Kai trainability? - Your experience...

Brego_mellon_nin

Hi people.

I would like to know, how your kai(s) has been to train?

What did he/she respond to (treats, praise, toys?), and how did you make it work?

Are they difficult to train in your opinion?

Anything on kai training you can tell me, I will appreciate very much!

Thank you in advance

Heidi

Sosuke's really workable. From what I hear, so is his mother, so that must be where he gets it from. He's very focused, too. He does really well at puppy class and in all other distracting situations. He's lapped Rakka in impulse control, that's for sure, lol. He's a lot easier to train than she is because he's calmer to begin with and he's really big on treats. If you have treats, you won't have a problem. He likes toys, and praise, too, although praise doesn't hold his attention too much.

He's mastered staying calm at the playground, which in my opinion, is really hard for an active dog. We walk to the playground and the dogs have to stay calm while kids run around screaming and be polite if a child approaches him. It's not a skill any dog is born with. Rakka needs a lot of reminders.

Now, Sosuke is the only kai I've ever met (crazy, right?) so he's the only one I can speak for.

jujee

Kyuubi responds very well to treats. He is very food motivated! He is also semi-toy motivated, and he does enjoy praise. He loves being rubbed and scratched.

He does get distracted at puppy classes. That's why I take him 2x a week instead of once a week so that he gets used to seeing all the other puppies around. He reminds me a lot of Mika around that age, wanting to play with the other puppies more than wanting to "work". He will work with me for a bit during the beginning of class, but if one puppy looks at him and barks he loses his concentration. This is something I'm working hard on. He can work infront of Mika at home with no problems because he's used to her and she's usually calm. However, the other puppies also are excited and want to play, thus making it harder on Kyuubi and harder on me to keep his focus and attention.

We take about 3 breaks during our 1 hour class where I will walk him over to the water bowl and let him drink. Or just let him sniff around a bit, then we go back to our station and "work" some more. There is puppy socialization time, which is what he likes the best and probably why he thinks each time he comes to class it's playtime and not "work" and "train" time. :P

He is getting very good with his impulse control though with meal times. I will put his bowl down in front of him and he can't eat it til I say he can. Before I put the bowl down though he usually talks back to me LOL! More like saying "omg hurry up! it's food! OMGZ foods! YAY! Foodz!!!! NOW GIMME GIMME GIMME! OMG HURRY!" type of bark. But he waits patiently while I put the bowl down and stares at it then at me, waiting for me to say "OKIE! GO EAT!"

I do notice that Kyuubi does get frustrated just as Mika does when training sometimes. He will let out a frustrated bark that he isn't doing what I ask of him correctly to get the treat. He does catch on very quickly, but he just wants food all the time lol. It doesn't help that I taught him to bark on command so sometimes he will go through his cycle of tricks/commands and "speak" is one of them, so he barks lol!

Just be diligent! They will catch on! Oh and if you are not the only person training with him, be on the same page about what the hand signals and words you use are. It can get a bit confusing when people are doing different hand signals or words when wanting the pup to do something.

kaikenone

All of mine " will work for food". We show conformation so I don't take them to any formal obedience classes. I did take Jewel years ago and she did well except after that I never could show her conformation again, everytime I stop she sits and because she is so submissive to me if I try to get her to stand she turns into liquid and melts all over the floor, making it hard for me to do anything with her. Everyone else can show her conformation though, no problems.Now I just stay away from making them sit.

Sometimes I want to label them as a bit stubborn, although not as stubborn as some of the other breeds.
But I am not sure it is being stubborn as much as being smart... if there is nothing in it for them what is the point in doing it?

Their memory is what amazes me. I can switch the dogs to a new crate and they remember the very next time where there new crate or kennel is whether it is a few minutes or 2 days later. And beleive me I am always switching them around, sometimes I forget. They also seem to try to anticipate what you are going to ask them to do and start doing it before you tell them.This can actually get annoying

Brego_mellon_nin

Thanks Marsha, well, what you said just makes me want a kai more Though I will not get another dog for at least a year...

brittk

I have found Kaiya to be very trainable, but at the same time, she can be painstakingly frustrating. She is definitely starting to test her boundries with us and to question our motives for asking for a behavior. (she is 10 months) Kaiya has days, like yesterday, where she will not do one thing we ask but these are few and far between and I dont think its common for a Kai. Most of the time, she does everything we ask promptly and with precision.
She learns new behaviors very quickly and remembers them, is very food motivated, pretty praise motivated, and not at all toy motivated.

She is distracted easily although it is usually pretty easy to get her attention back. She gets very excited around dogs and new people and has pretty terrible self control in these situations. We are working on that.

The thing that I have found most frustrating is that during group class she got bored very easily. Kaiya would almost always be the first dog to catch on and once she does something 3 or 4 times, she is ready to go on to something new. Unfortunately, most dogs are not this way and I think we were in class with some humans who didn't do any work outside of the classroom making it difficult for those of us who did to move on . I think for round 2 we are going to do private classes.

I think Marsha is right on saying the biggest issue is that Kai are smart. They need to know that you have a good reason (like cheese or hot dog or something else yummy) for asking them to do something.

I dont have any experience with any of the other NK breeds.

kaikenone

@jujee- Oh yes... I hate when other people try to get the dog to do something and use differant cues... it is kind of funny to watch Jewel though.. she does nothing anyone says but me, only because they refuse to do or say it the same way I tell them to... it like they just can't get it so she ignores them and they can't figure out why... it is best if anyone who will be giving commands etc goes to the same classes as the dogs

Heidi

That reminds me of the uphill battle I have trying to get people to say "off" instead of "down."

jujee

Heidi, we have the same problem here, I have to remind ppl that when they want Mika off furniture they need to tell her "off", now "down".

Another thing about different cues is that Mika (I know she's not a kai) she will go to a sit, then down, but if we want her to sit again, we can't just say "sit". We have to say "Mika, sit". Then she will go into a sit from a down position. It's kind of silly she won't do it if we just say "sit" when she is in a down.

Heidi

I remember one person who couldn't get over the fact that the dogs were allowed on the furniture. Every time she saw Tojo on the couch, she'd yell, "GET DOWN!" and push him off. So, I'd remind her, Tojo's allowed on the furniture, but you want him to get off for whatever reason, just say, "off." So next time, Tojo was sitting on the couch and she was sitting on the other end, she said in her nicest voice, "Tojo, could you please get down?" And, of course, that meant nothing to him, but she concluded that "being nice didn't work" and went back to shoving. Which is why she doesn't come over much any more. Toooo freaking annoying.

Brego_mellon_nin

@brittk
Thanks for your post. Yeah maybe she's getting a bit adolescent?? But either way, kai really sound like they'd fit me really well.

I know of the problem with dogs being too smart. My friend's KBD has figured out the routine when she was trained. My friend made the mistake of repeating the exercises in the same order too many times. Sit, down, roll, paw, the other paw and speak. In no time the KBD would just do it all (though perfectly) very quickly and sit impatiently waiting for the treat!

@kaikenone
Okay I might be weird but I like the idea, that if I train my dog, others will not be able to boss her/him around ;P

@hondru
OMG Heidi, I think I might've killed her, or at least shoved HER off the couch! If Tojo was allowed, she had no right to decide whether he has to get off. Or that's how I'd feel about it.

Heidi

I'm related to a lot of annoying people, especially when it comes to dogs.

Brego_mellon_nin

You have my deepest sympathy!! My family are not so understanding of spitzdogs's nature, but at least they listen to what I tell them, when they're in my home...