Sam&Saki

Oh brilliant trick! Very cute indeed. Great skill for assistance dogs too, although my dog certainly would never stop letting herself into her own treats

Oh yeah, life in the fast lane baby! PS Pride & Prejudice & Zombies = GREATEST BOOK EVERRRRRRRRR

Oh yeah, I'm up there for maturity alright - poor Saki did seem a bit confused as to what was going on :D The video doesn't really show how much I fell out and got smacked into walls, suffice to say every squeal was me getting hurt in some way

season two has finished now, when i get it sent to me I am happy to post you a copy too if you like. ;) OMG YOU ARE THE GREATEST PERSON IN THE WORLD ;) :p

Red oak floor boards & rockabilly music for the win! ;) Ahhh I've just fallen in love with True Blood. Working my way through Season 1, too scared to join the thread for fear of spoilers

Oh gosh how odd! Not sure how I managed to stuff up the link... Think the link works now... Although the photo was a lot more dignified than the video is

Not content with annoying the Single DOLers and the Spitzy DOLers, thought I'd put up my oh-so-impressive sled dog video here too Behold! I Haz A Sled Dog!!! http://s17.photobucket.com/albums/b100/_de...HazASledDog.flv :rolleyes:

1. What is my relationship with the breed? First time owner, long time admirer 2. Where and why was the breed first developed? Akitas are Japanese and are an original breed. In the most recent DNA analysis Akitas were one of the breeds proven to be an 'ancient breed.' So Akitas (previously called 'Oden Dog') were not a man made breed, but a breed that has been around for thousands of years. Concerted efforts to breed to a standard began in earnest after numbers dwindled during WWII. Akitas were first imported to America at this time too. In the US, there are two strains of the breed recognised - the 'American Akita' which is a heavier set dog, and the 'Akita Inu' which is leaner and lighter boned. In Australia we just have the Akita, however most tend to resemble American lines more than Japanese. Akitas have been used in Japan over the centuries as livestock guardians, nanny dogs, hunting dogs, police dogs, sledding dogs, but are mainly prized as a loyal companion - in fact in Japan they enjoy 'national monument' status with some Japanese able to collect a welfare type stipend to support their pet Akita. An Akita is also considered a symbol of good luck and good health, and small Akita statues are often given as housewarming gifts. In South America, Akitas have been imported and poorly bred and used in dog fights, however Akitas are not in fact a 'Japanese fighting dog', that title is for the Tosa. 3. How common is it in Australia? Fairly rare, numbers of ANKC registered Akitas have mostly been in the low double figures. 4. What is the average lifespan? 10 - 12 years. 5. What is the general temperament/personality? Extremely devoted and loyal to their owner - a definite inside dog and not a dog to be left alone for long periods of time. Affectionate and attentive and extremely intelligent Can be friendly or can be stand-off-ish to other people and other dogs. May not be trustworthy around birds or small prey animals. Trainable but more difficult than training a non-Spitz, learns quickly and bores easily, and acheiving perfect recall is difficult. Dominant and need firm, consistent leadership. The Akita body language (erect ears, curled tail, ruff) and natural dominance can cause dogs of other breeds to react to Akitas as though they were aggressive. In turn, Akitas struggle to interpret the intentions of more vocal dogs than they. Akitas have a reputation for dog aggression but are not necessarily so. Akitas are largely silent, very rarely barking or growling or whining, although they do have a small repetoire of other gruff grumbly noises. 6. How much daily exercise is needed for the average adult? A 45 minute walk a day plus a few play sessions would be ideal, however they are only moderately active and won't react negatively if not given any exercise at all for a day or two. A 2 hour trip to a dog park / river / beach is enough to exhaust an Akita for the rest of the day and possibly the following day also. 7. Is it a breed that a first time dog owner could easily cope with? Not really, they require a LOT of time, attention and affection; and are not easy to train. 8. Can solo dogs of this breed easily occupy themselves for long periods? No. Akitas with owners who work full time outside the home notoriously have separation anxiety and can become destructive in their owners absence. They'll happily entertain themselves knowing that you're in the next room / inside, but will check in on you regularly. If you're not home they'll just sleep until your return, or start destroying things. However they are not a breed that should be given another dog to keep company, they want human attention with their owner, not other dog company. 9. How much grooming is required? They have a wash n wear spitz double coat - even if thoroughly soaked in mud it will all dry and brush right out again easily. Also don't have a 'doggy smell'. However when shedding their coat twice a year, daily brushing and daily vaccuuming is essential! 10. Is it too boisterous for very small children or for infirm people (unless the dog is well trained)? Probably, until they are completely mature - age 4 or older. 11. Are there any common hereditary problems a puppy buyer should be aware of? Hip dysplasia, although not as common as in many other breeds. Akitas are also the breed most likely to have a negative reaction to aneasthetic and also at high risk of bloat. 12. When buying a puppy, what are the things you should ask of the breeder? Hip scores perhaps. Ensure the parents are of sound temperament and not dog aggressive. YAY Akitas Certainly not for everyone, but perfect for some x

My dog is roughly the same weight and recently ate a lot more chocolate than that, with no ill effects. I posted the toxicity chart in my thread, should come up if you run a search.

