Kai Ken vs Akita

liljennliljenn
edited November 2010 in General
Okay, I am new and only been reading this forum for about 2 weeks now. I have spent the better part of today just searching and reading to answer some of my questions. A big THANK YOU to everyone on here who have shared their knowledge and experience!

My dear Akita (Nika in my avatar) past away in May. I am not ready to have another dog but just reading, researching... and basically living vicariously through others with dogs at this time!

But I do still have a few questions, if you'll be so kind to answer or point me in the right directions for the answers. My husband and I love the Japanese dogs and wouldn't mind getting another Akita. However, now that I have been reading about the Kai Ken, I am considering that one instead. I would like to downsize a bit -- my Akita was a VERY big girl. I got a girl because I thought the male would be too big... she ended up being 26" and 100 lbs! LOL (But she was fantastic, regardless) Also, the shedding... OH the shedding!

Does the Kai Ken shed less than, as much, or more than the Akita (typically)?

Temperament? How do they differ?

And, does anyone know of a show, breeder or owner that lives near South Carolina for us to meet a Kai Ken in person?

Thank you!!
Jenn

Comments

  • dlrobertsdlroberts
    Hi Jenn,

    I'm sorry to hear about Nika. I've never had to deal with a dog passing yet, but I'm sure it's not easy. As I've heard many of my friends say, your heart with tell you when it's time for another dog. :-)

    About 95% of my Akita knowledge is second hand, so you'll have to take my comments in context. But, to answer your questions:

    Does the Kai Ken shed less than, as much, or more than the Akita (typically)?
    - My impression of the Akita I've gotten to hang out with is that they do shed quite a bit more than Kai. My Kai does shed a little bit. He seems to be blowing his coat right now so I'm getting some big chunks of hair from his but fluff, but the Akita I've met seem to shed more heavily regularly and when they blow coat, it can be downright hectic.

    Temperament? How do they differ?
    - I think that both the Kai and the Akita are known to be fairly defensive dogs. Both tend to be wary of strangers and to bond very closely with their person(s). Where you will see a big difference between Akita and Kai is in their activity level and their tolerance of strange dogs. Kai are much closer to their working roots than the vast majority of Akita out there, and correspondingly are much more active dogs. They make extremely good hiking companions (many even off leash with proper training and practice), they are very agile dogs that love to climb (I've found mine on the dinning room table a few times, and he's never met a fallen tree he didn't want to walk on), and their prey drive is still very high (so they will chase EVERYTHING that moves). Akita, on the other hand, seem to have a slightly lower exercise requirement, are content to be couch potatoes (a friend of mine once said that her Akita wouldn't ever leave the couch if she didn't make him), and may be a bit less tolerant of strange dogs.

    And, does anyone know of a show, breeder or owner that lives near South Carolina for us to meet a Kai Ken in person?
    - I don't know anybody in South Carolina with a Kai, but I'm in North Carolina. I warn you though, once you meet a Kai you'll be hooked, so make sure you're serious before you make the trip up here to meet Tyson. ;-)
  • baantonbaanton
    Jenn: Welcome to the forum! So sorry to hear about Nika... very hard to lose a doggie friend! We have a Kai, Josephine, "on accident" as they say (story elsewhere in the forum history), and she appeared in our life just 9 days after losing our former dog to cancer. I can say that she hasn't replaced our dog, Joe; but she has filled a void in our hearts. I have not had an Akita, and experience comes only from encounters with them at the off-leash park. Don't know much about Akita shedding, but I can say Josephine goes through about 2 "coat-blowings" a year. We live in Mn. and it seems the springtime coat shedding is immense, and lasts for a few weeks. But then, she has had to accumulate a lot of layers of warmth for the winter. She also goes through a coat-blowing in the fall that is a bit more as David has described above.

    We love Josephine's temperament. Contrary to what is said most often about the breed, she loves most humans and most dogs. She is about 4 years old now, and her recall is tremendous. She does love to hunt, and chase after animals but it is possible to keep her in control totally through voice command now (not always the case when she was younger).

    Her size seems to be just right, to my way of thinking. She has been right around 42 lbs. most of her adult life; a pleasant contrast from our 75 + lb. Joe (he was a Rott-Husky- G.Shepherd-Lab mix).

    Happy hunting for a Kai...
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    You already got some great responses so I don't have much to add, but I do feel kinda obligated to add something since I have lived with multiple of both breeds (often at the same time)...

