Happy 1/2 year Birthday to Kona from his Ken
Hello,
Kona’s sister Kailee is doing well she weighted 19 lbs. at 5 months. My husband and I love her dearly but she keeps us busy. We went through the Petsmart puppy classes and it was a good thing she was not ready to move on so we are going back to the puppy class again and they are not charging us to repeat the class. The three of us did great together and feel very good about what we learned it is just that some tasks like sitting before greeting someone was impossible since Kailee had no desire to greet any person and would much rather run the other way. For the first three classes she tried to stay under our stools the entire class hiding now she is excited to get into the class area and play with the other dogs.
She potty trained quickly ringing a bell to go out at home and sits by a sliding glass door at other places. She is still afraid of the neighborhood noises but is getting much better at first she would go potty inside except for when it was real late at night when she rang the bell to go outside every five minutes loving to run around and feeling comfortable when it was quiet outside. Once a week when I went to school after work my husband would take her to the teenager around the block with three Shelties on his way to work to stay until I picked her up that evening. With the Shelties she had no problem going outside in the neighborhood with noises. She really enjoyed going over there and would pull my husband up to the house. A friend came to visit them while Kailee was outside with the dogs. When Kailee came in and noticed someone else at their house she barked and ran to hide while barking.
Another interesting thing about the noises is that when the neighbor boys are playing basketball she would not go outside at first. These kids had met and held her a few times when she first arrived and were very nice to her. I took her for walks right past them they talked to her a few times they came to our yard and house to visit she seemed frightened and would run away. My husband smokes and it is done outside so Kailee goes out with him most of the times. If the boys are playing basketball she runs from him to the door and back the entire time he is smoking. We had them bring their dog over to play with Kailee once and she had no problems with the boys, their sister or the ball. My husband and I notice that one of the boys was bouncing the ball right behind her and she was just fine playing with their big dog. As soon as the dog went home she began acting afraid of the kids in her yard and ran to the door and barked. She is now doing better and goes outside while they are playing a few houses down.
I was able to pick her up and take her to my mothers for one of the weekly classes I took last term. It took weeks and treats for Kailee to warm up to my mother at the end of the evenings. Even after eleven weeks of 4 hours a night she still barks and runs when my mother comes to my house. She seems just as afraid of my mother as everyone else at a family gathering. At our house now Kailee runs from us when we try to pick her up to leave or put on her leash for a walk. Kailee also run when my husband tries to put her in the kennel when he leaves for work, he has been tricking her so when I get home she is very leery and spooked when I get out the leash or get ready to leave and take her with me. It takes me 15 to 20 minutes to get her to come voluntarily. I am working on eliminating this problem any suggestions? All my mother has to do at her house is put on her coat and get the leash and Kailee comes to her and stands still for her to put the leash on. Kailee is a smart dog and is playing her owners at this time testing to see what she will get away with.
Kailee is a smart dog that my husband and I both adore it just takes a little extra to get her comfortable in all situations. I took her out in the neighborhood when the garbage and recycling trucks were about she was all nervous of course but it would be no different if the trucks were not out and about. When the trucks made it to our street she was able to stay outside and not bark running in getting as far from the door as she can get. Our house has a fenced in front yard with kind of a sunroom that has full windows and sliding glass door in the front before the front door. I think the closed in space with windows has helped her feel more comfortable when there is activity outside now she can actually sit in front outside when things pass some of the times. When she barks at things outside it is mostly when it has made it past our house. The backyard only has a sliding glass door with different sounds of people so she goes out back much less by choice. We have a bell strip on each door she picks the front 19 out of 20 times. My husband feels she is going to be a great watch dog when she gets a little older and more confident.
We have taken Kailee to dog parks and inside playtime and she had a great time after she warms up a little. I used to carry her everywhere we went in a Doddlebuggy (front pack) stores, library, gatherings and other errands until she got too big a few weeks ago. Now I am waiting until it warms up and there are more activities outside that allow dogs. My sister and I took Kailee out to a doggy dining place but it was much too cold to stay longer than just for a quick beer. I can see it is going to take more than a few nights out for her to feel comfortable dining out with us but it should be fun.
OOPS Kailee is now 6 months old and I have not posted this yet!
