Postings by Guest ID 1153021

Akita > akita puppy please help,,,,,,,,,,,

Koga 1286820     Barked: Wed Apr 24, '13 10:30am PST  He looks like an Akita w/longer than usual ears... as someone else said, just not "show quality" (who cares if it's a companion?) VERY Cute! my posts | my page | msg me | gift me | become pals [notify]

Member Since 02/01/2013     Barked: Thu Feb 21, '13 1:34pm PST  Wow... awesome. Awesome (most non-sarcastic awesome ever). I have not come back to check this because I was worried that I was scared I'd get some of those same kind of responses (but now angrier because I dared point them out). You guys rock. I am definitely going to make a profile so I can share some Koga pics! And no- I don't think it's preachy just to get on protein content. There is a difference between caring about protein content and expecting people to spend more on dog food than on human food. I understand they are mostly kids, people who are overly passionate or people who are just plain out of their minds. These are the kinds of people who think it's "cruel" if in the middle of a February blizzard I put on my coat and boats before I take the dog out because he has to wait another 15 seconds. The best part is to the person who mentioned Yahoo! Answers... because that is EXACTLY who I was talking about Loving Dogster. I think when I'm clockwatching tomorrow I'll make a profile and post some pics! my posts [notify]

Dogster Lifestyle, News & Entertainment > A little venting about Online Attitudes

Member Since 02/01/2013     Barked: Tue Feb 12, '13 1:57pm PST  Hey everyone, So my wife & I are adjusting well with our new Akita pup (Koga), and though things have not been perfect they have been what I'd call "pretty darn good." What's driving me nuts is- any time I look for information on the internet being inundated by the same things over and over from people... where, I hate to say it, but it seems like they have the "SQUIRREL!" mentality and can't bother to read past a few key words (since my puppy is equally ADD but also knows left from right... I think that actually makes him smarter than a lot of folks). I would not be saying this on this site if I had found it rampant here (not saying it doesn't exist here... but I've seen less). The MOMENT you say Akita you get bad attitudes from people who will basically quote the first thing you'd see if you were to Google "what to know about Akita puppies." That provides zero help. What I've found is there is a disconnect between INFORMATION and EXPERIENCE, and many of us are trying to bridge that gap only to be met with the same old stupid f***ing admonishments about neighbor kids and whatever else. Point received, now let's move on to what's happening here... in REALITY. For example- while researching I was trying to get info on the proper discipline for an akita puppy. The question I found happened to be from someone who's dog came from a less desirable source and the usual internet derpa-derp happened putting that person on the defensive about the breeder, the age of the puppy etc without ANSWERING THE QUESTION. Maybe they were trying to make a "point" (these "points" are often less "points" than a simple regurgitation of information though and a snide attitude designed to make the poster feel superior). Our pup came to us at 9 weeks (picked him at 8 and had to wait a week to get him), came from a reliable breeder etc, so none of this gave me any insight into degrees of discipline. Another issue I found this on was "tethering." People see the word "tether" TURN OFF their brain and explain that tethering is a cruel practice and then leap to about A MILLION assumptions just based off of that word. 9/10 times the person asking isn't asking if it's cool to chain their dog up and leave them outside... do you really think the a-hole that does that is going to bother to come online and ask? No, of course not. 90% of the time the person is a very compassionate person who simply feels guilty for leaving a dog outside on a tether for 30 minutes. Not some monster who wants to chain up a dog and walk away. And, in that circumstance, the answer is that NO it isn't cruel as a short time occasional thing. Heck, your dog can learn to work & be more dextrous on the lead without it descending into a constant alpha/beta struggle that way. But most of these people on the internet won't even read far enough to get to that- see one word, jump to conclusion... where's the clicker and my treat? Then there are the people who simply don't live in reality AT ALL. There is ideal and then there is realistic. I think we all could strive to be closer to "ideal" in a number of ways, but in the mean time most of us make do with the way things are. Yuppies talking about super pricey dog food, people claiming you can't work an actual ::gasp:: job and own a dog, it goes on and on. Thankfully I'm getting to the point of just skipping ALL those kinds of posts (because, and I mean this specifically to you if you are that type of person, F*** that), but it is still obnoxious. People do not seek information in order to give you your "morally superior" cookie, they seek information because-- surprise surprise-- they WANT INFORMATION. /endrant my posts [notify]

Puppy Place > My New Akita Puppy!

