The Kai formerly known as Tai
Hey guys,
For those of you who are following me on facebook, you know that I recently graduated with my Ph.D. and am celebrating before starting my new job in the fall by driving around the country. So far I've put 5700 miles on my truck in the past 2.5 weeks and I have having a fantastic time! I've gotten to see some really good friends and to meet some new people from the forum. And...I've also picked up a new (to me) dog. I've had some questions on facebook about it, so I figured I'd pull out my laptop tonight and write the story here for everyone to read.
The story starts back about a year ago when I decided I wanted a Shikoku. I've been working steady toward that goal and was hopeful I'd get one in the fall. Fast forward to two weeks ago. I went to visit Brad and Jen (who are fucking awesome by the way). I had Lucy and Joey with me and I wanted to get them some exposure to Shikoku "energy" while I had the opportunity. We started by taking my pups for a hike with Ahi, Loa, and Kona. Then, we brought them over to the Anderson Ranch for some play time. We started by introducing the Kai to my Shibas. I was blown away by how they interacted with my dogs. I saw how polite they were. How tolerate of Joey's punkassery and Lucy's anti-social tendencies. So I started to pay more attention to them. After a few hours of interactions over the next few days mainly with Mochi and a bit with Tai, I realized I really hadn't given Kai a chance before.
I could go on for a while about that, but I left Taos feeling awesome having hung out with Brad and Jen (did I mention they are awesome people?) and feeling completely confused about my dog directions. At one point before leaving, I joked with them that "Maybe I should abandon my Shikoku plans and just take Tai from them."
Fast forward a week and I'm in Berkeley CA after a great visit with Gen in San Diego, and Romi and Corina in the LA area. I'm walking Lucy and Joey with my family around a park when my phone rings. It's Brad. So I answer it. He's driving home from the vet with Tai and he has gotten some bad news. Tai only has one descended testicle and the other one is totally MIA. Brad asks if I would be interested in taking Tai.
At this point, my jaw drops. I start running through all sorts of possibilities in my head. I do some serious soul searching over the next few days. I came to the following conclusion: *I* love Shikoku, but Lucy and Joey spoke loud and clear, *they* much prefer Kai. Because this is about all our happiness and not just mine, I decide I need to give Tai a shot. If I'm going to take him, I want to bring Lucy and Joey back to make sure they do indeed get along as well as I thing they did. The strange thing is that I hadn't made any concrete plans for where to go after leaving Berkeley. I have never taken a road trip without having the entire trip planned before leaving. I felt like the universe had conspired to enable me to go back to Taos and meet Tai again. So I did.
I'll spare the gory details of the introductions (they went VERY well after a bit of punkassery from Joey for 30 seconds). So I thanked Brad and Jen profusely and off I went with Tai, who at that point I had renamed to Tyson. He has taken to me very quickly (he's curled up against my feet as I type this). He is doing very well with Lucy and Joey, learning boundaries from them. And has been fantastic on the long drive so far. Three times on the first day he cried a bit in his crate, so I pulled over, he climbed right out of his crate and out of my truck, peed or pooed within 30 seconds, then climbed right back into my truck and his crate. Good boy Tyson!!!!!!
So, now the kicker of the story. I was curious about Tyson's undescended testicle, so I copped a feel this morning. Sure enough, I felt two little grapes down there. So after all that, he could still have stayed with Brad and Jen. I see this as more evidence that the universe was conspiring for him to come live with me.
Anyway, there's soooooo much more I could tell, but I'm tired and I'm sure you don't want to read an entire book. For now, here's a picture of the four of us (me, Lucy, Joey, and Tyson) taken this morning, a mere 24 hours after I picked up Tyson from Brad and Jen. Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken on my phone.
For those of you who are following me on facebook, you know that I recently graduated with my Ph.D. and am celebrating before starting my new job in the fall by driving around the country. So far I've put 5700 miles on my truck in the past 2.5 weeks and I have having a fantastic time! I've gotten to see some really good friends and to meet some new people from the forum. And...I've also picked up a new (to me) dog. I've had some questions on facebook about it, so I figured I'd pull out my laptop tonight and write the story here for everyone to read.
