We got started in dogs quite by accident. We purchased a pet!

That pet was a snow white , cuddly, fluffy 10 week old miniature American Eskimo. We brought her from a local farmer. At that time it was the farthest thing from our mind to have anything more that one dog. Wanting to be responsible dog owners we decided to take our puppy to our local Dog Obedience School. Tessa performed well, took honors at the end of the Novice session and by that time we were hooked. We went on to the intermediate classes and now found ourselves with a dilemma. Tessa could have attained her CD but she was not a registered dog and we wanted to compete!

In That same class there was a beautiful black chow, and she had walked away with the trophy in the Intermediate Class. We found out that she was for sale and we soon found ourselves the proud owners of 2 dogs, one black & one white, both of the Spitz type.

Bu Bear got her CD two days before her first days birthday. One month later both she & Tessa passed their Canine Good Citizen test and qualified as Pet Therapy dogs for St. John's Ambulance. We started visiting our local nursing home the following month.

Allan & I became involved with the training school and became assistant instructors. We found ourselves immersed in the dog world. We started attending dog shows. We became more & more interested in working with dogs. We participated in parades & obedience demonstrations. For a short time I published a newsletter for our Obedience school. From there the next logical step was breeding.

The Chow Chow has suffered from a lot of bad press. Vets will tell potential owners that a Chow is not a family animal, not suitable for children. To us that is a lot of nonsense. A bad tempered animal is a poorly bred and raised animal. There is no room in our home or kennel for a bad tempered animal.

Bu Bear gave us 8 puppies in her first litter. Today we have 2 of her daughters and 2 granddaughters in our Kennel as breeding females. At any time you may find up to 5 dogs in the house. Mums come in from the kennel at least 2 weeks prior to whelping and stay in the house, with puppies for the next 8-10 weeks.

The back door to the house is in the puppy room. This way the puppies are exposed to anyone who comes to the door. Although young children are no longer in our home we invite neighborhood kids in to help socialize the puppies.

Chow puppies are truly lovable. They look like cuddly teddy bears. At a recent "Pet Expo" in Toronto I had a 12 week old red female asleep on the grooming table. A woman came up and asked me if she was a stuffed toy!! She was so silky & fluffy!!

Today the kennel is expanding. We are taking boarders, and of course any puppies that we sell are welcome to come home for visits. In the spring of 1997 we opened our Kennel buildings to the local dog training school. In the autumn of 1998 we officially opened the Tokoeka Training Centre http://www.execulink.com/~tokoeka/ttc.html We teach Conformation Handling, Basic & Advanced Obedience & also have Agility Classes. Allan does the training & the dogs & owners all love him.

As CKC registered breeders we started with Chow Chows. The American Eskimo Dog was an unrecognized breed in Canada. However in 1997 the Canadian Kennel Club put the American Eskimo on the Miscellaneous Breed List. So we are now breeding and showing American Eskimos & Chow Chows. We are regular exhibitors of the "All About Pets" and "Pet Expo" trade shows in the spring & autumn in Toronto.



Here are some pictures of Fran and Allan at the Chow 2000 show in Scarborough Toronto.



We stay in contact with our puppy owners, they become part of our extended family. My heart gladdens every time I hear from one of them. We got photos of our pups with Santa this year. Now that we have gone 'on the Net' I expect even more communication with all my new friends. One of our pet owners just set up a web page with photos of their new puppy. We have two clubs we are maintaining right now feel free to stop and chat at 

Tokoeka Kennel's Yahoo Club
or 
Tokoeka's Kennel's MSN Club



1999 was a good year for us. We finished our first "home bred" Canadian Champion - Ch. Tokoeka's Rudy the Red. He is the first of many to come we hope. In 2000 Mira won her Championship as well as Libby. We look forward to the 'New Millennium' with great expectations for our Kennel and our dogs.

Visitors are welcome to Tokoeka Kennels at any time. There is nothing better than sitting talking about our dogs. We love them and want others to love them as well. Just call ahead to make sure we are available. Evenings & weekends are the best time to catch us.

We would love to hear from you in the future.

Fran & Allan & all the Tokoeka Chows & Eskies.

P.S.: Want to know what TOKOEKA means? The Tokoeka is a species of KIWI bird, specifically the 'South Island Kiwi'. Allan is from the South Island of New Zealand and New Zealanders are known as Kiwi's. We thought that the name was perfect for our Kennel.

Tokoeka Kennels c/o Allan & Fran Johnson RR 2, PO Box 182, Lucan, Ont N0M 2J0 Canada PHONE: (519) 227-0345 FAX: (519) 227-0806 WEB: http://tokoeka.virtualave.net