Ahi HATES the FURminator!
Here is the proof:
I've always told you how hectic Ahi can be, that's the proof right there... we are baring it all. She is really that hectic - but for the record she is mostly talk, she has never bit us or the dogs. (She did bite the furminator tho)
Comments
She was really grumpy tonight - here is Jen and her "make up" time (post brushing)....
Loa is as big as Kaia now?
Ahi really does hate the furminator, Nemo's brother is like that about all brushes. He turns into Cujo.
Ahi noises really are the best.
Loa is getting big - fast. She is larger than Kaia and maybe even Maui. She is in a really awkward stage right now, she looks pretty silly.
Ahi does make the best noises.
Wow, what did the brush do to her? She looked pretty freaked out.
Lynx has a phobia like that too but with the nail clippers. I think it may be an uncomfortable feeling physically.
Maybe Ahi is the same with the brush, it is EVIL! lol.
Our poor dogs...
Ahi hates the nail clipper more!
Ahi is a control freak, and is not ok with not being in control. She is an extremely dominate dog, and is not afraid to let you know she thinks she is the boss.
If you want the full, non-filtered, truth....
When we got Ahi she growled at us all the time (she didn't like to be touched), even as a little 8 week old puppy she was trying to dominate everyone. We had not experienced this type of dog attitude before - the Shibas, especially Maui, wanted to dominate us as well but they took more of a passive aggressive approach (like standing on us, or pawing at use for attention, thing like that - the types of things that most people don't realize are dominating postures from a dog).
Then we got Ahi, and here was a puppy that came into the pack and screamed I'm THE BOSS NOW! It was tough for us to get used to her, and to learn how to deal with the growling and dominating, we where not prepared... I would expect this type of attitude from an Akita, but not really a Shikoku. Both Jen and I had learned in the past (growing up) that when a dog growls at you - you stop whatever you are doing or you will be bit.
With Ahi, after consulting with our behaviorist, we learned that we needed to not stop when she growled, and only stop touching her when we want to stop. So, basically, from when we got her till she was about 4 months old we didn't touch her much because she growled when we did!
So... that is how Ahi came to be Ahi - after the 4 month point, and a few meetings with our behaviorist (actually a bunch of behaviorist, one of which told us we had gotten too much dog even for her, and she had worked with wolf hybrids), we started touching Ahi a lot, even tho she growled. Now it has evolved to a kinda loving growl that we think is cute (tho its really not). Jen spends at least 10 minutes a day touching Ahi - her feet, her head, her tail... everything (she growls the whole time). Due to this constant touching schedule, she lets us touch her all we want now - she still growls tho. She is not OK w/ a brush or nail clippers tho... I guess that danger is already done.
Anyway, we learned the hard way (aka Ahi) how to deal with a dominant (maybe even slightly aggressive) dog. It was Ahi that really moved Jen and I to be such crazy dog people like we are. After having Ahi for 2 months, and becoming so intimate with dog behavior, Jen quit her job to work with dogs (she worked under a behaviorist, and was the only person on staff that would work with the Akita that came in)... then she quit that job to be with our dogs... and that's how this all got started - its Ahi's fault.
Moral of the story is (and why I started this forum), with dogs (especially these breeds) don't wait to long to ask for help if you are not sure how to deal with something. There is nothing wrong with asking for help - and there are lots of people that can help. Its rather humbling sometimes.