Hi

My 9 month old pup akita is very friendly to us but she dosnt get along at all with our other 7 dogs except 1 which is a very sick half wolf. The thing is she used to get alone really well with the half wolfves sister and our newfoundland until she started trying to be the boss of the leader of all the dogs and now they fight any time they are with each other ripping at each others throats. When we first got her she was afraid of our cavalier king charles but now she nips at them and runs and also has been caught dragging one of them across the garden by her ear. Any ideas how to stop this? Would it be a good idea to be with her and 1 of the dogs at a time for a while for her to get readjusted to them again?? Also she barks at other dogs that she passes when we go on walks but its a really scared bark!

Help
Aimée

No Aimee it won't stop, Akitas are aggressive fighting dogs by nature, I wouldn't even try, it will end in tears.
Dawn.

Firstly akitas are NOT fighting dogs - they were used briefly for fighting in their past but were breed for hunting and guarding.

Sorry just had to get that straight. Akitas are dominant not agressive - very different things. Please do not get them confused.

Also my akita has been "playing" agressively with my lab doing very similar things to what you have mentioned. They are fine when they are kennelled together but let them loose in the garden and they are both at it.

They are getting better as I now split them up whenever it gets too much making sure they both know that I will not tolerate fighting in the ranks, as I don't know about you but my lab is as much at fault as the akita.

Have you talked to you Akita breeder to see if they have any suggestions? Also it may be worth searching out an akita breeder that also breeds other dogs and see what they do/suggest.

Good luck

You said it Timb, they WERE used for fighting, and they ARE dominant aggressive, if they can't get their own way they will fight, no doubt about it.
Dawn.

Akita's are generally a dog dominant breed, and most owners I have spoken to would never leave them alone with another dog. some are OK supervised if they have sufficient respect for you as pack leader, but if a fight should break out while you are not there then it will end in the serious injury or death of one of the dogs, and it won't usually be the Akita.

Hello

I would rehome her to an experienced Akita owner , especialy if all the other dogs (before you had her) seem to get on quite well , it could all end in a disaster for one of your other dogs.

HELEN.

I agree, it is surely best to rehome the Akita, as you obviously can't rehome your other 7.

Things will only escalate otherwise :(

Lindsay

Seems to me Dawn you have an agressive nature towards Akita's! Have you had a bad experience of the breed in the past? Just to back Tim's comments up they are not a fighting dog. Just because one or 2 idiots may have put a pair of Akita's in a ring in the past to fight, this doesn't make them a fighting dog. They have been genetically made up as a hunting companion and a loyal guardian to it's family. Do we class a poodle as a fighting dog if we force 2 in a ring with a bitch in heat close by? It's horses for courses and about the upbringing of an animal that counts. It's maybe true to say that an Akita should never have been introduced to so many dogs in the begining. Why did you if you already had so many?

Hoppy

maybe this will help you Akitas
tells you all about temprement etc

Several bad experiences thanks Hopper YES!! No need to back up Timb either, they WERE used for fighting! really not concerned whether they are now or not. I have seen them strike out at judges, I have known a couple who have attacked their owners, 2 that have killed cats and two that have killed the other canine member of their family, one being a 4 month old Retriever puppy! So speaking from my experience an Akita that is attacking other canine members at 9 months of age needs removing from that situation BEFORE it becomes more serious. OK.
Dawn.

Think your missing the point slightly :-) Sounds like the blinkers are on and not coming off. I honestly am very sorry that you have had some unpleasant expierences in the past and i'm sure that the tarnished brush you carry speaks for every one and all.

One problem with akitas is they don't seem to have a change of expression & definitely do not like loads of eye contact-from experience one of my collies was happily playing with a young bitch when they were both puppies. He invited her to play in the usual manner & gave her eye contact. She stared back & launched herself at him. Fortunately he was a lot quicker than him & we parted them He never gave her any direct eye contact again & they played & socialized well afterwards. Her owner was constantly watching her with other dogs & always distracted her if she was given direct eye contact by another dog-better safe than sorry. She was always great with people & so pretty(b/w pinto with mask)

I have to back Hoppers up on this.

