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8 Month Old Akita

This is a forum for bonding with your fellow Dogsters about the traits, quirks and idiosyncrasies of your favorite breed. Please remember that there are absolutely no animal sales or requests for studding or breeding allowed on our sites. All posts and interactions should be in the spirit of Dogster's Community Guidelines and should be fun, friendly and informational. Enjoy!

  
Niko

1266609		 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 3, '12 11:51am PST 
I have an 8 month old Akita. I have had her since she was 7 weeks old. In the past month, she has been developing an aggression toward other female dogs (she is a female). She has attacked my parents 10 year old Shih Tzu numerous times. She lives with my boyfriend and I in a complex of condos. I have still never heard her bark. She is very lovable, but standoff-ish toward other people. She is a big baby until it comes to other female dogs. All of the other dogs in this complex are small. Two chihuahuas have barked and jumped at her, but she paid them no mind. She continued to walk on her leash and did not leave my side. I have heard her make small grumbles under her breath, but never a real bark. She plays very well with my brother's 5 year old male Doberman. Should I be leery about taking her around other female dogs? She is 8 months and 81 pounds.

Does anyone else have an Akita who lives in an apartment? She is a frequent visitor of my parents home - where she lived for approximately 5 months. Their house is much larger (4,000+ sqft) with a huge fenced in back yard.

Also, I have noticed her ears coinciding with her thinking. When her ears are really close together, she is typically about to do something mischievous. The further apart her ears are spread, the more relaxed she is.

She has a thing for destroying pillows. She has destroyed two large-dog sleeping pillows as well as numerous decorative pillows on furniture. She has a large-dog crate, but I would like to get to the point of trusting her and her being allowed to stay out while I am not home.

If anyone has any advice, I'd greatly appreciate it. smile
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MIKA&KAI

Akita Pals- Always.
 
 
Barked: Mon Sep 3, '12 12:40pm PST 
It sounds like she is entering her "bratty teen" phase if she is already showing signs of same sex agression I would avoid taking her places she is likely to encounter other female dogs until you are certain she has a bomb proof "leave it" even then I would never allow her unsupervised around other female dogs. SSA is very common in Akitas and especially females,spaying will not help. Making sure she listens using high value treats and supervision are really the only thing you can do. As far as the destruction of pillows,cushions and things like that she will likely stop that with consistent correction shortly after she turns a year or so. Mine never bothered sofa cushions or things like that however we kept an endless supply of stuffies as rewards that ended up as nothing but empty cloth with stuffing everywhere. Just keep training daily and being consistent since adolescence for an Akita can last until around age 3. It is going to get frustrating at times,and there will be times when you have to reevaluate the training methods you are using but stick with it,the rewards are well worth it.hug
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Lobo

"Stubborn" dogs- don't need- corrections		 
 
Barked: Wed Sep 5, '12 6:37am PST 
Lobo is wonderful with female dogs. Patient and quite the pushover. But around males, he's more watchful and not nearly as patient - although he is dramatically more so if he knows the dog well. I agree with M&K. I wouldn't take her around other females until she learns a really nice "Leave it" or recall.

I don't live in an apartment, but here soon I may end up living in a trailer (although it has about an acre and a half of land). From what I know about Akitas, they can live pretty much anywhere as long as they're given adequate exercise and mental stimulation. Don't forget that Akitas are a working breed, and therefore require a pretty decent amount of brain-work. I firmly believe that "marker training" (clicker training) is an excellent way to train them because it requires them to think and use their brains.

You could also hide her food around the house, or get one of those puzzles where you can put their kibble in it? I think they're roughly $15 at Petco.

As for the pillows, well, if she was punished repeatedly for chewing on them, then it's not that surprising that she waits until you're gone. Get her some toys that she can rip apart, and reward HEAVILY for those. Lobo LOVES to tear things apart, but he only tears up the things that I give him. Laundry and pillows were never reinforced, so he never really cared about them. Don't get me wrong, in the heat of play, sometimes he would grab a pillow, but then I immediately stopped playing, took the pillow away, and walked off. Grabbing a pillow = Game ends. He hasn't grabbed a pillow in over a year.
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Member Since
10/13/2012		 
 
Barked: Sat Oct 13, '12 11:23pm PST 
i have. a 9 mo male in an apartment. he does fine inside since i started getting him antlers and hooves to chew on keeps him occupied while im at work. we use to go to the off leash dog park 5 times a week and he loved iit. but when he turned about 8 mo he started attacking large males. this is normal, akitas do not like other dominant same sex dogs. he has a few buddies he can play with. but the off leash days are over. just part of being an akita
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