Akita

tonyb

Buying a dog from a breeder isn't always the best course to take. Breeders do this for one thing and one thing only.....to make money. Some use drugs to enhance pregnancy and larger litters. Unfortunately that leaves some pups beautiful, but a few bricks short upstairs. It can also result in health issues. You just never know until the pup starts to grow up. Just because you paid x amount for a clean bloodline is no guarantee of a good healthy dog.

I'm not saying all breeders do this, but a lot do, so be careful and do your due diligence. If a family dog is what your after, pay no attention to if it has a clean bloodline down to it's pubic hairs. Go visit the breeder, talk to them and ask pointed questions. See how the dogs are being kept, how many litters a set of parents are producing. What they are fed, if they have access to the outdoors on a regular basis. Is this a side business or full time....do they use drugs. Are the pups vet checked before you get them and if so what shots did they get and what is still needed.

Toolfan66

Good points Tony, Thanks!!

I will ask those questions, but if they were just out for my money, I'm sure I would have already seen pups, and have one at home..

Nonetheless I will still ask these questions as I feel they are very valid...

charley95

Lost my golden in 14 and he was the best dog I ever had. Raised him from 8 weeks and he loved people and children. I used a lot of Ceasar Milan's techniques and they worked for me. I never yelled at him or hit him I just used the calm assertave method. It worked every time for discipline, I would just give him that look or point my finger at him and he would submit. I still have his partner a Blue Tick Coonhound, talk about lazy and no aggression, this dog sleeps at least 16 hrs. a day. She is the laziest dog I have ever owned. I might just get another hound when she goes, maybe a Bloodhound. The # 1 problem with this breed is the drool, I am constantly wiping the walls and furniture down.

I would love to have another Golden but, my last 2 were lost to cancer way too young.
If it wasn't for the wife the hound would be my last dog, it's just too hard for me to out live them.

tonyb

The problem with breeders has been well documented, read up. Lots of them over breed and this can give certain breeds different issues, health wise or appearance. Remember when 101 Dalmations came out ? Every kid wanted one and breeders where churning them out like widgets on an assembly line. They pretty much destroyed the breed.

To tell the truth, the best pups I've had over my lifetime have been mutts. I have had pure breds too that were great dogs but all the pure breads for some reason took way more work to train and their breed characteristics always seemed to surface no matter what. Mutts on the other hand were more responsive to training, and faster at it. Seem to adjust well to various lifestyle changes too.

sarnella

"How so? Many of the show dogs are family dogs in case you didn't realize this"
Have you been to a dog show? I would say the vast majority are owned by
someone other than the person handling the dog.

polk500

muncybob wrote: »

We have had a few Akitas in the family over the years. SIL used to breed them and another family member still has some in the house. Everything said here is true and a lot of what has been said here can apply to many breeds. Our big boy Arlo was a sweetheart. We raised him from a puppy, he was socialized from the get go. My daughter used to put doll clothes on him and roll all over him when she was very young and he loved it. Anybody could come to our house and he would be friendly just like most dogs would be. With that said, the 1 trait about him and this breed in general is they do not like dogs that they don't know and they will actually go out of their way to attack another dog, esp a large dog. If you want a strong, intelligent, faithful and protective dog and you can deal with that 1 BIG downside aspect of them you'll have a great friend on your hands.

I've been reading this thead for a couple of days and was conflicted about adding a comment because you seems like you really want this breed of dog..
But as Muncybob stated about the dogs attitude towards other dogs I agree and seen it first hand.

My buddy Varrin had owned a female Akitas for 7 years she was around 100 lbs and he raved about it's intelligent and how good the dog was with kids.

We go skidooing in mountains lots and and have a temporary camp that we set up and he would bring his dog with him. He isn't the only one as there is usually about 300 camps set up and there is lots of dogs around and some people would let there's wander about.

Well Varrins dog is like a ghost doesn't bark loves to be outside all the time in the snow and cold and would bury itself in the snow to sleep.
Well he had to stop letting her stay outside because even though he had her tied up other dogs would wander over and decide to munch on her food and it would be this sudden explosive of snow and teeth and the dog would come down like the wrath of God and destroy the other dogs not kill them but beat the snot out of them, I witness it and let me tell you it was an eye opener as to how strong these dogs are it grabbed a 100 lbs German Sheppard by the back of the neck when she finish beating it into submission and flung it away like it was a doll. This happen so fast we didn't have time to pull them apart before it was over and to be honest not being the owner I wasn't putting my hands anywhere near that snarling mass of teeth and fur...

Well as you can imagine this caused lots of people to get quite upset and the skidoo club had to start in forcing it rules about keeping the dogs tied up all the time and so they should of course.

Well sadly it didn't end well for this dog as last summer it had gotten out of his back yard and killed the neighbors dog and had to be put down.

Now some people will say that's it because of the owners and the way the dog was raised but these folks are ordinary people with kids and other pets and no issues at all it the dog well mannered around people but it just didn't like other dogs he said she was fine when she was younger but figured she just got contrary as she got older...

I'm not suggesting you don't get this breed but be aware it's a lot of dog.

Roger

pitdogg2

sarnella wrote: »

"How so? Many of the show dogs are family dogs in case you didn't realize this"
Have you been to a dog show? I would say the vast majority are owned by
someone other than the person handling the dog.

Yes I have been to 100's of them. Yes some have others handle their dogs at shows this in no way makes the dog undesirable as a "family dog"....

Dabutcher

I would agree that lots of show dogs are owned by families or co-owned by family type people. My mother bred wire fox terriers. They were bred to go down in a fox hole and flush the fox back out so the fox hunt could continue. They had to be small enough to fit in the hole and fearless. Hence the attitude. As with all terrier breeds. They were bred to either kill or flush out some animal. A lot of them do not always play well with other dogs. My two males were family raised by me and shown until they were both champions . For the most part they got along with other dogs ,but I was always watching them closely because a few times they would go after another dog. Tool fan sounds like you are doing things right. Peace. D