Selera

I'm thinking of adopting this beautiful dog I fell in love with at a local shelter this past week. He's an Akita / German Shepard mix and they are guessing him to be around 2 years old. He hasn't been neutered yet, but will be before he comes home. He seems to have no manners so likely not much training at all. I know it's going to be a lot of training and work that won't happen over night. I'm receiving a lot of negative feedback from friends and family on this. They keep warning me that akitas are dangerous and unpredictable. One told me that they hate cats. I've never owned an Akita before and I have 2 cats at home. I don't want to end up in a situation where I turn my back for a minute and end up with a seriously injured or dead cat. My aunt seems to think that at 2 or nearly 2 being an intact male that he'll have set ways of aggression and marking, etc. that won't change. He would also occasionally end up interacting with my parents 2 small dogs when I go to visit. The shelter's evaluation showed him to be good with other dogs, though I'm not sure this will apply to small peekapoos. Am I crazy?? Is this an impossible task? Am I doomed to have him eat my cats?
Should I even be thinking about this???

any advise would be appreciated!

-Selera

brittanyasands

no. you aren't nuts. this dog needs a good home, and if you are willing to put the time in, go for it. i would though, ask the shelter about any aggression that he might potentially have. has he been around cats? or maybe smaller dogs in the shelter? how did he react? maybe you can watch him or ask them to put him with another small dog..?

get some background on him. if he hasn't had any problems, then go for it. i have never heard anything bad about akitas. people just give them a bad rep like pitbulls. they are a very protective, loyal and loving animal. just like all dogs. asked timndoherty. he is a forum member and has one. as far as i know, he hasn't had any problems.

yes, it is going to be work. they all are. but their unconditional love is so worth it. they pay you back ten-fold. i say, if you have the time and patience, do it. but, you do need to know how he will react.

just in case, if you take him home and it doesn't work out, are they willing to take him back...? i would find out.

keep us posted!! good luck!!

KatzNK9

Hello and welcome to the forum. Great to have you with us.

I had an Akita for 10 years & he was one of the kindest, gentlest dogs I've ever had. I had him when I was breeding cats & he loved & protected my cats. I'm not trying to tell you this dog will be safe but I can tell you that you shouldn't make this decision based on breed bias.

Do you know of any good obedience schools? I highly recommend you consider it immediately if you choose to adopt him. Good luck with your decision.

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The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. - Anonymous

I've been sprung, scorched, boo'd, hugged, sniffed, admired, gobbled, frosted & HoHoHo'd.

coco-bean

just my experience with male dogs, they dont "mark" like people seem to think.
cats mark more then dogs do, and once house broken...there's no need for them to mark indoors

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Selera

They will take him back if for some reason I can not keep him. Though I hate to put him through that. It would be a shame to bring him home only to have to take him back. I'm going to see if I can actually take my big boy kitty down tomorrow to gauge reactions. The cats have been around dogs before but it's been a few years. The people at the shelter also seemed concerned that I hadn't owned an Akita before. As soon as I mentioned that, along with the cats, the one worker seemed to be doing her best to make me not want this dog. She told me he was dog aggressive, when on his evaluation form he was found to be good with other dogs. She made some other comments that didn't seem right either. I didn't notice any issue towards any of the other dogs as we took him outside.
They don't seem to have much history on him. He was brought in as a stray and has been at the shelter for about 3 weeks. I have a hard time believing that anyone could have just lost this dog. He looks very healthy, isn't under weight, I can't think this dog was out wandering on his own for very long. I can't imagine someone wouldn't be looking for him. My guess would be that for whatever reason, the owner probably brought him in and just said he was a stray.
He seemed very laid back and calm in his enclosure when I was there. Part of what I liked about him - while other the dogs were jumping around and barking their heads off he was just kind of sitting back and watching everyone come and go. I had almost talked myself out of the whole thing.... and I walked back down the aisle again on my third visit. He seemed to recognize me, whined a bit and came over to the cage and licked me.

-Selera

4onthefloor

The only way to test the cat socializing is to meet them in a controlled way. Do they have any docile cats at the shelter they could use? Obedince is a must IMO with any shelter dog.I think it is great of you to want to adopt. Just do lots of research and planning first.A 2 year old would be in his adolecence, so given he has had no training, you will most likley have issues to resolve, Patience and consistency will get you both to a good place.

KatzNK9

My Akita never barked unless there was something REAL to bark about. I can't imagine your cat will be comfortable in a shelter situation so I'd be hesitant to think that would be a reliable test of how they might get along. If your cat shows too much fear of being in that environment could make her seem weak & therefore make her a target.

__________________
The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. - Anonymous

I've been sprung, scorched, boo'd, hugged, sniffed, admired, gobbled, frosted & HoHoHo'd.

Selera

This is the dog I'm thinking of adopting. This a picture they had on the shelter website. They are calling him Zeus, though he doesn't seem to know that name so it probably wouldn't be terrible of me to change it?

-Selera

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KatzNK9

He's beautiful! What a lovely dog. I do hope things work out & he gets to have have a forever home with you. Keeping my fingers crossed.

__________________
The reason a dog has so many friends is that he wags his tail instead of his tongue. - Anonymous

I've been sprung, scorched, boo'd, hugged, sniffed, admired, gobbled, frosted & HoHoHo'd.

MixedBreed

He's beautiful!
I don't know much about Akitas particularly but I agree that you shouldn't make this decision based on breed bias. If anything you should be focusing on the fact that he is a rescue, and you don't know his background. Unfortunately it's kind of hard to judge a dog's temperament in a shelter situation. Our dog was placid and mellow in the shelter - until I put a leash on her and got her into the car.

I'd question other shelter workers, including the one who was trying to discourage you. Why does she think 'Zeus' is dog-aggressive? What have the others observed in his behaviour? Do they have any cats they can use to test his reaction? (I'm with Katz that taking your own cat down there would be counter-productive).

Kudos to you for wanting to rescue. Just make sure that you are prepared for some 'issues', not the least of which will be obedience. And keep in mind that rescues often take quite a while to settle into their new homes and let their full 'personality' shine. Problems that you have in the first month can literally disappear on their own, and new ones can crop up. As long as you're aware that you're in it for the long haul, and that it's a whole other ballgame from getting a puppy, I think you can ignore all the naysayers and make yourself and your new doggy very happy!

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- I want to be the person my dog already thinks I am.