History :
Originally hunting dog in the small games and the birds, Shiba kept(guarded) its instinct hunter(fighter) and its outdoor liveliness. He(it) is a memberof one of the most oldest Japanese races. He was the companion of the Geisha girl and the lovers because it is a symbol of loyalty, respect and love in its native country.
In 1937, he was raised to the rank of ” National Monument of Japan ” to save the race, which was has a moment given onto the point to disappear.
He delights his world by his attitude of cat, his independence and his emotional generosity. He fills all the functions in the family, the cat, the confidant, the guard dog, the dog of game with the children, the sportsman if you wish, performing in activities as the agility. He is tireless.
In Japan, we say of this small exceptional dog
Akita in all its states :
Akita Inu is a dog of Japanese origin. His name means dog from Akita province. He is part of the 5th group, that of spitzs, Nordic dogs and primitives.
Dog large (about 61 cm for the female and 67 cm for the male with a tolerance of +/- 3 cm), its color can be red and white, sesame, brindle or white. He must have his tail curled on his back, his ears erect and inclined forwards, his eyes dark and slanted. It must not be monorchid or cryptorchid (lack of 1 or 2 testicles), long hair … (see standard of the race).
The positive points :
Good guardian, he is a little barker and calm, which makes him easy to live. It can be brought everywhere if it is well socialize: dog that comes out often and is facing the world of humans, and if possible yours.
Respectful of its environment and clean by nature, it is very easy to live in house as in apartment.
Faithful dog, he knows how to be independent and easily supports loneliness.
Unlike its Nordic cousins, it is not used to pull sledges; he prefers quiet walks and sunbathing at the “rising sun”.
It adapts very well to other animals of the house (cats, birds …) and loves children.
The negative points :
It is a proud dog that must however socialize from an early age (socialized dog = dog that often comes out and is confronted to the world of humans). Akita become scared and barking because of a lack of experience with the world around them.
This dog has character: that’s what makes his charm. Use too much authority and you will have a fearful and / or aggressive dog, you have to be a fair and logical master: a “NO!” is a “NO!” and not a “GOOD AGREEMENT!?, AS YOU WANT ?!”. The Akita is very sensitive, if you know how to talk to him (a treat, a caress …) you can get a lot of things from him. Never hit your dog, it could make him aggressive.
It is regrettable and deplorable to point out that our dear Akita, who are generally hardy and robust, contract certain genetic diseases such as sebaceous adenitis (skin disease), hip dysplasia (coxofemoral), VKH ….
For adenitis, you still need to know that surely the vast majority of our lines carry the gene, and no one can say that their lines are healthy. In addition, there is a monthly treatment, certainly for life, but inexpensive. It is a painless condition for the dog if treated properly.
For dysplasia, some cases are recoverable but with the means of expenses and veterinary care consequent.
On the other hand, VKH is a painful disease that imposes a fast and daily treatment with cortisone, to avoid excruciating sufferings or the death of its animal.
The major problem of this breed is its high susceptibility to its same-sex counterparts. Beware of fights, take your responsibilities: keep it on a leash during walks (especially at sexual maturity around 9 months) or have it sterilized and know how to master it.
Positive education:
The clicker-training method combines the gentle and natural method, removing all constraints. This method is great for puppies and even for adults (contrary to the ideas received a dog learns at any age). This method is very effective and appreciated by the Akita: big hard with a soft heart! It consists in encouraging the dog to obey you with its pure pleasure while leaving it free to choose (no constraint of extreme domination: what the Akita hates!). It’s really the perfect way to be in communion with your pet. The clicker produces a sound that allows the animal to know that what it has just done is very good and that it must reproduce it. To reinforce and accelerate this understanding, a treat is given to the dog. Then it’s up to him to propose an action to sound the clicker and have his reward.
To those who think that give a treat to a dog, does not create a link with his master, they are totally wrong: for your dog at first, you are a bowl. Then the dog learns to appreciate you. The clicker makes it much faster to create this link. Moreover, “all work deserves pay”: for us human is money; for the dog, it’s the treat or his favorite toy.
