Introducing a new Shikoku: KENZO!
Kenzo (10 months old) has just arrived in London.
He is very calm and quiet for a young male, great with people and well behaved. The only issue he has is a fear of stairs, which we are making fast progress with.
He is the son of Ommi and Saiki who are from the Van Veghel kennel in Holland.
You'll be hearing a lot more from us very soon!
He lives with Lilly & I in a fair sized apartment with a garden in West London. We have a family house in the country for weekend adventures too.
He is very calm and quiet for a young male, great with people and well behaved. The only issue he has is a fear of stairs, which we are making fast progress with.
He is the son of Ommi and Saiki who are from the Van Veghel kennel in Holland.
You'll be hearing a lot more from us very soon!
He lives with Lilly & I in a fair sized apartment with a garden in West London. We have a family house in the country for weekend adventures too.
Comments
Welcome!
My shikoku Kuma also has a fear of some stairs, but it was worse when he was younger (he is now 16 mos). But even so, in my house we have a small steep and narrow staircase that he will easily go down but doesn't want to go up unless really coaxed. He prefers to run around to the bigger staircase that isn't as steep (both lead to the 2nd floor) to go up. But has no problem going down both. (as a human I would think going down was more scary then up!).
Kenzo is much worse going down stairs than up. He especially hates the staircase down to our bedroom which turns so he can't see the bottom, but he's getting a little better. He's used to the front door steps by now, however.
Sometimes he even won't like the curb at the side of a street if it's more than about 20 inches, and will look for an 'easier' way. He needs to be pulled along a bit sometimes.
Interestingly, I get the sense that Shikokus behave very differently to new people if there are other dogs (i.e. a home pack) around your house. Kenzo seemed wary at the breeder's house where there were many other dogs, and some barking ensued. They work each other up and get more territorial that way, but thankfully we do not have any other dogs around.
Last night we had 10 people over and he was perfectly behaved even during dinner, which we found pleasantly surprising!
Yes, I agree with you 2nd point. When I met the dogs at the breeder, all were barking and pretty intimidating with their looks. But one on one with people, they are super sweet with people. I found that my shikoku is super, super sweet with children too. And I don't have any children or much exposure to children, but when I do, he absolutely loves kids from toddlers to older ones.
My boy is a grandson of the Dutch breeder. The US breeder purchased a male and female from the Dutch program to start her breeding program. So I would bet that your boy and my boy share at least 1 grand parent.
Lindsay, you are right about some of the physical features. Here is my boy at about 1 year old in these photos
You had to wait a bit, but I'm sure it was well worth it!
Welcome to the forum, Kenzo is such a great name, and it's awesome that he is so well behaved
He looks like a big guy!
Your comment about Shikoku behaving differently with new people or places if there are other dogs around is what we have noticed too - but in reverse, especially with Loa. She is slightly unsure of new people if she is alone, but if there is another dog around to break the ice [a pack mate or new dog] she does much better. It's interesting. We can take her to petsmart or something ans she will do ok, but is she sees another dog in the store she is GREAT.
Generally speaking, in a group of dogs, if one shows fear the others will react [with fear or aggression] even if they are not fearful themselves.
Congrats!
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Do you think Loa might be like that because she lives with other dogs?
When we met Kenzo's father he was very friendly, but started barking at us when the alpha female did- it seemed he felt like he had to even though he didn't feel aggressive himself.
When we picked up Ahi from the breeder, she was a totally different dog once she got home and saw we had other dogs. She stayed with us for a few night w/o Maui and Kaia and was a well behaved little sweety... She was soooooo sweet and clam, then she met Maui and Kaia and became a crazy puppy [not aggressive, just very rambunctious].
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:-)
Welcome to the forum!
It's great to have another Shikoku owner here. And Kenzo is one handsome dude. I look forward to hearing more about him and, of course, seeing lots of spam!
Be sure to update us on things. As you can see everyone loves photos.
Snf
Funny thing about stairs and dogs -- our Josephine (a Kai) seemed to be ok with the stairs into our (finished) basement when we first got her. Then she got really freaked out by the stairs and seemed apprehensive all the time, although eventually could be coaxed. Now that she's older she will bound up and down with no problem or coaxing (she's about 2 now)... My daughter's 3 cats and her boyfriend all of whom she loves all live down there, so she has always has had plenty of reason to go downstairs (loves to clean up the cat kibbles when she can!)... I think your Kenzo will be just fine with the stairs!
He is as far as we know Kenzo is the first Shikoku in the UK, but there are rumors that one came over from Canada...