Now we have finally chosen a male for Bikita, after endless hours of searching both the Internet and the many exhibitions we’ve been to. Eventually I was close to give up, the perfect dog does not exist, and I think it is very important to remember that as a breeder.
I’ve been looking for a male, who was stunningly beautiful, smart, and sound, with amazing movement, a wonderful temperament, a complete dentition and within the breed standard in size. I’ve also been looking for a dog with perfect hips, elbows and shoulders judged from X-ray results, and it has been a requirement that there was a mentality test with excellent results, including to be gunshot-proof.
I’ve also been looking for a male, who has already mated other bitches before, partly because it will be the first time for Bikita, partly because I wanted to have some offspring to judge.
I have also been looking for a dog that has not been used in Denmark before and have been focusing on keeping the inbreeding coefficient very low.
I have also evaluated the male lines many generations back, as I have studied the siblings of the male to assure myself as far as possible that everything looked fine.
I have deselected the U.S. and for instance Australia, as I wanted a natural mating, to be sure I only breed a bitch, which I know, can contribute to a natural mating, and thus I have excluded imported semen this time.
Finally, I’ve wanted a dog that not only has done really well in the show ring, but also has proven he can work, for example with trail-tracking and possible obedience.
I haven’t managed to get all my wishes fulfilled, but I have come very close. Bikita will in October / November be paired with a beautiful 3½ year old German male, Farmers Guardian African Akono. (www.africanakono.de)
Akono caught my eye at the world exhibition in Herning, Denmark 2010, but as we for other reasons had to rush home from Herning, after Bikita had been in the ring and got excellent, we didn’t get a chance to speak with the owners or greet Akono. However, I found him by studying the list of participating dogs in the show afterwards and go through a sea of websites. He had just what I was looking for and after mail exchange with Akono’s very sweet owners, we arranged for Akono and his owners, Petra and Wolfgang Reiter to meet with us the day before the DKK’s International show in Fredericia in February 2011. Here we were out walking together and ate a nice dinner Saturday night at our hotel, before we met the next morning to common breakfast and subsequent exhibition, where Akono incidentally was excellent, won the open class and was third best male. Here we saw a dog that completely lived up to all our hopes. We knew he was stunningly beautiful already, but he is also a very sweet and well-balanced dog, that I fell totally in love with. Bikita did also really like him, which certainly also is important, but unfortunately we could not let them enter into a closer acquaintance, as Bikita was in heat just in those days.
Akono is already father to 4 beautiful litters in Germany, Switzerland and the Czech Republic and has been approved for breeding with top marks in both Germany and France, so he meets all my desires for a male, except for one thing: he has not proven, that he is a fantastic working dog in the form of successful tests, but I think that is only because his owners did not have an interest in it. In return, he seems both bright, happy to play and very cooperative, and that is some of the things, that mean something when we’re talking work. I love to work / train / play with Bikita, and have planned to keep a girl from Bikita’s first litter of puppies, because I believe, that I in the Bikita / Akono combination gets a nice, healthy, beautiful dog, who would like to work as well, and most importantly will be a wonderful family-dog.
More information will gradually show up, if you look below “puppies”
