Akita's reputation
At first my husband and I wanted an Akita Inu. Since we live in an apartment complex, we had to make sure they allow us to have this breed. Sure enough they don't. They gave us a list with "the top 10 dangerous breeds" Last but not least, the Akita was listed. This is one of the reasons why we settled for a Shiba instead. Don't get me wrong. We LOVE him too! :))
We just both love bigger dogs and would still love to own an Akita Inu one day. My question now is: How do Akita owners, especially in the United States, deal with the bad reputation of the Akita? I don't ever want to have to give up a dog just because people think they can lable my dog as aggressive eventhough he obviously is not...
We just both love bigger dogs and would still love to own an Akita Inu one day. My question now is: How do Akita owners, especially in the United States, deal with the bad reputation of the Akita? I don't ever want to have to give up a dog just because people think they can lable my dog as aggressive eventhough he obviously is not...
Comments
I would assume, as most of my friends with their bully dogs, is to mold your dog into a model canine citizen, be as responsible as you can and PROVE that you and YOUR dog are NOT the problem, bad owners are the problem.
When we moved into our townhouse, on our lease it had a very strict dog policy and since our dogs were a breed unknown to our property manager, he almost said no. I had to explain the breed, their good qualities, how we manage and walk them, how they are crate and potty trained, how they all have obedience training, etc. Sort of re-educate and talk up my dogs, their individual temperaments and the upside to leasing to us.
BSL (breed specific legislation) is a terrible thing, created and caused by people - not the dogs!
Some legal info / history on BSL:
http://www.animallaw.info/articles/aruslweiss2001.htm
I think what Jen said is great. Show the world that you and your "bully" breed are MODEL citizens and people won't be able to argue that your specific dog is "dangerous" because they will see first hand that he/she is not and they will also see how hard you work to make yourself a responisble dog owner. The more people you educate on the great qualities of the Akita the better!
Other than our breeder, we've not had too many issues. Of course, one friend did warn us that having an Akita and young children is a recipe for disaster since they are an aggressive breed known for biting. I asked him if he knew about the case where a Pomeranian had mauled a 6 month old infant to death?? Any dog is capable of biting and being agressive....the worse bite I ever got was from a bitchy dauchsund that literally jumped from the floor and bit my boob, stomach, hand and leg as she fell back to the floor! I think Cody knew I didn't like that dog, because the next day, he promptly peed on her head. It's sad that the Akita has such a bad rap, especially since I've found Kahlo to be one of the sweetest dogs I've ever she has a great temperment, even with strangers and little kids.
Your breeder might have had something similar to the predatory drift scenario Brad posted on the other day..
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=3816&page=1#Item_25
P.S. Where has the Kahlo spam been?
I need to pick up another stupid battery for my camera, I keep forgetting!
That is exactly what I plan to do once we do get an Akita. I was just wondering how much this bad reputation actually affects current Akita owners because the more I read about it the more upset I get about it. Same with the pit bulls, German Shepherds, etc.
Eventhough it's sad that that Dachshund bit you, Karen, I starting laughing out loud when I read the part about Cody peeing on her head! :D Way to go! Seriously though, when I was maybe 2 yrs old, I used to run up to dogs my height back then, and literally kiss them and every time I saw something like a chihuahua, I ran! (according to my parents of course, lol)
Thanks for that BSL link, Jen! I will definitely try to inform myself as much as possible before we get our Akita Inu. When the time is right and we start looking for one, I know where to go ;o) This forum is truly awesome! :o)
Btw, I have been seeing a lot of the "forbidden" breeds in our complex lately such as a Rottweiler, a huge Doberman, etc. and the only reason why I don't say anything about it is because the dogs seem somewhat well-behaved and not threatening, and as long as this is the case, I will not say anything. Otherwise those poor dogs will probably end up in a shelter...
When Bear died, it was at about the same time that I had to renew my State Farm Insurance. The woman asked me if I still had my Rottweiler. I told her that he had passed away, and she had the nerve to say, "Well that's good news. Now that he's dead you can save money on your homeowner's insurance." Within 24 hours I switched to AAA. I wanted to jump through the phone and strangle her.
