Today I had the pleasure to meet up with Koda's breeders. It was such a great day. Koda recognized them right away. The second he spotted them, Koda started barking and barking. OK it's a little obnoxious, but it's Koda's way of telling someone he knows, "I'm here!" I knew that he remembered them from his reaction. If they were just strangers, he would've ignored them.
We got to hang out for a few hours, and we took Koda down to Chrissy Fields below the Golden Gate Bridge. He was acting kind've like a little hyper puppy. Usually, he is a lot more calm but he was showing off for them and to me it was really endearing. I learned so much from them about Koda. Things that he does that have become so Koda to me that I forget that it is so Kai of him. I got to hear stories about his parents, and I have a feeling that Koda is going to take after his daddy. I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I wanted to keep hearing stories and getting their advice. Ofcourse, I didn't get pics but here are some of Koda the other day. I'm going to have his daycare weigh him tomorrow to see how big he has gotten. I think he has broken 40 pounds. He's such my big boy.
Here are some pics......
Kind've a bad pic, but you can see Koda's brindle coming in on his face.
I love how Koda sleeps right next to his dog beds.
ha ha ha. Koda has 3 beds. His Kuranda is good for the summer because he gets hot on the pillow. The pillow was the first in his big boy crate. Then he has a denning bed that he used when he first came home. He liked that one the best. He still lays on the ground most of the time though. He likes chewing on his bully sticks on the Kuranda. I have given up on a search for something he will always lie on.
Koda is a tank! And soooo big! I read through this thread last night, and I had guessed at one point that Koda would be 50 pounds. I'm still guessing 50 or more when he's full grown. He's going to be a big boy like his dad.
Koda is officially 45 pounds at 6 months old tomorrow. I think he has reached his maximum height of 22 inches, but he still has a puppy body. His grown manz muscles haven't come in. My guess is still above 50 pounds.
Hey Brad and Jen, Is Koda Kona's weight? He definitely doesn't have the muscle definition like him yet.
Kona ranges from 45-50 pounds and is 21 inches. We have had Kona up to 55 pounds before, but he was a bit fat then (oops). In the winter we tend to let Ahi, Loa, Kona, and now the COs put on some extra pounds since they spend so much time out in the snow and cold.
His little sister Tora is coming in at about 30 pounds right now. She has figured out she can push the Shiba's around now. She looks away every time you try to take a photo.
Tora. She's so beautiful. Well Koda will probably be around 50-55 when his muscles come in. Stacey, he will probably be Kuma's size. He definitely doesn't take after their mom.
Brad LMAO, Kona is so perfect to me. I can't picture him chunky. He always looks so muscular and in shape. Koda's just a half inch taller than him now. I'm expecting him to hit the max of 22" but no more. It's amazing how fast they grow up. It makes me want to have a little girl.
I just noticed that I haven't given you all a Koda update in a while. I've been super busy at work and with all of Koda's extra curriculur activities that it's been difficult to sit down and write.
We just got back a few hours ago from Tahoe/Reno where we spent the last four nights. Koda did great! My sister had 20-25 people over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and nothing phases Koda. He is growing up to be a very confident, cool, and laid back guy. I'm really proud of him. He loved the kids playing with him and pretty much ignored people he didn't like, but he will always pick out a couple of people to adore and he will shower them with play bows and lots of showing off.
He's also become quite the hunter. He's caught squirrels, a bat (which required a vet trip, but he didn't catch anything from the bat), and as of Wednesday a bird in my mom's backyard. I can't leave him out back for too long. His favorite passtime is to kill rodents. Well, that's just a quick little update. Here's a pic. He still won't look at the camera.....
Also, Koda went on a bit of a diet. He was a little chubs at 50 pds., so we got him down to a slim and slender 46.
Chrystal Koda turned 7 months on the 20th. Can you believe it? Time flies by.
The bat was a scary scary incident. And so gross!!! Those things are so ugly. I'm lucky he didn't get bit by it. Cleaning it up wasn't too great either. I'm not sure how he got it. He was in the back at around 8pm. I heard a rucus, went outside and he had it. Same with the bird. My mom called me to tell me that he had it in his mouth and it was dying. I'm not sure how he does that. I did see him catch a squirrel. It was like he wasn't even watching it then boom it was in his mouth and he was shaking it to death. BTW that squirrel had been tormenting him since he was 9 weeks old. It got pretty gutsy coming down to the ground near him. The other squirrel, I just saw the carcass. Eow! Still I'm lucky that none of these animals have had the time to fight back. I try and keep a close eye on him.
