THE PERFORMANCE AKITA
I HOPE THAT JUDGES, HANDLERS, EXHIBITORS, AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC WILL LOOK AT OUR AKITAS AS MORE THAN A GORGEOUS SHOW DOG.
GABBY & BARBARA SIKKINK
“Koko,” who is 11 years young and still as patient and deliber- ate as always, passed nearly all of her runs at the highest Scent- work levels and even earned her penultimate leg of the 10 required for her Handler Discrimination Master Elite. One of my favorite experiences with Koko was competing in the AKC West Regional Championships, where Koko earned a second place overall in the Master HD division against some very experienced teams. She also earned her Rally Master 2 title and the new Rally Choice title in Mesa, with her 20th Master Q and 10th Choice Q. Koko regularly competes in Shed, Carting, Obedience, FCAT, and rat sports. Thank you all for sharing your stories with us about your Per- formance Akitas. I hope that judges, handlers, exhibitors, and the general public will look at our Akitas as more than a gorgeous show dog. They are so much more!
“Gabby” earned her Rally Championship 2 (RACH2) at the Akita National along with her Rally Master 7 (RM7) and Rally Advanced Excellent 5 (RAE5). She was High Triple and High Combined at the Pre-National and National. She also Q’d in three of her Scent-
work classes at Master level. She is just one Q from earning her overall Scentwork Master title. She will be 12 years old this month. Gabby is the most-titled Akita in the history of the breed: ACH NNCH ALCH NHD EN UCD ROM RACH2 Minda & Midnite The Gods Have Spoken CDX BN GN RM7 RAE5 FDC OAP NJP CA BCAT SWNE SCAE SIAE SCM SIM SEM SHDE TT THDX RATM CZ8B DN CGCA CGCU TKE ATT VHMA VSWE FITS SPOT-ON SD-1 VAX9 HOF-Rally HOF-Barn Hunt. DUBLIN & KOKO & SUZI ALEKSANDER “Dublin,” at seven months
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Almost 29 years ago,
Linda Wolf brought home her first Akita. Performance is her first love—not easy with an Akita but so very rewarding. Over the years, Okami Akitas has had numerous champions and, so far, three ROM Akitas. Titles on both ends of their names has always been a goal. Pictured with her boy, “Heston.”
old, blew me away by taking a High in Trial at the Novice level in Scentwork. Meaning, he passed all offered elements. It was only his second trial, so clearly, Akitas have a lot of natural ability in Scentwork. It’s a great sport for Akitas, as
it lets them work independently and at their own pace. Dublin also passed two Trick levels to earn his Trick Dog Advanced title and his CGCU as well as earning his third Rally Novice leg for a Rally Novice title.
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