Can your Kai Ken be trusted to be in the backyard unsupervised?

AndrewT1993

I have a 6 foot wooden fence is that enough to contain a Kai Ken? I know they are jumpers. does it dep end on the individual dog? My grandma used to have a Siberian Husky in a 4 foot chainlinked fence yard and it never once try to jump it or run away.

tjbart17

Mine will stay. My parent's female leaves to go hunt. But she always comes back. She's a freebird.

AndrewT1993

@tjbart17 that wouldn't work for me since I live in the suberbs. And Im prety sure that it would eventually get hit by a car in my area if it were a freebird.

tjbart17

I think it's a bit different. She has things to hunt with a creek in back of the backyard fence where deer drink and rolling hills that go for 18 miles across the street. She has more that entices her. I doubt you will have that.

ttddinh

how does she get out?

tjbart17

Climbs the fence. It's six feet in the back and nine in the front.

tjbart17

Mei is a rescue and was untrained.

Zinja

Eevee is fine. She does hunt squirrels though. She can spend hours just watching squirrels in the trees.

We have 6ft fence with two feet of chicken wire under.

CarabooA

Ours stay out in the backyard for lengths at a time playing with each other and hanging out in my flower pots but only when we are home. After Ritsu leaving our fence we decided (since we have no way to add height) to put a single strand of hot wire on the very top edge of it. To my knowledge no one has even tested that wire (except me a couple weeks ago, lol), they stay in our yard very well. They get plenty of "outside" time though as well, be it walks/hikes, chores or just going to town. Oh, and our fence is 4 1/2 feet tall only...

shibamistress

My fence is a 4-5 foot stock fence (meaning that it is wire, like what you see for horses/cattle). None of our dogs (Kai Ken/shiba/AA) try to get over it. Once Bel (shiba) tunneled under when the neighbors got a new dog. Then she was trapped in their yard with their dogs (they weren't home) and she was so horrified by this that she has never tried again (though we also blocked off the place she dug under).

The Kai, in particular, is not at all interested in getting out. But we have 1/2 acre and woods and other dogs to play with.

BradA1878

Define "unsupervised"... Like, not home w/ your Kai in the yard alone? Or home, checking on him/her every now and then, but just not outside with them?

We don't leave any of our dogs outside in the yard when we aren't home. Well, we used to leave a few guardians out in Taos, but not here in Flag.

shibamistress

Oh, good point Brad! None of our dogs are ever outside if no one is home. But they do get to play out in the yard as long as they want if we're home and can check on them.

AndrewT1993

@brada1878 as in at home but not in the yard with them to make sure they don't get into trouble.

tjbart17

Oh yeah. Let me clarify. I would never trust Mika outside with me not at home. Never never. Koda yes, but he has a bad back leg. I would never ever suggest leaving a Kai outside with no one there. (Just in case some prospective buyer reads this someday).

BradA1878

Well, our Kai are outside in the yard most of the day w/o us out there watching. It was not until we got Kishin (Kishu Ken) that we had any escapes from our yard. Most of the time, when they get out, our Kai (males and females) will take a little walk then return ready to come back in. However, they only escape when Kishin digs a whole for all of them to get out, our Kai do not dig the whole on their own. I guess they are opportunistic, but not looking to escape the way Kishin is.

tjbart17

lmao @brada1878 Koda's mom is known for digging her way out of the yard. Roberta and Steve had to burry fencing under the fence to stop the hoodini.

Mei once tricked Koda into digging her a hole. I watched the whole thing from my parent's guest bedroom window. She enticed him into digging. When the hole was big enough for her she slipped right through and found me on the other side of the fence.

AndrewT1993

Thanks everyone for the reply. I ask this because a neighbor's dog got out last night and got hit by a car. That was the first time I saw that so it kinda scared me. The dog was a shiva/husky mix. Two breeds that are notorious for being escape artists.

cdenney

I would say if your kai is not locked in a room with you have a tracker on them, at least initally. Sachis tracker and tags only come off at night when we are locked in the bedroom settling down then she goes nekked but when home alone (matenience were to come in) or with my roomie just incase I can see where she's at.

sjp051993

Not all Kai are escaped artist. While Tora can easily jump a 4 foot fence, she does not. She was trained as to what her barriers were and she respects that. All my dogs respect the fence. I also set them up to succeed. They are never left unattended in the yard without me being close by to keep an eye on them. I would not go so far to say that if the dog is not locked in the house to have a GPS collar on it. You will be getting a young pup that you will be able to bond with during the early development, and can establish a relationship with early on.

