CrispyCrispy
    Thanks for the info, guys! :)

    If you do need help with the booth, @Carleen, I'm more than willing to chat and help out. I have crates and all my event stuff I can bring along since I'd be driving the Jeep there. Nami and Fionna are both good with people. Fionna would just need more breaks than Nami, but there are a couple months til the event and I'm working with her every day, so she'll likely be more tolerant by then.

    I'm not sure how many dogs you're bringing or how many Kishu are already attending, but it's no trouble for me and it's a fun drive!

    Either way, I'm very excited.
  • CarleenCarleen
    Crispy....I am not opposed to your bringing Nami and Fionna to MTB.....but you must realize that, as the person responsible to AKC, I have to be certain about the dogs that will be there.....and I do not know your dogs or their personalities. It would be interesting for the public to see the different colors.....'though I do not agree with Gen that Nami is the "only example of what a Kishu Ken used to be." Give me a call if you can so we can talk....361-226-4014.
  • aykayk
    Might want to prepare several large poster-size pictures of different Kishu (hunting lines, show lines, or just different bloodlines) and different colors of Kishu just in case the dogs do get overwhelmed and need to be put away.

    Not only is there the press of the public, but there's also other dogs in close quarters. After the first couple of hours or after the first day if it's a multi-day event, dogs can end up getting possessive of their booth space.
  • shishiinushishiinu
    @Carleen: right now in North America Nami is pretty much the only publicly known specimen of what a kishu Ken was prior to WW2. It is fact that prior to WW2 70% of kishu kens were yushoku like Nami. This fact has been published in several books in Japan and also recognized by Nippo. Prior to WW2 there were three white kishus that were well known which is said to be the beginning of the kishus we have today. I can provide several references, photographs, and experts in kishu history that can back these facts.
  • CarleenCarleen
    OK, Gen, I believe you.....I would love to have some of those articles for my archives :-)
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