Hi fella's as you will aware from my previous thread I have a new pup. His previous owners were unable to keep him due to their personnal circumstances. I wasn't going to have another dog after a scare with my exstiting dog earlier in the year but these things happen! He's a breed I wouldn't have chosen, Akita. Now my existing dog is a mutt and has been well behaved since day one and took really well to training etc but I'm thinking I may have a tougher challenge with this little guy.

Grooming is my first thought, he has a duel coat(?), I use a slicker and a porcupine brush right now. Any advice? How soon should I take him to a professional groomer?

Aggression is my second thought. Many people have told me that because of his breed he will be naturally aggressive, is this so? What training should I implement to avoid this?

General stuff, any other advice you guys can give me. I want to get a head start and not get into any bad first off.

Thanks for reading :)

P.S. Edit to add yet another question.

Neutering? When and where? I was thinking of using pets for vet (i Think) as a relative used them and said they were good. He 's currently registered with my local vets but costs there are a little prohibitive.

Consistent, fair, reward based training should be plenty for him :) They are not naturally aggressive - however, they are a protective breed and tend to be a bit of a one man dog from what I understand. Some of the ones I've known can get easily jealous so socialisation is a must as with any dog.

I can't remember how old you said he was, but take him EVERYWHERE possible - make sure every association he has is a good one. You can't socialise a dog too much.

Introduce him to friendly men, women, men with beards, men without beards, different races, umbrellas, have people come into your home to meet him, take him to other people's homes, take him to places like the bank (yes, this is perfectly acceptable) or anywhere that doesn't state no dogs.

You need to bring him up to trust you, and trust that you'll look after him. If you do this, he'll trust you to solve any problems that come up and that should prevent any need to use aggression to solve anything.
As such you need to ensure he gets this positive socialisation. Don't just take him places for him to see them, he'll be learning a lot at the moment and he'll learn what's not good too - so take him places and ask people to play with him or give him treats, do your best to prevent anything bad happening and if it does, just shrug it off - don't fuss around him.

Before I knew what I know now I tried a lot of aversive training with one of my dogs and I can tell you now, it ruined our relationship. 2 years of fixing it and she does trust me, but you can still see the gaps where our relationship has suffered. I hate myself for that and will never, ever train another pup that way.

A lot of people think that strong headed or large breeds of dog can't be trained using positive reinforcement and reward based training. They think that because the dog is going to be so potentially dangerous due to it's size you have to dominate it and use much more forceful training to ensure it listens to you first time every time.

NOT the case. Positive reinforcement develops a bond between you and your dog that means your dog can choose what to do in a given situation and actually makes their training far stronger.
A dog that's been trained by avoidance, negative reinforcement, punishment and/or aversive training is actually more likely to break down and not do as it's told.

If your pup has not yet been vaccinated so can't go out yet, see if he's not too heavy to carry or think about putting him in a buggy. I know it sounds strange but in all honesty - I would rather be walking around with a puppy in a buggy, socialising him well than end up with a dog that could have benefitted from more socialisation. Also, if you're not happy with the buggy idea, ask as many people to come and meet him as possible but make sure you are always in control and they don't get a chance to scare him.

Finally - sorry things keep coming to me! Think about all the things that could set off a dog thats known for his guarding abilities:
People coming upto you
People coming to the house
The postman
People/dogs near his food/toys
etc

and make sure that you make all of these things REALLY Good! Walk past his food while he's eating and drop something really tasty into his bowl - don't take it away from him, just drop things into it so that he's comfortable with you being near it. If you do take anything off him, give him something in return, introduce him to the postie and ask the postie to give him a treat or throw a ball, give him a treat or throw a ball for him everytime there's a knock at the door. etc. etc.

Good luck!! I'll leave it upto someone else to explain the grooming as I have dalmatians! :lol:

Wow lottie thank you so much for your reply, that's given me a lot to think about! I was thinking that I would have to use aversive training because of the breed history and size he will grow but it's a relief to know you've had a positive experience from the opposite. I was having visions of pinning him on his back an showing him who's boss. I haven't found the need to punish so far as bribery works a treat!

Glad I could be of help. Considering large breed dogs can do so much damage, I'm shocked that so many people are so quick to use alpha rolls and aversives. If you give a dog reason to fear you, you set them up for aggression when they get bigger and realise that they can hurt you.
Get the dog to trust that you will look after him and never hurt him and he won't have any need to be defensive or aggressive towards you.

Enjoy him :D Consistency is the key - as opposed to bribery, you make an agreement with your dog. If he keeps his side of the bargain, you keep yours!

