Dear Fellow Akita Owners, I have a 9 months old japanese akita male, called Yamato. He is a very sweet boy, I socialized him like crazy right after we got him, he is still very friendly with strangers and dogs. Our problems started when the summer heat came a few weeks ago and it is getting worse day by day. My problem is that after it is getting dark, he starts to bark. He barks when the neighbor turns on the light/tv/whatever, when other dogs are barking in the area, when another akita who lives nearby howls, a car passes by... or just because why not? It is very.. frustrating. It started with a few woofs here and there, but since 2 days he will not stop... and boy he have lungs to support his voice! Also he will not sleep at night, almost at all. Or even if he does, it is only like 3-4 hours, after midnight. Then he wakes up and the barking fest starts again. Seems like every tiny bit of sound is disturbing him. Now I know there are a few reasons why dogs bark, but I really need your advice here. 1) Exercise - it is very hot here, and even if I try to walk with him early in the morning and late in the evening when the weather is bearable, he just refuses to walk more than 10-20 minutes. He drops himself in the middle of the road and rolls on his back laughing at me when I try to get him back on his feet... So it is not so easy to tire him, and also he sleeps during day, because it is simply too hot for him to do anything else. I know he is not a cat, can't sleep 24/7... of course he is awake at night! 2) Separation anxiety - not sure about this, but he is perfectly fine being alone during daytime when I'm at work and my parents look after him, and I spend with him at least 2 hours in the morning and another 4-5 hrs afternoon till late night. BUT! Me appearing whenever he starts barking (just for the sake of my neighbors)... this is the perfect example of the positive reinforcement of the barking (he gets attention)- but I can't just leave him to continue. I do tell him to stop, and also praise him for being quiet. When I disappear, he just continues... The last 2 nights I took him inside (he is indoor-outdoor dog btw) and we ended up not sleeping at all, he tried to, but could not, so we were playing on the carpet and it was around 6 am when we both collapsed and fall asleep still being on the floor... of course I went to work at 8 Sorry for the wall of text, I just wanted to explain that I do think about the possible reasons and solutions... Any advice would be much appreciated!
Its unusual for Akitas to bark unless there is a good reason, my two very rarely barked. Akitas are very clever and once he's learned that by barking makes you react he has ‘trained you’. If he’s not getting enough physical exercise then you need to tire him out mentally do you play games with him, ‘hide and seek with titbits is a good one also interactive toys are good mind games (stuffed kongs ect,) training exercises will also help keep him occupied and tire him out. Have you tried having him sleep in the bedroom with you, That's where all my dogs over the years have slept, and I've never have a problem unless there is a strange noise outside during the night, then they would just give a warning bark, put his bed beside yours if for some reason you don’t want him sleeping there permanently you could gradually over time move his bed out of the room onto the landing then downstairs with the door closed ect: till you get him used to sleeping where you want him to. When I first got Heiko he had been kept outdoors and in all my years of owning the breed ive never had a dog that barked so much at the least little noise inside and out, it drove me mad I taught him to ‘speak on command it took some time but now when he kicks off I just say Its Ok and he stops. http://dogs.about.com/od/basiccommands/ht/speakquiet.htm
Just like @GsdSlave said, it's very unusual for an Akita to bark without reason. Ours hardly ever barks and when she does it isn't very loud. She's gotten used to the normal house noises such as the postman and neighbours. It does sound like he's doing it for attention, he knows now if he barks he can come and play with you all night. Have you tried taking him swimming during the day? Local lake or a paddling pool might be good in the heat, we also play 'find it' games where we hide her favourite toy and she has to find it, each time getting harder. Does he bark during the day? Try to catch him before he starts barking and change his attention to something else. When he no longer is in 'guard' mode treat him. An Akita doesn't need to be trained to be a gaurd dog they have excellent guarding skills. Ceaser Milans website has some good tips on all sorts of behaviour. Hope this helps!
