Akita breed...

Cherry Blossom

criticalcritic - you are on the border of crossing the line here. Please do not make assumptions about people you don't know or speculate on their 'ability' to own a dog based on nothing other than the fact that you know someone else who wasn't capable of providing for their own dogs needs properly.

You clearly haven't even read the whole thread - if you had you would have seen that the OP has already got the pup.

Shanao

criticalcritic wrote: »

Brother had one
Why an Akita?

Why an akita indeed. Perhaps its the fact that throughout my twenty odd years of living and working with dogs I have never had a dog as gentle and loyal as an akita. Maybe its the fact that even though I have no children, my akita will happily let kids climb all over him, pull at his ears and pull his lips. Maybe its the fact that he will calmly sit down as a wheelchair approaches and will gently lick the hands of the elderly people reaching out to pat him. Maybe its the fact that he is protective, yet quiet, accepts all friends without hesitation and adores other dogs. Maybe its the fact that this gentle giant has been like this since he was born, and raised correctly, has never had a single fault. Maybe its the fact that he will walk with dignity, head held high when in work mode and then bound around like a clown when its time to play. At six months old, he was already being offered free socialisation classes as a local behaviourist could not get over how friendly he was and wanted to use him as an example.

That's my experience with an akita, which is going on longer than nine months and miraculously(:rolleyes:) will continue on. If you really think akitas are not kids dogs then you know nothing of the breed. And I couldn't imagine having another breed at my side now. (hope the bully never finds out I wrote that:P) The problem is not the breed, its the person who gets the breed. And just for the record the collie i had for fifteen years was a hell of a lot more work than the akita.

jo06555

criticalcritic wrote: »

Be honest Im against akitas and other snow dogs being kept by owners who obvouisly cant handle them, and have no space for them,
.
The pounds are full of snow dogs being put down, which is unsettling, means people are not able for these dogs

Whats wrong with a labrador?

criticalcritic wrote: »

Whats important here and needs be taken into account is that the pounds are full of dogs which have become novelty purchases like Huskies, Akitas and pitbulls, and they are being put down in record numbers

And its people like the OP(nothing personal) who have three children and a modest back garden and provably have busy lifes, who out of the blue decide owning an Akita is a good idea.This is a prime example of why these dogs are overcrowding pounds, and being killed in the hundreds

criticalcritic wrote: »

Brother had one
Id say same about Huskies, Wolf hybrids, Rottweilers, pitbulls etc

Dogs that need more specialised care and attention then common breeds

And Im not talking out of my hole, I have Doberman at home and when my son was born it was big challenge,

Couldnt imagine doing it with 3 young kids

I ask again though, wouldnt a labrador or beagle do the job here?

Why an Akita?

Wow i was away for all these replies today as i was playing and doing more house training with my akita puppy (which is going superb so far now ) I am quiet shocked by criticalcritics responses and i have highligted some things i had problems with :

Firstly " kept by owners who obvouisly cant handle them" that is a strong assumption to make if you have never met me or my family and it seems your brothers case is all you know of the breed , I have spent many months researching this breed before spending more months looking for the top breeders before i went ahead and took one into our home and everytime i done my research i loved the breed even more , so time will be my judge and i will not fail as i am prepared and know whats needed by me to raise an akita in our home .

Secondly "Whats wrong with a labrador?" labradors are a beautiful breed to and when i was growing up we had a labrador at home but i and my wife have allways loved the akita for their looks , their loyality , their history and for being the perfect addition to our family in every sense ,as shanao has stated in his post do i even need to go on as to why we chose an akita , you say why not a labrador i say why not an akita and i chose an akita not as a spur of the moment just to have the cool dog but because i know with the right home our pup will grow into the perfect new family member we intend her too.

Thirdly you say the pounds are full of novelty purchases like " Huskies, Akitas and pitbulls" I would love to know why these are ALL novelty purchases ? Do people not have a choice in life and while i agree that all care and research should be taken prior to bringing a puppy home at the end of the day if a family want a pitbull/rothweiller/akita they should be entitled that as long as they have plans to give the best home possible .

Next you say "who out of the blue decide owning an Akita is a good idea" I and my family did and as you have said you do not know much about the breed id like you to tell me why i should not think owning an akita is a good idea ???

