Joel & Chika Web Repository
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Old Kai stuff...
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About Kai...
Kai is the name of our new puppy, who we brought home in June, 2001. At that time he was 2 months old, being born on the same day (April 26th) as another famous Gregie. Can you guess who?
Kai is a Shiba Inu, which is a Japanese breed. He'll grow to be about 20-25 lbs, and when he's standing, he about comes up to to your knee. He's a smart little guy, and thanks to puppy kindergarten (see picture), and he knows how to sit, go down, stay, roll-over, shake, and high-five, especially if there are treats involved. He loves playing with his doggie buddies, like his best friends Fuji and Wrigley, not to mention a dozen other dogs in the neighborhood.
You might be asking yourself how Chika ever convinced Joel to get a dog, since the Jim and Louise section of the Gregie family has been more or less pet deprived since its founding. Well, he was dragged to shelters, shown a lot dog books, and basically told that they were getting a dog. He had spotted the Shiba in one of the dog breed encyclopedias, and thought they might be a good possibility. They are medium sized dogs, look pretty neat, and are easy to house train. So we did a lot of research about their behavior on the internet, met some dogs and breeders at the giant AKC show at McCormick place, and tried to find a nearby breeder. Although Shibas are the most popular dog in Japan, they are still pretty rare here, so some of the nearest breeders ended up being up near Madison, Wisconsin, only 10 miles or so down the road from where Louise grew up. Since Chika had the summer off, it was easy to house train him, and get him used to living with his new family. He likes going over to Jim and Louise's on Sundays when Joel and Chika have pizza, so he'll no doubt be excited to meet everybody over Christmas, if not sooner.