Kai Ken tails...
We haven't heard from any Kai Ken people in a while - hope you guys are still around.
I have a question about Kai Ken - do their tails curl as much as the other Japanese Spitz breeds' tails? From the pictures and videos I have seen they don't seem to curls as much - they appear to be more like a husky's tail and just lie across there back - or in some case they appear to just kinda stick up like a flag or something.
I'm curious to know what the Kai Ken owner's dogs tails look like??? Any pics?
Comments
Jeez, I still don't have any pics posted yet
Kohji has a sickle tail and most pics of Kais I've seen also have the sickle tail. Brad, do you have the book "Japanese Dogs" with the red Shiba on the cover? Kohji will sometimes hold his tail straight up like the one in that book if he's interested in something. When are you guys getting your Kai?
Yes, I have that book - it's a great book. I did read in it that most of the Kai Ken have sickle tails, but I wanted to get a feel for what the norm was for the pups breed in America... The Kai Ken seems to have a pretty wide standard and can vary some what in America [as far as size goes].
A lot of the videos on youtube show the kai w/ there tail sticking up like you mentioned (in the pic in that book).
We should get our Kai sometime around December - we are really excited.
No worries about the pics, I just like to see them.
How is Kohji doing?
Kohji's doin' fine, he's loving his rally classes.
Hehe, so I thought it would be fun to see how Kohji would do in a CGC class. He did well with the recall and stay with a stranger exercises, kinda decided to tell me to buzz off with the obedience stuff because he knew I didn't have any food. Then it came to the stranger grooming a dog and touching their feet, and he was throwing her that look(you know that look!) peppered with growls. He would have passed if he would just let strangers touch his darn feet!! Why are these breeds so weird about their paws??! So I have to work on that until the next test in like 4 months.
If all goes well with Peggy's next litter, hopefully I'll have a female Shikoku in November. It depends on how many puppies her female has, so I might be waiting until next year. You're getting a female Kai right? We actually had a 7yr. old female Kai come into our facility and stay here for 2 wks with a spontaneous pneumothorax. She was black, had a TON of undercoat(or was just naturally very fluffy) and weighed about 35 lbs. The owner got her from Marian and I brought Kohji out to meet him when he was visiting one day, and he was surprised how different they were in appearance. Her tempermant sounded similar to Kohji's; head shy and kinda spooky around the techs. Is Ahi still being weird about you guys touching her and trying to cuddle? How does she typically act when she meets a stranger?
Oh man, sounds like Kohji came pretty close. Damn those paw freak-outs! I really have no idea why Japanese breeds are so weird about there paws... I can mos def tell you it is an issue with all the Japanese spitz breeds tho - everyone of ours hates their feet being touched, even Hilo. I couldn't even begin to tell you why - recently Ahi has become exceptionally bad about it.
Keep me posted on how Kohji's next test goes!
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That's really cool that you will be getting a Shikoku that soon... You are gonna have you hands full! Sounds like you have had good practice with Kohji tho - Kais sound a LOT like Shikokus in temperament. You will be the first forum member to have a Kai Ken and Shikoku!
Ahi has actually gotten a lot better, I think maybe it's because she spends less time at camp and more time with Jen [and me]... Maybe she just needed to be around us more or something. She is going through her final adolescence too, so her mood changes every 5 minutes - she is a trip.
As for how she does with strangers - she freaks out and jumps on them in excitement. The other day I had some friends over and one of my friends, TJ, kept kinda rough housing with her... I kept telling him to be careful because I don't know how she will react to that type of thing... But he kept on going. Ahi LOVED him - she licked his whole head. In the past, if Jen or I do that, she turns a bit nasty towards us... So I guess she just doesn't like her pack mates touching her. I would think it's a "alpha" issue [like she doesn't see us as "alpha"] but she is actually VERY submissive to me. So who knows. I wish I could just ask her what her deal is - ya know?
ME: "Ahi, why are you so weird?"
