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| We rescued KoKo
from the Orange County, California Animal Shelter
in the Spring of 1990. She was 9 weeks old and we
soon realized that we had adopted the
"devil-dog from Hell". Being an Akita
mix and an abandoned puppy had made KoKo have
total disregard for Humans. Even at 9 weeks of
age, she was so stubborn and disrespectful that
we had to seek professional training help. In
looking back, I can honestly say that she was far
worse than any purebred Akita puppy I've worked
with. It took a lot of effort and consistent
training but finally, KoKo began to realize that
Humans weren't so bad after all. We began to
channel her stubbornness into a work drive. By the age of two years, KoKo was beginning to show promise as an Obedience dog. Those who met her, saw that the canine gods did not bless her with a sleek body or an athletic inclination. Nevertheless, KoKo showed me that she was willing to give it her best - even if she wasn't the most graceful dog in the ring. In 1994, KoKo was the #1 AMBOR Obedience dog in the Western United States with average scores exceeding 196 (out of 200 for a perfect performance). She went on to average in the 190's for Novice Competition at the Gaines Classic National Obedience Championships that same year. We believe that KoKo was the first dog with Akita blood to ever qualify and compete at the Gaines Dog Obedience Championships. Back to top |
In 1995, we began
KoKo's Open Obedience training which involves a
lot of jumping. She soaked it up like a sponge
until that spring, when we discovered that she
had an arthritic problem developing in her left
hip. We competed at the graduate Novice level (no
jumping involved) for 6 months while her hip was
on the mend. During this time, and in spite of
her hip problem, KoKo continued to excel and
scored in the mid to high 190's. As a result, she
won the California Handler's Advanced Obedience
School Grad Novice Tournament trophy for 1995. By March of 1996, KoKo was ready for competition in the Open Obedience ring when she reinjured her hip during training. Although many dogs might have given up at this point, KoKo didn't. She was always an enthusiastic training partner and she worked hard to recover from the training injury. After several months of Veterinary treatment and restricted training, KoKo was feeling good and ready for the competitive Obedience ring. On August 25, 1996 KoKo made her debut in the Open Obedience ring at the AMBOR Obedience Trial in Oxnard, California where she scored 195 winning the Open Class and taking the High In Trial trophy. She had overcome two separate injuries and almost a year of therapy and her competitive spirit still burned strong. Back to top |
Later that same year
KoKo competed in 5 other Trials earning
qualifying scores every time with an overall
average score of just under 193. Her 6 qualifying
Open scores represented 3 firsts, 3 seconds and 2
High In Trials. In addition, she completed her
AMBOR CDX and her ASCA CDX and qualified to
compete at the Gaines Western Regional
Championships in Tacoma, Washington. Because of her commitment and willing attitude, KoKo was awarded the KanDu Trophy by the California Handler's Advanced Obedience School (C.H.A.O.S.) in March of 1997. She also won the Open Tournament Trophy from that same organization. In June of 1997, we competed at the prestigious annual C.H.A.O.S. Obedience Match (over 100 entries) and KoKo and I scored 196 in Open B, which put us into a run-off for the High in Match trophy. Being her usual steel-nerved self, she went back in with me and we won the run-off and the High In Match trophy. In July of 1997, we
traveled to Tacoma, Washington to compete in the
Pup-Peroni Western Regional Obedience
Championships, which would turn out to be KoKo's
last major competition. Although she tried hard,
the long trip and grueling ring schedule took
it's toll on her 7 year old body. Two of her
three ring appearances were good but she didn't
place highly in the competition. |