For my part, my puppies from the age of 8 weeks go to school puppy (if this is possible), where they learn the basic rules of education (sitting, lying, rappelling and walking) ), long car rides, objects and new people. I use this method of education: clicker-training. It consists of using the dog’s natural ability to explain the basic commands, and most importantly, it allows the dog to think (develop his intellect). This method is quite suitable for the akita who needs to feel that he is the one who decides; and that he acted to please his master (out of love), without any violence (no ringing or punishment of any kind, a common habit of the traditional method of education classes!). It is quite amazing to see how quickly the puppy learns: in just two fifteen-minute lessons, my puppies learn sitting, walking and rappelling … and all this while having fun as crazy. This method is very easy to learn and you will find educators who are clickers in your area : La Team Cap Dog
Understand your dog :
– we learn about dog behavior
– we learn about the gentle methods of education
There are basic rules of essentials that every master must know such as:
– Not seen, not taken, Not scolded.
– One never cleans in front of the pup whatever the stupidity.
– We always congratulate the puppy who obeys an order.
Urban legends :
You will hear many people say / affirm that the man must dominate his dog, and therefore he must submit it to his good will. It has been recognized for many years that we were 100% in the wrong with many studies of dog behavior and that it was much more enjoyable and effective to live in harmony and respect with them. .
Unfortunately, old habits die hard and so are born of many ineptitudes in the socialization and education of the puppy: what I call urban legends (we do not know why we do it, but “we” we have said it had to be done).
in blue: old habits
in red: the despair of the dog lover
in green: the correction
It’s totally wrong!
Never does any dog punish her puppies this way but that’s how she kills her prey!
So do not shake your puppy by the skin of the neck, he will think that you want to kill him and lose the confidence he has in you!
Not to mention the worries you are likely to cause to his cervical! “When a puppy does not obey you, or if he is dominant, put him on his back holding his neck, until he does not move or licks you, because that’s how makes himself respected by the pack leader! “
It’s totally wrong!
A true leader is just, serene, and does not need to assert his authority by extreme submission at every turn. It is never the leader who forces the other dog to put on his back but it is the dog that goes to bed by his good will in front of him. Practice this method and your dog will associate you with a bully and not a real leader. This will result in a lack of confidence in you, a lack of serene benchmark and you risk to make a dog shy and / or aggressive and above all not obedient. This is especially valid for primitive, Spitz and Nordic dogs. “Why do not you put a wank to your dog when he’s doing something stupid? If you want your dog to respect you and obey you, you have to scold him violently or hit him! “
It’s totally wrong!
A true pack leader fights very rarely. He has only to growl slightly to be respected.
So if you beat your dog or yell at him for “hours,” it will not help. In the eyes of the dog, you will not be considered a real chef but, in addition, you may see your dog growling. It is better to reward and reinforce good behavior than to rebuke the bad. The most suitable punishment for a dog is to isolate him from his masters a short time. It will be more effective you will see!
It’s totally wrong!
First, the dog hears 4 times better sounds than us and hears sounds that are not perceptible (ultra-sound, infra-sound) to our ears. So even if you whisper to him an order he will have heard it! Then the dog is not stupid and on the contrary he understands us better than you can imagine. The more you develop your dog’s mind, the more he understands you. It is you who make the intelligence of your dog by the work (education) and by the life that you will have with him (if he lives in your daily contact, he will understand you better than a dog who lives in a kennel that we only see to feed it). Then, your dog also perceives all your emotions (stress, fear, joy, anguish …) and so he knows him if you are well or not without you telling him. Unfortunately, you will hear these speeches very regularly, including canine professionals such as educators, behaviorists or even veterinarians. Ignore these incompetent people! It’s time for them to start training properly!
My meeting with the Akita
Passionate about Nordic dogs since my youngest age with a preference for spitz and primitive dogs, I discovered the Akita Inu one day. Hanoi arrived in the family in December 1992, aged 7 days she had just overcome the ordeal of the brutal but necessary separation with her mother.
Out of a litter of 12 puppies, the very old breeder could not afford to give the bottles necessary for their survival. Luckily, he decided to give me one of the puppies in exchange for good care. Despite the fragility of a new born puppy, Hanoi gradually evolved into our family and had to live with a mother of human substitution.
Once the critical period passed, she saw her mother several times without affection. Doudoune, Hanoi’s nickname, happens to be well socialized especially in the world of humans, but it could have been completely destabilized by the lack of relation with the canine environment (it is disadvised and especially forbidden to withdraw the puppies from their mother before 8 weeks because of the problems mentioned above: survival and socialization).
I was just like my family seduced by this breed, very close to its cousins sled dogs by their physics but so opposed by their characters. After careful consideration, a few years later we welcomed a second dog named Natsumi. And so the family farming started.
