Living In The Suburbs

[Erny]

... we also run around the yard with her while she does zoomies, picking up which ever toy she wants to play with with us.

For her though, that would be a bit of a "no-brainer". IOW, a smidge of mental stimulation but not anything much that would tax her thinking skills. Turn this around and rather than making it a case of her deciding which toy she wants you to play with her with, start getting her to work (do something you want her to do for you) for a toy that you want to play with her with. This is just one tip, but it may catch on. Work her mind much more, rather than focusing only or more on the physical element. Make the physical exercise a reward for her using her noggin :). And yes, it's great for dogs to have the opportunity to stretch their legs and have the freedom to stop, pivot, sniff and carry on with running again. So perhaps try to find somewhere in or around your area where there may be a fenced area you can have private access to and drive there?

....... and put some guards around your plants whilst you're putting the mental stimulation plan into practice. Every time she de-plants a plant, she's gaining the reward of fun out of it and this by itself can become habitual.

Edited February 7, 2013 by Erny

[RubyBlue]

You could try swimming her. I take mine to a dog pool weekly and the difference it has made is incredible. I take them to the nearby off lead dog park for a couple of hours in the evening and they are still charging around for several hours at home afterwards. Half and hr in the pool and they sleep the rest of the afternoon. It is also seeming to have a cumulative effect on reducing their overall energy levels.

[KumaAkita]

Have you considered giving her access to the house? Time inside with you is time in company and that's important for a social animal.

She has somewhat limited access to the house. I'll let her in on and off for a few hours during the day. I like having her near me. Even if I do have to vaccuum 10x as much. OH is more funny about it. He comes from a family where dogs are outside pets. My family had dogs sleep on our beds. So its a bit of a comprimise.

The thing with Akitas is that they're very attached to their people. Tika will want to spend time with you, and if you're inside she'll want to be there too. I've kinda given up on the vacuuming part... :laugh:

As others have said, the Akita stance can set other dogs off. Especially the erect ears, upright head and shoulder position, plus tail always up. You will eventually be able to see the differences in her body language when it subtly goes from walking along without a care in the world to "There's A Dog In My Perimiter". A good behavouralist will help you with a seamless meet and greet, plus help with identifying the body language cues.

We took Kuma to see K9-Pro when he was around 9 months old (we were almost ready to give him to the next person walking by, he was being such a turd!). Steve taught us methods for appropriate greetings, recognising body language, plus other handy dandy tips to keep him in check.

As to tiring her out... I'm no help there! A lazy 20 minute jaunt around our park and Kuma's shattered. Though, I will encourage getting the LLW under control. Kuma also hated his gentle leader. He tolerated the Black Dog Infin8 halter better (http://www.blackdog.net.au/index.php?page=shop.browse&category_id=2&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=5). We alternate between a limited slip collar and harness now that he's much better at LLW.

[Polecatty]

If she has prey drive a flirt pole can be very useful. I use a horse lunge whip and it is excellent- just tie her favourite toy to the end and away you go.

[raineth]

A couple of tips I can think of:

There are quite a few effective methods to train loose leash walking, the key to them is timing, consistency, and where you practice :)

Start in the backyard where she is familiar and when she is reliable there move to the front yard and get her reliable there before you start practicing in the street in front of you house and so on.

Definitely do small training sessions, interactive toys, and play with her :)

I can't paste the link at the moment but you might enjoy reading a recent article by Karen Pryor. If you google Karen Pryor + Don't Socialise the Dog! You should find it :) it has really good guidelines on socialisation :)

[JulesP]

I moved from acreage to the burbs about 3 months ago. I have 2 border collies. I was a little concerned about whether they would be bored. I took a lot of care to find the right house and garden. So far it is all going well. The only drama has been one of the neighbors has chickens and we had to reinforce the fence a bit.

The dogs are loving their daily walks. One of them is currently scratching on the door as a hint, lol. One of the reason I purchased this house is because it has a nice quiet off lead park right near it. The dogs are actually better behaved with other dogs now that they are going out for a walk everyday rather than just running around my paddocks.

I would be trying to find a quiet offlead area so your dog can have a bit of a run. I wouldn't be walking onlead in an offlead area though if your dog is doing to do the paw thing because you are going to get dogs approaching. As much as we might say that this shouldn't happen it does. If I saw you coming with your dog on lead I would be putting mine back on lead but most people will not do this.

From experience with plant chewers, this current plant is a lost cause unless you put it somewhere that she can't get it. Nice of you to keep re-potting it for her though :laugh:

[aussielover]

I've lived on an acerage and in the suburbs with a small yard. I didn't find any difference in my dogs behaviour except it is more convenient to exercise a dog on an acerage.

Neither of my dogs would self exercise and would always sit by the back door of you locked them out.

Currently we have a large yard and a swimming pool and are living with another dog which is a lot of fun for my dog but she doesn't really go out and self exercise and woll want to sit inside with me if i am inside. Sometimes the two dogs play together so in that respect having a large yard is good.

We also do agility and flyball (just started) 3-5 days per week- at clubs, trials or private lessons and we generally do some training at home each day as well.

I also walk her twice a day for 45 mins around the lake down the road and am also going to start biking with her.

She swims in the pool a lot everyday as well.

Despite all this, She still digs and destroys plants though lol!

I find that training wears them out more than physical exercise. Most dogs could walk or run all day but ask them to think at the same time and they will get tired quicker.

My dog gets more tired from 15 mins of agility training than from the 45 min walk we do beforehand.

The interesting thing is that she was actually getting more walks when we lived in a house with a tiny yard. Having the pool and the other dog to play with has made a huge difference though.

[leopuppy04]

2 dogs and 3 dog sports, mine are just grateful when I leave the house so they can get some sleep :laugh:

Haha yup that's me! 3 adults and 1 new puppy, 3-4 dog sports, I think they are happy when the weekdays come so they can rest up!

[B-Q]

We have 10 acres but the dogs don't have free run of it. We have a dog fenced houseyard that is bigger than a normal backyard but Quinn doesn't self excercise generally so she needs effort put in everyday.

She does need a chance to really strecth her legs atleast a few times a week so for that I usually use a tennis racket+tennis ball and either go down tot he back paddocks or down tot he football field and wack the ball around for a while.

I rarely go for leashed walks unless we have somewhere to go for her to socialise and train in new environments (that seems to wear her out a lot)

I bike with her a bit but my area's kinda hilly so there arn't many places we can go.

I jog a couple of times a week and take Quinn for that but even 6km or 8km barely wears her out because I'm slow so its only a slow trot for her, she usually does zoomies when we get home.

Training is always very helpful. Shaping tricks with a clicker will make her use her brain.

I'm instructing at a training group now so Quinn gets to come to training with me a couple of times a week, eventhough she sits in her crate for more than 3 hours most times to get out at the end for 15 or 30 minutes. She gets a lot out of it just from sitting and watching all the action and its helped reduce her reacticity mountains.