To our beloved friend Kitti Karhu

Almost six years ago my wife Ingrid and I decided that we would buy a dog. I must confess that I was the one who most pushed for the project. It had to be a”real” dog!

A neighbour had a Rhodesian Ridgeback that looked nice, but after watching the film“ Hachiko a friend for life” I was totally sold! It had to be a japanese akita! We had never met an akita before in real life- less seen one!

A breeder of Akita dogs gave us a good advice: There is actually ONE akita in Uppsala named Mitsu. It is a nice and kind she-dog( bitch?) and her owners are also very nice. Especially Kitti the female owner have a lot of knowledge about akitas.

I got in contact with Mitsus owners and on  the 16th of January 2015 I could finally pet my first akita! And get to meet Kitti and Björn! It felt very good at once! I also felt welcome into their pack. Kitti gave answers to all questions even the silly ones.She told me about akitas and how they behave. She mentioned (as a warning) that this is a special dog, not like most other dogs. But I wasn´t paying any attention to what she was saying. I was only seeing the beautiful dog!

6 months later Shirai, our male akita, came to live with us. And yes! We got to learn that this was a special dog! Without Kitti´s advice and her experience and knowledge of these dogs we had not been able to make it in the beginning. And with the help from Mitsu of course, she was like an extra mum to Shirai..

After our first meeting with the dogs we continued to take long walks together every week all year round to beautiful places around Uppsala and by the lake Mälaren. There is a place called Morga hage. It is a beautiful preserv. It is our “akita paradise”.

Lovely walks, lovely memories.

Through the years there have been many lunches and dinners held at Kittis and Björns home and our home,vacations together on Gotland, meetings at our summerhouse in Brevik and trips to Stockholm by train to visit Kungsträdgården when they celebrate the cherry trees in bloom. 

During our long walks we used to talk about almost everything. Kitti was such an easy person to talk to. Our conversations dealt maybe to 90 % about dogs. And of those 90% I guess 99 %  was talk about akitas. There was not much to say about other kinds of dogs. Kitti had many good contacts all around the akita world and she kept us informed about what was happening.

When we were not out walking we texted to each other containing photos of our dogs. Mostly funny  texts. We called it  “akita trash-talk”.

We got to know Kitti as a strong, honest and persistent person who didn´t give up easily! 

Kitti was a really true lover of animals. She was in a way more concerned about her animals, wild and tamed ones, then about herself. 

She also had a wonderful humour. 

But above all she was extremely kind, caring and so very generous both to us and also our dogs. I believe that especially Shirai had a special place in her heart and he loved Kitti.

Kitti was one of our most beloved friends.

I hope that when we no longer are in this life we will get to meet those we miss at a special place. I find solace in  that Kitti is now taking long, lovely walks at Morga hage with her beloved dog Mitsu.

We miss you Kitti!

See you at Morga hage some day!