Hello again to all Steemitians! You probably have not had time to get bored, but here I am again, with my life experience! :)
I want to tell you about my dog today. How the dog appeared in my family, how we made the decision in principle - to have a dog.
It's not a secret for anyone that when a child appears in a family, various requests begin to appear as a child grows up. First, it's innocuous requests for the purchase of toys, sweets and other pleasures of life. And one day your child just starts to «eat your a brains» - mom-dad, I want a dog! Then follows the promise that your child will take care of the dog, will walk with the dog, feed, and you will not participate in this for any reason.
Yeah, sure!
It seems that you should believe your child, because he promises, but you were kids too and asked your parents for a dog, it happens to all the children sooner or later. You are well aware of the consequences and remember that your care and walks lasted only a week, at most! And then all the delights of the care and upbringing of the dog went to the parents' shoulders.
My family was no exception. We went through all the stages of requests, oaths of promises and the like. There were a few dogs in my life, but I loved two of them to the point of insanity and very hard experienced the death of each of them. Therefore, I resisted of getting a dog as best I could.
But one fine winter day we capitulated! We gathered on the couch and began to decide which breed of dog we would like to have. We took into account all the previous experience, pluses and minuses of the dogs, which already were in our life and made a decision - we want Hachiko!
By the way, the film with Richard Gere played an important role in our choice :) And this was a mistake. Your Akita will not be such a dog that you saw in the movie, absolutely! Do not succumb to your emotions and carefully weigh your decision. Our dog is very different from the one that was in this movie! Perhaps we did not educate him well, but now we have what we have. Although despite all the shortcomings, our dog will always be the most loved and the best, and this is the most important thing! :)
The biggest mistake was that we did not become interested in the peculiarities of this breed, character, behavior, and we immediately began to look for a breeder. Finally, in 3 days - TA-DA-DA! Our puppy came to us, at that time he was 4 months old. The breeder has already given him a name, relieving us of this difficult task - Yoshiko, which in Japanese means a good child. But we call him Yosha, in abbreviated form.
I will not talk about puddles, spoiled things and shoes - all puppies do it, but I'll tell you about the breed's peculiarities and difficulties that we encountered. If you had other breeds and you decided to bring up Akita as well as previous dogs - forget about it. Akita is not like other dogs, she is quite different, quite. Akita Inu is a Japanese song among all the dogs of the world. Akita Inu became a national treasure and a monument of Japanese nature 70 years ago. The most important distinctive features of this breed are spontaneity, stubbornness and individuality. Akita is able to show all its natural qualities and intelligence, it must necessarily be dealt with from the very first months to the end of life. It is noteworthy that akita is considered to be a puppy up to 2-2.5 years old. The most important mistake in the education of our dog was that we did not show perseverance. We did not expect that this breed is so stubborn and uncontrollable.
Therefore, I want to note a few key points, which must be paid attention:
Akita decides what she needs herself. This is a very stubborn dog! Therefore, it is necessary to ensure that the basic commands are carried, otherwise the dog will simply not listen to you and will go about their business.
Akita - the dominant breed, do not forget this. In no case should you let the dog feel like a family leader! You are the boss in any ways, ok?
In advance, accustom your dog to loud sounds, claps, firecrackers, salutes. Otherwise, in an extreme situation, Akita will simply run away with a tail pinched. Unfortunately - this is our problem. Yosha's New Year and other holidays with salutes are very hard.
Akita - a vindictive dog, she will remember the abuser for a long time and if necessary, she will certainly take revenge, do not even doubt! Our puppy was offended by a neighbor's dog, flipped, bitten ... But when Yosha grew older, he carried out his revenge by breaking out of the yard and defended honor in a violent fight. Both of them were bitten hard, but it went well, and you would have seen the shine in the eyes and the proud look of our samurai! :) Akita applies to strangers or to potential "enemies" with a hidden distrust. She never exposes her vigilance and alertness for show. Everything becomes much more difficult when there is another dog nearby. Whether it's just a neighbor's dog on a walk or a new pet, Akita will always see him as his enemy who encroaches on its "sacred" territory. In this case, she does not hide her aggression and can immediately rush into battle. Perhaps this is an innate sense of dominance over over the other four-legged. This is another negative trait of character, when even the most beloved owner cannot stop his pet.
Be sure to socialize your Akita so that she is not afraid of a large crowd of people and other dogs. After our samurai realized that the dog could offend him, he began to aggressively treat all the dogs around. So now we are walking around the "kitchen gardens" so that someone will not be injured by accident.
If your Akita does not execute the commands and does not listen to you - in no case don't let her off the leash neither in the city nor in the forest. The dog will just run away. This is a very distracting dog, there are so many interesting things in the world!
Akita is molting very much! So much so, that you will have a feeling of snow in the apartment! If you are not ready to clean your coat every day (and there will be a lot of wool), then it's worth thinking about the short-haired breed. Akita molts twice a year for 2 weeks. Regular combing is recommended!
Now about the advantages of the breed!
Akita is a very calm dog. Our dog rests most of the time.
Akita is very fond of children and her family, allows to do anything with her. This dog never bites and growls at his family and at his master!
Akita is a very quiet dog, you will hardly hear her, she barks very rarely and only on business.
It's a pleasure to play with Akita! The dog itself decides when she wants to play and she she finishes the game herself. You will not need to throw a stick or ball until you go crazy.
I hope that my experience will help you in choosing the breed of your dog in the future.
I will answer your questions in the comments with a great plesure!