The loyalty of an akita
I'm not sure the purpose of this post myself. It's a bit of venting, a bit of showing off and tribute to my partner, and a bit of a plea for ideas to keep her safer.
Azami (aka zami cause english only speakers can't seem to pronounce the A at the beginning) will be 3years old this december and I got her around April or May of her first year. She was the last puppy they had left and lacking the $900 to buy her outright I traded 2 young horses for her. She has been my other half since then. Our first year together she was without me maybe 2 hrs a week when my mom would watch her while I got things done in town. She went with me to my martial arts classes and watched me from just off the training floor, she helped me paint apartments for extra cash, went to the office with me and laid under my desk the whole time, sat in the SUV while I got groceries unless the weather was too hot, we went to dog classes, horseback riding, hiking... Don't ask about dog powered snowboarding with an akita... This was all interrupted a bit when I started college classes. I tried leaving her loose in the house but she kept opening doors or when the door is locked and tied to a door across the hall destroying them to come find me. I quickly found out my mom is not a good puppy sitter and finally we went to crate training despite the fact she hates sleeping in a confined space. She quickly learned to go in her crate on command and sometimes will do it even without me saying anything because she knows I'm leaving. She'll also stay there with the door wide open until I release her even if I leave the room. She doesn't love her crate but she is content to stay in it knowing I will return home.
Life now continues without issue. I finish 2 semesters of college, I meet someone during that time and marry him over the summer, Zami has a new shiba puppy that she claims as her own along with my new husband, and our pack is happy. Until one day 2 months ago I didn't come home. I told Zami I'd be back in a few hours and put her in a large wire crate we'd acquired instead of the solid old plastic one I got from my aunt since not being able to see out and lack of openness is why she hated crates in the first place. Haruko, my husbands shiba, and our foster are in the other 2 crates next to her. We head to town to get some lunch and my heart rate starts to go up. My breathing increases. Pressure in my chest. My fingers start tingling.... needless to say I ended up in the ER ASAP. 12 hours go by while they find nothing wrong but my symptoms continue. Zami's breeder, who is one of about 5 people Zami would let in the house without me there, agrees to stop by and let the dogs out for a few minutes for us and puts them back in the crates. 4 more hours go by. I'm finally released to go home. Zami greets us at the door. We find the wire crate a twisted pile of metal and Zami's nose scraped up. My guess is she decided she needed to go find me, grabbed the door, and just pulled back. The entire front panel is a deep U bend and the sides were starting to bow when she managed to make a hole big enough for escape. Zami realizes something is wrong with me and starts to act a bit odd like getting on the bed with me when she normally doesn't. Being a bit more snappy at the shibas for bouncing around the bedroom while I'm in it or jumping on me when I'm walking around the house.
A few days later I go to see a specialist and we lock Zami in the plastic crate. Again I don't come home. I have another "attack" at the specialists office and he admits me to the hospital for 24hours. They find nothing wrong but randomly my heart rate will cycle up to the high 100s increasing my respiration despite my oxygen level being fine and leading to episodes of severe hyperventilating on top of the 180bpm heart rate. Despite people checking on her and giving her time to run around out in the yard Zami destroys the door to the plastic crate to go look for me again. We come home to find her standing with both house doors open looking out the screen door that faces the driveway and that she can definitely open but must have decided not to. Normally she wont' go out the door without permission even if I leave it standing wide open.
Since then Zami has stuck to me like glue, been acting even more odd than usual, and picks up long before my husband does on my increase in respiration leading to one of these strange attacks. Zami has been known to head off down the road looking for me and my mom has seen her break out of rooms to find me. A few people have said I need to treat her for seperation anxiety. What is the line between loyalty and seperation anxiety? Zami does not panic, normally harm herself in her attempts, or do any of the things dogs with anxiety do. Those who have seen her make the decision that she needs to find me all report it's done calmly with complete control. She works door knobs open with perfect patience and no whining, barking, or frantic door attacking. If the door is locked she will actually start systematically taking the door frame apart in an attempt to get to where the door latch is. She'll repeat this on as many doors as necessary without acting stressed or impatient. She's not a panicked anxious dog that can't be without me. She's a protective loyal akita who has decided I am ill and unable to keep myself safe. I don't think any medication or behavior training for anxiety would do anything but slightly increase how long she waits before she starts trying to get to me. She also was completely content to wait in a crate prior to my health issues.
