Brought up as a family pet, Hokkaido may deviate from the more primal temperament exhibited with dogs in hunting kennels. The Hokkaido is highly intelligent and food motivated, a combination that results in positive responses to training. Hunting dogs are encouraged to be vocal, but a Hokkaido as a family pet may not necessarily exhibit such habits with training. As the Hokkaido has very little distribution throughout countries outside Japan, the Hokkaido's temperament solely as a family pet is still forming. Although the Hokkaido carries an innate prey drive, early socialization shows good behaviors with cats and other small animals considered to be part of its 'pack'.