Kai ken
Hello all--
My name is Jamie and I just wanted to say hello to eveyone and let everyone know I am a proud mom to a Shiba Inu (Keira) and a Kai Ken (Kenji) and couldnt be happier with these choice of breeds. I noticed that not alot of people in this forum have Kai Kens and some people have been asking questions about the breed but none have been able to really respond because they dont personally own one so if you need any Kai information let me know! My little monster is 12 weeks old and is growing so fast compared to my shba girl. My shiba is almost 6 months old and is actually getting spayed next week. My kai is almost the same size as her at only 12 weeks! I can definetly tell hes going to be a big boy. Here are some pictures of them if you are interested and it is good to meet everyone! I hope to help anyone out that is uncertain about the Kai or Shiba will be able to learn more about them from my expierences.
Comments
Hi Jamie - Welcome to the forum!
I'm stoked to see some Kai Ken pics! Your puppies are so cute.
My wife, Jen, and I will be getting our Kai towards the end of the year, so I have been asking lots of Kai questions. We do have 5 or so members on this forum that have Kai Ken but it seems everyone is out playing with their Kais and therefore don't have time to post. :c) We even have a few Kai Ken breeders on this forum.
I do have a few questions for you...
Where did you get your Kai?
How does your Kai's temperament compare to your Shiba's? Is he more active? Do they play well together?
Does your Kai puppy make much noise?
Well... That is all my questions for now, but I'm sure I will have any more.
Brad--
I got my kai ken from Marrian at Classy Kennels in Sunfield, MI. Its about 2 to 2 1/2 hrs away from me so it wasnt too bad of a drive. She has shibas galore! If I could I would have that many too! When I first saw Kenji it was love at first sight. They look so much like a black lab and I have been getting "ohh your lab is so cute" alot so its hard for me to tell the people that its actually a Japanese breed. Its so funny when he runs (trys to run since he is so chunky, so more like wobbles) his ears flap up and down. I make fun of him and tell him he looks like dumbo =-) He was pretty good for the car ride home. He was more timid and scared than when I went and got my shiba from Wayne, MI. My shiba slept the whole car ride home and was calm and relaxed so I knew I would have to work with him. I have been taking him for walks with Keira and he is extremely well on a leash for only being 12 weeks. I started him on the leash as soon as I got him. He is also doing better with sounds and wierd noices and when hes around other dogs he gets excited. When I got home with him I introduced the two and they loved each other just as if they were actual sibblings, but of course when it comes to sibblings, there comes the sibbling rivalary. They constantly fight over the same toys or chews even if I give them both one at the same time. They arent mean to each other, they just voice their opinion and they both want to be boss so it takes a while for one of them to back down. Both of them want the last bark! Its funny because they rotate with chews. My shiba will get up and steal his and then he will be like uh whatever and go and takes hers. Its quite funny. They do play very well together and sleep close by each other and hate to leave each others side. Keira is definately more happy than when she was by herself.
Kenji definetly has a mind of his own. They are supposed to be more calm and layed back, which he is for the most part for only being a puppy. But as soon as he sees me take Keira outside potty without him he gets mad and starts crying. He hates to not know whats going on and be apart of everything. He is still in his puppy biting mode, or just getting starting I should say, but he is actually less of a biter than Keira was. Keira bit everything and anything that she could reach. Kais are EXTREMELY smart and when I tell Keira to sit for a treat he started watching her and starting sitting, so now he knows how to sit and lay down just by watching her. It was pretty amazing how fast he caught on. He seems to pee alot more than Keira did, so I dont know if it is a boy puppy thing or just how the Kai's are. He knows what he does wrong but it seems like hes just too lazy too tell anyone just yet or doesnt know how. That is his only down fall but we have a couple different stain removers and as soon as he is out of that stage I am going to have the carpet cleaned. It will need it.
As far as noises go, he makes the funniest noises. He grunts and barks like he thinks hes a big dog. As you probably already know that Shibas have a "wine" to them--well at least Keira does. He has a deeper bark than shibas do. He is growing extremely fast too, and it seems like the more he grows the more his bark gets bigger. I take him tommorow for his first vet visit so I dont know how much he weighs yet but I have a hard time picking him up. He weighs way more than Keira does but then again they are supposed to be bigger than shibas.
I think you will be extremely happy with your Kai. They are such a beautiful dogs. I cant wait to see his ears go up. He lays on his back alot and when he does that his ears point and it shows off his cute face and how he is going to look when they adventually go up. I think at least within a few weeks they should be. I will take some more pictures and post them soon. When are you going to get getting your Kai?
Kenji sounds a lot like our Akita puppy. We have been waiting for his ears to stand up too - our breeder says it could take up to 11 months for an Akita ears to stand! When he runs his ears flop all around, it's cute - but I want them to stand up.
We will be getting our Kai in December, probably right around xmas. We will be getting her from Marian as well, actually I think we would have gotten a boy from the same litter as you but we pushed it back since we had just got our Akita. We also originally want a male Kai, but since we now have a male Akita we figured it would be safer to have a female added to the pack after Hilo (our Akita) was introduced. Now that we have Hilo tho - and see how amazing he is - we are second guessing that because Hilo, at least up to this point, has shown zero aggressiveness.
It sounds like your Kai and Shiba do well together - these breeds do so well in male female pairs... They really do create a close bond with each other. I think I have bored people on the forum with all my pictures of our male and female Shibas snuggling. It's just so cute. The switching between chews sounds just like our Shibas (Maui and Kaia) - they trade chews all the time. They will do it so much that Maui gets frustrated as to which one he wants and will just give up and not chew ANY! He's an odd pup tho.
I'm excited to hear about you and Kenji, and how he develops... Please keep us posted!
Do you plan to take your pups to obedience classes or anything?