My mum has been looking for the right dog for our lifestyle for almost a year now, and recently fell in love with akitas. Unfortunately, the litter we had our eye on is the other side of the country in Wales! Are there any nearer to Norfolk that you can reccommend? Meanwhile, I'll be searching breeding lists online while I wait for a few replies here.
well, my mum did. she said she couldn't deal with the shedding...Although Akita's shed a lot too, so I'm not sure what changed her mind. Malamutes are still my favourite breed
Good luck in finding your Akita!! even though basing your choice of an Akita over a Mal seems strange to me as i would have thought they blow their coats just as much?!! (they have similar coats to mals ie undercoat) Give Champ-dogs a go! However if you are serious in getting a "rarer" breed you must be prepared to travel the distance!! Let us know how you get on!! edited to add- I assume that you have recently made your desicion from going from a mal to an akita?? I really hope that you have researched the Akitas and are not rushing to get a big head strong dog that you may not be able to cope with!! It would be a shame to see more pups going into rescue becasue a good intentioned buyer didnt look into their chosen breed enough!? Here is a link that contains some really good info on Akitas http://www.akitaclub.org/info/breedinfo.html Please dont think im getting at you! Im just hoping you know what your getting into! Once again Good Luck
okay thanks, I'll search that! I'll have to talk to her about that when she gets back from the shops, as any things 'wrong' with getting a mal seem to be present in akitas anyway, like you said :/ I guess I'll just search for one closer to home at the moment, and I'll see what she says
oh, and I don't mind the distance really, but I'm thinking a six hour drive might not be very nice for a puppy the first time it meets us D: d'oh!
oh no, I know how it can be with people returning dogs, and it annoys us that so many dogs get thrown into shelters just because their owners made the wrong choises -that's why we've taken over a year to search for one. She just got home and I told her how all the drawbacks of owning an akita are the same as the reasons why she changed her mind about a malamute! I think hertalking on the phone to the breeder so long almost talked her into it. *sigh* back to the drawing board! I'll have moved out in three years, so I hope she gets one pretty soon
Why don't you take a trip to the nearest rescue centre. Is this your first dog? If it is then i'm sure the right dog will be there waiting for a nice warm home for christmas. I personally would NOT choose a Akita. These dogs need specialist handling & knowledge. They are definately not lap dogs!. There were bred to hunt bears, so you can imagine how powerful they are. I've been on the wrong side of one. It wasn't a pleasant experience. Call your local centres & get their expert opinion
We've been to Dog's Trust twice, but found all the dogs we liked had been returned up to six times, and because of biting in more than one case. We'd like the challenge of training a dog, but feel we should probably train one from puppyhood, as my autistic sister feels intimidated by big dogs (although she's trying, and we think we can get past this as it grows). so far I think our best option is to go to a breeder where we know the temperaments are more likely to be as good as they can be. -We're going back to the drawing board in searching for that perfect breed though, as my mum said she'd rather get a short-haired dog.
We travelled 360(7hours) miles to choose our pup..when he was 9wks old.. we have our 7 year old Samoyed and two kids with us.. We then went back 3 wks later and picked him up.. and brought him home.. the journey was fine.. plenty pee stops
Couldnt say really. I dont have alot of experience with Utility dogs! Hasnt a memeber on here got a Shar Pei?.....
You say that your mum is looking for a short haired dog. Did you realise that short hair shows up on your floor & furniture more than long hair does as it sticks in like sharp needle. It looks like your mum doesn't want a dog that sheds too much hair. Unfortunately MOST dogs moult apart from the dogs which don't moult like Bichons, labradoodles, yorkshire terriers, poodles, Bedlington terriers. I really think you should stick with a more practical first time dog rather than a dog which 'looks nice'. My nan has a Bichon. They are lovely dogs. I had a yorkie when i was a teenager. These dogs are great fun.
Why dont you get yourself a dog encyclopedia, a cup of coffee and sit down relax read through and bookmark the dogs that suit you and your family best, Then once you have finalised go do some ore looking into over the net Iv noticed from your past threads that you have never had dogs within your home family?? Choose an "easier" pup as your first NOT big dominent breeds as this could end up in disaster no matter how much you research! John and I are on a waiting list for a Mal. A desicion which i can tell you was taken very very seriously. Luckly we both have had and been brought up with large working breeds such as St Bernards, Bernese Mountain dogs and Rough Collies so we knew what we were/are in for! However saying that we have never owned a large breed so this played a big part in our deciding. We felt that we can cope with a big energetic breed becuase we know what we are getting into and also we have the time and flexability to put into such a dog
NI were my first large breed dog...but once I make up my mind I don't change it and become very dedicated...I knew I would be on a learning curve with them but knew I had the determination and time they would need and we get on great. I would never recomend them for instance for first timers but I was different if you know what I mean... I wouldn't patronise anyone in their choice but would say that it doesn't sound as if the original poster's mum is entirely sure what she wants... You have to be 100% honest with yourself...Look at all the things that could be thrown at you and ask yourself can you handle it, or would you want to give that pup up when it becomes alot of hard work? With Akita's and Mals etc you have to think of the amount of excersise required which isn't made easy when you think they don't retreive and stuff like say a lab or collie who would be happy to play fetch 100 times over...and in most all cases Mals should not be let off lead in unsecured areas...then you need to think what you would be able to do to get around those issues. And like others mentioned the grooming will be alot...Even with my NI I have to vacume about twice a day to stop it looking like we have an angora layer ontop the carpet. Mals and Akita's are big and powerful and you have to be sure that you will be able to put so much effort into lead training to make sure they are not going to pull because if they do you wont be able to stand up if you can't control them, same goes for my male NI. I think people know deep down what is right so you just have to be very honest with yourselves.
I like the amount of advise I'm getting on here, but seriously guys, you don't have to worry! We ARE putting a lot of thought into this, and a labrador could well be the choice we go for for all we know so far. We're just looking up any dog we like the look of, researching and researching, buying books, talking to breeders, visiting shelters and generally making sure there is absolutely no chance that we will have to return it.
I dont think you can make your mind up what you want,why dont u first start off with a small breed? Didnt u say your sister didnt like big dogs,so why try to purchase one. Twice I've read through your threads from wanting a malamute now its jumped to an akita
we're both lovers of medium to giant breeds really. Although we're open-minded about what we'd like to eventually go for, I don't think we'd even consider a toy or terrier just because that's not our taste really. The reason I've created both of these topics is to get more information on each breed we become ineterested in. We've spent hours on the phone to breeders about malamutes and akitas, but she's now swayed away from those two breeds because of her issue with lots of white fur and the big sheds. I think she's looking into shar-peis now, but there's no way we'll be getting whatever dog just takes our fancy at the time. This is one of the most important decisions our family will ever make because we intend to keep whatever pet we choose for life. My sister is wary of bigger dogs, but she's trying. She was friendly with my mum's friend's dog and gave it treats and was happy as long as it didn't jump up, so we're determined to train our new dog as well as we possibly can.
