Shikoku soon on its way...
Hi All,
It's been a while since I've posted in the Forum--I've mostly spend my time watching, reading, and hopefully learning. With the help of The Walrus the long wait for a Shikoku is drawing to an end. If all goes well, we'll be welcoming a little kuro-goma home in the next few weeks
So, to the point. I am writing for advice. Small advice, big advice, long and short advice: anything you can spare. I've read many of the posts describing, funny Shikoku, rambunctious Shikoku, obedient Shikoku and single-minded ones, too. I'm preparing for a tornado, but hoping a get a dog that is a little more subtle than that. Anyhow, I digress.
If any one has time to write and share their experience on their early days with their Shikoku, I'd be very grateful. I'm trying to sort out the logistics of essential buys (a crate, toys, bowls, harness, etc) and I'm sure I'll miss lots. I'm also trying to figure out what has worked best for the folks on the Forum in terms of crate training (yes or no?), obedience training (a must, but from what age?), and any number of other things.
I should mention that I live in an apartment in Tokyo; it's quite spacious with lots of open space and there are two major parks within walking distance. I'm an avid runner and mountain climber so the pooch will get his fair share of exercise, but I do work a regular day job which means the 9-5 could get a little lonely.
Anyhow, I'm open to any and all comments and thank you in advance for reading this long(ish) message.
Cheers,
David
Tokyo, Japan
It's been a while since I've posted in the Forum--I've mostly spend my time watching, reading, and hopefully learning. With the help of The Walrus the long wait for a Shikoku is drawing to an end. If all goes well, we'll be welcoming a little kuro-goma home in the next few weeks
So, to the point. I am writing for advice. Small advice, big advice, long and short advice: anything you can spare. I've read many of the posts describing, funny Shikoku, rambunctious Shikoku, obedient Shikoku and single-minded ones, too. I'm preparing for a tornado, but hoping a get a dog that is a little more subtle than that. Anyhow, I digress.
If any one has time to write and share their experience on their early days with their Shikoku, I'd be very grateful. I'm trying to sort out the logistics of essential buys (a crate, toys, bowls, harness, etc) and I'm sure I'll miss lots. I'm also trying to figure out what has worked best for the folks on the Forum in terms of crate training (yes or no?), obedience training (a must, but from what age?), and any number of other things.
I should mention that I live in an apartment in Tokyo; it's quite spacious with lots of open space and there are two major parks within walking distance. I'm an avid runner and mountain climber so the pooch will get his fair share of exercise, but I do work a regular day job which means the 9-5 could get a little lonely.
Anyhow, I'm open to any and all comments and thank you in advance for reading this long(ish) message.
Cheers,
David
Tokyo, Japan
Comments
If you need help with socializing I would love to come see the pup sometime. I am in Ota-ku.
Jeff
We have two Shikoku at home of same age (siblings - 4 months now). What I noticed is that one of them (Sugoi) LOVES her crate... The other (Futago) doesn't mind being crated for the night, but simply doesn't like being crated when we're around. Futago is the type that won't follow us around, but she will keep her eye on us, tracking where we are and where we go. So, keeping Futago crated too much will not make her happy, but Sugoi will feel comfortably at peace inside her crate for hours.
My point being that it's going to be your own dogs character that really matters in establishing what will work best for your dog...
We're not using harnesses, just regular (leather) collars. I found that my Shikoku tend to ignore toys when there's something way cooler that makes a hell lot more noise like chewing on an empty plastic bottle or chasing an upturned plastic bowl
To be honest, I have no idea how living with one Shikoku is like, since we own and raise two, but I reckon that ANY Shikoku can be a tornado - do mind however, they are so energetic and can keep on playing relentlessly (even beyond the point of exhaustion), that they can get a little cranky at times, they just don't want to give in! At those moments it really helps having a "time-out" crate (in a spot where he/she can still see you)... a little nap does wonders
Your shika's going to be worth all the effort
Thank you all for your comments. Jeff, I would be very interested in getting the shikoku some play time with other dogs. Are you also a Shikoku owner?
Tylan, thanks very much for this very useful information! A quick question for you: did you use the same crate when the shika were puppies as their adult crate (i.e. only one crate) or did you buy two (i.e. one for when they were small, another for when they grew)?
Thanks again,
David
We used to crate them together in the beginning, in a rather large crate, but figured that it really helps crating them separately (for a number of reasons), so we bought a second crate, same size as the first one, to accommodate for the future... both crates are a tad too big for even an adult Shikoku
Many will state that a crate should actually be just large enough for the dog to basically stand up and turn around in... "to give it more of a 'den' feeling".... and I partly agree with them, but in all honesty I think size doesn't really matter that much; as long as it's big enough to fit the dog and the dog itself feels it's nice & comfy inside, then it's OK for me and OK for the dog.
@all: thanks for the warm wishes. Will share photos in the near future...
Nice to hear and now there will be more Shikoku adventures to read and see.