Of Nihon Ken & Velcroness

Sangmort

Have a question for you all

One thing I have noticed with Wraith is he's pretty Velcro. For some reason, he's more sticky with me, even tho Brian spends an equal amount of time with him. He's not quite as sticky as say, a Dobe, but he does definitely feel the need to stay extremely close. [ & he was suppose to be more "independent" for a Dutchie! ]

Anyway, of all the Mali & Dutchie owners I spoke to [ including the various breeders ] none had mentioned velcroness as a part of the breed. Or at least, if they did, I misunderstood & didn't think it would be QUITE this strong! LOL [ & it's gotten stronger as he's gotten older ]

So it got me to thinking about the NK, & how they are usually described as "independent." So now, I'm asking you all, how "velcro" are your NK? Do they follow you around? Can you walk freely without having to worry their under your feet? Do they come & ask you for some scratches?

lol ~

tjbart17

Koda only follows me off leash because he's been trained to do so. He will follow me into the kitchen to see what I'm cooking and if he can get a bite. He also likes to sleep in the same room as me for the most part. I think he just doesn't want to be alone. But he's not a velcro type dog. He's pretty happy to be off by himself without my entertainment. Although, he does like being with me.

Maymay is attached at my hip. She follows me everywhere and needs to be with me or on my lap. She also needs hugs everytime I come home. She demands my attention. This may be because she's a rescue though. I will never know if it's just her or the fact that she's happy to just have humans around and not be chained up in a yard.

Edgewood

Kuma and Sachi both follow me around everywhere in the house. Both like to sleep in my office while I work. Kuma also likes to sleep on the same side of the room as me. As I go down the stairs, both stop at the landing and wait to see if I am going all the way down or only partway and back up. Both do come up and sit next to the couch and "present their back" to me for petting.

So yes, in a sense they are velcro like, more so than my Siberians ever were. But maybe not as NEEDY much as some other breeds.

shibamistress

Someone told you Malis and Dutchies weren't velcro dogs? Huh. They must have a different interpretation of that then I do! Granted, I haven't known a lot of them, but the ones I knew (Malis) were so sticky that I knew they'd drive me crazy. As sticky as a GSD, I thought, but with a dose of the Mali intensity in addition!

My shibas are the anti-velcro dogs. They're not interested in what I'm doing, unless I'm in the kitchen, and that's the kitchen, not me. They may (or may not) deign to sleep in the bed if one of them is upstairs, but mostly, they're only interested in being around me when they want something (food, attention, etc) Bel likes to check in if I'm on the couch reading, and she demands about 30 secs of petting, then she's done for the day. Toby likes to lay where he can see me, but otherwise doesn't care.

So far, Oskar follows me pretty reliabley, so we'll see how he turns out on the velcro scale, but right now, I think he's just following me because he's a puppy and I'm the number one treat giver.....of course I'm encouraging his following right now. Even so, he doesn't want to lay near me....he'd prefer to lay where he can see me, but not too close.

My GSD was a velcro dog and it drove me crazy....

TheWalrus

Haru wants to be nearby and keep tabs on what I'm up to, but not velcro IMHO. Baron and Momo just do their own thing. Every once in a while they'll come see what I'm up to. They're not velcro at all.

dlroberts

I have a similar situatuon as Shigeru. Tyson is my constant companion, always within sight at the least but often underfoot. This isn't just in the kitchen either. He'll follow me unto the closet while I'm picking out clothes and curl up on my feet there too.

The Shibas know what the kitchen and back door mean so they are on me like white on rice when I'm in those areas. The rest of the time they like to know where I am, but don't need to be close by or even in sight.

So, to sum, I wouldn't call Tyson particularly independent. But, I tend to prefer a dog that I can easily keep tabs on. With all of Lucy's health issues and her tendency toward mischeif I got in the habbit of ALWAYS knowing exactly where my dogs are and what they are doing. Ty makes that extremely easy.

sunyata

This Shibas are fairly independent... They are very rarely ever underfoot, and usually only in the kitchen or near the back door. (Kind of like Dave's two)

They are usually in the same room as me, but will often take breaks to go hang out else where or take a nap on the bed. Occasionally one of them will curl up next to me on the couch... Nola does this about once a day, Bella, maybe once or twice a month. But Bella sleeps in the bedroom with us, and usually starts out curled up next to my feet, but will end up in her bed before we actually fall asleep.

