Ourou Sou Kishu Ken

08/13/2025

Some fun at our last ASFA trial!

And... some fun news ❤️

Sakura OFFICIALLY earned her Lure Chasing Champion (LCC) in ASFA! She is now the first (and only!!) Kishu Ken to hold her LCC & LCI in the sport. Though, Kaede finally added another qualifying run AND a few points as Raikou NQ'd all his runs. So now, Kaede just needs *ONE* more qualifying run to obtain his LCC. Unfortunately, I am unsure if we will be able to snag it, as it had been over 2 years since his last qualifying run in ASFA LCI... He just does not hold the same enthusiasm he once did for the sport, ans as much as I would like to get his LCI (and LCC, being he has all placements and 66/100 points towards it), I do not expect him to get it, but that is okay. Maybe someday, and even if not, he is still my best boy & and I am very proud of his accomplishment of getting another Q at the ASFA Trial weekend of June 21-22nd.

We will be focusing more on AKC Open Shows with Raikou, as we really want him to earn his CM. I also have some hopeful plans to play in IABCA with Sakura sometime soon. After that, I am hoping all 3 dogs can have some more fun with FCAT! Raikou is not 100% engaged with the lure without a 2nd dog running with him on an open field, so hoping to build that drive at home with the flirt pole, but also with straight runs that do not have any squeaky pulleys lol.

Needless to say, Sakura will now be known as...
🌸AKC MBIOS UKC MRBIS AKC/UKC Multi-Group Placing UCH UWP Katsuichime go Tomoe CM2 CA BCAT RATI RATN CGC ATT TKI VHMA VSWB FITB **LCC** LCI VCX 🌸

07/13/2025

Sakura the Kishu Ken posing in front of a gorgeous butterfly mural at Newport Harbor Animal Hospital 💕 We've been a regular the past week, but not for anything bad! 😊

06/21/2025

The dogs of Ourou Sou had fun today at an ASFA Trial 🫶🏻

While neither Raikou or Kaede finished their runs, they at least had fun today! Kaede also at least *almost* finished his second run, but there's a grassy mound he got distracted by both runs and thought there may have been more exciting live prey than the plastic bunnies (bags). Raikou still got spooked by the pulleys for both runs today... BUT we were able to do a fun run at the end with him and Sakura, and the boy DID IT! He ran the whole course with her and even though he was cautious at first, he did extremely well and even overtook Sakura for a brief period of time before she overtook him again.

Sakura also earned herself 12 more points towards her LCC, putting her at 91/100 needed! If all goes well tomorrow, she should be the first Kishu Ken to earn her LCC title in ASFA 🫶🏻

Pictured:

Wearing Yellow: AKC/UKC Multi-Group Placing UCH Akiyama no Roushya Koujiro go CM CAA DCAT RATI ATT TKN VCX "Kaede the Kishu Ken" bred by Akiyama no Roushya

Wearing Pink: AKC BIOS CM Pointed Kaminari go Aoiyama Sou "Raikou the Shikoku Ken" bred by and co-owned with Aoiyama Sou Shikoku

Wearing Blue: AKC MBIOS UKC MRBIS AKC/UKC Multi-Group Placing UCH UWP Katsuichime go Tomoe CM2 CA BCAT RATI RATN CGC ATT TKI VHMA VSWB FITB LCI VCX "Sakura the Kishu Ken" bred by Eiji Yokota and co-owned with Akiyama no Roushya

04/28/2025

While Raikou may not have earned himself a qualifying score, he still had fun for the portions of both runs that he managed to do. He got spooked by the pulleys and ran back to me both runs after completing a decent stretch on both runs, and did slightly better the second try. That's okay! It was his first time doing any type of coursing. Hopefully the next time we get to do ASFA we can manage to do a fun run with him & Sakura together so she can show him the ropes and that the pulleys aren't scary 🫶🏻 They didn't have any fun runs after today's trial, only Saturday's. I think he will do just fine during Fast CAT when we get the chance to do it since he was clearly interested in chasing the "bunny" as well 😊

Sakura did get another first place placement at this trial, though, I am unsure if Raikou "counts" for any points towards her LCC. Even so- Sakura was very happy to get to chase the bunny again. As soon as the lure motor turned on she knew why we were at some random field 😂 (ETA: He does count! So if I calculated correctly, she earned 8 more points towards her LCC, bringing her to 79/100 points, with all necessary placements already achieved 😊 She is so close!)

There were also gundog hunt tests going on in adjacent fields, so periodically there was gunfire, and neither dog had any issues with it, which was great!

Pending work obligations, I hope we can make it out to the ASFA Trial hosted by this club again on May 31-June 1.

And as always- thank you to both Sakura and Raikou's co-owners for such amazing dogs 🥰 Akiyama no Roushya & Aoiyama Sou Shikoku

04/26/2025

While we haven't been planning many sport events, I'm excited to say we will be at an ASFA Trial for the first time in a while on Sunday! It's being held by California Coursing Association. Saturdays trial was unfortunately full, but the trial secretary was super helpful and allowed me to email entries for Sunday instead of gambling and trying to get there day of to sign up. I'm excited to see Sakura run again, and even more excited to get to see Raikou try out his first coursing sport!