Nigredo did this. Basically I do #1 on the list on the Cesar's website and that's all that's needed. I don't have to tell him again. I will admit to finding it extremely annoying and perhaps occsassionally being harsh and through gritted teeth saying "OMG NIGREDO - sit down and shut up!!" Not being mean on purpose, but just very annoyed. Nowadays I don't do that but when he was younger I did kinda snap on occasion and shout at him. These days I just firmly say "Be quiet Nigredo" and he stops. The barking at nothing is uncommon now, though. Akita's may be more stubborn but he gets it. I advise trying to distract him when the barking starts. Nigredo is also fat and sometimes doesn't like walks and acts stubborn and sits/lays down when he wants to go home. It isn't tolerated. His collar is tightened up so he can't back out of it, and he is moved along. I keep it loose on him usually but when he is fed up, he will stubbornly try to back of it if I try and get him to his feet by lightly tugging him. I do not try to coax him to his feet verbally as that doesn't work, I merely keep moving. He's always chosen to keep up rather than the alternative.
What a dreadful compilation. The poor Bulldog - he calls that relaxation? I don't think so. The kick whilst wearing roller skates looked brutal too. These methods are more like bullying the dog into compliance. Also, does this man ever reward the dog when he does get it right?
First of all, thanks for all the answers It is really nice to see so many helpful people around. I think our biggest problem is the lack of sleep during the night, and he barks like crazy to occupy himself somehow. I feel him becoming tense, he tries to sleep but can not. The thing is with Yamato... He decided to move to the yard at nighttime. When he was around 6 months old, and we still had the heating on in the house, he choose not to come inside to sleep anymore, because it was not comfortable for him. (inside it was 20 Celsius, outside it was still like 15) I felt sorry, because I LOVED him sleeping with me in the same room, but he was panting all night long, so I let him stay outside. Up until now he was a heavy sleeper, he went out around 11 pm and slept till 7am without a problem. So we can say this is a sudden change in his sleeping habit - and I really hope this is just because of the hot weather. I do let him in, but he will not sleep. He plays with his toys, if I tell him to down, he will, but after a few minutes I hear him getting up and trying to find another place to stay in the room, playing again, chewing, or trying hard to occupy himself during the night. If I leave him outside, he barks... and barks... and barks. I go out, he chills with me, trying to fall asleep, I go back inside and after like 20 minutes he gives up and barks again. Today the weather is much cooler, just 20 celsius outside, windy and we could go twice for a 1.5 hrs walk. Also I played with him fetch, gave him a stuffed kong - literally tried my best to keep him awake during the day - lets see if he finally can sleep during the night. Thank you for the tips, I am looking for a place to take him swimming, he loves water by the way, I bought him a doggy pool to chill there. As for Milan or not Milan... I am an enthusiastic follower of the positive reinforcement, I love Zak George and his vids on youtube.
Zac George did some trick training programmes on Kids TV over here. I like to use trick training, it provides lots of opportunities to reward attention and build rapport. My favourite YouTube training videos are the Kikopup ones. (Perhaps an unfortunate title given the direction that this thread has moved!) I hope you find a cure for your boy's sleeplessness soon, it sounds as if you have already tried most methods. If heat is the problem, do you think he might be able to sleep in a kitchen or hallway with a small air con unit running? Or, more controversially, might a short course of tranquillisers help to reset his sleep clock?
He's not hurting those dogs. People love to reference that video when they have something bad to say about Milan. The reason the uploader turned off comments and why the video has a High dislike ratio was because the video got more backlash than support and people were saying that Milan isn't truly kicking the dogs, but tapping them to startle them or distract them. I've seen a dog KICKED, and trust me it looks nothing like that. While I don't use my foot on my dog, I find the sound he uses helpful. The video is shock value because if you actually look, the taps are mostly effective and the dogs rarely make a noise etc because it doesn't hurt, it's just a distraction. Still, nobody is perfect and some of his readings of dog behavior are off. But then, I am not the type that shies away from telling my dog no and letting him know in no uncertain terms that I am not happy with his behavior. Positive reinforcement is nice, but I find that with certain behaviors or certain dogs, being blunt can work as well or better. Milan does sort of advocate bullying dogs into compliance because he says that in dog packs, that is how it's done. He fails to realize that we aren't dogs and we can't really train our dogs to think we are.
