About Seijtitsu Kennel UK
My name is Shelly and I am located 5 minutes from junction 10 of the M40, Oxfordshire..
Owning dogs hasn’t always been a way of life for me, I grew up in a family where we were cat people!!! Since my father was scared of dogs, as kids we always had cats, rabbits, and birds.
When I was in my very early twenties (I won’t say when that was) I lived and worked in Germany. Whilst there I first came across the Akita and looked after one for a friend who was being posted to Iraq on deployment and needed someone to look after their dog. I instantly fell in love with the look and temperament of the breed.
It wasn’t until I came back to the UK that I got my first Akita. I had looked for the Japanese style Akita, but at that time in the early noughties there weren’t that many about. So I settled for the American Akita, I spent 10 years plus owning, showing and breeding American Akitas, then at an Open show down south I happened on a conversation with Maureen Thompson from Tsoyu. I remembered seeing Maureen from around the championship show ring with her American Akitas. More recently at this time I had seen her around the rings showing her Japanese Akita Inu’s and always thought how beautiful they were. On this occasion I merely said I was very interested in the breed, her response was as ever very professional and she informed me that they were always looking for interested handlers to help develop the breed in this country.
I went away and after some careful considerations I decided to do some research, I started watching the Japanese Akita Inu judging at championship shows where I was attending, looking at what the UK JAI’s were offering. I trolled through the internet researching but kept coming back to Tsoyu, I liked the style of dogs they were bringing out, and as I got to know them more I got to understand and appreciate their work ethics and integrity, I realised that becoming a member of this team I would learn a lot. I then decided to approach Maureen and Peter and formally ask them to consider myself for one of their dogs.
After discussions with Maureen and Peter, we were offered Hamako which in itself is another story, an older puppy dog when I first met him, I was so excited to get him and at 14 months Hamako came to live with me.
It was in February 2015 that I started showing Hamako and this is when the real work started. Having shown Akitas already and also German Spitz I thought I would be prepared for the challenge! Well I wasn’t, I had to learn how to handle Japanese style, this breed is a head breed and should be shown completely different to their American cousins. They have different leads and collars to contend with, and very different temperaments which require a different approach to most dogs I had trained before. At this time I was still showing my Americans and a German Spitz as well, so going from one breed to another could be quite challenging for me.
Hamako wasn’t an easy dog to show train either and would clown about whenever he felt in the mood, something I learnt to live with and indeed cherish about him. Our first major performance was extremely nerve-racking for me, CRUFTS, but for Hamako it was his first real opportunity to embarrass me. After spending weeks perfecting his show performance I thought I had got it nailed, so we entered the ring, he stood well, I then moved him round the ring, with a glint in his eye he was jumping around doing his crazy dance thing, tongue lolling out the side of his mouth like a complete idiot! When he finally finished “doing his thing” the crowd was laughing and applauding him for entertaining them so well, I was the colour of beetroot! They do say never work with kids or animals… Akitas definitely like to do their own thing!
In 2016, my first male American Akita show dog passed over to Rainbow bridge having being diagnosed with lymphoma, I was truly devastated. I still had his daughter but I had made the decision not to continue showing her as she didn’t enjoy it much, it was at this point that I decided to concentrate solely on the JAI.
Now some years on since Hamako started my journey with JAI’s I have living in with me Bel CH Tsoyu Hamako Go, Bel Ch Tsoyu Gokujou Go and the most recent addition, a daughter of Hamako, Tsoyu Murasaki Go. These dogs are my foundation.
I am committed to help this pioneering breed in this country and have served as a committee member of the Japanese Akita Inu Club, where I try and give our help and support to other Japanese Akita Inu fanciers.
I have attended the breed specific seminar for our breed, I have run ringcraft classes and puppy training classes here in Oxford, been Treasurer of the Oxford Dog Training Society.
I have been extremely fortunate to have had the opportunity to show my dogs home and abroad and have had many successes, mainly due to my friendship with Maureen Thompson and Peter Chapman from Tsoyu.
And finally, this page wouldn’t be a true reflection of myself if I didn’t mention how I got to where I have in such a short space of time. It wouldn’t have been possible without the support and mentorship I received from Maureen Thompson and Peter Chapman (Tsoyu). Through their dedication and support they have managed to bring the best out of me as a person and have rewarded me with friendship and co-owning their homebred dogs, enabling me to achieve exceptional results with such good quality dogs almost immediately.
I hope you enjoy browsing my site, if you are interested in owning a Japanese Akita Inu then please get in touch.
Shelly Bennett