We are Jo and Jarrad Whitfield, we live in Liverpool and share our life with our beloved akitas and Chinese Cresteds. Jarrad has always admired the Akita and after we married in 2004 we decided the time was right to finally add a dog to our family, our children were teenagers and we felt we had the time, space and finances and so our search began.... we done a lot of research into the breed, we studied the breed standard, attended shows and visited many breeders. It was while we were doing our homework that by chance we met Carol and Faye Bevis from the renowned Stecal kennels.

We were at a local show and Jarrad was instantly draw to them as they showed an outstanding black/white akita male (who subsequently turned out to play a dominant role in our akita family) called Dodger (Beaufleets Dodging Daggers at Melodor). Dodger was the most impressive dog we had ever seen and that really is where it all began for us. We could never have forseen the amazing friendship that would develop from this chance meeting. Carol and Faye introduced us to the world of dog showing, they took us along to champ shows, dog training, showed us how to groom the akita and introduced us to the ‘akita coat blow’. They introduced us to their wonderful akitas and we were fortunate to be with them at Crufts when Chloe (Bis/Biss Ch Stecal`s Step Out With Style)won BEST OF BREED in 2006. It is from this outstanding combination that we acquired our first Akita ‘Gracie’.

(for more details on Gracie and our dogs see their individual pages).......and as they say the rest is history we are now owned by this impressive breed.

I first encounted a Chinese Crested as a child in a Disney film, I was fascinated by this enchanting breed and it would be 25 years later before I was in a position to welcome one into our family. The Chinese Crested is a lively, active, intelligent, fun dog to own. Again I done lots of research and was fortunate enough to come in to contact with Dita Kilsby (Tamarsh), a very health focused breeder who promotes active, healthy cresteds. In 2006 after a long wait I finally fulfilled my childhood ambition and bought home Dolli. Now I understand why crested owners are addicted to this breed every day is a fun day when you are owned by a crested. Everybody who meets Dolli is captivated by her energy and amusing antics. I am now owned by two crested and am sure that’s only the beginning!