We just had a fabby training session, he gives paw and sits and lies down now. Still having trouble with retrieving him when he's distracted but that's all to be expected after the upheaval he's had. This is fun :)

Aww he sounds excellent! I'm quite envious. I got so worked up about getting it right with Takara that I couldn't enjoy her and I don't think I ever described her puppyhood as 'fun'.

For the record, it didn't do her any good - I was so worried about getting it right that I tried what everyone said which meant loads of different methods including aversives like I said.

She's getting there now but boy do I wish I knew then what I know now!

We need some piccies ;)

hi i actually groom a few akita's,as with any dog that is either larger or got a reputation(good or bad)bad press etc,all dogs are individual and should be treated as such.A lot of dog agression is caused by bad ownership where the dog is taught to be agressive.The one's i groom are as soft as a brush where the owners have done the correct training so that the dog is balanced and of a good nature.However my brother in law has one that is over 10yrs old but was origionally a rescue dog where the owners made her be agressive,she's great with people lets you stroke her etc but if she see's another dog she wouldn't hesitate to have a go,hence is never off the lead.All the right training and patience and it will all pay off......good luck

What kind of dog do you have?

He's a long haired Akita udbud...

Oh just seen your edit. I've been following this subject (neutering) with interest on the APDT forum as I have very little experience of the behavioural affects of neutering.

If you want to pm me your email address I can forward on some of their views, but basically a lot of the trainers on there have said that the behavioural problems can far outweigh the health benefits when done before a certain age. Studies also show that whilst earlier neutering is more beneficial for bitches (with regards to health, not necessarily behaviour) it's doesn't hold as many health benefits for dogs when done earlier.

I can't remember exactly but some suggested not neutering males until after 2 or 3 years of age and said that instances of testicular cancer can be reduced upto neutering aged 6 years.

I'm only relaying what others have said and obviously later neutering means you have to be more careful about him getting to bitches and secure him against roaming should he smell a bitch on heat but can be better for him behaviourally - apparently.
Once his hormones come into play, he could well get more difficult and you will have to work harder with him until they settle down again, but I have a male that I rescued aged 11 and a half and he was neutered aged 6 months and is still dog aggressive and territorial.

Lotti that would be great, its always good to have all the info. The vets recommend getting him done and its my personal view also but not if it shortens his life. I went through hell with my lurcher he would starve himself and chew through doors. He lost 3 teeth and several claws trying to dig his way out of the house for bitches, it was hell to see. I don't wanna see a dog of mine go through that again.

some (http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r239/schizodoor/dogs002.jpg)

pictures (http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r239/schizodoor/dogs019.jpg)

as requested (http://i145.photobucket.com/albums/r239/schizodoor/dogs022.jpg).

Oh it wouldn't shorten his life. Obviously, neutering eradicates testicular cancer risks and also helps to reduce the risk of some other health problems - it's just that there are behavioural benefits to neutering later, after he's matured emotionally (also, with some breeds neutering early can cause physical maturity to be stunted more so than with other breeds but I'll forward the info on anyway).

I can understand your point about trying to get out - I can imagine it's hell. Thankfully I've never had to go through that. Although my mum's dog that they had before I was even a twinkle, was neutered and still roamed miles to the nearest bitch and my castrated rescue dog gets all flirty and perky when he meets a bitch in season! So there's no guarantees I suppose.

Lovely photos :D Thank you!

Akitas are similar to Rotts, there are ones with good temperaments and ones which you'll need to manage a little more carefully (my uncle is on his fourth rott, so it's deffo down to the individual dog, not him :P His second was one I didn't trust)

His sister has an akita - like your's has a cream coat, and has the pointier muzzle style which often goes with this colouring (used to take a particular interest in that ring at shows ;). Tai is a wonderfully placid dog, who can be trusted with anything - though he's seriously old now, but is still plodding on :)

AWWWWW he`s gorgeous:love:
I love the last pic of both of them together.

They are learning to live with each other thankfully, but my oldest refuses to share ANYTHING! I'm trying to make sure I set firm boundarys for him but the most helpful thing seems to be the influence of riply (my oldest). He copies and follows her lead.

We just had a fabby training session, he gives paw and sits and lies down now. Still having trouble with retrieving him when he's distracted but that's all to be expected after the upheaval he's had. This is fun :)

Hi there, iv got a 6month old akita, He's nearly 6stone now, but is so well behaved. He does all of the sit,lay, paw, wait etc, but the only way I can get him to come back is when I bribe him with treats. If you find any other way with your pup, please can you let me know?