The people you meet with your Nihon Ken

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  • @oddball WHICH PUPPY ARE YOU GETTING FROM THIS LITTER?! I have little sister Kimber, pup #5!! :D
  • @poeticdragon ugh - that has happened to me once! The kid was asking questions about London (breed, age, why his coat was so "prickly" and other weird questions) and when the mother finally came to collect her, she spat all the information I have given her back out (it was really impressive, actually!) only to have the mother say "no, that's a husky" and put her down as she tried to explain.

    It was really sad to see. :(

    On TK = Lab - I guess so! The guy was nice enough, it just took me by surprise.
  • @tmd I think rescued cats can have just as many behavior problems as dogs, but because cats don't have to "socialize" in the same ways we expect dogs to, many of the issues are not worked on or worried about in the same way. (i.e. cat and runs and hides under the bed when guests come over, attacks people who enter its "space", etc.) There's also a large amount of "feral" cats that make it into rescue (at least in my area). My parents adopted a cat like that, and he has a lot of issues... he's OCD, terrified of a lot of things like hair dryers, vacuums, loud noises, and he hides under the bed most of the time.

    I also liked researching cat breeds as a kid. My dad really liked Maine Coons and Birmans, so I grew up with one of each. If I had to pick a cat breed now, I think I'd want a Bengal or Abyssinian. I'm really more of a dog person now, tbh, so I'd get another dog before a cat. :P
  • @jenn Those are all good points about cats. They are definitely expected to act differently, some of which is not just a "cat thing", but an actual behavioral issue. I watched and really enjoyed the animal planets "My Cat From Hell"when the channel was in preview, one of the few I liked. That Jackson knows his cats. I really enjoy behavior studies, both animal and human and while I tend not to consume my behaviorists via TV as I think that's a poor format for it, it was a good treatment of the subject in my opinion.

    Feral cats are another ball of wax entirely. We currently have one that started by sneaking food, that we eventually talked into letting us pet him. He was doing really well for a while, but when I stopped smoking earlier this year and subsequently stopped spending time on the porch he started reverting. We have a domesticated barn cat that helps him stay grounded and we've been making the effort to spend time with him each day, but it's a world of difference between a cat raised amongst humans and one that's feral. And this one was originally a TNR, so it must have spent a little time in proximity to humans at some point before.

    I honestly think I'm equally a dog and a cat person now. I'm just trying to figure out how best to travel with a dog and cat. I guess it'll probably be a motor home at some point. I know for sure the next thing I'm getting is a dog though ;D
  • I adopt cats because the regular ole domestic cat is just perfect the way it is. I don't see any reason to get a purebred. It doesn't seem like I'd enjoy one more, or that it would be an improvement to my cat-owning experience.

    That being said, I'm not against purebred cats, either. It's just that, for me, I don't think I'd get anything from a purebred cat that a regular ole stray cat isn't doing a great job at already. Dogs are different, because they are much more diversified and the breeds exist for very specific purposes.

    Cat breeds seem to be mostly landraces preserved for their unique characteristics and cultural significance (Maine coons, Egyptian maus, Japanese bobtail, etc). Those seem interesting to me, but like I said, I'm happy with my strays. More recent inventions just created for the heck of it don't interest me at all. I'm pretty supportive of preserving older breeds and not at all in the type of breeds that are basically "let's see how weird we can make a cat", like say, let's see if we can make a short-legged, curl-eared, hairless, two-eye-coloured cat that doesn't meow.
  • @tmd I love My Cat From Hell! We actually got to see Jackson Galaxy speak a couple of weeks ago at the Seattle Humane Society. Honestly, his cat advice is good for dogs too. I mean, Rigby (my shiba) is basically a cat-dog anyways so... :P

    My grandma, while she was alive, fed a whole pack of cats. At the high point, there was 10-12 feral cats, and she was able to have someone come out and help her trap and speuter all but one. She tried bringing a few kittens in as babies after their mothers abandoned them over the years, but it didn't work out because they were just too fearful and began being destructive. She passed away recently so my dad has been caring for the feral cats.

    @hondru I agree, if I were to get a cat I would also adopt. I like the look of the more "wild" cat, but honestly I love a good ol' orange tabby just as much. :)
  • @hondru Well said and I agree completely. However, the minute a live one of these becomes available, I'm getting one.

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    Hmm, maybe I should cross post on the NK rides....
  • edited August 2013
    @tmd Who wouldn't want their own Battle Cat? What sucks is that Yoshi is basically Cringer most of the time. LOL
  • Aw, @WhiteGC8, if you want an extrovert, confident Jindo, with stripes to boot, wait in a year. :-D
  • @jenn That's so cool you got to see Jackson in real life. His advice was so great and I liked how the show made it clear that each case spanned several weeks, demonstrating that behavior can't be fixed overnight. I even took a few of the tips/tricks that he gave on the show and implemented them. For instance, I moved one of the cat trees that wasn't being used very much to a spot with a better view of the outside and it drew the cats like moths to a flame. It was a total "duh" moment for me and so simple, yet effective.