AHI: "You're the weird one, just stop touching me! Gosh!" (the 'gosh' would be said like Napoleon Dynamite)
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That's really cool that you got to see another Kai, and it seems to mirror what I have heard... The Kai can very pretty significantly from dog-to-dog [relatively speaking]. I hope that our Kai looks like the Kai's in that book. I know Marian is a great breeder, with lots of experience, so I'm sure she will produce a good result.
Oh, and yes, we are getting a female Kai. We will have 3.5 females. The ".5" is Maui, he's pretty feminine. j/k
Kohji is also weird like that with rough play and tugging on toys. Sometimes he will tug and play for a bit, sometimes he will decide he doesn't want to anymore, then will growl, drop the toy and walk away. Usually if he is really engaged with tugging and playing he starts doing the Kai 500s and launching off the couch, smashing into Taj or the doorwall. He would freak out if anyone other than my boyfriend, myself or say my sister tried to wrestle with him though, he wouldn't be down with that.
With the paw touching and nail clipping, hopefully Ahi being "exceptionally bad" doesn't mean screaming and pooping on the floor like Taj has.
Who are the parents of the Kai you are getting? The Kai in that book I think is a male, and he has a pretty blocky looking head and big upper lips. Your Kai will definatly look more feminine than that one, Kohji doesn't even look that butch. The female Kai that was here looked noticeably more feminine than mine. You got to see the parents of Ahi right?
What is Ahi like on a walk in the park or in the woods? Does she dart back and forth looking for any moving object, or is she pretty calm? Does she retrieve at all? I remember seeing the upturned pool in one of the videos you posted, so she must like water. Kohji likes to sit on the back porch staring into the trees looking and listening for squirrels and waiting for them to climb down and make their way over to the bird feeder. We have a feeder in the front yard and I know this sounds horrible, but I will quietly open the door and let him dart out after the squirrels sometimes and he is so funny, he will run as fast as he can trying to catch them. They climb up just out of reach and swish their tails and chatter at him while he's frozen at the base of the tree, waiting...
Yea, I figured our Kai will look a lot more feminine than the one in the book, all the dogs in that book are very strong looking.
Ahi does well on walks in the park/wood/sidewalk, she gets a lot of them too. She will chase bugs and she really spazzes out when she sees a rabbit or a squirrel. By spazzing out I mean she starts to roar like a bear and pull very hard towards what she wants. As we walk away she will continue to look behind her till the 'target' is out of range. She has a very strong prey drive, and has a bit more of a 'wild animal' reaction to the squirrels/rabbits than our other dogs.
Ahi doesn't seem interested in chasing cars but she is very interested in people, she loves people - but she will give a warning bark to anyone that surprises her or looks 'suspicious' to her. Ahi is an AMAZING guard dog. From when she was just a tiny little puppy (3 months) she has had an amazing ability to read people and will bark if she feels a person is up to no good. Her warning bark is very intimidating too. She is very smart.
As for retrieving, she and Hilo will bring a ball back to us - but Ahi gets very board at that game and leaves.
When she is in the yard she doesn't seem to have stalking and hunting down yet, she seems to get too excited and just barrels after the rabbits and squirrels. I don't think that technique is gonna catch her a rabbit anytime soon - tho she did give one a heart attack (literally).
Ahi is also mesmerized by things flying in the ski. She looks at airplanes and bird. She doesn't bark or anything, she just looks at them - it's silly. She will even run into things because she is staring at the sky while walking.
It sounds like, as far as prey drive goes, Kohji and Ahi are very similar. Only difference is, it sound like Kohji might have a bit more 'technique' than Ahi.
We put that pool out there for Ahi and Hilo because they get a lot hotter than Maui and Kaia - but Maui and Kaia are the only ones that go in the pool. Ahi will not go near it, Hilo barks at it and at Kaia when she's in it. Kaia spends most of her time just standing in it. Maui on the other had plays in it and chases the water from the hose. Sometimes Jen will just pic Hilo up and put him in - he will stand there for a bit, drink a little water, then climb out and run all around like a crazy.