“While he mused on the effect of the flowing sands, he was seized from time to time by hallucinations in which he himself began to move with the flow” (Kōbō Abe, The Woman in the Dunes)
About Sabakujou
Owner/Handler Kelsea E. Stafford Located in Mesa, AZ
Sabakujou started as a branch of the entire Shikoku community. What was once just a small inquiry turned into complete adoration for the breed and those that were pooling their resources to preserve traditions and better the Shikoku health as a whole. The only thing lacking was the breed actively competing in canine sports here in the US. So I set about picking a few dogs that had good conformation and a temperament with a higher willingness to please, and compete. My dogs are raised in my home in Mesa, AZ, they travel the US competing in Conformation, Barn hunt, Lure coursing, FCAT, Precision Coursing, dock diving, and anything else they willing to try and enjoy. So far we have done over 40k miles of driving and over 50 competitions in just 3 years and don’t plan on stopping.
I started my journey in the world of Nihon Ken in 2013 rescuing a single Shiba Inu from a Florida kill shelter while serving in the USAF as a Security Police officer. Over the next 10 years and multiple moves due to my job I ended up serving as the largest and most successful Shiba Inu rehabilitationist in the US, even opening my own organization AZSIRRT in Arizona in 2015. My passion for the Nihon Ken has only grown with the knowledge that there were breeds that were suffering due to a small gene pool as result of their near extermination in the 1940’s during the occupation of Japan. After much research as to which of the lesser known Nihon Ken would fit my lifestyle, I fell in love with the Shikoku. What I didn't know is that I would gain so much more than a dog. The community itself was very open, honest, and helpful. They even encouraged me to consider breeding here in the US, so I changed my focus from rescue to conservation. I have never forgotten my beginnings and still offer my experience to rescues housing shibas and now foster all nihon ken at no cost. In 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic I even stepped forward to successfully rehabilitate and place an imported Shikoku from Japan suffering from prior physical and emotional abuse named Mar. My passion for these amazing dogs is the driving force to creating performance shikoku here in the US.
This journey has been the highlight of my life, and I owe it all to my Shikoku. Never in a million years did I think I would find my purpose in showing dogs, and breeding Shikoku. Haiiro my amazing foundation male and my heart dog has given me more then I can ever give back to him and he is an amazing credit to his breed. I cant wait to see what his babies bring to the world.
