I need help
I have two dogs an Akita Inu and a Shiba Inu and they do not get along at all, they start to fight and it just gets worst. We have tried everything recomended to us by animal control officers, the vet and animal trainers. So far nothing has worked, we despretly need help and we are not sure where to go. If any body knows what we can do to atleast try to improve the situation, it would be greatly appreciated.
Here are some additional facts:
1. An average Shiba Inu (which means small dog in Japanese) male is at an average 15.5 inches high at the withers, and 23 pounds.
2.Spraying brown vinegar was suggested by a local animal control officer to break up a fight.
3. The Akita completed a three-month puppy training class with no aggressive incidents. The Akita puppy was picked after visiting with the puppies on three occasions from three weeks, to two months, during these visits, three males and three females interacted with fifteen puppies of the same age and eight humans with out as much as a single growl. A female Akita was selected because the Shiba Inu was a male.
4.The male was neutered on the suggestion of the vet and the animal trainer.
5.Since October both dogs have attended twenty-three day long animal training and socialization classes with out any aggressive incidents. They are regularly walked together and are some times playful outside with out aggression.
I
Here are some additional facts:
1. An average Shiba Inu (which means small dog in Japanese) male is at an average 15.5 inches high at the withers, and 23 pounds.
2.Spraying brown vinegar was suggested by a local animal control officer to break up a fight.
3. The Akita completed a three-month puppy training class with no aggressive incidents. The Akita puppy was picked after visiting with the puppies on three occasions from three weeks, to two months, during these visits, three males and three females interacted with fifteen puppies of the same age and eight humans with out as much as a single growl. A female Akita was selected because the Shiba Inu was a male.
4.The male was neutered on the suggestion of the vet and the animal trainer.
5.Since October both dogs have attended twenty-three day long animal training and socialization classes with out any aggressive incidents. They are regularly walked together and are some times playful outside with out aggression.
I
Comments
The fact that they are fine on walks and in classes, and the fights break at home, I'm inclined to say it is a fight over something they both value.
Shiba are pretty possessive dogs and Akita are normally not ones to like getting "dominated" or"corrected" too much, so maybe it starts over a valuable object or food and the escalates. At 7 months, your Akita might be at an age when she won't take "crap" from the Shiba, when did these fights start?
I would suggest taking every single toy and food/treat form the floor and checking if they are fine after that.
I have a dog with a dog intolerance and we are working on her bond with our puppy.
Keep them separated when you are not present. When you are present, you may want to leash them to ease breaking up disagreements. Walk them together twice a day a few miles each walk.
Spay your female if you haven't already.
But call a behaviorist. They will be able to accurately assess your pack dynamic. We can talk theories all day but you need professional guidance.
I do have a few questions tho...
1 - How much injury occurs from these fights?
2 - Has either dog bitten you?
3 - Where did you get your Shiba and Akita from?
4 - What did you mean by the comment you made about pit bulls?
note: When you spay a female her testosterone levels will increase which could actually add to agression issues for some time.
Is there any type of warning before these fights happen? Is it the Shiba or Akita who usually makes the first move? You can read a dog a lot just by body language. Pay attention to any warning signs your dogs give off to try to catch it before it happens.
Re-Direction and Positive Reinforcement training has worked wonders with my Shiba. He was very dog reactive a few months back and now he is able to attend doggie daycare with 20+ dogs without a problem.
Make sure you are praising them for good behavior around eachother and re-direct when you think one of them is acting out and praise when their focus is on you.
Patience and Consistency is KEY.
Good Luck with the behaviorist, and please keep us updated.
The way we see it here is if you found us you hopefully were looking for information to be the best possible dog owner. We all start somewhere.
Please keep us updated on how things go with the behaviorist. And please be careful. If the dogs are squabbling to the degree that you are getting injured, it may be best to keep them separated until you get the professional guidance from your behaviorist.
The fact that no serious injury has happend to the dogs says to me (imo) that what you are experiencing is not as bad as a fight as it may seem. if 2 dogs are fighting, and really want to hurt each other, they will do so at lighting quick speed.
The fact you have been bit (i'm guessing by the Shiba) says to me you have an extremely reactive dog.
again, not to sound like a broken record, a behaviorist is mos def the way to go. most of the people who have posted to this thread (myself included) have been in similar shoes and met with a behaviorist that really helped a lot.
Which one do you think is the one who generally starts in?
Also, how do they react to each other on neutral grounds, like a park or someone's backyard that neither of them has been to?
I ask this because my sister's schipperke is very aggressive towards Tikaani at home, but in the dog park they play like puppies.
Glad to hear you have scheduled an appointment with a behaviorist.
Akita got really badly cut on the face.
Please go buy and read, "Feeling Outnumbered? How to Manage and Enjoy Your Multi-Dog Household"
http://www.amazon.com/Feeling-Outnumbered-Manage-Multi-Dog-Household/dp/1891767062/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1231113208&sr=8-5
and
"Feisty Fido: Help for the Leash-Aggressive Dog"
http://www.amazon.com/Feisty-Fido-Help-Leash-Aggressive-Dog/dp/1891767070/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1231113208&sr=8-6
Quote -
"Ok so a few months ago we got an Akita when she was only eight weeks old and weighed only 11 lbs. at the time we also had a seven year old shiba inu, he immediatly hated her and started bighting at her and she at 11 lbs bit right back at him even when he was two times larger than her in size, and from there it just got a whole lot worse. We have tried practally everything there is to try, we treid vinager we treid hitting them and we treid throwing 2 gallons of water at them, we treid a behaviourist as well, and so far nothing has worked, and the day right after christmas they got into a huge fight, we threw the water at them, and the akita now being 65 lbs, had him by the neck and let go but then the sheba inu went back and grabed her leg and started shaking it viciously, and in the process, I stuck my arm out to stop the Akita grabing the sheba inu on the neck again, and she grabbed my arm and broke it so I currently have a broken arm, so what would you guys suggest? in seriouse need of help!"
First of all why did you post on a Doxin forum? They know very little about the nihon ken breeds and mistakenly think that a shiba is a large dog! The nihon ken forum is by far the best resource I have found for any of the Japanese breeds.
I am by far not a behavioral expert but hitting your dog and using vinegar or water to punish them only makes them fearful and angry. Hitting a dog is NEVER the answer. A dog should trust their owner completely a dog who has a trusting relationship with their owner can overcome any obstacle however a dog who is fearful of their owner will be unhappy and make the owner unhappy.
When you brought home a puppy your shiba went from living as the king of his palace where all attention was on him then all of a sudden you brought home a new puppy. The attention shifted from him to the new puppy he probably felt jealous and neglected and it was in his mind the akita's fault. He attacked the puppy out of a jealous rage. The akita was attacked by the shiba making the akita dislike and scarred of the shiba and as the akita grew she became bigger than the shiba so now she can treat the shiba the way she was treated when she was a small pup. You need to separate your dogs until you can get professional help. You need a behaviorist who knows about nihon ken.
I hope you the best of luck with your pups, I hope that you can find peace in your home however please do not EVER HIT your dogs again it will not solve any of your problems but only make them worse.