Kahlo has pretty good recall. We've been working on it and she's getting better as she bonds more with the family. I'd say her recall is at about a 98% when we are alone outside/park...place a another dog in the mix or a squirrel and her recall cand drop significantly. She actually got out of the yard a few weeks back and was trotting up the road, I yelled, Kahlo Come...and much to my relief...she turned around and trotted back. PHEW!
Thanks for the replies, the reason why i ask is that i love all nihon kens but I personally have a hard time dealing with dogs running off. I have a shiba inu and my roommate has a husky and both are known to have poor recall rates. im lucky (and maybe overly careful) but ive never had to deal with my shiba running off. However, my roommates husky and my best friends husky (2 different dogs) both got out once. and it was a pretty terrifying feeling..
i dont mind the stigma that comes with the "dangerous breed."
hell, i have first hand experience with it. one of my previous akitas attacked my niece a few years back. i don't blame it on bad owner, but more of bad parenting and my sister it was her kid agrees). she left the 4 year old alone with the dog and she got a bit too close to the face and was poking it, etc. well the dog finally got tired of it and bit her leaving a gash through her cheek about 5 inches long.
Reading what people have said about breeders just feeding/watering/showing/breeding their dogs makes me grateful we found the breeders we did, we're going on a little road trip with them soon with any luck, taking a few of the dogs to a massive park hopefully, I say.
Bring on November/December
as for the BSL, it's stupid. Fortunately we haven't had any problems with our insurance and our choice of pet, mostly because I don't think the Akita is recognised much yet over here but I think the pitbull ban is stupid. All it's doing is causing people to breed them on the sly in their gardens resulting in the lines etc of the pit being astonishingly bad. It's sad I've only met 2 pits but I loved each and everyone of them because they had decent parents who trained them. (They had to register them with the court and jump through all sorts of hoops to save their dogs being terminated)
As we are on the Akita reputation, I was wondering if there are any insurance companies who are "friendlier" than others when it comes to them (or other "dangerous" breeds)?
Late to the discussion, but for insurance, honestly it depends on the broker. Some State Farm agents freak out and others write the policy and don't even blink. We have heard good things about State Farm, Farmers, USAA and AAA. If the broker says no, find a different one.
As for cats, kids, smaller dogs, or anything else, it COMPLETELY depends on the individual dog. I see 100+ Akitas a year through our rescue and every single one is different. Every dog I have is on the "dangerous breed" list. 1 male 120 lb. Akita, 110 lb. female rott, and 75 lb. male pitbull. They are all lying together in the middle of my living room floor in a "puppy pile". All of the dogs were rescues that I got as adults.
"My buddy has USAA and they told him they will cover him once." Sorry - as in a one time shot and if anything happens, never again?? I wasn't sure I was reading that right, sorry!
We went apartment hunting the other day. The current apt. my bf resides in literally has no breed restrictions WHATSOEVER which is great.
The other place we looked at restricted Akita, Sibes, Dobies, Rotties, Pitts, Saint Bernards [ random??? ], Malamutes, & quite a few other breeds. Real shame ~
I wonder why we can't just ban certain people from apartment complexes?? You know, "if you can't behave, are mean, aggressive, etc., you can't live here."
hehe Amber, that's why I love being in a co-op. Granted the board can only do so much legally, but it takes a certain personality to jump through hoops, interviews, and paperwork to get an apt at a certain pricepoint. ;-)
in my 11 years of owning zoe , I have talked to many people about the breed and change many views on how they look at her..yeah some people give me looks when i take her to petsmart to get her a toy. They know what breed she is. But what i like is that while my dog is next to me chilled and relaxed they are having trouble with there dogs. The minute i got zoe I started socializing her with people, dogs , cats , situations. all i can say she turned out great. I also own a apbt..when they see zoe with atlas they ask how can two breeds with history behind them can be together..I tell them they got raised the right way..
I have a tiny tiny APBT (35lbs)and a shikoku. So it just looks like some shrunk a wolf and an AmStaff. People cross the street when they see us coming. My shika is good with dogs she wants to be good with. My pit bull LOVES other dog, LOVES cats, LOVES children. And will cry loudly if she doesn't get to meet new friends.
People who judge dogs solely on breed, are essentially racial profiling. It is really sad actually.
Apartments that have breed restrictions are not always for 'aggressive/dangerous' breeds...a lot of the breeds on the list are there because of their strength...and therefore their ability to destroy the apartment. Not to say a lot of them don't add breeds because of reputation, with as lawsuit-happy as people are they are also doing their best to avoid getting caught up in a possibly bad situation (and pay less on *their* insurance).
