Akitaowner

Yep i leave mine with a small bowl of water altho more often than not they trip it over and have wet blankets! i wouldnt leave a big breed pup without water....they need so much when growing - 1 have 3 big bowls i am filling daily. My girl - now 14 weeks - also has a play pen around her crate now so she has more room - she still sleeps in the crate with the door open but has a bit more room if she wakes up, she hasnt peed in it at all ;) So ive started putting a bigger bowl of water in the pen instead of the crate. Actually it was funny - i tried removing the pen to give her the whole room for the night - as i think shes well behaved enough and she started crying when i left her?? weird so she got the pen back - i think she sees it as a security thing!? Anyway i'll try again sometime!

very cute - im sure youll go fine with the crate training - i leave the door open to my crate in the kitchen and my girl has started going in of her own accord for a snooze or to see if there are any treats inside - i also like to feed meals in there - now my girl will go and sit in hers and wait til ive finished preparing her bowl!! - i was amazed when she first did it!!!

i have run this practive with my older boy and now my new pup who is turning 14 weeks this w/e. yes it involves getting up a couple of time in the night and quite early in the morning. This is what i have done and it has been fine: when pup came home - i let out at 10pm before i go to bed then at 1am and 4am and i get up at 7am. do this for a week or so until pup is reliable - i have never had a pup that took more than about 2 days to toilet train (of course this depends on the individual pup too). gradually over the following weeks you can extend the time left i work towards having 1 break at 2/3am and then once this is ok SLOWLY move this break thru to the morning but around a hour a week or so. My girl is 14 weeks and can hold it through the night if left, but she is a large breed pup which personally i think makes a difference. if they have an accidient it is not their fault - its yours - go back a few steps and try again taking it slower this time. This has worked very well for my 2 and works quickly Means your tired tho!!!

one of my puppy girls is a complete whinger - ive never known anything like it!! i had 2 puppies from the same litter - long story - both treated the same way as i have before with my boy (who doesnt whinge) all the tactics crated never go to when crying etc etc etc but she just wouldnt stop, she had canine company 24/7 - we were actually choosing which of the 2 puppies to keep - she went back to the breeder yesterday sorry to see her leave but my house is now peaceful Sorry really not much help at all - i guess some dogs are just whingers! Maybe speak to steve at K9Force and see what he suggests he can sort anything out! :D

i introduced 2 new baby pups to my 2.5yo boy a couple of weeks ago. He is a big boy but very friendly and socialable. Before bringing them home i set up the baby crate and blankets and let him get used to all their stuff - bought heaps of new toys (he didnt get any til they were home) and treats for pups and Mav so when the babies arrived and were out i could play with him with his new toys - worked really well. He was a little snappy and boisterous the first few days - so we kept physical contact to a minimum - just sniffing thru the bars - then as he got used to them and played gently with them he was allowed longer with them, they are almost 12 weeks and he is not left unsupervised with either of them - i have build a big puppy pen for the yard so they can play and he can still see them. He has learnt to play gently with them and that they make lots of noise when they play together - at first he thought they were fighting and split them up!! he jumps over them when running around the yard and gently grooms them He has been great and still gets lots of 1 on 1 time with me while they are sleeping - he still sleeps in our room and the babies in their crates in the kitchen. They all get fed seperately in confined spaces - Mav has got much better but would guard his food when they first arrived, they will try to take food out his mouth if they get the chance!! Makes sure you spend lots of extra time with Gemma and make her feel special and good when the baby is around. But be very careful until she gets used to puppy. Make sure you have the camera ready ALL THE TIME - there are so many cute and gorgeous opportunities of them being together. i have hundreds of pics already :D

i feed my boy mornign and night and quite large amounts (hes not desexed so doesnt put weight on) and alway at least once a week i dont feed him. If he hasnt eaten all the previous meal he doesnt get another (unless its off or been at least 2 days) then he gets fresh. hes none the worse for it and i was told when feeding bone sometimes its good to rest their stomaches one day a week - in the wild animals dont eat everyday. Keeps them tip top and good metabolism rate

Hi There I consider the breeder did everything right - as it has been said before to many end up in the hands of BYB's and to be honest our breed has not yet been exploited by them and i know most breeders in Aus are very conscious of preventing it - the last thing Australia needs is a DD with Akita in the mix they can be difficult and stubborn at the best of times when well bred. Desexing is a major operation - and should not be taken lightly, as always i'm sure there are a minority that come out of it badly. I know my breeder would never let a pup go without desexing however i do believe she waits until 16 weeks+ but i think thats more to do with she never knows what she wants to keep!! Whilst this is a terrible situation - please dont blame the breeder what about all the bitches and pups of inbreeding and X breeding that have terrible problems - i think preventing irresponsible breeding is a bigger problem. If this is a serious problem i'm sure the breeder would replace the pup, most are very understanding about such circumstances - and find a special home for her, i know this doesnt help the pup or the family who currently own her.

i used advance puppy dehydrate for a little bit and then mixed in some advance LARGE BREED puppy kibble - my boy still has this for brekkie and bones for dinner. my breeder told me to leave him on a bit of the puppy kibble as its good for their coat i also prefered feeding a few small meals until he was about 6 months - as they need to eat so much but i was worried about bloat in my breed.

