MEET FRANK & LINDA ~ The People Behind the dogs

& the rest of the Humans living here

Welcome to OUR page, this is where you get to know us better & get a inside look at US.

FRANK:

I was  born & still reside in the  wonderful state of New Jersey, I was introduced the the Akita breed by my first Akita,Windom's Jisitzu Jazz, I learned a lot in the first few years after quite a few dogs purchased as "Show Quality" did not meet my expectation as to conformation & health, I decided on the kennel name of EXCEL as I wanted to  do just that in the ring & in my future breeding program, I started attending National Specialties in 1990 , & have been a steadily attended ever since,  I had my first litter in 1991, out of my Ben daughter  Ch. Apogee's California Girl ~ Cali, I kept  a male who became Ch. Excel's Total Package  & a  female who is Excel's Diamond Girl,  I co-owned Ch. Excel's Knight Of Mountains ~ Knight with Danny Newmones of Zuri Akitas ~ that breeding produced 2 American Champions & a Spanish Champion + a few more major pointed that never finished.

All  that was yeas ago, & many dogs later, currently I'm President of the Garden State Akita Club from  on the Board for the Akita Club Of America  & a member of the Owner Handler Assn.  I enjoy showing my own dogs & have put Championships on quite a few Akitas.

LINDA:

was born & started out in  the state of Minnesota, I acquired my first Akita Northlund's Bushido Kuma, Behr in 1984, I had 12 1/2 happy years with my ole boy, in honor of him I chose SHU-KU as my kennel name, I was fairly lucky in my quest for the Ultimate Akita, I had a few let downs in the beginning ,but good things come to those who wait, Flair ~ Ch. Big-O Shu-Ku Wen Y'R Hot Y'r Hot was well worth the wait, she was & still is everything I ever dreamed of in an Akita,   I was co breeder on my first litter in 1994 ( I did nothing but pick a pup , the Brennan's of BVA Akitas did all the work) Witchy  ~ Ch. Shu-Ku's U Ain't Seen Nut'N Yet, CGC, TDI is from that litter , my first homebred litter was in 1996 & Jordi  ~ Shu-Ku's Where It's At is the result of that.

My first National Specialty was in 1990 , after that I was hooked, I missed a few (91, 94, 98) but hope to attend  everyone from here on in !

Currently I'm the Historian for the ACA ( Akita Club of America) &  Treasure for the Garden State Akita Club.

I have shown not just Akitas , but Labs, Rotts & Dobes  & put quite  few Championships on them.

In 1997 I moved to New Jersey after Frank offered me a place to "get away" after a nasty divorce, I packed up myself , my few belongings & my dogs  in a U-Haul & went out East , A friend offering a friend a place to  retreat,    I was surely not looking for love , but when it  hit  WHAM  there was no turning back, in 1998 we were engaged & as soon as we have a  weekend free from shows we plan to marry.   UPDATATE  : We married in May 2001 !

JEN: 

Still lives at home, not into the dogs as much as we are, but still enjoys socializing & playing with puppies , she's into Phones, cars & music !  on occasion we can get her to do some chores even kennel cleaning !!!! that's IF we can pull her off of the phone or computer !

LOGAN:

The baby of the family, now in school,  he has been exposed to the dogs since he was brought home, he has a love for the warm fuzzy things & sop far LOVES dog shows !

We have combined our dogs & kennel names to form Excel Shu-Ku Akitas ( ESA) together we strive to  produce Akitas that are sound in body & mind, & reflect  the true Akita according to  our written standard.

We are both classic rock fans &  you can spot us "jammin" to Zeppelin, Queen, ELO, Floyd, The Boss,The Stones, Bowie, Van Morrison, Buffet & I have to confess...... I have a secret.......... well not such a secret amongst my family & close friends I have a HUGE OBSESSION with rapper EMINEM !

We're still out there showing most weekends &  make the National Specialty our yearly vacation, so if you see us  around the shows come say HI , we'd love to meet you !

                                Hope you all enjoyed an inside look at  the real us ! If you have any questions about us or our dogs feel free to contact us by phone  @ 609-561-9394 or

Take a look at our goals as breeders & our commitment to the Akita breed.