What do you do with your pups?

SangmortSangmort
edited January 2010 in General
Osy poll time! Yay! :p

Alright folks. Spill the beans. What do you do with your nihon ken? Hunt? Track? Obedience? Agility / Rally? Show? Flyball? Something else?

I'm extremely curious to see how versatile our nihon ken are.

For non-nihon ken owners, what do you plan to do with your future pups?

Please comment & include what breed does what activity, how well they do it, their potential, etc. :) ~

Comments

  • CaliaCalia
    edited January 2010
    I voted for the one we participate and enjoy the most, which was hiking/camping. We do practice obedience with the boys, but not competitively and we would like to get them more into agility as well.

    Being that we (Tom and I) enjoy doing things outside, especially when the weather is nice, we try going out of our way to bring the boys to places where we can hike (which is hard since dogs aren't allowed in most of the good places around me) and take every opportunity to camp. They are really good and tolerant of the 'tortures' we put them through, especially when I get us lost for 3 hours down some horse trails.

    When we camp, neither of my boys have a hard time adjusting to their temporary fabric home, they seem to actually enjoy it. We always worry that one of them would realize that they could just rip the walls to freedom, but so far they understand the idea that the tent is not for ripping/chewing.

    We do have a lot of fun and quite a few misadventures (once Tikaani had broke both their tie-outs in his pursuit of squirrels, luckily neither of my boys can climb trees yet), but it is a great experience to bring them along instead of just leaving them at home like a lot of other people would do.

    EDIT: Oh, yea...I have a shiba inu and a siberian husky, and hopefully will soon have a shikoku girl to bring along for the adventures:)
  • WrylyBrindleWrylyBrindle
    edited January 2010
    I only have half a nihon ken, and he's too anxious to enjoy any of these public activities. He is however very trainy, and he did very well at private agility, but the doggy environment is too much for him so his potential for dog sports is reached already. So my half-kai is an artist's dog: hangs out in the studio, watchdogs, plays tug and yard games and that's way cool for him.

    Where I am moving to in VT there is a tracking school nearby, which I'd like to take Reilly to, so future pup o' mine (whatever breed or mix) will likely get to explore tracking as well as daily hiking and casual meadow vole hunting and rabbitry, as well as hanging around the studio with Art Dog. Tracking is kindof cool for an on-leash activity.
  • ljowen123ljowen123
    edited November -1
    Therapy Dog! Jazz enjoys being loved on and kids adore her - it's a match made in heaven!
  • sjp051993sjp051993
    edited November -1
    Both my Shibas and my Kai are shown. They also hunt, but it is limited to the back yard. Sometimes we go to my parents farm where they have more area to cover. It is limited to mainly rabbits, birds and moles.
  • shishiinushishiinu
    edited November -1
    As every one knows, my Kishus are hard core big game dogs but at the same time are gental family oriented dogs. I just wish there were more people interested in hunting their dogs............any one else want ot start?
  • amesylphamesylph
    edited November -1
    Ki is also only part nihon-ken but currently we hike with him and we're going to be doing a lot of camping when it gets warmer. I'm also keen to have Ki try some pulling since he's already great with a weighted harness pack...just a wagon/cart type thing.
  • renaerenae
    edited November -1
    I would love to go camping and hiking with my Kiyo. Just got to wait till its warmer. Already have one camping trip plan in the fall. ^-^ I also plan on showing her and having her do obedience trails too. She still a pup so we'll see if i can get her in the show ring.
  • BradA1878BradA1878
    edited November -1
    Some how I screwed up the poll and now I cannot vote. strange.
  • TheWalrusTheWalrus
    edited November -1
    Brad, you have too many dogs, so you broke the poll.
  • SangmortSangmort
    edited November -1
    FAIL Brad :p ~
  • montanadoglovermontanadoglover
    edited November -1
    I am about to get a Malinois puppy (to be born on Feb. 7). The Kishu and Shikoku were the two Japanese breeds I was interested in, but I figured my chances of getting a Shikoku were just about nil, and the one Kishu breeder in TX that I knew about did not have cooperating bitches for puppies this spring.

    I will be doing with this new puppy the same as I have done with my two current dogs, and would have done the same with a Nihonken puppy -- how successful or not we'll never know. :) But we participate in agility, obedience, rally, some tracking, some herding and depending on the dog, some conformation showing. Spring will be here by the time I pick up puppy Wyatt (carefully planned that way), so in addition to introductions to puppy training, we will walk in the hills, he will learn to jump over brush and logs, and will accompany us to all shows and trials to get used to the sights and sounds of the environments he will be working in. It's a very busy life! :)
  • okironokiron
    edited November -1
    Hiking/camping was what I chose since it's a given. I would love to give hunting a try (and get a whole deer to myself for once! lol) but since I've never handled a loaded gun or bow I can't say for sure yet.
  • EdgewoodEdgewood
    edited November -1
    Well, I do about equally hiking (no camping) and obedience, but I voted for obedience. Kuma likes both...actually he just likes to go anywhere to do anything (even if it is just to ride around in the car running errands).
  • sunyatasunyata
    edited November -1
    I chose hiking/camping, since that is what I do most with my girls. I am trying to get Bella into an agility class this spring, so hopefully that will go over well with her.

    I would love to do SAR, but I am not sure either of my girls have the focus for that. The next dog I get (a few years from now) will hopefully be one that I can train for SAR. Especially if things work out the way that I want them. (A long haul move might be in our future!!!)
  • asiaasia
    edited November -1
    I chose hiking/camping as well :o). I really LOVE to hike. I like camping occasionally, but I tend to be rather attached to indoor plumbing. SAR is on a future list, though there are few SAR opportunities in central Kansas.
  • TheRiddlerTheRiddler
    edited November -1
    I like to take my shiba hiking and he loves exploring outdoors, especially in the snow. I'm hoping to add a shikoku to the pack and will certainly hike with her and I would like to teach her to hunt big game as well.
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