KumaAkita

Corvus: Yep, Kuma is 10 months old. Steve also mentioned that it could be due to a "fear period" - and that also triggered a memory of some weird fear behaviour in the recent weeks. So, this could be a culmination of a number of things. I find living with Kuma rewarding. I have really enjoyed teaching him things and look forward to watching him grow and mature. He is a lovely sweet natured dog. It's funny, he lets us know if we're not being consistent, and it snaps us back into being on the money each and every time.

Whilst I do not deny that my dog has this rank issue, I need to question that "big dog, not good" thing. If he was a poodle, do you think it would be acceptable, just because it is a little dog? I put a lot of time and effort into training my dog because he is a big dog and have to face the prejudice associated with owning a giant breed. Ok, so a SWF would do less damage if aggression turned viscious, but that would not excuse the behaviour. sorry - you hit a nerve there. I think all dogs are dogs. big, small, round, lanky... they are all dogs and need the same rules regardless of size. I've had a great chat to K9Pro (thanks Steve!) and will be starting to implement a few new rules. I also spoke to OH earlier and the tribe has spoken - it's time to go Dupree.

K9: Have PM'd you.

Thanks K9 - all was rosy until a few weeks in. I think you could be right about the rank issue.

I don't want anyone to think we didn't know what we were getting into when we got an Akita. Did a lot of research before settling on our breed. We also met many examples of the breed... The majority of the time, Kuma is a cuddly bear. He is in obedience, been through puppy preschool and adolescent puppy classes. He is well socialised, loves other dogs, really good with little dogs (quite submissive really), good with strangers in the street - you get a lot of attention walking an Akita. Good with small animals - likes cats, hates indian miner birds (who doesn't?). We have strict rules in our house. No carpet, no couch. No jumping, no biting. He is most certainly at the bottom of our pack. We are aware that we need strict boundaries with Akitas. This is the only time he has shown aggression. Aussielover: Yeah, sorry... should have mentioned that OH is fed up too. He just doesn't want to be bad cop and ruin a friendship he has had since primary school. Oh and I don't expect that Dupree would have the same dominance/control over Kuma, I was just wondering that by being so actively submissive to a dominant dog are you reinforcing that behaviour? Kind of like patting Kuma when he's biting you...

Mirawee - at the beginning, Kuma was fine. Playful, but not dominant. Pretty much the same he is with us. It started about 3 weeks into the stay and has escalated. It was about week 4 that both OH and I decided that Dupree's time was up. You see, Dupree makes statements about looking at houses and real estate agents, so we haven't pushed him to move out thinking that he will be gone soon anyway. Tilly - Nope, Kuma hadn't been left alone with Dupree at any time before this. He had visited with his family, but never alone with the dog I'm pretty sure that Kuma feeding off my resentment. The more I think about this, the more I realise that my mood changes when he walks in the door, or I come home and see his car parked out the front. Wow. I'm making my dog become a dominant beastie. My bad. Another thing is that Dupree submits to Kuma. We have told him how to behave with Kuma and how to assert his place in our pack, but he won't follow through. He will back off and say "no worries big fella, you're in control. Your house, no drama." We say to Dupree that it is our house, not the dog's. Now, that doesn't excuse Kuma for trying to dominate, but can that be fuelling his quest for dominance?

In terms of the use of this product in humans, I suggest talking to your pharmacist. They are the "drug experts" (sorry to the GPs and Nurses out there...) and will have the knowledge to discuss the treatment as it pertains your whole drug regime. Re use in dogs, not sure... Sorry!

Whilst the easy solution would be to boot Dupree, it doesn't solve the potential underlying issue. We have often had overnight and long term visitors (we're the only Canberrans on both sides, so visitors stay over lots). Kuma has not had a problem with any the other visitors who have stayed, it is just this one person. Perhaps it is length of time, or he is feeding off my resentment.

We have a crate, and he also has a bed in the laundry which is blocked off by a baby gate. If we crate him or put him in his "room", he will calm down. OH and I can usually get him to maintain his calm, but it is just with this one person that he is going nutso. Agree, and that is what I'm working towards... Just looking for guidance...