Some photos from previous trials and regionals from our times at Gazehound of New England's trials before we moved 🥰

Sakura is the first Kishu Ken to obtain her LCI title, and is just 29 points away from her LCC title with ASFA, which she would also be the first to obtain unless we get more Kishu Ken working towards it other than my own two. She's at 71/100 points and has the necessary placements needed as well (2 firsts, as well as 1 second, 1 third, 2 fourths, as well as a NBQ). Here's to hoping to can earn some more points towards her LCC on Sunday!

03/24/2025

That's Sakura's brother!!! We missed out on this bay due to work requirements, but I'm SO happy seeing Kishu out there doing bays ❤️ I'm so proud of Akagawa Roushya Kishu Ken and Enkai ❤️

02/15/2025

🙌🏻

EXCITING NEWS.

In 2022 I approached VGL/UC Davis to add the Kishu Ken to their diversity testing. At the time it did not seem as though we were eligible due to a lack of population and available dogs to test. I could only find a small number of dogs who were unrelated and could not promise we would have 100 dogs to test. I submitted a second request last week with some information about the breed's declining numbers and we were APPROVED! 🎊

With Kishu Ken rapidly declining in population, getting to know the breed's diversity now is imperative, so we may preserve that diversity not only with traditional knowledge and pedigree information, but scientific data as well.

Kishu Ken owners and breeders around the world: you may now purchase genetic diversity tests for $50 during this preliminary information gathering stage. ALL dogs regardless of breeding status may be tested. This test is a simple cheek swab that can be provided by VGL or you may purchase your own swabs to collect your samples and send to VGL.

You may start this process by following this link and clicking on "Order A Test." This will prompt you to sign in or create a UC Davis account, add your dog (this process asks for registration information so be prepared!), and order your test. **UC DAVIS SALE! UNTIL FEBRUARY 20TH, 2024, USE THE CODE LOVE2025 FOR 10% OFF!**

https://vgl.ucdavis.edu/canine-genetic-diversity/genetic-diversity-phase-1

If you do not have a Kishu Ken or cannot add a Kishu Ken to your family but want to support the project or breed, anyone may donate to the National Kishu Ken Club now or in the future, which may allow us to order tests or subsidize tests for pet owners depending on how our meeting goes on February 23rd. 🫶

02/09/2025

Bath day for the Kishu beans 💕

It took me roughly an hour to bathe and blow dry both Kaede and Sakura. This breed is very wash and wear breed that naturally sheds durt off their fur, which makes baths honestly less frequently needed and easy to accomplish when you do bathe. Before this, Kaede had a bath about 3 months ago, and Sakura was about 1.5-2 months ago. Neither dog stunk or were inherently dirty, however, since Kaede finished blowing his coat and Sakura has a show in 2 weeks, I went ahead and bathed them both.

During a coat blow, I do use the force dryer on their coat to help get loose coat out, as well as brush them with a slicker brush, but they really aren't a breed that needs to be brushed frequently.

01/19/2025

Happy 4th Birthday to our sweet Sakura bean girl 💕🌸 And happy birthday to her littermate brother, Enkai, here in the states, too!

I am ever so grateful this sweet baby girl came into my life in 2021 🥹 She is certainly my go everywhere, do anything little food hound!

01/11/2025

Our next AKC outing we will be at is at the Del Mar Fairgrounds, CA Open Shows (2 a day) on February 21-23 hosted by the Silver Bay Kennel Club of San Diego. We hope to see some of you all there and give folks the chance to meet both Kishu Ken & Shikoku Ken! 😊 There will be at least 1-4 Kishu Ken girls entered, as well as at least 3 confirmed Shikoku Ken, with the possibility for quite a few more! It'll be an excellent place to be able to meet both of the breeds in one place.

12/31/2024

Happy howlidays from the Ourou Sou crew to you 💕

Sakura (White Kishu Ken)- AKC MBIOS UKC MRBIS AKC/UKC Multi-Group Placing UCH UWP Katsuichime go Tomoe CM2 CA BCAT RATI RATN CGC ATT TKI VHMA VSWB FITB LCI VCX

Kaede (Sesame Kishu Ken)- AKC/UKC Multi-Group Placing UCH Akiyama no Roushya Koujiro go CM CAA DCAT RATI RATN ATT TKI VCX

Raikou (Red Sesame Shikoku Ken)- AKC BIOS AKC Multi-Group Placing Kaminari go Aoiyama Sou

The holidays have been rather busy for us, so a bit late taking and posting these photos!

11/26/2024

Reach out to Akiyama no Roushya with any inquiries you may have regarding this pairing! Sakura is my foundation girl, and Cúchulainn is Kaede's sire.