Hi!
Hi! I just found out about this forum this morning. It sounds great. I've got a 2-year old Kai (Sumi) and a 4-year old Shiba (Take) (well, as of Sunday, 1 July, he'll be 4). I had considered getting a Shikoku, but it was much more difficult to get one than a Kai and it was hard to find out much about them. Both dogs have two TD (Tracking Dog) titles (Take has AKC and ASCA and Sumi has ASCA and AMBOR). They're also both very involved in freestyle, obedience, rally, and agility (Take has his CD and RA titles). We haven't started competing in agility yet, but are getting close. Since Kais aren't recognized by the AKC and it's basically "the only game in town", I'm working on getting Sumi most of her titles through ASCA (there are a few trials around here) and AMBOR (the management has changed; they now allow purebred rare breeds to participate). Freestyle involves other organizations, so we're OK there. Both dogs are very smart, enjoy working and are great!! Tracking is their absolute favorite activity, but freestyle is up there, too. We're even working on a brace routine for freestyle competition, in addition to their solos. All of their dances use taiko drum music and it really seems to suit their personalities. Sumi would be really good at lure coursing, but the sighthound groups around here are pretty exclusive, so we haven't had a chance to give it a try yet. She's too big for earth dog, but would be good at that too! We do have some behavior issues with both dogs (dog reactive), but they're both a lot of fun!! I'm looking forward to finding out more about what others are doing with their dogs. Thanks, Kamrin
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Hello Kamrin,
Welcome to the Kai forum. My name is Kelly, I live in Michigan and I have a 3 1/2 yr. old male Kai(Kohji) and a 4 1/2 year old female Shiba(Taj) . I have done tracking and Schutzhund classes with my Kai, and he REALLY excels in tracking. I took him to an obedience class last week and the trainer suggested I should bring him to their rally classes on Wednesday night, so I'm going to try that out this week; I noticed you said you have done rally with your dog. Where did you aquire your Kai from? What state do you live in?
Hi Kamrin & Kwyld - just wanted to say welcome to the forum!
Sounds like you guys have very similar packs. :c)
What is Rally?
What got you guys interested in the breed?
I can't wait to get my Kai Ken.
Hey guys - post some pics of your pups. I would love to see them!
Yes, pictures would be great! About the lure coursing, I would love to do lure coursing, but there just isn't anywhere around here and the only events I can find even remotely nearby are for only sighthounds, so I'm going to have my own lure coursing track on my property (it's a big property) once I save up to buy the equipment and the money to fence off the area.
Anyway, I'm glad to hear kais love tracking, because I'm definitely interested in tracking!
Oh yes, and welcome!
Hello and welcome! Great to see some Kai owners.
Kamrin - I LOVE to hear/see people working with their dogs, it's the best ever. Congrats on the titles.
Lynx and I have been trialing in it. We earned our Rally Novice last May! This fall we hope to do our CD and maybe our RA too or next Spring (we have SO much going on).
Kelly - That's GREAT about your Kai and Tracking! Who do you train with in Schutzhund (Club and Training Director)? Lynx and I are going for our BH this summer/fall. I'll probably end up doing it at the AWMA Nationals (American Working Malinois Association). Which is being hosted in Flint, Michigan this August/September. We are going to be there Aug 30th-Sept. 2nd. If you like you are more then welcome to come and watch. I'm expecting some AWESOME dogs. The SchH 3 and the Police dog competition might be interesting to see.
Brad - Rally is an a Obedience course with signs (16, I believe). The signs tell you what to have your dog do.
i.e.: You come to the sign and it may to ask to have your dog down and walk around in a circle, go to the next sign, you may have to call your dog to a front, step back once, twice and a third times and then finish your dog on either the left or right side.
It's fun and more relaxed for both you and the dog then formal Obedience. As you can talk to your dog, praise, and do whatever you need to keep your dog focused. You can clap, pat your side, anything. You just can't touch the dog nor can you have a tight line.
I hope that helped you in understanding it better. Here's what those signs looks like:
http://clubs.akc.org/saints/Archives/Rally%20Sign%20Desc.pdf
Kwyld - that sounds a lot like how I would expect my Shikoku to act if I tried to get her to train for hunting. It would be really neat to have a gang of Kai and really go out on a hunt with them, to see how they would instinctively behave, same for the Shikoku... But I am not much for hunting.