Hi Whereabouts do you live in Hungary? I live about 60 km from Miskolc and 25 km from Kosice (Kassa) Slovakia. From what you say I think a lot of your problems with Yamato is due to the extremely hot weather we've been having in Hungary. I know its affected both my dogs, my Pei girl in particular as she doesn't cope well when its hot. She's spends most of the day sleeping on the kitchen tiles, in front of a fan, and only "comes alive" around 7 pm in the evening when it begins to cool down and even then she's not too keen on going for a walk, maybe because the pavements are still too hot for her paws Trying to get her in a night has been a problem because she'd much prefer to stay outside where its several degrees cooler than in the house. I've often been tempted to get out my sleeping bag and join her! One of the best things I bought for both my dogs are cool mats which I bought online from Pettissimo.hu. (you can pay cash on delivery). The gel in the mats keeps the dog cool for several hours and although they're quite expensive are IMO worth the money. As for the barking, I use more or less the same method as GsdSlave and generally speaking mine only bark when strangers pass the gate. My Pei went through a phase of waking at the least sound in the night, but I solved that within a few days by leaving the TV on with the sound turned down low. I deliberately chose Sky News which repeats the same news items every 15 minutes or so which makes for very unexciting listening! My Pei has always slept next to my bed but my other dog sleeps in various places round the house, even though he also started off by sleeping in my bedroom. It's their choice! If you don't already do so I'd suggest you take him to training classes which in my part of Hungary are always on Saturdays or Sunday and outside. Both mine have completed their BH (Begleithunde) course but because neither of them are suitable breeds we haven't gone on to doing IPO (Schutzhunde) we're now doing agility. If you do decide to take him to classes please make sure the trainer only uses positive reinforcement!
Zak George did waaay more than just trick trainings. I really recommend his vids and I also follow kikopup, love her too. They both are using positive reinforcement exclusively. Kikopup helped me a LOT when Yamato was around 5 months old and he was EXTREMELY mouthy. I do have AC in the house, so it can't be too hot for him inside, but I was thinking about tranquillisers too... Anyone have any experience with Bach Rescue Remedy?
If you do get Bach Rescue Remedy make sure it is the one for pets as the regular one has alcohol in it.
Oh hello I'm from Budapest myself. Yes, I agree, the weather is extreme here. Either it is too hot, or like today, raining all day long and from 37 it went down to 15 celsius in one day! Just crazy, very hard to co-op with... Thanks for the great suggestions, I will check these dog mats for sure! Also I will try to do something about his barking problem... I don't want it to become a bad habit. Interestingly enough he is only doing it at night... not a sound from him at daytime, even if an ambulance passes by or all the dogs are barking around. So I'm pretty sure it is connected with the changed sleeping schedule. We've been already on puppy classes from 3 months old to 7 months. He is really friendly, but (I guess as all akitas are?) playing rough and since he is already 45 kgs, he is too much for most of the dogs.
Another thought. If this is a stress related problem, have you tried using an Adaptil pheromone diffuser or spray? My girl has separation anxiety barking, and I have to admit that it did not work for her, but you will find lots of reports of good results online.
I've used Bach Rescue Remedy and the Dorwest Skullcap and Valerian tablets as well as Dorwest Valerian Compound drops when Georgina was extremely stressed due to having several operations on her eyes. Can't say that the Bach Rescue Remedy had much effect on her. Of the other two the Skullcap and Valerian Tablets worked well but didn't have such a long lasting effect as the Valerian Compound. The only problem with the compound is that it smells and tastes horrid which made it more difficult to administer. Every time she saw the bottle she'd conveniently disappear! You can order the Dorwest (UK) products online as they deliver to Hungary.