Brad I'm so proud of him. I wasn't too worried about him, but I didn't think we would have that many people over all three nights. My brother in law likes to invite everyone over for dinners. He really took it all in stride. I'm sure he wouldn't want that all the time though, but he showed no signs of stress or being uncomfortable. When he was tired, he went underneath the pool table and went to sleep with everyone in the room.
That's great because it can really go a different way with the Kai breed. We did a really piss-poor job of socializing Kona, so he is not great with new people. (
Unfortunately we got Kona right as we moved here (like literally, we picked him up on the way), and it was 6 months or so of getting settled before we realized we need to get him out and get him socialized. It was a stupid mistake on our part. (
Anyway, it always makes me happy to hear about Kai who are socialized properly and enjoy people.
It's taken a lot of work, time, energy, and even $$ to socialize Koda and every attempt at introducing him to new things, people, places, sounds, sights, etc. has been given a lot of thought before we walk into a situation. I have had no personal life for the last 5 months, but it's been so worth it. I think it's easier with one dog and being single. I've been a little obsessed like a new mom.
We worked our way up to Thanksgiving by going to these open house parties at a local pet boutique. It's small and on Friday evenings it gets packed with people and pooches. I went to three of these Friday night bashes before I attempted last week.
I have always wanted my dogs to be ambassadors of their breed, and I think that Koda is well on his way to becoming a confident man that can face any situation. But sometimes this makes me worry a little when introducing him to prospective Kai owners or people who are just learning about the breed. It makes Kai's look so easy to socialize. Like oh you can just take him to a dog park a few times a week and he will be fine. NO! It's so much more than that.
So, as I praise Koda for how he's growing up, I must warn those interested in Kai to note that this has taken a long time for him to get where he is. He was set up at birth for success with a very good mother and in a great home environment. Since the first day he came home, he's been experiencing new things and everything is planned out so he can have positive experiences. It's tiring at times, but so worth it!
Sage will be sending Koda-Kai a badge and secret decoder ring for the Squirrel Club in the mail. There's a big meeting the second Thursday of every other month. A message will arrive under separate cover congratulating Koda and telling what month the next meeting will be. The message will not self-destruct though, but all Squirrel Club members are presumed to relish the task of destroying their own messages. Mwa haha haaaaa!
Good boy to handle the holiday so well, but nice that its not forever!
I have a pic of one the last squirrel. Maybe I'll post it later. lol. It's still kind've dying though. It was a little big for Koda's puppy mouth. I had to help finish him off so he wouldn't suffer. :0
I'll be curious to see how much taller he grows than his siblings. He seems to be a larger dog just naturally already, but having neutered him at 5 months before his growth plates closed may cause him to continue growing for a longer period of time than if his natural testosterone closed the plates naturally at about 14 months.
Chris Zink made us aware of that phenomenon. What I don't know is whether neutering at 5 months when he's gotten 3/4 of his growth done, has the same effects as neutering at 8 weeks. It will be interesting to observe. We discussed this on this forum not too long ago, but I wouldn't begin to remember where....
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We got to hang out for a few hours, and we took Koda down to Chrissy Fields below the Golden Gate Bridge. He was acting kind've like a little hyper puppy. Usually, he is a lot more calm but he was showing off for them and to me it was really endearing. I learned so much from them about Koda. Things that he does that have become so Koda to me that I forget that it is so Kai of him. I got to hear stories about his parents, and I have a feeling that Koda is going to take after his daddy. I didn't want to say goodbye to them. I wanted to keep hearing stories and getting their advice. Ofcourse, I didn't get pics but here are some of Koda the other day. I'm going to have his daycare weigh him tomorrow to see how big he has gotten. I think he has broken 40 pounds. He's such my big boy.
Here are some pics......
Kind've a bad pic, but you can see Koda's brindle coming in on his face.
I love how Koda sleeps right next to his dog beds.
the beds are to lie ON, Kodabear, ON!
I like his white badge on his chest, too.
I love how Koda has multiple bedS. :-) The things we do for our dogs....