Is it fair? No. But it's the dog *owners* who cause that disparity and not the dogs (as everyone here knows). I mean it's the handful of owners that don't pick up after their dogs that made all of us at my last place pay additional pet rent and have 'no pet zones' in the complex. All we can do as responsible owners is...well be responsible owners. Pick up more than our share, make sure our dog is extra shiny, go out of our way to ensure our dog can handle all kinds of situations. Hope that eventually there will be enough of us to repair the ideas, rules, and laws built around the wrongs of a few.
I have found that it helps to have a dog portfolio or resume. Ki isn't on anyone's danger list because he's a muttso boy but his look and size have been a problem in the past. He has a binder with his vet records (to prove health and that he goes very regularly), certificates and record of training, and even references from places he's lived and people who have had to dog-sit. I've even offered to bring him in for an 'interview' to demonstrate his behavior and level of care/training. In certain cases this can help you get around a general rule that prohibits certain breeds and sizes...especially if you are willing to make a bigger (refundable) deposit to show your confidence in having your dog live there politely.
BSL and the like make me (like many of you) SO FREAKING ANGRY. There are so many times I wish it was more difficult to get a dog. Even if it meant more time and money on my part, if it allowed the right people to have the right dogs and have more rights then it seems worthwhile. As it is, there are just too many dogs in need of people to make having one more difficult and way too much focus on avoiding the issue with hyper-general bans/restrictions that only hurt people who actually follow the rules to begin with (and the breeds involved) rather than actually addressing the issue of the *people* responsible for the badness.
Comments
hell, i have first hand experience with it. one of my previous akitas attacked my niece a few years back. i don't blame it on bad owner, but more of bad parenting and my sister it was her kid agrees). she left the 4 year old alone with the dog and she got a bit too close to the face and was poking it, etc. well the dog finally got tired of it and bit her leaving a gash through her cheek about 5 inches long.
Bring on November/December
as for the BSL, it's stupid. Fortunately we haven't had any problems with our insurance and our choice of pet, mostly because I don't think the Akita is recognised much yet over here but I think the pitbull ban is stupid. All it's doing is causing people to breed them on the sly in their gardens resulting in the lines etc of the pit being astonishingly bad. It's sad
thats why i dont really care, but to most people that know what happened, they say it was caused because of the akita and they are too dangerous
As for cats, kids, smaller dogs, or anything else, it COMPLETELY depends on the individual dog. I see 100+ Akitas a year through our rescue and every single one is different. Every dog I have is on the "dangerous breed" list. 1 male 120 lb. Akita, 110 lb. female rott, and 75 lb. male pitbull. They are all lying together in the middle of my living room floor in a "puppy pile". All of the dogs were rescues that I got as adults.
Sorry - as in a one time shot and if anything happens, never again?? I wasn't sure I was reading that right, sorry!
The other place we looked at restricted Akita, Sibes, Dobies, Rotties, Pitts, Saint Bernards [ random??? ], Malamutes, & quite a few other breeds. Real shame
I have a tiny tiny APBT (35lbs)and a shikoku. So it just looks like some shrunk a wolf and an AmStaff. People cross the street when they see us coming. My shika is good with dogs she wants to be good with. My pit bull LOVES other dog, LOVES cats, LOVES children. And will cry loudly if she doesn't get to meet new friends.
People who judge dogs solely on breed, are essentially racial profiling. It is really sad actually.
Is it fair? No. But it's the dog *owners* who cause that disparity and not the dogs (as everyone here knows). I mean it's the handful of owners that don't pick up after their dogs that made all of us at my last place pay additional pet rent and have 'no pet zones' in the complex. All we can do as responsible owners is...well be responsible owners. Pick up more than our share, make sure our dog is extra shiny, go out of our way to ensure our dog can handle all kinds of situations. Hope that eventually there will be enough of us to repair the ideas, rules, and laws built around the wrongs of a few.
I have found that it helps to have a dog portfolio or resume. Ki isn't on anyone's danger list because he's a muttso boy but his look and size have been a problem in the past. He has a binder with his vet records (to prove health and that he goes very regularly), certificates and record of training, and even references from places he's lived and people who have had to dog-sit. I've even offered to bring him in for an 'interview' to demonstrate his behavior and level of care/training. In certain cases this can help you get around a general rule that prohibits certain breeds and sizes...especially if you are willing to make a bigger (refundable) deposit to show your confidence in having your dog live there politely.
BSL and the like make me (like many of you) SO FREAKING ANGRY. There are so many times I wish it was more difficult to get a dog. Even if it meant more time and money on my part, if it allowed the right people to have the right dogs and have more rights then it seems worthwhile. As it is, there are just too many dogs in need of people to make having one more difficult and way too much focus on avoiding the issue with hyper-general bans/restrictions that only hurt people who actually follow the rules to begin with (and the breeds involved) rather than actually addressing the issue of the *people* responsible for the badness.