I doubt anyone has an answer but what do you do when your akita has decided you need protecting and will not stay home? A large intelligent dog that will go to any length to get to you... We have not found a way to contain her without spending more money than we have right now on a kennel or one of those metal panel crates with keyed locks on the door. Especially with medical bills coming. No standard crate will hold her anymore. We've been locking the house when we leave and letting her loose. I make it clear to her I'm leaving and that she is to stay home. Sometimes we have an entire conversation about it where she starts out perked up and slowly droops as she realizes what I mean. If she hasn't gone there already I tell her to go in a crate(a replacement new plastic crate as sturdy as we could afford) just before walking out the door the same as every other time I left for a few hours but don't latch the door so she can open it without breaking something. Generally doors are opened when we get back but she hasn't left the house yet. I know she can. She can open anything. If another day happens that I can't return I know she will open that last door and try to find me outside. No matter what it takes. I don't know whether to be proud of my akita or cry in frustration. I wish dogs could understand english. I'd wish dogs were allowed in hospitals but while she'd otherwise be perfectly behaved she probably wouldn't let any doctors near me if I was unable to tell her it was ok.
This album is of Azami her first year
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/puppy/
If you click the year links on the side there are more pics of her and as of 2009 with the shiba and shiba mixes that have been added to our pack.
Azami (aka zami cause english only speakers can't seem to pronounce the A at the beginning) will be 3years old this december and I got her around April or May of her first year. She was the last puppy they had left and lacking the $900 to buy her outright I traded 2 young horses for her. She has been my other half since then. Our first year together she was without me maybe 2 hrs a week when my mom would watch her while I got things done in town. She went with me to my martial arts classes and watched me from just off the training floor, she helped me paint apartments for extra cash, went to the office with me and laid under my desk the whole time, sat in the SUV while I got groceries unless the weather was too hot, we went to dog classes, horseback riding, hiking... Don't ask about dog powered snowboarding with an akita... This was all interrupted a bit when I started college classes. I tried leaving her loose in the house but she kept opening doors or when the door is locked and tied to a door across the hall destroying them to come find me. I quickly found out my mom is not a good puppy sitter and finally we went to crate training despite the fact she hates sleeping in a confined space. She quickly learned to go in her crate on command and sometimes will do it even without me saying anything because she knows I'm leaving. She'll also stay there with the door wide open until I release her even if I leave the room. She doesn't love her crate but she is content to stay in it knowing I will return home.
Life now continues without issue. I finish 2 semesters of college, I meet someone during that time and marry him over the summer, Zami has a new shiba puppy that she claims as her own along with my new husband, and our pack is happy. Until one day 2 months ago I didn't come home. I told Zami I'd be back in a few hours and put her in a large wire crate we'd acquired instead of the solid old plastic one I got from my aunt since not being able to see out and lack of openness is why she hated crates in the first place. Haruko, my husbands shiba, and our foster are in the other 2 crates next to her. We head to town to get some lunch and my heart rate starts to go up. My breathing increases. Pressure in my chest. My fingers start tingling.... needless to say I ended up in the ER ASAP. 12 hours go by while they find nothing wrong but my symptoms continue. Zami's breeder, who is one of about 5 people Zami would let in the house without me there, agrees to stop by and let the dogs out for a few minutes for us and puts them back in the crates. 4 more hours go by. I'm finally released to go home. Zami greets us at the door. We find the wire crate a twisted pile of metal and Zami's nose scraped up. My guess is she decided she needed to go find me, grabbed the door, and just pulled back. The entire front panel is a deep U bend and the sides were starting to bow when she managed to make a hole big enough for escape. Zami realizes something is wrong with me and starts to act a bit odd like getting on the bed with me when she normally doesn't. Being a bit more snappy at the shibas for bouncing around the bedroom while I'm in it or jumping on me when I'm walking around the house.
A few days later I go to see a specialist and we lock Zami in the plastic crate. Again I don't come home. I have another "attack" at the specialists office and he admits me to the hospital for 24hours. They find nothing wrong but randomly my heart rate will cycle up to the high 100s increasing my respiration despite my oxygen level being fine and leading to episodes of severe hyperventilating on top of the 180bpm heart rate. Despite people checking on her and giving her time to run around out in the yard Zami destroys the door to the plastic crate to go look for me again. We come home to find her standing with both house doors open looking out the screen door that faces the driveway and that she can definitely open but must have decided not to. Normally she wont' go out the door without permission even if I leave it standing wide open.