The story starts back about a year ago when I decided I wanted a Shikoku. I've been working steady toward that goal and was hopeful I'd get one in the fall. Fast forward to two weeks ago. I went to visit Brad and Jen (who are fucking awesome by the way). I had Lucy and Joey with me and I wanted to get them some exposure to Shikoku "energy" while I had the opportunity. We started by taking my pups for a hike with Ahi, Loa, and Kona. Then, we brought them over to the Anderson Ranch for some play time. We started by introducing the Kai to my Shibas. I was blown away by how they interacted with my dogs. I saw how polite they were. How tolerate of Joey's punkassery and Lucy's anti-social tendencies. So I started to pay more attention to them. After a few hours of interactions over the next few days mainly with Mochi and a bit with Tai, I realized I really hadn't given Kai a chance before.
I could go on for a while about that, but I left Taos feeling awesome having hung out with Brad and Jen (did I mention they are awesome people?) and feeling completely confused about my dog directions. At one point before leaving, I joked with them that "Maybe I should abandon my Shikoku plans and just take Tai from them."
Fast forward a week and I'm in Berkeley CA after a great visit with Gen in San Diego, and Romi and Corina in the LA area. I'm walking Lucy and Joey with my family around a park when my phone rings. It's Brad. So I answer it. He's driving home from the vet with Tai and he has gotten some bad news. Tai only has one descended testicle and the other one is totally MIA. Brad asks if I would be interested in taking Tai.
At this point, my jaw drops. I start running through all sorts of possibilities in my head. I do some serious soul searching over the next few days. I came to the following conclusion: *I* love Shikoku, but Lucy and Joey spoke loud and clear, *they* much prefer Kai. Because this is about all our happiness and not just mine, I decide I need to give Tai a shot. If I'm going to take him, I want to bring Lucy and Joey back to make sure they do indeed get along as well as I thing they did. The strange thing is that I hadn't made any concrete plans for where to go after leaving Berkeley. I have never taken a road trip without having the entire trip planned before leaving. I felt like the universe had conspired to enable me to go back to Taos and meet Tai again. So I did.
I'll spare the gory details of the introductions (they went VERY well after a bit of punkassery from Joey for 30 seconds). So I thanked Brad and Jen profusely and off I went with Tai, who at that point I had renamed to Tyson. He has taken to me very quickly (he's curled up against my feet as I type this). He is doing very well with Lucy and Joey, learning boundaries from them. And has been fantastic on the long drive so far. Three times on the first day he cried a bit in his crate, so I pulled over, he climbed right out of his crate and out of my truck, peed or pooed within 30 seconds, then climbed right back into my truck and his crate. Good boy Tyson!!!!!!
So, now the kicker of the story. I was curious about Tyson's undescended testicle, so I copped a feel this morning. Sure enough, I felt two little grapes down there. So after all that, he could still have stayed with Brad and Jen. I see this as more evidence that the universe was conspiring for him to come live with me.
Anyway, there's soooooo much more I could tell, but I'm tired and I'm sure you don't want to read an entire book. For now, here's a picture of the four of us (me, Lucy, Joey, and Tyson) taken this morning, a mere 24 hours after I picked up Tyson from Brad and Jen. Sorry for the poor quality, it was taken on my phone.
Comments
Congratulations to you Lucy and Joey! And to Tyson too! I shall call him Tyson chicken. That's his nickname don't fight it. :-p
Can't wait for more stories and spam.
I'm still scratching my head over the case of the missing testicle. I've been talking to a lot of breeders over here about it since Brad told me about Tai, and will post what I've found in the near future.
Good luck! I'm happy that the universe somehow got on my side and helped sneak a Kai into your pack!
And with un-descended testicles, when I told the vet that one of Tikaani' were missing, they said that it can be as high as near the kidneys and they may have to scope around to find it. They also said that sometimes it would drop late, but doubtful to happen at 6 months old (so maybe Tyson's dropped sometime after that vet visit). Had they done that with Tikaani (luckily it was an inch away from where it was supposed to be) it would have cost us twice the amount of a normal neuter.
I do have to say that I had the very same suspicions as Tara when I didn't see Tai in even a cameo role in Brad's latest Kai pup video! Tara, good sleuthing and good call; and Dave, thanks for confirming!