Hinata23

I agree with @sjp051993. I think Goro is way too big to be as agile as the smaller Kai. He doesn't like to jump on or off high places. Maybe he's just a pansy lol.

AndrewT1993

@Hinata23 How big is Goro?

Hinata23

@AndrewT1993 Goro is around 47 pounds at 10 months. That was two months ago... so he might weigh something different now.

Hinata23

@AndrewT1993 Aside from @tjbart17 's Koda (American Kai), I think he's the biggest KKA Kai on the forum. His brother, Monk might also be big, but I don't know much about him since his owner doesn't update much on him. So, his size is not very common.

WrylyBrindle

Look out for Matsu! He's a rookie to watch in the big kai dept...

I dont leave my dogs out alone- but only Sage has ever tried to get over the fence. He was extremely agitated about the coonhound up the road bawling at him and possibly out of his yard. Sage will jump and I did find him hanging off the top of the pickets by his front paws, but I have upped recall training and my attention to what he;s doing or seeking while in the yard, and redirecting him onto play and tug and so forth and now when the dogs bark he just gets kindof mad (instead of apoplectic rage) in the same area but without jumping. I think he believes he cannot get over the fence. He is very emotional but not very determined.

My full kai are too busy hunting in the wild part of the yard and playing in the mowed part, and have never worried about the fence. They also get leash walks and off leash hikes in the woods so their attitude about the yard is that it is one of a variety of enrichments. We play together there, and relax together there.

Hinata23

@wrylybrindle I can't wait for him to get big!!!

AndrewT1993

@WrylyBrindle does recall commands actually work with these kinds of dogs/dogs known for not being allowed off leash?

WrylyBrindle

both of my kai (Juno and Matsu) hike with me off leash in the forest almost every day. We have trained it positively and consistently since I got them, and they enjoy the benefit of hiking with Reilly, who already knows & demos not only to come when called but to also come to me on her own for big rewards. I have called them away from a porcupine a few months ago- it ran up a tree, and no one got quilled. Juno has also done lure coursing, which is an offleash sport, and her fault for not ribboning in it was that she didnt want to chase the 'prey' too far away from me, so Id say that my individual kai in this specific environment are well trained, well proofed and well matched with me (I dont worry if they have to go check something out and are out of my sight briefly) and I trust them off leash here. I dont take them to dog parks, and I dont hike them off leash far away, like to hike in another state, because *I* am uncomfortable with that. I would say that if it would make you nervous to the point of it being unenjoyable to have your dog in orbit, rather than at heel or on trail, keep them on leash and everyone is happy. I think my kai are the exception, not the default expectation, and I think its because hiking is a huge part of our relationship and we have compatible expectations. We train for it very deliberately.

cdenney

There are a couple of owners on here who hunt with their kai or other high drive nk breeds and all have different recall methods that are successful. it does depend on the dogs personality and your training and upkeep with the command.

Hinata23

@AndrewT1993 You should know that off-leash hiking is what @WrylyBrindle does with her dogs everything day. She's been doing for a long time. Her backyard leads out into the mountains and forest. Just because her Kais are freaking awesome (I heart Juno!) and able to come when called, it doesn't mean that all Kai and Kai owners can do the same. I can't expect Goro and ChoCho to behave and respond the way Juno and Matsu do in the same situation LOL.

Please take her example as a possibility and not the norm. I wouldn't want you to get a Kai excepting it to do the same! LOL

But yeah, @cdenney is right. There are a few members that use their dogs for off leash hunting. BUT again... it's what they do. We don't hunt, so we can't expect Goro to be awesome at it.

With all the NK getting lost lately I'd hate for someone to try off leash walking and loss their pup!!