1950 imports

jan3t

The first kai in the USA apparently arrived with military personnel returning after WWII. Are there current lines that date back to those initial dogs? Are there second to third generation breeders in the US?

I know I am asking more than my fair share of questions, but I will eventually run out

BradA1878

Well, the gene pool is small even in Japan, so technically speaking all of the Kai Ken in North America and Japan would be related to the Kai Ken brought over in the 50s.

As far as I know, there were no Kai Ken breeder in America before the 1990s.

What do you mean by "second to third generation breeders"? Like a family who has been breeding Kai Ken for 3 generations? If so, the answer is no.

----

jan3t

Is there a good source about the history of the kai in the US? The quality of the dogs I am seeing in the photos posted here is very nice. The people who have been protecting and promoting kai on this side of the pacific have been doing a great job.

BradA1878

With the exception of the individual breeder's websites and this forum, I don't know of any one place that described the history of the Kai Ken in America with the detail you are looking for. Maybe another forum member knows of a source?

Here is my take on the breed history...
The first breeding imports were brought over by a lady named Mary in the early-mid 90s. She had the first North American Kai Ken kennel, but later moved out of the breed due to illness in her family. At that point her dogs were sold to/placed with other breeders and those breeders continued to breed off those imported breeding stock. Later, in the mid 2000s, there were a few more Kai Ken imported, those Kai Ken used in one of the breeding programs. I heard a rumor that there wee some more imported Kai Ken in the NY area that were to be used in a breeding program, but as far as I know those Kai Ken never reproduced (perhaps due to the registration issues). Recently, there has been more Kai Ken imported to the US by myself and a lady named Kim.

While there may have been some Kai Ken brought over in the 50s, as far as I know there was no formal push to breed them in North America until Mary's 90s imports. So my understanding is that the history of the breed, as far as breeding goes, in America only dates back to the mid 90s. This is still a new breed in North America.

----

tjbart17

I think Brad is pretty spot on. Unless the 1950's dogs bred with other dogs and created mixes, they weren't bred. Remember these dogs came over in a very small number and just one to a family. They were companion pets.

The Kais in the zoo were never bred as far as I know. That leaves Mary Malone's stock. My friend's cousin does have a Kai from the woman in NY, but it is not registered. I believe she had one litter only though.

Basically we have a handful of breeders.

jan3t

Thanks for all the good info. It is a testament to the few US breeders that these doggies are so healthy. It is a big commitment to import dogs to increase the gene pool, and I would like to let you know how impressed I am with you!

It seem weird to me that such treasures were sent to a zoo instead of into the hands of responsible breeders like the ones on this forum, but I will assume that it was a well thought out idea with good planning by those who truly care about these dogs.