Getting a Second Akita
Hello everyone!
I have a 27 month old intact male American Akita. I am planning on adding a female Akita, and have a few questions for those who are far more knowledgeable than myself about these awesome dogs
My Max was the runt of his litter, and is a very calm dog. He does have some same sex dog aggression, but overall he is a big teddy bear. Nonetheless, a second male is out of the question as I have heard cases of same sex Akitas living in harmony for the first 1-2 years then everything going bad. So definitely want to go with a female to maximize my odds of them meshing well. Am I correct in my reasoning? And what kind of character should the female have? Should she also be a very laid back bitch, or is it okay for her to be a bit more dominant?
Recently one of my close friends got a male red brindle Japanese Akita puppy, and he spent a few weekends with me when she was out of town. My boy and the puppy got a long great, and Max was great in teaching him the ropes etc so it gave me a lot of confidence that my older dog will be an asset and not a liability when raising the pup. I did not have any experience with Japanese Akitas and was flabbergasted as to the difference in character between my AA and the puppy JA. The puppy JA probably barked more in the span of an hour than my AA has in his 27 months of existence. Is this just an individual issue based on the dogs? Or are JAs a bit more rambunctious than AAs?
Also, I live in Istanbul, Turkey. There are some local breeders that are FCI registered, however, slim pickings. So I would likely have to look to Europe and Russia for good breeders. The problem however is that Turkey requires a 4 month quarantine, so the soonest I can bring the puppy completely up to code is at 4 months, which I think is a bit too late? I would prefer to get her at 8-10 weeks. If I get the puppy locally or from Russia I can bring him home at 8-10 weeks, harder from the EU.
So to summarize my questions:
What kind of character should the female have so that I maximize my chances of my boy and her getting along?
Are the AAs and JAs very different in temperament?
What would you say would be the ideal time to bring the puppy home?
Are there any AA breeders in Europe that you would recommend?
I have a 27 month old intact male American Akita. I am planning on adding a female Akita, and have a few questions for those who are far more knowledgeable than myself about these awesome dogs
My Max was the runt of his litter, and is a very calm dog. He does have some same sex dog aggression, but overall he is a big teddy bear. Nonetheless, a second male is out of the question as I have heard cases of same sex Akitas living in harmony for the first 1-2 years then everything going bad. So definitely want to go with a female to maximize my odds of them meshing well. Am I correct in my reasoning? And what kind of character should the female have? Should she also be a very laid back bitch, or is it okay for her to be a bit more dominant?
Recently one of my close friends got a male red brindle Japanese Akita puppy, and he spent a few weekends with me when she was out of town. My boy and the puppy got a long great, and Max was great in teaching him the ropes etc so it gave me a lot of confidence that my older dog will be an asset and not a liability when raising the pup. I did not have any experience with Japanese Akitas and was flabbergasted as to the difference in character between my AA and the puppy JA. The puppy JA probably barked more in the span of an hour than my AA has in his 27 months of existence. Is this just an individual issue based on the dogs? Or are JAs a bit more rambunctious than AAs?
Also, I live in Istanbul, Turkey. There are some local breeders that are FCI registered, however, slim pickings. So I would likely have to look to Europe and Russia for good breeders. The problem however is that Turkey requires a 4 month quarantine, so the soonest I can bring the puppy completely up to code is at 4 months, which I think is a bit too late? I would prefer to get her at 8-10 weeks. If I get the puppy locally or from Russia I can bring him home at 8-10 weeks, harder from the EU.
So to summarize my questions:
What kind of character should the female have so that I maximize my chances of my boy and her getting along?
Are the AAs and JAs very different in temperament?
What would you say would be the ideal time to bring the puppy home?
Are there any AA breeders in Europe that you would recommend?
Comments
Their temperaments are the same, but JA are more expressive in my experience. If they love you, if they’re scared or mad, they let you know. Generally really quiet dogs. Most of the time barking is a fear reaction for them. (I wasn’t there so I couldn’t say in this case.)