1. Around now with my boy (2.5yrs) he has started to calm down and be more relaxed, better general behaviour. Physically he is still maturing but i have notice a big difference in the last 9 months with body build and his attitude! 2. Akita 3. Around 2.5yrs but i expect him to keep getting more 'boofy' and quieter for another yr or so. 4. I would expect it to depend massively on the breed and breeding - i know akitas that have stopped growing at 18 months and others than stil act like idiots at 5+. i know my boys blood lines are slow maturing, mentally and physically (thats why i chose this breeder) as the bigger breeds can have lots of problems if they grow too fast while they are young. Akitas arent realy immature for long mentally, i could leave my boy in the house unattended at about 8 months with no problems. They are very intelligent and think for themselves at a very early age!

At my last annual vac my vet asked how i prevent heartworm - and i said monthly tablets, i said the vaccine has ivermectine type drug in it which can cause reactions (akitas are on the sensitive list). he said it was fine as it was a synthetic?? but he doesnt mind as long as the dogs are being treated somehow - and with people he trusts he doesnt push it... if people are likely to forget the monthly tabs i would suggest the vaccine - not everyone is so dog organised....

what exactly are you trying to teach the dog? i dont think i understand ETA: i think i get what you mean now!! i use the word 'drop' (i use down for lay down on the floor) i thought training in drive was simply using something that the dog wants to positively reinforce a wanted behaviour? (someone correct me if im wrong..!) simply train using positive reinforcement - when the dog does do what it is supposed to reward with treat/toy whatever the dog works in drive for. eventually they should listen to you, thinking they are going to get the reward which is more valuable to them than having whatever in their mouth... use the word 'drop' everytime dog has something they shouldnt and retrieve item from mouth replace with drive item. (thats how i taught it anyway!!) someone please correct me if im wrong!!

my old dog ate various thing in his life including a large towelling sock he stole from the wash basket - came straight out the other end - GREEN :rolleyes: we didnt even know he had eaten it! how big is the dog - ie what breed...a lot of dogs pass strange objects they have eaten...

having spoken to my vet yesterday she said that parvo and KC would always need to be done annually (by nasal infusion??) but C3 will be able to be less frequent (3 yearly) - when i suggested that i wanted titre tests done she said the problem is that it only shows a level of immunity on that day - and there is no given level (value) for immunity by the vaccine manufacturer so how do they say - yes or no to needing a vaccine when levels drop - there is no standard yet...

i have been discussing this with my vet for the last 18 months asking when titre tests will be annual and vaccines when necessary - but im yet to find out if they will titre test a minority, i pretty sure its more expensive than just vaccinating...especially for 1 dog i brought this up on DOL when it started but it seems to have become more mainstream now that the research is published. hmm me thins its time to ask my vet again about titre testing as mavs due this month... and in kennels next month!

my boy had a hot spot earlier this yr - i went to work everything was fine when i came home he had this 'sticky' fur on the side of his face - i thought he had just layed in something!! so washed with malaseb only to find the skin all inflamed and kinda white/creamy colour washed a couple of times a day with malaseb and straight to the vets - 3 days on calvulox and salt water washes all gone no probs or scarring bit bigger than a 50c piece but that was only 1 day...the longer left the bigger they get...

was thinking of you the last couple of days run free Jenna :rolleyes:

im so sorry to here this but Jenna has had an amazing life and home and as others have said you should not be worrying but enjoying her last days knowing she will soon be running free with all the youth and health of a pup over the bridge

anyone have anywhere cheap in sydney to buy bulk - im paying $1 for 3 ive no idea how many kgs that is prob not many! is that about right?? its from leonards - hmm wish i could buy more at a time but they come in bags and i cant carry too much more than 3 bags!! altho i have a nice new freezer in my garage esp for his bones ready and waiting for its first use!!

ACV - Apple cider vinegar (has to be the none fermented type form health food shops) great for all immune systems and so im told a bit of a insect repellent

i thought adding good ol' ACV to drinking water was supposed to 'help' but not sure how true it is maybe as well as bombing etc - obviously difficult if treating more than 1 animal in an encolsed environment as theyll just jump to the next!

when i was looking for a housemate a couple of months ago - i stipulated in the comments/others box that they couldnt be veggie due to the number of bones around the lounge and mav usually tries to share with people by putting on their lap!!

my boy struggled a bit with too much red meat/bones when little hes fine now and has them everyday but i switched to more chicken less red meat and he was fine

i was my boy in the bath even when hes blowing coat - ive got those little things u put in the plug hole to collect hair which work really well just have to keep cleaning them out to get the water to run away... if ur girl is shedding quite a bit can i suggest quite a warm/hot bath as this gets most of the coat out and she will look great for the show! my boy gets a bath everyday for a week when he starts blowing gets all the old coat out really quick...

im interested.....yep more info please - do we need to bring a problem with us? do we even bring the dogs with us?? where will it be held - think the last one was at steves place but i dont know where that is!!

my boy could never catch anything when i tried before but this week at training he was in the down position and was supposed to stay which he was - i was reinforcing by putting food on the ground between paws and i got lazy and started throwing it on the floor - well he started catching it before it got to the floor..... i think maybe my boy could see/follow it from high up and found this easier???? might try out my mouth when i know hes def got it!!!