Member Since 02/01/2013     Barked: Tue Feb 12, '13 8:02am PST  Thanks for the responses. I have done a TON of research on Akitas. A lot of it is very helpful, a lot of it is just a constant regurgitation of the same facts and a lot of it is just very, very general. For example, Akitas "can be fine with the family cat if raised from a young age" is a VERY VERY common line you will see in the midst of all the warnings. But that's ALL it says. We have 3 cats and ended up trying the Bitter Apple on the youngest, the one who is outright instigating the dog, because she simply will not keep her distance-- to the point where if she wasn't actually mentally disabled I'd think she had a death wish-- well, it worked but not as intended- it made her mad at ME and I spent about an hour giving her a bath (the wipes didn't work). Have you ever given a cat a bath? I'd rather let the akita chew my arm off LOL We use Bitter apple for objects around the house (as well as our shoes & pants). Considering this is the only dog I've ever met who is insisting on eating GLASS, it was not optional for objects. We have used it on our hands on occasion. It's not that he's a BAD puppy (actually he's the best behaved puppy I've ever had), but his excitement level can raise rapidly. Now he has gotten to the point where the SMELL of the bitter apple is enough for him to not bite (my stairs are grateful for that). And if we spray it ANYWHERE during a bite fit (on the glass table, the couch etc) he will lose interest in what he was going after. Clearly if we were considering doing it on a cat then we were worried. The real fix to this situation, in the long run, is to keep the cats upstairs which is absolutely not fair to them. Lots of the problems we've been having are because they have to cross his path to use the litter box and that's also not fair. He's now getting to the point where he has individual relationships with the cats. The fat orange one who scares him, the little grey one he is desperate to play with but will probably kill, and the black one who he is the most tolerant of. This is because that cat doesn't RUN (unless chased... we have a no tolerance "no chase" policy, but with the litter box being so close to the door we have made mistakes). Anyway, one thing I wanted to post here that we have done which has worked-- AMAZINGLY-- is for bedtime. We had some issues with crating, but now that he has a newf-sized cage (w/puppy panel), it's starting to subside... but he STILL hates going in his cage. We put his food in the cage and it's freaking adorable the way he will STREEEETCH to get to his food without putting his back paws in the cage. We have cage rules- we don't take toys out of the cage, or treats. We only toss them in. We do not lock him in there when he is bad (though we have set aside gates on our dining room as a "time out"/"quiet room" area where he can just go to settle down when he gets over excited, we're careful to make sure he knows he is not being punished for this). So to finally get him settled at night, to not hate his crate AND sleep through the night, we established a lullaby. Music training worked REALLY well with our cats and seems to be working even better on the dog. Basically after his last time out for the night, we get treats and then we go near his crate and relax, giving him love for a few minutes while playing his lullaby (which is "asleep" by the Smiths). When the song ends, we put him in the crate and play the song again. This time just whispering comforting things to him and letting him know that it's bed time. When it ends we put up the gate over the family room (so the cats don't sleep on his daytime bed right in front of him), say goodnight and go to bed. It is ADORABLE to watch him try to struggle to stay awake. But within 20 seconds of that song going on he is yawning and ready to pass out. Again- thanks for the responses. We're doing much better. my posts [notify]

Puppy Place > My New Akita Puppy!

Member Since 02/01/2013     Barked: Thu Feb 7, '13 10:36am PST  Hey everyone, first post here on Dogster! My wife & I just got our new Akita puppy (Koga) last week, and we're adjusting pretty well. We had some crating issues at first, but now we got him a large 48" crate that will (hopefully) last for life. One thing nobody tells you about Akita puppies- they roll over a lot in their sleep. Now he only cries for about 10-15 minutes when we go to bed. I'm a light sleeper and I'm shocked he's actually sleeping through the night now (2 nights in a row, whole night-- no accidents, if he does well again tonight we're going to move the puppy panel back another notch). I've read Akita's can be okay with cats as long as they are socialized at a young age (and never left alone... obviously), but I haven't seen much on specific exercises we could do to get them used to each other. What behaviors (besides chasing) might I look out for with an akita puppy that are tell tale signs of problems. We have a cat who is curious but aloof (knows he's safe if he's up high, but loves watching the dog), one who is a hider (will flee immediately on seeing the dog, stays upstairs at all times except to use litter box) and one who wants to play with the dog (they have a game of pawing at each other- I usually break this up if the cat gets cornered or if I see the dog gnawing anything close to her). We've had good luck curbing biting by putting bitter apple on our hands... wondering if maybe I should put a little on the cats and then introduce them to him one at a time. Obviously we would need to get some cat bath wipes and clean them up after so when they go to tongue clean they don't stop from the taste. my posts [notify]

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