Kai Pups (pics added 3/14)
Anyone reading my blog probably has already seen this. We've got a couple temporary Kai pups staying at our house at the moment. They're 2 month old kuro-tora males. I say Kai pups are cutest NK pups out there. If I had my way, I'd be keeping both of these boys.
Comments
(I like the music w/ the video too)
http://tenroukensya.hp.infoseek.co.jp/index.html
http://kaiken.biz/
From everything I've heard and seen over the years about hunting with Kai, real hunting lines are hard to come by nowadays, and the Kai is getting a bad rep as far as hunting (big game, there are still plenty of good bird dogs) goes. I think it's mostly likely going to take around 20 years, but I'm determined to put together a line of large game hunting Kai (for boar mostly). It's a rather ambitious goal, and I guess in 20 years we'll see how successful I am. Will definitely need a lot of help to make it happen.
That's an awesome goal and not at all so farfetched...20 years may seem like a long time but it will come very quickly! Let us take things slow but eventually we will ALL become "old timers" of Nihon Ken in our selected breed or breeds, LOL.
Just remember...this how all great breeders start out...with an idea and an ambition! And the motivation, work and time to follow suit with it
Everywhere you look you'll find a different standard for the Kai.
FCI www.fci.be/uploaded_files/318gb99_en.doc
UKC http://www.ukcdogs.com/WebSite.nsf/Breeds/KaiRevisedJuly12008
JKC http://www.jkc.or.jp/modules/worlddogs/entry.php?entryID=93&categoryID=5
Nippo http://www.nihonken-hozonkai.or.jp/page007.html
Aigokai http://www007.upp.so-net.ne.jp/kaiken/kaiken_standard.html
FCI:
-Size: Dogs 53cm (20.9 inches) Bitches 48cm (18.9 inches) with a tolerance of +/-3cm (1.2 inches)
-Weight: Couldn't find a specified weight
UKC:
-Size: Dogs 18½ to 22 inches (47.5-55.9cm) Bitches 17½ to 20 inches (44.5-50.8cm) with a tolerance of +/-half and inch (1.3cm)
-Weight: 25 to 55 pounds (11.3-24.9kg)
JKC:
-Size: Dogs 50cm (19.7 inches) Bitches 45cm (17.7 inches) with a tolerance of +/-3cm (1.2 inches)
-Weight: Couldn't find a specified weight
Nippo:
-Size: Dogs 52cm (20.5 inches) Bitches 49cm (19.3 inches) with a tolerance of +/-3cm (1.2 inches)
-Weight: Dogs 17-23kg (37.4-50.7 pounds) Bitches 15-18kg (33-39.6 pounds)
Aigokai:
-Size: 40-50cm
-Weight: 11.25-22.5kg (24.8-49.6 pounds) (the decimal points are due to the fact that the weight measurements are old Japanese measurements, 3 'kan'- 6'kan' is the standard)
While I understand why the Nippo and Aigokai standards are different, I'm scratching my head as to where the FCI/UKC/JKC are getting their standards from.
The Nippo and Aigokai standards differ because when Nippo was founded, the Aigokai members joined. However when Nippo drew up the standards separating all the Japanese breeds into small/medium/large, the Aigokai members had issues with the cookie cutter standard. The Kai at the time came in a wide range of sizes, and the Aigokai members felt strongly about preserving the Kai as it was. As the standard was written the Kai was too small for the medium category, and too large for the small category. Nippo also deducts points for tongue spots larger than a pinkie (though they recently changed this in regards to Kai).
The Aigokai standard has the Kai at 40-50cm. Nippo has dogs at 49-55 and bitches at 46-52cm. Generally any Kai you see at a Nippo or JKC show are larger than Aigokai standards allow. The average weight of the Kai I see is females around 12-15kg (26-33lb) and males at 19-22kg (42-49lb).
I was completely bewildered by the FCI standard, as I thought they take their standard from the breed's country of origin. Shouldn't the standard conform to either JKC/Nippo/Aigokai? Then I glanced at their Kishu standard, and they have the Kishu sized smaller than than the Kai at dogs 52cm bitches 46cm. The 52cm for males is right on the Nippo standard, but the Nippo standard has females at 49cm. Arrrrgh headaches. I know it's nigh unto impossible to get all these organizations to adopt a common standard, but I think it's really strange that there's such a difference in numbers between organizations. This needs to be fixed. While I don't see Nippo and Aigokai seeing eye to eye on size for the foreseeable future, at least the JKC/FCI/UKC should get their numbers straight.
I just wish there were more hunting line Kai's in Japan. Its just sad to see most of the original hunting nihon ken diverting further away from their original intended use. I'm sure 10 to 20 years from now most there will be far less hunting nihon ken's out there. I hope a few of us can continue a small percentage of hunting line nihon ken's here in the U.S. and in Japan and preserve the breed for the next generation.
I know size does play a good role in building a good pig dog but its not the most important. as a matter of fact, as shigeru said before, alot of the Japanese pig hunter prefer the smaller sized NK for hunting pigs because of endurance and being better fit for the dense vegetation of the mountains. Just as a example there are people who use 20lb Jaged terriers and patterdale terriers to hunt boars. The dogs are used as bay dogs and strike dogs but I have seen a jaged terrier hanging off of a 200lb boar's ears while the pig ran 100 yards with the dog flapping in the wind.
I read a old Japanese "medium" sized NK book and it stated that the old Kyoto boar hunters prefered shiba size dogs for hunting and some actually used shiba ken for hunting pigs. Its all in the dogs ability.
There are a handful of hog hunters in the U.S. that use ~20 lb jagdterriers for baying hogs so size is less of an issue than ability, instinct, heart, etc.
For catch work, size would be an issue as well as ability, instinct, heart, grit, etc.
edit: oops. posted before reading shishiinu's post.
Main thing is to have a dog that wants to hunt, and is healthy and has the ability to work. The rest is gravy.
Sorry to totally jack your thread. Thanks for entertaining my questions.
I guess hardware stores are good for socialization. I spent a few hours at the home depot yesterday designing and buying supplies for a project I was working on and a couple brought in their pointer puppy with them. I LOVED her. And, they had a gorgeous leather leash for her. I was one jealous guy. :-)