This is Tatsu!!!! Tatsu
was the ninth puppy born in a litter of 12. Of all the puppies in the
litter he was always the one that kept my attention right from the
start. Tatsu began his show career at 6 months of age and never looked
back. He finished his Canadian championship easily by the time he was 7
½ months old and as a Puppy Special went on to win 12 Puppy Groups,1
Best Puppy in Show,1 Best Puppy in Specialty Show (giving his dad a run
for his money) several Best of Breeds as well as some group placements
including a Group 2.
The following year as a
very young adult (almost still a puppy) we started on the road to his
American championship. Tatsu finished this endeavor quite easily in 9
days of shows with 3 majors in tough competition on the Southern Idaho
circuit, thanks to our good friend Jack Cole. His first day as a Special
after he finished he went Best of Opposite sex over several very well
known and ranked American Specials.
Tatsu won his first
Specialty (Akita Club of B.C.) at 4 days short of 18 months of age
beating his father for the first time. Tatsu was shown extensively in
Canada and the United States at the same time, ranking in both
countries. He was Canada's Number l Akita two years in a row and has
been ranked as high as Number 7 in the U.S. In 1992 Tatsu won 4 All
Breed Best in Shows, 28 Group Firsts and several Group placements making
him the Top Point Winning Akita in Canadian history for points garnered
in a single year. Tatsu has won the
Akita Club of B.C. Specialty three times (1991, 1992, 1995) He also has
a Regional Specialty Win in the United States and in 1994 won an Award
of Merit at the National Specialty.
He is gone
now but his legacy lives on through his kids and grandkids.
He is still Number 1 in my heart and will always remain so.
"If
there is a heaven, it's certain our animals are to be there. Their
lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an
archangel to disentangle them"
