About us

Hi, my name is Alisa, I am 34 years old, and I have been living in Berlin-Prenzlauer Berg with my partner Edwin since 2016. We got to know and love the wonderful breed Shiba in 2016 as well. In spring 2017 we got our first shiba, Yoshi, who unfortunately is from a backyard breeder. Everyday life with Yoshi is restrictive, as he didn’t get to know a lot during his first weeks as a puppy and doesn’t cope well with everyday situations. At some point the desire for another companion for us and Yoshi arose and so our second shiba Soba moved in in May 2021. Soba comes from a small reputable FCI kennel in Poland. His coat colour is “black-sesame” which is still relatively unknown in Germany. Soba is not only outwardly the complete opposite of our red Yoshi: He is brave, fearless and relaxed. Our plan worked out, we soon noticed that Yoshi was able to better cope with many situations with his little “brother” by his side.

In summer 2021 we visited our first dog shows with Soba. There we made many new acquaintances and our desire to enter further into the breeder world got bigger.
In 2022 we slowly started to watch out for a female. When we saw a picture of the 6-month-old black&tan female Panda in June 2022, we were hooked and after a look at her pedigree we knew immediately: That’s her! Shortly afterwards she moved in with us and has been one mind with our two boys ever since.
In fall of 2022, we worked towards our VDH kennel approval and are very happy to be able to call ourselves breeders under our kennel name “Ikigai-ken” ever since. 

In summer 2025, we unexpectedly kept the only puppy from Panda’s third litter: a red female named “Kimchi.”
In fall 2025, our young kennel received further reinforcement in the form of the sesame male Daruma and the sesame female Ryouki. Both come from excellent breeding programs abroad and live with a good friend in Saxony-Anhalt, but are owned by us.
We have the Paragraph 11 permit for the sale of puppies to Berlin. So if you live in Berlin and register your puppy there, we will be happy to provide proof if requested. We are happy to assist you with any questions you may have about registering a puppy in Berlin.