I am so terribly sorry. My heart breaks for your loss. Run free beautiful boy.

An Akita would protect you, but would not provide the warning bark you'd want from a guard dog, and may not get along with a GSD. They are fantastic protection dogs but are really only for people who can deal with the unique needs and training methods that Spitz breeds need, as well as grooming, and they're really not appropriate for people who work 40+ hours out of the house as they need lots of time with you. So no idea if an Akita would be right for you or not. I'm so sorry for what you went through, sounds really scary However I guess you could look at it this way - if your dog had attacked this guy your dog may have ended up being declared dangerous or you could have been liable for his medical bills or it may have made the situation worse.

Perhaps get the opinion of another vet. When Saki had a runny eye the vet treated it a little bit more seriously than that, and ended up prescribing a mild eye drop that cleared it right up x

Oh god I am so, so sorry for your loss. What a traumatic way to lose her. Remember her the way she was before - loving and happy. I hope you are coping as well as possible

Saki has a thing for frozen bread

Thanks Tkay Yep the amount of cocoa is the issue, so dark chocolate is more dangerous, and technically white chocolate isn't actually chocolate at all (no cocoa.) For future reference, charts are here: http://news.mongabay.com/2005/0803-chocolate_kills.html http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/10/...nteractive.html

What made you think it was painless? It's a thick needle! The fact that Saki didn't react at all - perhaps I should have said 'less painful than vaccinations, as painless as microchipping' then Don't know anything about the implant failing for dogs, it certainly has stopped my girl and all the bitches my vet has treated from going on heat.

Geez that's actually a lot worse than what's indicated on the online chart, which is what the Southern Emergency Animal Hospital seem to go by! Anyhoo, is now hours later, Saki still fine x

Fair enough! Gosh they can be naughty at times can't they? Glad your naughty old boy is ok Saki still seems completely unaware that she's meant to be feeling sick

Wow really? I did ring the vet and they didn't seem concerned at all, only said bring her in if she's acting strangely... She's eaten an entire bag of Chikos when she was a pup, I was in such a panic but she was totally fine, they wouldn't pump her stomach then so I'd be surprised if they would this time?

Thanks guys. How do you make a dog vomit, Nekhbet? Surely they'd be mostly digested by now anyhoo...

Yes well this was mostly filling, so the actual amount of chocolate would be less than that. Rang the vet and they just said to keep an eye on for half an hour and bring her in if her behaviour changes - I was like well she running around really hyper and now is lying down half asleep - and they were all, oh no is that normal? And I had to say, well yes, yes it is for her

Apparently 25 grams each, so that's 300 grams into 33 kg. So not toxic enough to cause heart problems but toxic enough to cause intestinal problems. Damn dogs! (Yes I'm the idiot the left the chocolates inside a box inside a plastic bag on top of a desk that Saki could reach.)

Ok. Evidently Saki's been reading DOL lately and getting ideas. She's eaten about 12 Ernest Hillier chocolates - I'm trying to look up the chocolate toxicity table thingo but I need to know how much chocolate that is in grams and I'm a bit of a dummy when it comes to that sort of thing. How big is an Ernest Hillier chocolate? They were mostly the big square strawberry flavoured dark chocolate ones left. Would that be 5 grams of chocolate, 10, 20, ...? Saki's 33kg so I'm sure she's nowhere near the life-threatening end of the table regardless, just trying to work out what sort of intenstinal joys to expect And she's now sitting next to me after running a heap of zoomies in the yard, so seems fine.

The implant takes one second, is painless, and then they're 'desexed' for a whole year, woot! Doesn't effect their ability to breed later, if you stop implanting them later, either I think it's fab. Saki has the implant. Surprisingly it was developed for bitches despite being better known in use for dogs. Both dogs and bitches can be desexed by implant :D Just find a repro specialist vet, or even a teaching / uni vet that is up with more recent developments, and they'll be familiar with it, my vet has implanted hundreds of dogs and bitches, many of them intended to be used for breeding when older.

*ahem* *whistles* *looks nonchalant* *gets pulled off the computer by the crazy pulling dog of doom............................................... *