And now for a bad pun from Steve (hubby): I'm so glad to hear Tyson is not a "kai-"pon (aka capon)!
Great,Great story, thanks for sharing:)
I'm so happy for you, that is awesome news! Somethings are just meant to be!!
two dogs are a pair , three is a pack...enjoy!
Congrats on your new addition... Now high tail it back to the east coast for the meet-up on Saturday so I can meet the new addition! (and the two previous additions, as well!)
That's such good news about Tai/Tyson and how he could still be part of the gene pool in the US. I so love his face and his build even as a young puppy.
I had read that a puppy's testicle can retract in and out, sometimes due to stress or environment. It'll stabilize after the opening betweem the two locations closes up with a little more age.
-Ann
Love the story, love how the two accepted Tyson into your pack. BTW, that pic you post is hilarious. Not just of Tai lying down near your thigh, but because you have Joey curled on one side and Lucy's business end on the other, it looks like you're lying down on a very loooong Shiba. Again congratulations!
Oh btw some dogs don't drop fully for sometime.... 8 months is not unheard of. Waiting does not hurt and when you decide to neuter, laser works really well for older animals or full cases of cryptorchidism where they never drop.
PS: Ok so glad dissertation didn't kill you .....I'll make note and pace myself to keep from going insane (LOL).... currently trudging through on this end to finish mine by 2011.
Thanks for the photos and update!
Snf
Now I know!
Interesting about the Kai and new dogs. Never met a Kai yet, so I cannot compare. But very interesting. :-)
Congratulations on your graduation, new job, and of course, new dog!!
Tyson has been amazing so far. He's really smart and very dog savvy. Lucy and Joey are doing as well as can be expected with him considering we are 6000 miles into a 7700 mile road trip. I was most concerned about Joey because he has a punk-ass side. Joey and him are doing amazingly well. Joey's typical over-the-top corrections have become extremely composed and reasonable. He chomped Tyson twice, once for running into him head first and once for trying to take a treat from my hand that was being given to Joey. The rest of his communication with Tyson has been very measured and reasonable. Some teethe showing and low growls are all it takes for Tyson to get the message. Lucy has been a bit more intense, but still very reasonable. Both Lucy and Tyson are VERY food motivated, so they need to work out their differences at feeding time. They are making a lot of progress.
Tyson is already bonding to me very well. He has been sleeping on me when he's not in his crate and he follows me around the hotel rooms we've been in. I suspect he'll venture off a bit more when he becomes more comfortable, but for now I'm enjoying my little shadow.
Safe rest of the journey, and enjoy your doggies... Glad to hear they are getting along well and teaching one another...
I just got back to Atlanta last night. It's been a LONG month filled with a lot of miles and lot of fun. It's strange to be back home, but it feels really good.
The pups are all doing really well. Lucy is still kinda bitchy with Tyson about food, so she's getting crated at feeding time. I hate it, she hates it, but I'm tired of having to stand in the middle of them while they eat. Hopefully she'll calm down about it once our environment and routine settles out a bit.
Joey and Tyson are becoming best buds. Tyson was a bit scared of him at first because Joey beat him up once during play. They seem to have sorted things out and are playing like old friends constantly. They really like to play rough. This is EXACTLY what I was hoping for. Joey now has a play buddy so Princess Lucy doesn't have to entertain him any longer.
On Monday, Tyson had a big bump on his face right above his upper K-9. On Tuesday it started oozing puss, so I took him to a local vet near my parents' house in NJ. He's been on antibiotics since then and is improving nicely. He went in for his final vaccinations today. Both testicles are dropped and he got a clean bill of health. I've taken him out in the woods twice now and he has a lot of fun chasing squirrels and birds, but still isn't ranging too far from me. Once I get settled in I'm going to have to start some scent work with him and hopefully find some boar to put him on ASAP.
I'll still recovering from my trip, so I'll write more soon.
Oh yeah make sure you get rested up, that must have been a crazy trip.
If Tyson is anything like his brother Kaito he is a wonderful boy. We have been so happy with Kaito he is healthy, good looking, smart and has a great personality too. As I posted about in the Kai Ken photo file we showed him and the International and National Judges were very impressed and had only excellent things to say about him.