I have an 11 month old Akita bitch, whom some of you may have heard me praising her excellent behaviour on here before, however, she is acting different lately, Whenever me or my partner go out we have always left her to have the run of the house, as from 6 weeks has never ever done any damage or chewed, she rarely went upstairs.  Lately when I have got back she has been upstairs and rearranged things, ie, got my cuddly cat off my bed and bought it down to her bed, my slippers were moved into another room, ironing out of the basket, etc, This is not that naughty I know, Anyway, I got a stairgate to stop that happening upstairs - But now i leave her in the hall with the lounge door open and everytime I get back the cushions are off the sofa's and on the floor, all her toys are out of her toy basket all over the floor and oddly enough she will get whatever she can find of ours (i.e a glove off the coat stand, a slipper from the hall and put it on her blanket, she doesn't chew it up though (not that I want her to), she just places them on her blanket. last week I left my shoes in the hall and went out for an hour, when I got back they were both neatly placed on the sofa where I sit... I find it quite cute! however wondered whether this was general boredom or what??? She is never left for more than 4 hours, me and my partner work on the road and plan it to pop back in the day and walk her, which makes 3 - 4 walks somedays.  We were considering getting her a brother Akita from the same breeder as a companion for her, but can't seem to make up our minds if it is the right thing to do, she loves to play with other dogs, (anyway that is another story)- Any suggestions would be helpful please,

I have no clue as to why she is doing this and there are probably more knowledgable people who will, but i think the fact that she doesnt chew things is fantastic!! I have never been able to let mine have the run of the house - the devastation would be too much!!
Has she had a season yet? maybe it's a hormonal thing?
Anyway - good luck with her, i'll be interested to see what others think on this. :)

Has she had a season yet?  It could be hormone related (i.e. she may be exhibiting "nesting" behaviour for example) :)

Having said that my dogs (both sexes) have always gathered anything of mine they can find to snuggle up with when I'm out - even into their golden years.

As for adding to your doggy number, personally I'd wait until your girl is fully mature and trained to your highest abilities before doing so otherwise it's not just double trouble but potentially havoc :D   Rough guide, minimum of 2 years but probably nearer 3 years.  I generally have approx a 5 year age gap in mine as that works best for me but have had two who were only 7 months apart and although they had an absolute ball, both picked up bad habits far more easily than good ones :D    

HTH, regards Teri

Hi
She had her season last August and was neutered December!

She probably just wants to be around something with your scent on it - as I described my own adults doing into their vintage years :)   I think the main thing is that she doesn't destroy anything - mine have never done so either.

regards, Teri

I don't know why either, but my tiny little papillon does this too. :) Moves his toys about, grabs whatever he can reach (not a lot!!) and moves it etc. For instance I can come home and find the blanket from one of the beds on the floor, toys in a pile and a sofa cushion on the floor.

Think yourself lucky that papillions can't reach very high. My rescue GSD (Zak) at 6 months didn't actually do a lot of damage, he just loved everything in his basket with my scent on. I had to be very, very carefull once I knew what he was capable of reaching. We came back from a rare night out once & in his basket he was surrounded by the following: my handbag open with purse undone & credit card out (he must have realised it was so well used & that it had a really strong smell of me on it!), the colander off the draining board, the tea towel off the cooker, some potatoes out of the vegetable rack & worst of all..........the carving knife off the draining board. I had to tidy the kitchen after that when we left him, but now he has grown out of it thank goodness! I got him a little rescue patterdale terrier friend for company, she prefers dirty underwear given the chance. Every time she (Tilly) sees the safety gate left open on the stairs, she runs straight up & comes down with a right assortment of knickers & socks stuffed in her mouth! Must get the kids to tidy up to!! Never a dull moment with dogs in the house.

She misses you! :-)

Ah ...bless her. When my Akita was that age he re-arranged a feather pillow - all the feathers on the outside - all over the bedroom
Now he's mature & sensible but he still thinks we don't know that he sleeps IN our bed if we go out & forget to close the bedroom door. He's fast asleep on the mat when we come in, but the bed clothes have been not-so-neatly turned down for us :D :D