"How big are he and Ahi?" - Ahi is about 40lb - 45lb, she is roughly the size of a small husky. Ahi is a large Shikoku female (larger than the standard). - Kona is 45lb - 50lb, he is just a tad shorter than Ahi but all that Kai muscle mass gives him a weight edge.
"Does he have a fort behind him there, in the 3rd shot- the cinder blocks?" - Yep, that's the dogs "chill den" or "cave". I built it for Luytiy since he is outside during the day, but it seems Maui, Kona, and Loa are the only ones that use it do far. It's built out of cinder blocks and is 2' feet in the ground. The cinder blocks insulate and the ground helps to stabilize the temps in hot and cold. The top "deck" (or roof) is made out of wood and has insulation in the inside to help keep the sun from heating it up in there. In peak temps it's easily 20 degrees cooler in the "cave".
Kona loves it:
We will be building another one of these in the larger yard in a few weeks, but the next one will be 4 feet in the ground.
That is SO COOL... and Kona has an ATM in there as well, I see!
I will have to rethink Sage's fort-to-be. It was going to be a raised, insulated "law enforcement" dog house, but I could not convince myself he would enjoy being inside it. On TOP of it, yes, but he is not a denner, he is a lookout man. Maybe he needs a little adirondack. Kona's Kave has a nice big opening. I dont think I could do that here- the ground is all clay and damp. I guess I could fill it with sand on the bottom....Whenever I go to the zoo, I look at the animals' new spaces and think about my dog yard...your dog yard continues to keep me thinking!
Is Kona more muscle-dense because he is Kai or because he is male, vs Ahi being of a more feminine build?
Well, that is the game cam in the cave. LOL I have been using it to track the temp swings in the cave so I can improve the design before we build the next one. So, I have lost of shots from the game cam of my legs, and the dog's.
I'll be removing the cam in the next few days and will mount it on the new fence toward the back of the property. The Coyote have really been busy lately now that it's spring, so I should get some good shots.
"On TOP of it, yes, but he is not a denner, he is a lookout man" - Well, that is where we failed here, since it was built for BIG L. He is the look-out too, he has to have his eye on things at all times, so he doesn't go into his den. We will have to figure out some other type of shelter for him - or maybe just give him a doggy-door so he can come inside if needed.
"Kona's Kave has a nice big opening." - It was much smaller, to help keep the temps nice, but the dogs didn't seem to want to go into it. So last week Jen and I did some demolition to the front to make a larger enterance. It gets more traffic now, I'm interested to see what the game cam shows as far as temps go.
"Is Kona more muscle-dense because he is Kai or because he is male, vs Ahi being of a more feminine build?" - Maybe a bit of both, but Kai tend to have a much more muscular build than the other Nihonken.
"Whenever I go to the zoo, I look at the animals' new spaces and think about my dog yard" - That's exactly how we got the idea for these. We visited a wolf sanctuary and saw some dens that had constructed, so we made our own version. Here are the originals:
My neighbor is in construction (he actually built our house) and recommended we build the next one out of Adobe bricks. What a great idea! So, we may do that with the next one or even use the Adobe bricks to cover the outside of this one (since it's kinda ugly right now).
Great pic! Interesting --- it seems Kona has a little curl to his "ruff" (i.e. neck fur)... How is it the boys get all the luck? Seems like Josephine would like a little of that curl to her fur!
We have put Kona on a bit of a diet this spring/summer. When he blew his coat we realized that, what we thought was just fluff, was fluff and a bit of fat. So he is now 46lb, down from 50lb. He is 21" at the withers.
That's a really pretty dog. Do Kai's come in brown / light tan? I swear one of my neighbors has one (oh, btw, he gave me the brush off, "he's a mutt" when I asked him what breed the dog was). I felt like saying, "yeah, and I have a mini husky mutt".
Comments
- Ahi is about 40lb - 45lb, she is roughly the size of a small husky. Ahi is a large Shikoku female (larger than the standard).
- Kona is 45lb - 50lb, he is just a tad shorter than Ahi but all that Kai muscle mass gives him a weight edge.
"Does he have a fort behind him there, in the 3rd shot- the cinder blocks?"
- Yep, that's the dogs "chill den" or "cave". I built it for Luytiy since he is outside during the day, but it seems Maui, Kona, and Loa are the only ones that use it do far. It's built out of cinder blocks and is 2' feet in the ground. The cinder blocks insulate and the ground helps to stabilize the temps in hot and cold. The top "deck" (or roof) is made out of wood and has insulation in the inside to help keep the sun from heating it up in there. In peak temps it's easily 20 degrees cooler in the "cave".
Kona loves it:
We will be building another one of these in the larger yard in a few weeks, but the next one will be 4 feet in the ground.
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and Kona has an ATM in there as well, I see!
I will have to rethink Sage's fort-to-be. It was going to be a raised, insulated "law enforcement" dog house, but I could not convince myself he would enjoy being inside it. On TOP of it, yes, but he is not a denner, he is a lookout man. Maybe he needs a little adirondack. Kona's Kave has a nice big opening. I dont think I could do that here- the ground is all clay and damp. I guess I could fill it with sand on the bottom....Whenever I go to the zoo, I look at the animals' new spaces and think about my dog yard...your dog yard continues to keep me thinking!
Is Kona more muscle-dense because he is Kai or because he is male, vs Ahi being of a more feminine build?
Speaking of that Brad...any shots from the game cam lately?
I'll be removing the cam in the next few days and will mount it on the new fence toward the back of the property. The Coyote have really been busy lately now that it's spring, so I should get some good shots.
"On TOP of it, yes, but he is not a denner, he is a lookout man"
- Well, that is where we failed here, since it was built for BIG L. He is the look-out too, he has to have his eye on things at all times, so he doesn't go into his den. We will have to figure out some other type of shelter for him - or maybe just give him a doggy-door so he can come inside if needed.
"Kona's Kave has a nice big opening."
- It was much smaller, to help keep the temps nice, but the dogs didn't seem to want to go into it. So last week Jen and I did some demolition to the front to make a larger enterance. It gets more traffic now, I'm interested to see what the game cam shows as far as temps go.
"Is Kona more muscle-dense because he is Kai or because he is male, vs Ahi being of a more feminine build?"
- Maybe a bit of both, but Kai tend to have a much more muscular build than the other Nihonken.
"Whenever I go to the zoo, I look at the animals' new spaces and think about my dog yard"
- That's exactly how we got the idea for these. We visited a wolf sanctuary and saw some dens that had constructed, so we made our own version. Here are the originals:
My neighbor is in construction (he actually built our house) and recommended we build the next one out of Adobe bricks. What a great idea! So, we may do that with the next one or even use the Adobe bricks to cover the outside of this one (since it's kinda ugly right now).
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He is one adorable doggie!
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That first shot shows more of the "goofy" Kona, we always see him so serious! I LOVE IT!
How big is Kona now? (Weight/Height)
We have put Kona on a bit of a diet this spring/summer. When he blew his coat we realized that, what we thought was just fluff, was fluff and a bit of fat. So he is now 46lb, down from 50lb. He is 21" at the withers.
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Anyway, beautiful pup you have!
Also, we went on a hike with my family while they were visiting, so here are a few from that...
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Have you ever gotten them a pool? I wonder who would go in it an who wouldn't....hmmmmm...