Lastly "I have Doberman at home and when my son was born it was big challenge" May i ask you why not a labrador instead of a doberman ? ? Plus as i have 3 kids youngest aged 6 now i notice you saying WHEN YOUR SON WAS BORN it was a big challenge so i assume you had the doberman allready and let me tell you a baby is a big challenge on its own so it may not be all just because you had a dog too ,on the size of our garden, we have lots of fields right next to our house so walking and excercise will not be a problem i can assure of that , can i just thank all the responses in this thread for the help and last 2 pages for the defending of the breed as i had allready known and am learning first hand now how great they are

FoxyVixen

I own an Akita and have had the pleasure of her goofy smile for the last two years. These dogs are immensely loyal to their families. Shanoa has already touched on the majority of the points I was going to make.

Mine has a great guard instinct in her and informs me of arrivals to the house. But once she sees that I've accepted the new-comer, she relaxes. Out of work mode, like Shanoa said, she bounds around like an idiot. Her favourite game is tug-of-war with her teddy meercat. When playing I can immediately get her to stop if I feel she is being too rough simply by saying "ah" - can I re-iterate that, I only need to say not SHOUT.

I don't get where criticalcritic gets that they're a destructive dog?! NEVER has my one ever chewed something she wasn't handed and given permision to chew on. They're a highly intelligent dog and so long as they've been taught what's acceptable in the house and what's not, they'll abide by them. She knows not to go on any furniture whatsoever nor to pick up anything and take it outside with her. She knows what toys are hers and that's what she can mess about with. The only time I can even think she might have been destructive was my fault when not closing the bin properly and she choose to bring out the packaging the chicken had been wrapped in. Lots of little bitty pieces had to be picked up.

I'm lucky to live on a bit of land, so have plenty of space for her to run around. It's true that Akitas can be testy when offlead, but as long as they've been trained in adequately it shouldn't be too much of an issue. I live on the end of a road that's surrounded by fields with livestock. She was brought up around two sheepdogs who knew the boundaries we expected them to stay within. Therefore I had a great template having them to train her off already. Now she can be offlead outside the house, though she needs 100% supervision to be safe. I might seem like a crazy lady outside with her as it's a constant conversation I have with her, so she knows I'm watching every move she makes.

Recently we had a cow that died on the farm, so it had to be brought out front to be collected and disposed off adequately. Most assume that this breed would go crazy around a dead animal and turn ravenous. I allowed her to have a quick smell so she knew what was there, and then called her away. She came running up to me with her goofy head and didn't bother with it for the rest of the time I had her out around the shed.

I'm also aware of how many people would feel unsure of an Akita around a farm due to their high prey instincts. Currently have the rest of the cows inside, she's not so much as even looked at them. Follows me from A to B and stays in the spot I ask her to if I feel she shouldn't be in a certain part of the shed for some reason.

The only "specialised" needs they require is more patience throughout training and the realisation how much hair comes off them when their shedding!!!

Akitas get a bad rep purely on the ignorance of the owner. It's just as much about understanding the breed as it is the dog understanding what the owner is asking of it.

OP I hope you get MANY years of enjoyment from yours as every day is just entertainment with my one

jo06555

FoxyVixen wrote: »

OP I hope you get MANY years of enjoyment from yours as every day is just entertainment with my one

Thanks and I look forward to it all

Wibbs

criticalcritic wrote: »

Id say same about Huskies, Wolf hybrids, Rottweilers, pitbulls etc

You do realise that each one of those breeds* as an average would have radically different temperaments and needs? Rotties and Pitbulls would me much more reliable off lead for example. Huskies would have a higher prey instinct all things being equal. An actual wolf hybrid double that instinct. Not to worry there mind you as of all but two of the many so called wolf hybrids I've seen in this country most certainly had absolutely zero wolf in them, or as much as a pomeranian. In any case the usual husky/GSD mix masquerading as one would be similar in temperament to the respective breeds. Akitas are different again. Much less hyper and indoors destructive than an average husky. Even within the husky title the various breeds of same exhibit subtly different qualities.




PS I've been bitten twice in my life by dogs. Both were labs. Doesn't mean I don't rate labs BTW, just saying.





*though I'd most certainly not call a wolf hybrid a "breed" outside of three longterm specially bred examples and there are only a bare handful of Saarloos and Czech wolfdogs in this country and even fewer purebred(and no Lupo Italianos).