So I'm in a bit of a predicament... We have a friend staying with us at the moment. For the sake of this story, we'll call him Dupree (anyone seen the movie You, Me and Dupree???). Dupree's wife gave him the boot and he lobbed on our doorstep looking for refuge. We took him in - my understanding that it was "short term" which to me means a couple of weeks (like, 2-3 max). That was 2 months ago. The biggest issue is that Kuma doesn't like him. At all. Kuma will spend all his time trying to bite Dupree, nipping, jumping, all the stuff that he wouldn't dare do with us normally. We do everything we can to stop it, but it's like Kuma's challenging him for position. Last night, OH was out and it was just Dupree and me at home. Kuma was really over the top and I couldn't get him to calm down. He was getting really rough with Dupree and was ignoring all my commands to stop. He also just won't listen to anything Dupree tells him to do. In an effort to stop him, I focussed him to some training and he responded quite well, but everytime Dupree even so much as moved, Kuma wanted to bite him. I need to stress that there is no teeth baring, no growling or barking. It is almost like Kuma is pinning Dupree to a spot and if he moves off that spot, Kuma needs to put him back in place. If Dupree is walking around the house, Kuma will "ankle tap" and try to get him to the ground. We had been giving him 10 minute time outs (backyard time) to calm down, but it doesn't seem to be working anymore. Is Kuma feeding off my resentment towards this guy? I'm not comfortable with him in my house anymore and he doesn't seem to be taking the hint that it's time to go. Now, Kuma is normally really good with visitors. We had our neighbours over for lunch on sunday and he just came over to say Hi and then went and laid in the sun. No jumping, wrestling or biting. It just seems to be this guy. Life before Dupree moved in?? Of an evening, Kuma would come in the house, lay down on the rug on the loungeroom floor and snore contently. Except if the Cantebury Bankstown Bulldogs are playing footy on the TV, then he will sit and watch the game intently. (personally, think he's upset the Doggies didn't make it to the finals... ) Any DOLers out there that can give me some advice on what to do? I'd like to fix his "hatred" of this guy, before it escalates too much more.

So I'm looking at getting a new camera and am thinking about an entry-level DSLR (Nikon D3100 or Canon D1000 or similar). My question though is what do people think about the Four Thirds/Hybrid models that have come out? Here's my thinking... if I got a DSLR, I'd probably also get a point and shoot for handbag convenience at parties etc. This then seems pointless as I'd end up having two cameras. If I went a hybrid style, it could potentially kill two birds so to speak. But by doing that, am I compromising what I'll get out of a full-sized DSLR??? I think there's only the Olympus, Panasonic or Sony NEX-3 or NEX-5 to choose from in that range, and the price point is the same as an entry-level DSLR. aaaarrrgggghhhh... so hard! I just wanna take nice photos of my puppy

don't worry Minxy... your Akita will grow into it and there won't be much spare room... promise

Ok, Kuma isn't such a big fan of his crate... We had put him in the crate and gone outside to retrieve breaky from the BBQ - only gone about 2 mins and came back to this: mum... I wanna be out there with youse guys... He sleeps in it ok, but doesn't like to be in there when we're around.

Kuma isn't a big bone chewer either. OH butterflied a leg of lamb on the weekend, so we had two bones. Both are somewhere in the back yard putrifying as we speak! When you first give them to him, he just licks them. Then dumps them somewhere. His pigs ears last ages too, when they get too small I chuck 'em. I got one of those raw hide bones (yes, yes, I know...) and he adores that thing. Happily chewing on it for 20 mins at a time. It's nearly a week old and will probably keep going for about a month.

yep, we think he's pretty awesome. I love the look on his face... kinda like "ta daaaaa!" he's got so much personality!

i didn't eat this one either... it was just too weird It took up the whole bottom layer of the punnet!

So, completely random, but... I had this mutant strawberry in my punnet the other day - had to take a piccy (pls excuse crappy skillz) weird, eh?

Ok... photo time... Kuma and his new crate. yeah, he's not so sure about it. We're only going to use it when we go away, so I'm sure he'll get to like it eventually. He's fine with being in there, just not so fond of being zipped in.

Agree. I thought the same. PACERS needs a marketing department - LOL. Steve could just about start her own "Good News" newspaper with all the work she is getting. Anyone thought of contacting the local media in that area? this could be the kind of story that will fill a spare couple of columns or the 2mins at the end of the news broadcast. That is if all parties involved are interested/comfortable. WIN TV is always calling out for news stories ... Oh, and well done to all concerned. It's nice to know that there are people like this in the world.

I didn't see a 5XL Just the 4XL. This is the one we got XXXXXL

Got the 5XL for our boy. Thanks for the tip off

Sounds very civilized to me!

Mwaaaahhh ha ha ha. That's awesome. Elbie is just adorable

I usually do morning walking duties at 5:30 every morning, but am away for work so OH has that pleasure. Lucky me - it was snowing this morning at home, so he braved the chill. Kuma LOVES the cold... Trots along like a pig in the proverbial! Normally I look like the Michelin Man with all the layers I wear

we said that we'd be a one dog household, but I reckon we could squeeze a Shiba pup into our family! Probably not right away, but one day... have to call it Mini Me, coz they look just like a litte version of the Akita!