    Temperament? How do they differ?
    >> Ditto on what Dave wrote, but I'd like to add this too... The Akita Inu we lived with (4 of them) were less aloof and much more hard-headed than our Kai. Our Kai Ken (we have lived with 10 of them at different times) are content being out in the yard by themselves or with other dogs, with the exception of one of our Akita, our Akita didn't want to be out in the yard on their own without us. I consider Akita to be pretty much the Nihonken version of a "Velcro dog" - they really just want to be with their people 24/7. Kai LOVE their family and their person, and they love to spend time with them (and prefer it), but they are also content to chill by themselves or with other dogs. In other words, I have never experienced one of our Kai having anxiety over not being with us when we are juts simply in the next room, tho I have experienced that a LOT with Akita.

    Our female Kai tend to be more social with humans than our male Kai.

    And, does anyone know of a show, breeder or owner that lives near South Carolina for us to meet a Kai Ken in person?
    >> That would be great if you could meet Tyson and Dave, Tyson is an import and is very true to the Kai Ken temperament (IMHO).

    ----
  • liljennliljenn
    Thanks everyone for answering my questions! LOL! "Velcro dog" is a good description of my dear Nika. It was a bit annoying at times, but now I am kinda missing it.... Christmas will be especially tough without her. Although, I didn't find her too hard headed.... but that could be because I am MORE hard headed! LOL

    It sounds like the Kai Ken might be the right fit for our family in the future! I am looking forward to meeting a Kai Ken! Maybe this spring my husband & I can take a trip up to NC and meet Dave & Tyson. Meeting one in person will be our next "step" our process.

    One more thing... Do they mind being an only dog? We are a one-dog-family, so I want to be sure.

    Thanks,
    Jenn
  • baantonbaanton
    Hi Jenn; Again I can offer our experience with Josephine, our Kai. She has been an "only dog" and seems to like it just fine. As mentioned in my previous post, she is about 4 years old now and over the past 10 months we have cared for our son's dog periodically, so she has the ability to experience life as a "big sister", too. I would say she is very content to be the "only dog" but in spite of that does not get territorial if another dog is in the house sharing her water, etc. for a time period during the day or even several days in a row. When she was younger she did exhibit some separation issues if we would leave the house for a short or long time, and we have been able to work those through so she seems reasonably good on her own for even many hours. I think this is understandable, as she had been lost and on her own for an extended period of time (probably a week or more) when we found her as a young pup (about 8-10 weeks old).
  • shibamistressshibamistress
    I'm sorry to hear about Nika...it's hard to lose them....

    Velcro dog on the Akita....well....kind of. Meaning, I just got an Akita pup after my GSD died (I also have Shibas). The GSD was TRULY a velcro dog....He could not stand to be away from me, was glued to me in the house, etc. It drove me crazy! Virtually all the GSDs I've met have been like this, which is why I have decided they are very much NOT the breed for me.

    My shibas? Some days they are truly like cats: where is that servant that feeds us? Otherwise they have no need for me, though usually the female, at least, will check in once a day to be petted briefly. And though clicker training has done wonders with them, most of the time they are clearly not interested in anything I want them to do.

    Then I got my Akita pup. I can see why they may be the "velcro dog" of NKs, but I'm pretty happy with my pup's degree of neediness. He's delighted to see me, and always comes when I call, wagging like crazy all the way. But in the house, he just wants to know where I am, so he lays down where he can see me, but doesn't need to be in constant touch with me. And he is happy to be outside on his own (he loves to be up on the 2nd story deck where he can survey the property). It could very well just be this particular dog, but I'm happy to have what seems to me a happy medium in his need for contact: not so much as to be annoying, but he's not a Shiba either!

    This doesn't answer your Kai question, of course, but I've never even met a Kai in real life yet, so....
  • tjbart17tjbart17
    My Kai Ken are not what you would call velcro dogs. They certainly like to be with me, more so than a Shiba would. They like knowing where I am and what I am doing, but can do so at a certain distance away from me. They are both very much "watchers". They watch me from a distance. That distance may be five feet away on the ground or in the backyard listening to what I am doing.

    I don't think mine would mind being an only dog. I fostered a female Kai who then went to live with my parents. Koda was kind've happy to have me back to just himself when she left, but he is still very dog social. He likes going to his program during the day and out to parks and such to play with other dogs. He also spends two days a week with Mei Mei, the female Kai.

    It is extremely important to socialize a Kai. I would make sure that you have an outlet for them to play with other dogs on a regular basis.
Sign In or Register to comment.

© Vanilla Keystone Theme 2024