Since then Zami has stuck to me like glue, been acting even more odd than usual, and picks up long before my husband does on my increase in respiration leading to one of these strange attacks. Zami has been known to head off down the road looking for me and my mom has seen her break out of rooms to find me. A few people have said I need to treat her for seperation anxiety. What is the line between loyalty and seperation anxiety? Zami does not panic, normally harm herself in her attempts, or do any of the things dogs with anxiety do. Those who have seen her make the decision that she needs to find me all report it's done calmly with complete control. She works door knobs open with perfect patience and no whining, barking, or frantic door attacking. If the door is locked she will actually start systematically taking the door frame apart in an attempt to get to where the door latch is. She'll repeat this on as many doors as necessary without acting stressed or impatient. She's not a panicked anxious dog that can't be without me. She's a protective loyal akita who has decided I am ill and unable to keep myself safe. I don't think any medication or behavior training for anxiety would do anything but slightly increase how long she waits before she starts trying to get to me. She also was completely content to wait in a crate prior to my health issues.
I doubt anyone has an answer but what do you do when your akita has decided you need protecting and will not stay home? A large intelligent dog that will go to any length to get to you... We have not found a way to contain her without spending more money than we have right now on a kennel or one of those metal panel crates with keyed locks on the door. Especially with medical bills coming. No standard crate will hold her anymore. We've been locking the house when we leave and letting her loose. I make it clear to her I'm leaving and that she is to stay home. Sometimes we have an entire conversation about it where she starts out perked up and slowly droops as she realizes what I mean. If she hasn't gone there already I tell her to go in a crate(a replacement new plastic crate as sturdy as we could afford) just before walking out the door the same as every other time I left for a few hours but don't latch the door so she can open it without breaking something. Generally doors are opened when we get back but she hasn't left the house yet. I know she can. She can open anything. If another day happens that I can't return I know she will open that last door and try to find me outside. No matter what it takes. I don't know whether to be proud of my akita or cry in frustration. I wish dogs could understand english. I'd wish dogs were allowed in hospitals but while she'd otherwise be perfectly behaved she probably wouldn't let any doctors near me if I was unable to tell her it was ok.
This album is of Azami her first year
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v244/aqh88/puppy/
If you click the year links on the side there are more pics of her and as of 2009 with the shiba and shiba mixes that have been added to our pack.
Comments
You are right that no one has an answer. It's like Life, you learn as you go, especially sharing this kind of rare precious relationship with Zami.
We could offer no professional advice because we just got our puppy for almost 3 weeks only. We can only give you encouragement of doing whatever you think is the right thing for you and Zami and continue to seek help from those qualified.
Good luck.
I have a suggestion about your attacks:
SVT - Supraventricular Tachycardia
If you are lucky enough to be able to get to an EKG while you are having an attack, a well-trained cardiologist should be able to immediately diagnose you. You may also have to have an EP study done (which is quite uncomfortable) to determine exactly where in your heart the tachycardia is originating. If you are diagnosed with SVT and have a successful EP study, an outpatient procedure can fix the problem.
Here is the wikipedia article on SVT:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia
Hope this helps with your heart problems, and unfortunately, I do not have any suggestions about Azami's anxiety while you are gone. Hopefully someone will come along soon who has had experience with separation anxiety in dogs.
I do have a suggestion for you. If Zami won't stay home when she fears for your safety, why not bring her with you? If she is certified as an assistance dog, she can legally accompany you just about anywhere (at least in the U.S., I don't know where you are). Just a thought.
Thank you for sharing your story, I'm sorry I don't have any suggestions for you,other than the ones that have been presented already, or the kennels you mentioned.
Just thinking...since she never leaves the house, but does everything imaginable to be able to look out the screen door- I wonder if she would be more comfortable just to be able to better watch for your return? Have you already tried to put the crate near the door, or with a window view or something that might be close enough and see if that helps her be where she keeps going to, but safely contained?
On the escape artist thing. A Kai owner was talking about the same problem. His Kai's work as a pack to get out and find him. They unlock locks, open doors, and destroy crates. It's dangerous in case one day he decides to leave, but it also leaves your house wide open for someone to come in. No es bueno! I know at one point, he had put locks on the outside of the doors and bungie corded them from the outside.
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"What is the line between loyalty and seperation anxiety?"
>> I would say discomfort. If she shows discomfort while you are gone then she has some anxiety. Unfortunately, IMHO, escaping from things is a sign of discomfort, and therefore a sign of (separation) anxiety.
Have you tried giving her some food, or a kong, or something like that when you leave her? Maybe that will keep her busy. If it is only the crate that makes her want to escape, maybe try blocking her into a room that will allow her to still see the main part of the house? The idea is to give her a bone/kong/toy and then "slip" out the door without her noticing.