I am very sorry to hear of your bad experiences with akitas. It is always ashame to see bad press about any breed of dog, especially when that breed is one that you own.

I have been bitten by everything from GSDs to terriers and yet still do not think they are dangerous dogs, but that is because I know how to behave around them (not saying you do not Dawn - just some people do not) Jack russells have been used for fighting - in fact just about every breed has been in the past!

I also do not think we are helping Aimee at all.

She needs advice from people who have been in a similar situation with any large breed dog and how they resolved it After all my lab almost broke my akitas leg 4 months ago and no one would class them as agressive! I just needed to understand the circumstances that led to it and prevent it from happening again.

IMHO Aimee it sounds like your akita wants to be the pack leader of your dogs - of you cannot live with this or your other dogs cannot then yes you could well have a problem and need to understand how to control it (I don't know the answer to that but maybe getting in touch with a dog behaviourist may help)

Lots of luck

Tim

(& Kia and Jinx)

have you read the link i put up Timb? it clearly says that this breed will NOT live happily with the same sex!

Bad experiences ??? What Bad experiences no it was a learning curve & after speaking to the bitch's breeder(a very well know UK top Akita breeder) the owner prevented any problems. Incidently when they meet my collie & the akita still socialize he is now 12 & she's 11 nearly 12

The only "cure/resolution"for Aimee is for the bitch to be "alpha"female with her backing or to rehome the bitch-as there are 7 other dogs in the home the later is the far more "safe"option

As you have been bitten bu so many breeds perhaps you need to learn to read dog body language, in over 50 years of living with dogs I have been bitten four times, once unprovoked by a lab/golden guide dog for the blind(I was not the first person this dog attacked), a golden when stopping it attacking another persons collie(again not the first person the dog had attacked the dog broke off attacking the collie to attack me), a beardie(not mine)that was caught up in barbed wire & last a GSD when I invaded his personal space because his owner had not told us he was aggressive because of lack of socialization(8 week old mentally-8 month old physically)which I missed his body language as I was concentrating on his owners. The first two were aggressive & dangerous the first more so than the second, the other two my fault. Incidently the first two were subsequently pts for later attacks on people. I don't consider any breed dangerous but some breeds are not suitable for new or novice owners of dogs

I am not missing any point Hoppers! How long have you owned the breed? I haven't owned them at all, BUT I have boarded loads of them in the last 11yrs, I know at least 3 people that show and breed them and not one of them will say they are a sociable dog with other dogs. They are a very dominant breed and anyone with genuine care for the breed will not encourage people to persevere with a problem that will end in tears.
Dawn.

When I was still showing, the Akitas had a dreadful reputation on the benches - very few people dared go near them. Quite put me off them - shame, because they are beautiful to look at.

to get back to the point of the post, i think it a good idea to rehome the akita.....i really believe that its not the right breed to put into such a large pack, and it has got to be really difficult to monitor the behaviour of 7 dogs together, let alone trying to be pack leader youself.

I think the Link is very good at getting the point across, they are a very dominant breed, and problems with other dogs and animals are more the norm than the exception.

That is wehy they need expert handling and training to minimise and control these tendencies.

I agree, the Akita really has to be rehomed esp. as one of your dogs is already unwell. All the dogs will be stressed more and more, and even the Akita may be under stress of a different kind. Individual Akitas may get on with or tolerate other dogs, but asking one to live with 7 is not going to work :(

It is worth doing research on a breed and how sociable it is if you already have a big dog pack, i am surprised a breeder let you have this dog (no offence meant).

Best wishes
Lindsay

Thanks all for replying
That site was useful but on another site that we read before we purchashed the pup didnt say that they did have any problem with other dogs and should get along with others that was really misleading!
We also had already told the breeder we had that many dogs but he said nothing.
We now think he only wanted to sell her because it wasnt his bitch that had the puppies but he was minding it as he bred his dog with it.
As for rehoming the pup we cant because the sick dog has really become attached to her and we are afraid that he'll get depressed as he suffers from depression and epilepsy!
This is all a mess!

Aimée