I'll leave it at that.
So, I think it's ridiculous that an apartment complex would ban Akita, but I also feel the same for Pits, and Dobies, and etc. They do that to reduce liability and to make the ignorant people who subscribe to racist things like BSL feel better living in the complex.
Insurance charges you more when you own one of those breeds because THEY CAN GET MORE MONEY. Insurance companies will find any reason to charge you more $, that's just part of life [and a corrupt system].
Now to some points made in this thread...
"one friend did warn us that having an Akita and young children is a recipe for disaster since they are an aggressive breed known for biting."
> What? Socialize your Akita early, with children, and they will be fine with them - great with them actually... nonetheless, no dog should be left alone with a child.
"she said that she wasn't home at the time of the incident ( I can't even begin to imagine the horror of coming home to that scene), but theorized that it was probably a disagreement over a toy."
> I'm sure this is a painful thing to read, after dedicating so much to this breeder, but I would consider finding a different breeder.
What you described above is an EPIC MANAGMENT FAIL on the part of the breeder! Those Shiba are dead because that dumbass breeder left them out alone. w/ an Akita (or any other larger dog for that matter). To push the blame on the Akita Inu, as a breed, is the most ignorant shit I have read today. That really makes me mad that she would paint the entire Akita breed with a generalized opinion like that because SHE killed some of her Shiba.
To be frank, (and I am honestly not attacking anyone specific here) if you are worried about the negative "hype" concerning a breed you are interested in, do the breed a favor, don't pursue owning that breed any further. Leave it to the people who are not worried about the "image" of their breed. It's wise to understand what you are getting into with a specific breed, but don't get caught up in the hype. That hype is created by sensationalists who get caught up in any new media hype that they can.
If you can handle the BS hype, then own an Akita and be proud of it. Stand up for the breed. CGC your Akita. Register your Akita. Prove that they are a great breed when handled by responsible people.
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The reason why I'm asking this about the Akita is because I want to be aware of what to be careful about when owning an Akita regarding this BSL BS. I do want to show everyone that they can be just as sweet as any other dog and that it in fact is the owner's fault whenever something does happen due to lack of socialization, exercise, mental stimulation, etc.
When you have more than one or two dogs it becomes very important to know how to deal with their interactions. Letting a bunch of unaltered dogs run loose with no supervision is just asking for trouble.
She has an excellent facility (got my own personal tour). If you had to have a standard for a breeding set-up, her's would be it.
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"Goes to show, however, it doesn't matter how much experience you may have w/ dogs....there's always the potential for something to go wrong."...
This is true, but I just want to point out, to you and everyone else, keep in mind that just because someone breeds dogs, even if it's for many many years, it doesn't mean they have experience with dog behavior or even owning a dog as a pet.
I have talked to a few breeder who I am astonished by how little they really know about keeping a dog as a pet, training a dog, and/or dog behavior.
So don't assume any breeder knows how to properly manage a dog or a group of dogs...
So many breeder just stick their breeding stock in a kennel and never do anything more than feed, water, show, and breed them. It's really a shame.
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I'm not saying this is ideal, as the whole predatory drift and or just a plain argument could escalate w/o someone there to break it up. The thing is though, keep it in perspective. It's not a Shiba/Akita issue, it's a small dog/big dog issue that I've never heard of happening with Shiba/Akita before, and is totally the owners responsibility to avoid.
An example I have from personal experience is on Akita's with children. I have a very good friend who's family has several dogs, with one of them being a brindle Akita female. They've had her for 10 years now, and since she grew up in a family that has nearly 10 children of all ages, and all their friends coming over to play, she's always been a terrific babysitter.
Around 5 years ago one of their friends was over for a visit and brought her 2 year old toddler daughter with her. The child had never been around dogs, and probably thought it was a big teddy bear. In a moment where everyone was distracted, she grabbed one of the dogs ears and started poking her face, and the Akita gave a little growl and a correction nip. Unfortunately since the Akita is a big dog, the little nip cut the toddlers cheek. Everyone was terrified and for a while there was talk about giving the dog up since she was now ' a liability around children.'