And he is absolutely a tank. A very handsome tank!
Koda is a tank! And soooo big! I read through this thread last night, and I had guessed at one point that Koda would be 50 pounds. I'm still guessing 50 or more when he's full grown. He's going to be a big boy like his dad.
Hey Brad and Jen, Is Koda Kona's weight? He definitely doesn't have the muscle definition like him yet.
Brad LMAO, Kona is so perfect to me. I can't picture him chunky. He always looks so muscular and in shape. Koda's just a half inch taller than him now. I'm expecting him to hit the max of 22" but no more. It's amazing how fast they grow up. It makes me want to have a little girl.
He was still burning off his winter weight.
----
We just got back a few hours ago from Tahoe/Reno where we spent the last four nights. Koda did great! My sister had 20-25 people over Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and nothing phases Koda. He is growing up to be a very confident, cool, and laid back guy. I'm really proud of him. He loved the kids playing with him and pretty much ignored people he didn't like, but he will always pick out a couple of people to adore and he will shower them with play bows and lots of showing off.
He's also become quite the hunter. He's caught squirrels, a bat (which required a vet trip, but he didn't catch anything from the bat), and as of Wednesday a bird in my mom's backyard. I can't leave him out back for too long. His favorite passtime is to kill rodents. Well, that's just a quick little update. Here's a pic. He still won't look at the camera.....
Also, Koda went on a bit of a diet. He was a little chubs at 50 pds., so we got him down to a slim and slender 46.
The bat was a scary scary incident. And so gross!!! Those things are so ugly. I'm lucky he didn't get bit by it. Cleaning it up wasn't too great either. I'm not sure how he got it. He was in the back at around 8pm. I heard a rucus, went outside and he had it. Same with the bird. My mom called me to tell me that he had it in his mouth and it was dying. I'm not sure how he does that. I did see him catch a squirrel. It was like he wasn't even watching it then boom it was in his mouth and he was shaking it to death. BTW that squirrel had been tormenting him since he was 9 weeks old. It got pretty gutsy coming down to the ground near him. The other squirrel, I just saw the carcass. Eow! Still I'm lucky that none of these animals have had the time to fight back. I try and keep a close eye on him.
Brad I'm so proud of him. I wasn't too worried about him, but I didn't think we would have that many people over all three nights. My brother in law likes to invite everyone over for dinners. He really took it all in stride. I'm sure he wouldn't want that all the time though, but he showed no signs of stress or being uncomfortable. When he was tired, he went underneath the pool table and went to sleep with everyone in the room.
Unfortunately we got Kona right as we moved here (like literally, we picked him up on the way), and it was 6 months or so of getting settled before we realized we need to get him out and get him socialized. It was a stupid mistake on our part.
Anyway, it always makes me happy to hear about Kai who are socialized properly and enjoy people.
----
We worked our way up to Thanksgiving by going to these open house parties at a local pet boutique. It's small and on Friday evenings it gets packed with people and pooches. I went to three of these Friday night bashes before I attempted last week.
I have always wanted my dogs to be ambassadors of their breed, and I think that Koda is well on his way to becoming a confident man that can face any situation. But sometimes this makes me worry a little when introducing him to prospective Kai owners or people who are just learning about the breed. It makes Kai's look so easy to socialize. Like oh you can just take him to a dog park a few times a week and he will be fine. NO! It's so much more than that.
So, as I praise Koda for how he's growing up, I must warn those interested in Kai to note that this has taken a long time for him to get where he is. He was set up at birth for success with a very good mother and in a great home environment. Since the first day he came home, he's been experiencing new things and everything is planned out so he can have positive experiences. It's tiring at times, but so worth it!
There's a big meeting the second Thursday of every other month. A message will arrive under separate cover congratulating Koda and telling what month the next meeting will be. The message will not self-destruct though, but all Squirrel Club members are presumed to relish the task of destroying their own messages. Mwa haha haaaaa!
Good boy to handle the holiday so well, but nice that its not forever!
Chris Zink made us aware of that phenomenon. What I don't know is whether neutering at 5 months when he's gotten 3/4 of his growth done, has the same effects as neutering at 8 weeks. It will be interesting to observe. We discussed this on this forum not too long ago, but I wouldn't begin to remember where....