    All this behavior talk has me wanting to volunteer at the shelter, it's been too long since I've been back. I think my daughter might even be old enough to volunteer too. That's another thing I liked about Jackson, he was all about getting the next generation positively involved with cats (and animals in general). That makes the story @Crispy told about the mother who refuted the interested kid so sad.
  • I got "Is that an ARCTIC FOX???" at a rest stop today.
  • I watched My Cat From Hell with Isaac and after a couple episodes, Isaac asked, "So... when does Jackson Galaxy go to space? It seems like he just hangs around with cats." LOL
  • @ayk I'd love to add to the family, but Yoshi's not good with other dogs. :/
  • @hondru LMAO that's hilarious. That show would be even better if Jackson went to space.
  • @Losech I have had some girls at the mall think Meitou was a wolf. I didn't bother explaining what he was since they were pretty positive he had a wolf in him, though I did say, "No, he's not a wolf." Apparently one of them was afraid that since he was a wolf he was going to bite her. The other girl said something along the lines of "Don't be dumb. He's just a baby and he's not out to get you."
  • Since Kira is just shy of 10 weeks and just got her second round of vaccinations, we haven't had a whole lot of opportunities with her in public...YET.

    Last week we ordered pizza for delivery. The pizza delivery boy knew right away what Kira was! It might be a few and far-between interaction, but it was pretty impressive. He asked if he could take a picture of her, that he wanted to get his own, and asked if we would request for him to deliver to us in the future so he could see her again! :)

    Reading this thread is mentally preparing me for the upcoming "fun" that we will have with the general public. I've already been getting the "Shiba what?" statements when asked what kind of dog I own. Uggghhhh
  • @kira_inu if you can find places that arent over dog populated I would socialize early. You only have a couple of weeks before her personality "sets". There are some more threads on this if you search for them I believe.
  • @cdenney - I've been very involved with the socialization threads on the Shiba forum for the past couple months and have already planned to bring her to a new environment at least once a week.

    In the two weeks that we've had Kira, weve taken trips to my boyfriend's work to meet his co-workers, FedEx to meet random strangers, and a friend's house for a puppy play date with their chihuahua. She has done great and today we have plans to go to our local farmer's market.
  • Awesome! Sounds good!
  • Oh, here's a conversation I posted on Facebook a while back and forgot about:

    Woman: What kind of dog is that?
    Me: She's a Shikoku ken. They're a Japanese breed.
    Woman: Oh, she must be really smart, then!

    Yeah, she gets straight As.

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  • @hondru - Your post reminded me of something that I had to share: My boyfriend brags about our Shiba being so smart. He tells his co-workers that she would never make a mistake in the house because it would be a disgrace to her family :))
  • We took Yucca, our 9 week old kai to St Augustine and we got a lot of people asking about what she is. There were quite a few people think she was a cat, which we are used to now. Everyone that sees her usually thinks she is a cat at first, even the stray cat that lives on our street. We had someone ask if she was an akita. One girl thought she was a wolf and a little boy said she was a baby panther. All this on her first trip away from home.
  • When Leo was a puppy, people asked if he was a cat too. I don't get that at all, but.....And a hyena. People thought he was a hyena.
  • For some reason people think brindle dogs are hyenas. I've got that before.

    Yesterday at SPCA-LA: "Wow! She should be on the cover of a magazine!" :)
  • I'm not fighting the cat thing with Yucca. I admit she does look a lot like a cat til you see her face. Oh and a lady who owned a pet store thought she was a schipperke which actually she kinda does
  • Well, let's see... I have 2 kishus. Yuki's been called a white german shepherd and a wolf. If Kimi's not with her, Kimi gets called a wolf, coyote, german shepherd, shiba and keeshond... I even had one person think she was a hyena after Kimi barked at her. Hmm, really?
  • I can't wait for all the people who are going to guess "husky" on every one of my dogs once I get my new addition, so I can stare incredulously back at them.

    I don't really mind as much when people think my Shikoku is an Elkhound on the street. At least it's a barky hunting breed in some kind of ballpark... even if it's a few ballparks over.

    @asian.sapphire - do you have a Yushoku Kishu?
  • @crispy....New addition? Oh?
  • @cdenney - MmmmHHHm. :)

    I still owe you a nice bag of sweet potato chews! They'll be coming, I promise!
  • @crispy well I shall await to hear more about it then....and pics of happy pups and a wolfy London make me happy! Seriously don't feel obligated.
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