Akitas > Akita Discussions

Information/AdviceRequired

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mckgem:
Hi, My name's Gemma - first time I've posted, so 'Hi'

I'm after some advice.

Last week we adopted a 5 week old Akita dog.
The people who were selling him are well-known in our area for treating dogs like meat and at 5 weeks we had to get him away from them. So it was a bit of a spur-of-the-moment decision.

We already have a 9 year old Boxer bitch and a 3 year old Dougue De Bordeaux bitch, and a relatively small house - with a big garden and a huge field nearby. The dogs do get left on their own while we're at work but my boyfriend comes home at 9am and 12pm so it's usually only a few hours at a time.

The plan is to look after Bruce (the Akita puppy) until 10 weeks and then decide to either keep him or find a nice home for him. He hasn't been injected yet so is in a crate and separated from the girls.

He's been good as gold (i'm sure that will change when we introduce him to the girls) until last night. He was feeding and I picked a piece of food off of the bottom of his crate then put it in his bowl. He went for me - at 6 weeks old. I gave him a stern 'no' and a tap on the nose and he seems ok since. We don't know anything about his breeding, so i'm a bit concerned with regards to his temperament, being so snappy so early. Was he just pushing the boundaries? What is the best way of getting him out of the habbit?

Basically we have a HUGE decision to make in a few weeks time and I'd like as much information as possible - especially with regard to the breed and our situation.

Thanks for reading.

TINKSMOM:
I had concerns when I got TINK because of her Kom side. I had read they are independent thinkers and guard dogs. They can be very defensive of what they consider "theirs".

Anyway from the very beginning, both my husband and I would walk over and pet and talk to her while she ate. Sometimes we would throw little treats in her bowl or pick the bowl up before she was done and put treats in.

One day she "growled" at me over a bone. She was abuot 12 weeks old, it was almost like she was "trying it out". Anyway, I put her leash on and lead her away from the bone. We then went back to the bone together, correcting her as she growled until she stopped. It is very important for your dogs to respect your authority but I beleive with a lot of patience and repitition any dog can be trained.

Now it is no problem for myself, my husband, other dogs, or kids to pick up toys, treats, ect.

Try putting him on a leash until he behaves himself. There were times TINK was on an ambilical all day, but she has learned well and has a wonderful temperment.

Hope I helped.

mckgem:
That's a brilliant idea. Thanks Tinksmom.

KiraNGunnersmom:
Hi and welcome to BPO!!  It's nice to meet another person owned by an Akita.  We have had our girl since she was 6 mos old and she will be 7 years in Sept. 
She had mild food aggression(which is typical of the breed) and we were able to break her fairly quickly of that as we had a 8 mos old daughter who would put her hands in Kira's bowl while she was eating. 
We had to repremand her a few times with a firm and loud no and she did get smacked on the muzzle once for snapping at my hubby(it was an auto response from him) My hubby came up with the idea to put some kibble in his hand and put his hand in the bowl and let her eat it.  We did that a few times and then we also took her bowl away a few times and added more kibble to it to show her that sometimes good things happen when it's taken from her. 
This is something you will have to be consistent with.  hand feeding also helps alot with thier trust issues.  We now have a Mastiff pup and we began training him too even though he has shown no food aggression.  While he is eating i will go and pet his head and sometimes pull the bowl away and add a few more kibble while he watches.
You need to show who is boss with this breed asap, they need boundaries with thier humans and other fur family.
They are highly trainable and very smart and will get "one over on you" if you allow it.
We have been told many times that Kira is not typical of her breed because she is not guarded and snippy with strangers nor is she stubborn.  I believe it's because we have not allowed her to  be that way.
It may take a bit but be patient and remember his background and that he may just need extra love from you and you to show him that a hand near his bowl is not a threat.
He is still so young and I cant stress it enough, SOOOO trainable just dont give up on him.
best of luck to you and please keep us updated on him and PICTURES please, we LOVE pictures!

mckgem:

--- Quote from: KiraNGunnersmom on June 13, 2008, 07:21:46 am ---Hi and welcome to BPO!!  It's nice to meet another person owned by an Akita.  We have had our girl since she was 6 mos old and she will be 7 years in Sept. 
She had mild food aggression(which is typical of the breed) and we were able to break her fairly quickly of that as we had a 8 mos old daughter who would put her hands in Kira's bowl while she was eating. 
We had to repremand her a few times with a firm and loud no and she did get smacked on the muzzle once for snapping at my hubby(it was an auto response from him) My hubby came up with the idea to put some kibble in his hand and put his hand in the bowl and let her eat it.  We did that a few times and then we also took her bowl away a few times and added more kibble to it to show her that sometimes good things happen when it's taken from her. 
This is something you will have to be consistent with.  hand feeding also helps alot with thier trust issues.  We now have a Mastiff pup and we began training him too even though he has shown no food aggression.  While he is eating i will go and pet his head and sometimes pull the bowl away and add a few more kibble while he watches.
You need to show who is boss with this breed asap, they need boundaries with thier humans and other fur family.
They are highly trainable and very smart and will get "one over on you" if you allow it.
We have been told many times that Kira is not typical of her breed because she is not guarded and snippy with strangers nor is she stubborn.  I believe it's because we have not allowed her to  be that way.
It may take a bit but be patient and remember his background and that he may just need extra love from you and you to show him that a hand near his bowl is not a threat.
He is still so young and I cant stress it enough, SOOOO trainable just dont give up on him.
best of luck to you and please keep us updated on him and PICTURES please, we LOVE pictures!


--- End quote ---
Thanks Kirangunnersmo m. I need to have a chat with my boyfriend today. Since Bruce snapped at me last night I don't think he wants to keep him, but I love him!! I'm going to print all of these replies to take home to him.

I don't know how you guys upload pics in here but I have some on my photobucket account. Links as follows:

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image088.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image086.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image080.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image070.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image075.jpg

My girls....
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image004.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image003.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image025.jpg

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b12/qualityburd/Image021.jpg

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