Happy ½ year birthday to Kona from his ken sister. Kailee weighted in at 22 pounds last night during our redo puppy class. She has been accepted as a member to Portland’s most elite dog park but who would dare turn down such a beautiful dog with a gait that is more of a prance than a walk and run that is low and swift, even if she lacks social skills with people. She sure seems to be a favorite of all canines in the park. She has just lost her baby teeth and I sure hope it will help to cut down on all the chewing. My husband and I have lost a few things each but it has been our fault for leaving things at her access. She sure was funny when her teeth were loose and she would try to get them out we found four of them. Once we put her in her kennel and were not quite ready to leave this was to be the first time we both left together without her. We heard the funniest crying ever it sounded kind of like a very young kid crying and carrying on. We laughed so hard and decided we could take her with us. We were told she made funny cow-cat sounds during one of her puppy grooming sessions that the groomers found very funny.
She is really having a problem with feeling comfortable with people still it does not matter what size, sex, age, dress, sound, personality or even if she met them before. I try to get her to any social event I can the list now includes: The Pet Fair, visits with a women and her great grandson almost weekly, a pet communication seminar at a downtown hotel presented by a Pet Physic, private training with her puppy teacher and the teacher’s dog coaching us on greeting staff and customers at Petsmart, Doggy pub trivia, puppy grooming experiences, neighborhood walks, park walks, guests visiting at the house, taking her to visit people with and without dogs, and family birthday parties. She seems to enjoy the activities and is getting quicker to agree to go but when a person is seen or heard she becomes very uncomfortable and tries her best to get far away or hides if she can. Everyone has been very positive and supportive of her. I carry treats to give them to anyone that wants to great her and it takes a lot for her to even accept a treat from them. If they have a dog she is playing with she feels a little more comfortable and sometimes will come closer to them even tolerating a hand to sniff or a quick touch on occasion. She has been able to tolerate the neighbor children playing basketball down the street lately and has been brave enough to stay outside while they are playing at times. When we went to the pet physic event and it was my turn to ask a question I asked about Kailee feeling more comfortable with other people. The Physic said it would take her time. Then the Physic asked me how she was getting along with the cats in the house. I had not said anything about having cats or much of anything at all just Kailee and my names and Kailee’s age and breed. She then said that Kailee was a highly communicative and intelligent dog, be sure to communicate with her telling her what is going on and what I want of her because she does understand. She did not say this about any of the eleven other pets in the group.
She has bonded closer with my husband if she has a choice she will choose my husband over me. I believe she understands that we are both with her at different halves of the day but on days we are both home together she seems to prefer that we all do things together and if one is not around she looks for the missing person and seems very happy when she knows where to locate both of us. When I come home from work she is in the crate so I ask if anyone is home and I can hear her make a whine she is very excited to see me and get out of the crate. At first she did not react when my husband came home from work until he initiated it. I could see it is important to my husband to be greeted by his dog when arriving home from a day at work so it took me 2 to 3 times coaching her and she now fills him with joy by greeting him when he arrives home from work. If I am awake when he gets home I encourage her greeting him behaviors because it seems to make both of them happy.
Wow! sorry I took up so much room I will try to communicate sooner next time.
Comments
Hey! Happy 1/2 birthday to Kailee too... You should post some pics, I would love to see how she looks compared to Kona.
Kona is 35lb now! He is a tank! If we let him he would eat all 7 of our dog's food servings. lol... He's not fat tho, just solid mass... he's a trip.
It interesting you are having the fear issue you are having with Kailee, Kona has never been very fearful, he is actually very confident. Having said that, he is a bit wary of stranger and things he doesn't understand, but I think that is pretty typical of these breeds.
Kona Kona doesn't have the fear issue, being fearful of people seems to be a common issue with Kai-Ken. I have never had to deal with a dog that was fearful of people, tho our new female Akita is pretty frightened of men so we are starting to work through that issue.
I know a few members on the forum have dealt with, or are dealing with, people fearing dogs and I am sure they can give you some tips.
Have you considered meeting with a behaviorist? They might help you find a way to work with Kailee's fears.
Thanx for the updated, its nice to hear from you... and to hear Kailee is doing well!
Hi FesterFairy! Please post pics of Kailee, I would love to see what Kona's sister looks like!
I am dealing with my Shiba Inu's fear of strangers and other dogs right now. Does Kailee growl or bark at the strangers who come toward her? Or does she just try to hide behind you? I think the best approach is for the stranger to not look, talk, or touch Kailee. Don't allow them to approach her, let her approach them. Let her sniff them out and explore them. I notice when strangers don't show any signs of interest to Ninja, he becomes more curious of them and will approach them. Also, if she does act out and growls or barks at the stranger, do you use any corrections to correct her behavior? I also agree with Brad, looking into a behaviorist is a good idea, I have learned a lot from mine with just 1 session!
Hope to hear more about her!