Zen is a my male Akita born on February 23, 1997. He is fawn with a black mask, white feet, tail tip, chest, and chin, and black outlining the white markings. He and I are training for competitive obedience and entered our first obedience match on February 20, 1999. Zen was fabulous and took first place in pre-novice earning 198 out of 200 points. I was a very proud mom :-)! , although I think Zen enjoyed the Arby's sandwich after the match more that getting the first place ribbon. As much as we enjoy obedience, the following pictures show Zen's favorite activity in the world -- baby watching. Zen is ecstatic when my niece and nephew come for a visit. He watches over them and makes sure that they are well taken care of and safe. My niece, Megan, was born in June of 1998 and my nephew, Kyle, was born in April of 1998. They are both at the age now that they are interested in dogs and they both are fascinated by Zen especially his curly tail that never stops when they are around. Like all large dogs, Zen is well-supervised around the babies, and he and the babies spend many hours together having fun. Zen likes older children also and enjoys doing pet visitations at local schools.