They came around asking me if I could see if there was anyone interested in taking her, and I gave them an earful. In a situation like that it's the owner's job to be watching and seeing if a child is terrorizing a dog. Especially a child that the dog has never met. Dogs are animals, not people, and will behave the way they naturally do.
The happy end of the story is that they decided to keep her, she still gets to play and go on walks with the kids, they just make sure she's not left alone with them.
Now does that mean Akita's shouldn't be around kids? Another of my friends has a Mini-Pinscher, and that pup has serious issues. It has bitten a lot of people, but because it's little, everyone just seems to ignore it (and it's never allowed around kids).
I think it's a very common thing to have an emotional opinion on something that is created by a traumatic experience, and to then start making broad generalizations. Akita/Shiba don't belong together, BSL legislation, that sort of stuff.
She is extremely experienced in Shiba and very protective of her pups and where they are placed. That's how I would feel if I had spent months with no sleep, dedicating all of my prime time, money and energy to my dogs. Her JA boy is incredibly sweet, an older dude and an import I believe, and I am never concerned in any possible way that he would harm anything. He also moos. In fact, it has been my experience that it was my Shiba Beebe that started shit around him, and he was still patient with her.
She is extremely alert to any possibility of her JA having an unwanted interaction with one of her dogs, that would be a horrible tragedy if a puppy owner didn't know the history there. She definately is making sure this will never happen again, part of that is screening and educating her puppy parents. Please consider some of that before you jump to harsh conclusions, I wouldn't consider letting Ike go and stay someplace I think is unsafe, and she is the only other person I completely trust to hand over his leash to.
Sorry if my post sounded offensive, I just wanted to make a point about making breed generalizations.
After reading your post, Lindsay, looks like your friend knows her stuff and is just trying to place her pups in the best environment possible.
I'll pose this question though, since we have various Akita owners out there.....the Akita Inu and American Akita, in my opinion are seperate breeds...so I am curiuos if there are subtle or outright differences in temperment between the two types of Akita.
I think there are huge differences in temperament from the American Akita's I've met to my Akita Inu. All the Americans I've met have been clearly wary of strangers, a lot more so than my Akita Inu, also they seem more protective of their owners and better guard dogs. My Akita Inu are certainly more out going and friendly to strangers than any American Akita I've met. I actually chose an "Akita" partly for the protective qualities, but I ended up getting an Akita Inu who has failed miserably as a guard dog, he just loves everyone! I'm sure he would be there for me if I was ever in trouble though.
Also, in the UK now more people are becoming aware of the difference between the breeds and I don't get as much stick as some people I know with American Akita's (some of them have a really hard time). I have had nasty comments before including, "Keep that fighting dog away from the kids!" but I really don't think the Akita Inu have a bad reputation at all, it's just the reputation of the American Akita (which obviously they don't deserve, they're great too!) being rubbed off on them by people who don't know the difference between the breeds.
Forgive me if that doesn't make much sense I've not had much sleep the last few days!
In my case my 5 month old Akita female does really well except when we spend time with my friends and their American Akitas. On the last visit, Kaeda did her best to try and take on the 105lb American male. She gets along great with my buddies Aussie Cattledog but still needs to get used to the American Akitas.
Currently I am in an apartment and I carry both renters insurance and liability insurance. Safeco offers homeowners, renters, and general liability that does not have Akita on the bad list. Together the two policies cost $350 a year and offer 1.3 million in liability coverage.
Kaeda does really well in the apartment, but I make sure that we go on two-three walks a day. She is very active outside and is quite calm inside the apartment. Compared to Tora(her brother) -she needs a lot more socialization. At the Expo Keada was way more guarded than Tora was to people coming up to meet us. Just food for thought.
Having said that, they will never have a recall that is as good as a GSD or any other breed that "aims to please".
would you guys say that akitas have better recall compared to shiba inus or shikokus?
For what I hear of Shikoku, I think maybe a bit better. But Keep in mind I'm comparing the generality of the two breeds with Kuma and his recall is pretty good, when in work/training mode. On walk/leisure mode it's not as good.