Also, I would do away with the elaborate greetings and departures. Don't make a big thing of you leaving, make it routine and normal for her, that will lower her anxiety when you are gone. I know that is hard, I mean you are leaving your best friend, but it will help her mental state in the long run. Again, you want to sneak out the door, so she doesn't notice you leaving she just realizes you are not there.
Akita are VERY loyal, and this can easily transform into a Velcro dog situation (it's a thin line, IMO), if you need her to be calm and wait for you while you are gone, but be close to you when you are around, then reinforce her for those things and don't set her up to fail. Give her a treat and leave for a few minutes, then come back - and don't make a big thing about it. Teach her that you leaving = yummy things.
When my wife leaves our home, our 4 Akita will lay at the front door, or out in the yard where they can see the driveway, and wait... they will wait for days. They don't cry/whine, try to escape, dig, chew, or get overly active - they just wait, calmly. If we put them in a crate, they sit in the crate, quietly, and calmly, and they wait... It seems all Akita do is wait: wait for you to move to the next room, wait for you to come home, wait for you to let them out, wait to come in - this is what makes them patient and loyal.
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"I doubt anyone has an answer but what do you do when your akita has decided you need protecting and will not stay home?"
>> Have you tried a D.A.P. plug-in? It may ease her anxiety when you are gone. With the addition of the new dogs, does she do better when you leave? Is she left with the dogs?
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Blue was rather upset too.
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We have special crate treats that they only get when they go in their crates to help make crates good and establish routine. Prior to this they would just go to sleep as soon as they heard us leave and we'd come home to drowsy dogs that had to stretch and yawn before greeting us. When it comes to food and treats Zami is beyond picky and she will not chew on any nonfood item so keeping her entertained is it's own little challenge. I tried and tried but she will not play with toys or chew on kongs. I put all sorts of things in them from commercial products to home recipes. She'd roll it around, try to lick things out of it, and then lose interest. She won't touch a kong in her crate. I spent lots of money on various toys including ones with real fur but her attention span for any item that can't be eaten quickly is about 5mins of rolling around with it and trying to find ways to get bits off before getting bored. Despite that when she does want to chew something it's gone in minutes. A raw knuckle bone the size of her head will be reduced to a 2" diameter chunk within the hour. Rib bones are just a few crunches. However she likely wouldn't touch a bone while in her crate. Before I got sick she would go into that waiting mode and quietly sit in her crate or at my mom's house by the door with all the treats I'd given her sitting nearby untouched or if it's something really good wrapped up in her blanket to hide it until later. As soon as I came back she'd greet me and then go get whatever food item she hadn't eaten while I was gone. Nothing can distract Zami from a decision and her decision is not to let me go missing again. The best food item in the world is not going to change that.
If I sneak out of the house with no warning then all hell will break loose and I will have no akita as well as possibly no doors or doorframes in one piece when I return because she will have dismantled the house and run off who knows where trying to figure out what happened to me. If I say nothing to her and she doesn't go in her crate then Zami assumes I'm just getting something from the car or checking on the chickens. If I don't express I'm leaving or follow the routine of sending her to her crate before leaving then my absence for more than a short period raises alarms to her because that's not normal. She will happily wait for a few minutes then starts checking doors and if the yard is open to see if she can find me. If she can't she will pop the screen door open or hop over the 6' fence to check the unfenced yard for me. So far I've been in the yard every time and I just calmly order her back to the house where she waits for me to let her back in the yard or front door. If I'm not there I'm pretty confident she'd start expanding her search off our property.
If I send Zami to her crate (even without it being locked) and tell her I'm leaving then she knows I will be gone for hours. Previously that meant she was willing to wait however long it took so long as she knew I was leaving for awhile. Now she will only wait so long. Once again she seems to have a predetermined amount of time in her head. After x hours and minutes it's been longer than I expressed I would be gone and therefore it's time to go check things out. The better I express that I'm leaving for awhile the more content she is to wait and the fewer doors are open when I get home. Disappearing reinforces her fear. She's worried I will just be gone and not return.
It seems as though Zami needs reminding that you will always come back which is why I think this kind of training may work, I'll try and find the episode via youtube for you in a bit but I have to walk my own soon.
I'm really sorry you're having to go through all of this,
Beth makes a good point too, if Zami being with you whilst you have an attack keeps you calm and she can tell when you're having an attack and can, at the same time, remain calm throughout all then I can't see any reason why she can't be a therapy dog but I don't know much about them because I don't think we have much similar in the UK except for guide dogs etc, it's not quite as widely used over here I don't think.