What You Ask For

...and what you think you'll get.

It's almost automatic that I'll cringe with slight frustration when people ask me for a dog. Well when they have an idea that something exists, or is easily found, when it definitely is not.

"I'd like a dog from x breed that is unrelated to all the other dogs that have been imported from Japan."

"I'd like a dog that is x color (an almost non-existent color in the breed) for hunting."

And on and on the list goes. I understand that everyone wants a perfect dog. And by perfect I mean perfection according to an image they have in their mind. As I write this post I'm getting the inkling that I should just let go of the emotion, and chill a bit. People will want what they want, and if they're asking for something ridiculous, it's only because they don't know any better.

Personally I've experienced so much disappointment that I understand I will most likely NOT get what I want out of most of the dogs I get. I've got 9 dogs at the moment, and Baron is my only consistent hunter (though he's completely off the Kishu standard in type). I have his daughter who shows a lot of promise, but she had a digestive issue for a long time as a pup, and is far smaller than the standard. I won't be breeding her for both those issues (though her temperament is great and she's an easy keeper). I have two hunting line Shikoku that I waited several years for who are both far smaller than the standard, and while quite friendly are off the hook high energy, loud, and super bitchy toward other dogs. I most likely won't be breeding or hunting either of them unless something really surprising happens. I have 2 Shikoku females for breeding, one who is a fantastic show dog, but has failed to conceive 2 heats in a row now. The other female is flawed for show, good temperament too, but mediocre hips. And neither of these girls hunt well. I have a Shikoku male that looks promising for show, but it a little on the small side, and very unpromising as far as hunting goes. The other two dogs are a Tosa female (fantastic but small), and a Tosa mix who is fun to have around but basically just gives me vet bills.

To add to this there's a whole slew of dogs that I let go due to them not being what I was looking for. So when someone comes along who's hoping to import one or two dogs and have a breeding pair, or a perfect hunting dog, I laugh a little.

All that being said, the journey is enjoyable, and getting all the experience is worth it. I just hope everyone else feels the same way!

I've been taking Masa out in the mountains a bit recently as a work out before the show season starts. He's pretty sticky so having him off leash is not a problem (in the mountains anyway). I took him out the other night which was a mistake, since we got surrounded by boar twice which was pretty hairy. The boar are taking over the neighborhood, so I took Baron and Masa out together this week to thin the heard. I got the dogs out of the truck, off they ran, and 1 minute later they're on boar. Masa just runs around excited. Anyway, Baron was off and too far to catch up. I popped Masa back in the truck, and Baron and I hunted for another couple hours, running into several more boar, but no solid stops. Baron's a bit off his game still since we haven't been hunting through the summer. Anyway, I took Masa out today at 5:15 for a quick run, packed the gun and gear just in case, and while not expecting anything (and 5 minutes before sunset) Masa perked up and started checking out the ridge to the left. I encouraged him by following him up twice, but nothing. I called him back to the path since we needed to get back to the truck. Apparently the boar was on the left, and had come down to cross the path in front of us, so as we come to a bend, I hear Masa scrambling ahead of me, and I peer around to see an 80kg boar huffing and puffing at him. I popped off a head shot, Masa charged, boar rolled over to the right, started back up and tried to come after me so popped 2 more head shots. Boar went down around 5 meters in front of me, and that was that. Masa wouldn't go near it, but followed as I dragged it out of the mountain.

It was a pleasant surprise, and while I won't be clapping at Masa for an amazing hunt, he did his part. Of course he ended it perfectly by walking up the trail, finding the boar's fresh scat, and rolling every inch of his body in it. And of course this is the day that I didn't bring a crate for him, and had to have stinking bastard sitting next to me in the cab of the truck. My revenge was sweet. Masa hates showers.

Comments

  1. Maybe she'll grow out of it (hopefully not), but Rosie has been extremely friendly with every dog she's met. She's always like "play with me buddy plz". We went on vacation recently, and apparently she played all day long at our dogsitter's house with all the dogs until she passed out. She would wake up, drink water, and repeat it all over! Dog park days are definitely ones she looks forward too. We definitely think she wants a playmate. Can't wait!

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  2. I appreciate everything that you do and I can understand how it can be frustrating. It was a blessing of timing when I made the decision that I wanted a Shikoku and then there was 1 a available. We didn't have too high of hopes that we could get a male and a viable breeding pair. Botan getting a puppypal seems more of a honest reality. :)

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