Harley is another story all together... But of course, she has two VERY velcro breeds mixed in her... It gets super annoying, especially since I am so used to independent dogs. But it can also be sweet when no one else wants to snuggle and keep me warm.

kwyld

News was majorly attached to my hip and had severe seperation anxiety. Taj is a .5 on a Velcro scale of 1-100, and Kohji is very similar to Haru and Tyson.

Heidi

We really like Rakka's level of velcroness. She likes to hang around with us, but she's not addicted to us. It's nice to have a dog that doesn't need constant attention, but still likes us. I've got three kids who need constant attention, so adding a needy dog into the mix is just tiresome.

We were dogsitting my Nana's dog, Dolly for the past two weeks, and she whines and complains if you so much as lock her out of the bathroom for some privacy. That got really old, especially when the kids were being loud and she didn't like it, but she wouldn't just leave the room like Rakka would. She wanted to follow me around even if the kids were pestering her. I mean, the kids shouldn't pester the dog, and I don't let them, but Rakka's got the sense to just steer clear when they're in that mood, which makes my job easier.

It's nice when we're off-leash, too, because she sticks around enough that we know where she is and she catches up with us if we call to her, but she'll still exercise herself somewhat. Whereas a dog like Dolly will only walk as many steps as I walk. If I stop to tie my shoe, Dolly just stops and stares at me, whereas Rakka keeps running around, which makes it easier to exercise her, even though she's higher energy. She'll also hang out in the yard by herself.

Rakka's great.

tjbart17

Heidi in my home if you close the door on Maymay she just opens it up and walks in giving me the stink eye. I don't even bother anymore.

dlroberts

LOL @ Tara!

Saya

Maymay sounds so smart and cute. =)

tjbart17

Nicole, Maymay uses her smarts for evil pure evil. ha ha ha. She knows she's smart. Like right now she's watching Koda plotting to take his bully stick and run into her crate. I can see it in her eyes.

Sangmort

I started this thread then ran away :x Sorry guys!!! LOL

It was nice to hear all the different levels of stickyness amongst the NK I didn't think any of them would be as sticky as Wraith, but I wanted to make sure [ Not that I mind his velcroness, it's an interesting part of who he is! Just took me by surprise! lol ]


"News was majorly attached to my hip and had severe seperation anxiety. "
>>> We saw this happening early on & have been working extra hard to not let it develope, but I think he'll always have some level of this. For example, he can NOT hear my voice in the rest of the house while he's in his crate in my office / studio. He will start crying. Also, deffinitely barrier frustration. If I leave him outside on the patio with Brian & my sister, he still barks like crazy trying to get to me through the sliding glass door when I'm in the house.


"Someone told you Malis and Dutchies weren't velcro dogs? Huh. They must have a different interpretation of that then I do! Granted, I haven't known a lot of them, but the ones I knew (Malis) were so sticky that I knew they'd drive me crazy. As sticky as a GSD, I thought, but with a dose of the Mali intensity in addition!"

That's what I'm thinking!!! Tho, come to think of it, many of the owners [ & breeders, for that matter ] kennel their dogs & use them for sport or work. So it would make sense why this attribute wasn't really mentioned.

Tho looking back, Wraith's breeder did mention Wraith's mother is very attached to her. I just didn't think it was in a "velcro" way! LOL ~

shishiinu

At my house I have both NK and non NK and there is a huge difference in the "velcroness" of my dogs. Riki and Taro are rangers and they will always come see where I am and then run off a bit and come back. I have now got to the point where I can rely on Taro returning when called when out in the mountains. My Kishus have a mind of their own so I just adapt to that and we function as a team. Unfortunately its usually only me and Taro going out to hunt these days so Riki is living the good life retired.

Now Hana (blk lab) on the other hand is so velcro that she's always up my ass when we are out. But when Hana is hunting she is in a world of her own. she is always alert and always looking and paying attention to her surrounding. When we duck hunt she is looking up in the sky watching the ducks and geese fly in.