What
is the origin of your affix?
Excel Shu-Ku is our affix
Linda: My kennel was originally Shu-Ku, a tribute to my first
Akita Northlund’s BuSHUdo KUma
Frank: Mine was Excel , as
wanted to Excel in the ring & as a breeder
Linda: I’ll add when
we got together in 1997 we combined the
two names to form Excel Shu-Ku , as both of us were far to stubborn to
give up our original kennel names :)
How
and when did you become involved with akitas?
I fell in love in Jr
high school , I had received the county of Japan to do a history report on, I
researched & most of my repost was on the Akita breed, on it a few pages covered the people ,
traditions etc , I got an A+ on it
Where akitas your first breed No
they were not Linda: I had dogs growing up as a child , a collie , then 2 Norwegian
Elkhounds , I also went to shows with a friend of my parents, I helped them
with mini schnauzers.
Frank: When I was
a child, my Dad had beagles that we would take with when we would go rabbit
hunting.
How
and why did you choose your first akitas?
Linda: I did a report in Jr high & was fascinated by the
breed I talked with some breeders at shows & did some letter inquiries to some top breeders of the
time, but ultimately, being fairly young, just out of high school & having
no savings I got my first puppy from
someone locally who just had a litter.
Frank:
While
looking at the AKC book of breeds I picked the Akita as the breed for me , I
researched several dog books before checking breeders in my area, at that time
there were quite a few established kennels close by.
Are
you still keeping this lines on your pedigrees? Linda : no, I never bred my boy Frank I never bred any of my first Akitas
either as they had some big faults & health issues.
What
lines did you bring to your program after and why? Linda
: I
brought in Big-O/Goshen/O’BJ lines , as I really liked the look of that type of Akita & the consistence
that came with that line. Frank:
I brought in Apogee/Goshe/Tobe lines for size consistency ; color.
How
do you select a stud dog?
Linda: By looking at him, ideally getting our hands on the
dog & seeing his offspring if any to see how he produces & if he
produces consistently, of coarse we look at the pedigree as well, but
sometimes it‘s just a gut feeling &
you have to go out on a limb & breed to a young or unknown dog.
Frank:
Ideally
seeing that a dog has consistently produced better than himself is IMO a sign of a good stud dog, he must
also mesh well with the bitch we intend to bred him to.
What
do you think about inbreeding,linebreeding and outcross? Linda: I think they all have to be utilized when trying to
establish your lines we have mostly line bred & recently did a ½ brother
sister breeding that came out with phenomenal results, that’s the closest
breeding we have done to date.
Frank: I
agree 100%
Who
or what influnced your breeding the most? Linda:
Our dogs, they inspire us, as with one that is successful,
we try to create the next generation to be better. Frank:
yes we are always striving to improve & move forward in our breeding
program.
Did
you have a mentor? Linda: I
think we are each other mentors J, we discuss a lot of things back & forth before we
move forward.
What
is your all times favourite akita and why?
Linda: Certainly Raja has, he has been very consistent in
producing breed type, he’s also a showman those are some factors that make him
stand out for me.
Frank: For me it was Ch. Apogee’s Mata Hari, a huge
impressive black brindle pinto bitch that had undeniable ring presence both standing & moving .
What
about your own dogs,what is your favourite?
Linda:
That’s has
to be my Flair ~ Ch. Big-O Shu-Ku’s Wen Y’r Hot Y’r Hot, she was my first
Champion, my first real big winner & had my heart the day I first laid eyes
on her in a video taken at 6 weeks ,she was & always will be my heart &
soul dog.
Frank: Mine would be Luger ~ Ch. Excel’s Total Package, my
first homebred Champion , he truly was a total package , he had everything I
would want in an Akita today, size, substance ,bone & head with a sweet
temperament.
¿Cuál es el origen de su afijo?
Excel Shu-Ku es nuestro afijo
Linda: Mi criadero era originalmente Shu-Ku, un homenaje a mi primer Akita BuSHUdo Northlund Kuma
Frank: El mío era de Excel, como quería ser Excelente en el ring y como criador
Linda: Voy a añadir que cuando nos juntamos en el año 1997 se combinaron los dos nombres para formar Excel Shu-Ku, ya que ambos estábamos muy lejos de renunciar a nuestros nombres de criadore originales .
¿Cómo y cuándo te involucraste con akitas?
Me enamoré enen el Instituto, ya que había tuve que hacer un trabajo sobre la historia de Japón, investigué y la mayor parte de mi trabajo fue sobre la raza Akita, en el que unas pocas páginas cubiertas las personas, etc tradiciones, tengo una A + en la que
¿Fueron los akitas vuestra primera raza?No, no lo fueron
Linda: Yo tenía perros mientras crecía, un collie, luego 2 Elkhounds noruego. También iba a exposiciones con un amigo de mis padres, le ayudaba con schnauzer mini.
Frank: Cuando yo era niño, mi papá tenía Beagles con que los que íbamos a la caza del conejo.
¿Cómo y por qué eligió sus primeros akitas?
Linda: cuando hice el trabajo estaba fascinada por la raza,y hablé con algunos criadores en exposiciones y hice algunas preguntas por carta a algunos de los mejores criadores de la época, pero en última instancia, siendo bastante joven, recién salida de la escuela secundaria y no tener ahorros, conseguí mi primer cachorro de alguien local que acaba de tener una camada.
Frank: Mientras observaba el libro de las razas de AKC tomé el Akita, como la raza para mí, he investigado varios libros de perros antes de buscar los criadores en mi área, en ese momento había muy pocos establecidos cerca.
¿Seguís manteniendo estas líneas en vuestros pedigrís? Linda: no, nunca he criado a mi Frank ni a ninguno de mis primeros Akitas, ya que como primeros, tenían fallos grandes y problemas de salud.
¿Qué líneas llevásteis a vuestro programa de cría y por qué? Linda: traje las líneas de BJ Big-O/Goshen/O ", porque me gustó mucho el aspecto de ese tipo de Akita y la consistencia que viene con esa línea. Frank: Me trajo Apogee / Goshe / Tobe líneas consistentes en tamaño y color.
¿Cómo seleccionais un semental?
Linda: Al mirarlo, lo ideal es poner nuestras manos sobre el perro y ver su descendencia en su caso para ver cómo se reproduce y si se produce constantemente, por supesto nos fijamos en el árbol genealógico también, pero a veces es sólo una corazonada y te dejas llevar y cruzas con un perro joven o desconocido.
Frank: Lo ideal es ver que un perro ha producido consistentemente mejor que él mismo es un signo inconfundible de un buen semental , también debe encajar bien con la perra que tenemos la intención de criar.
