Getting a Second Akita

edited December 2017 in Akita (秋田犬)
Hello everyone!

I have a 27 month old intact male American Akita. I am planning on adding a female Akita, and have a few questions for those who are far more knowledgeable than myself about these awesome dogs :)

My Max was the runt of his litter, and is a very calm dog. He does have some same sex dog aggression, but overall he is a big teddy bear. Nonetheless, a second male is out of the question as I have heard cases of same sex Akitas living in harmony for the first 1-2 years then everything going bad. So definitely want to go with a female to maximize my odds of them meshing well. Am I correct in my reasoning? And what kind of character should the female have? Should she also be a very laid back bitch, or is it okay for her to be a bit more dominant?

Recently one of my close friends got a male red brindle Japanese Akita puppy, and he spent a few weekends with me when she was out of town. My boy and the puppy got a long great, and Max was great in teaching him the ropes etc so it gave me a lot of confidence that my older dog will be an asset and not a liability when raising the pup. I did not have any experience with Japanese Akitas and was flabbergasted as to the difference in character between my AA and the puppy JA. The puppy JA probably barked more in the span of an hour than my AA has in his 27 months of existence. Is this just an individual issue based on the dogs? Or are JAs a bit more rambunctious than AAs?

Also, I live in Istanbul, Turkey. There are some local breeders that are FCI registered, however, slim pickings. So I would likely have to look to Europe and Russia for good breeders. The problem however is that Turkey requires a 4 month quarantine, so the soonest I can bring the puppy completely up to code is at 4 months, which I think is a bit too late? I would prefer to get her at 8-10 weeks. If I get the puppy locally or from Russia I can bring him home at 8-10 weeks, harder from the EU.

So to summarize my questions:

What kind of character should the female have so that I maximize my chances of my boy and her getting along?
Are the AAs and JAs very different in temperament?
What would you say would be the ideal time to bring the puppy home?
Are there any AA breeders in Europe that you would recommend?

Comments

  • edited December 2017
    Your reasoning is correct re: getting an opposite sex dog. However, just as a side note, males tend to decide right away if they’re going to get along or not, and it’s females who might be fine for the first couple years and then change once they hit full maturity. They get bitchy (literally) when they’re in season, and things can go wrong when the younger bitch comes into in season and is no longer submissive and accepting like a puppy. Males go through less hormonal fluctuations but it can still happen. Sudden changes in social dynamics are less likely for spayed/neutered animals, and I recommend altering if you don’t plan to breed. (Especially for a female it’s better for her health.)

    Their temperaments are the same, but JA are more expressive in my experience. If they love you, if they’re scared or mad, they let you know. Generally really quiet dogs. Most of the time barking is a fear reaction for them. (I wasn’t there so I couldn’t say in this case.)
  • Thank you so much @PoetikDragon for your help. I really can not over emphasise just how mellow my current male is, he really is the perfect dog (in my heavily biased opinion:) ), but nonetheless I do understand how you never really know how things will go. I do agree that either the female or the male will have to be neutered, and I think neutering a 3 year old male will be a far less invasive and rational than spaying a young female.
  • PS: I have no plans or desire to breed my pets. I do not believe that I am knowledgeable enough to produce a positive addition to my favourite breed.

  • Their temperaments are the same, but JA are more expressive in my experience. If they love you, if they’re scared or mad, they let you know. Generally really quiet dogs. Most of the time barking is a fear reaction for them. (I wasn’t there so I couldn’t say in this case.)
    My friends puppy came from Karina Radzimanskaya. I took care of the pup for several weekends while his owner was out of town and I really did fall in love with him, and it made me question whether I should get an AA or JA as my second family member. Your explanation leads me to believe that Yoko (the JA puppy) is a bit over the top for even a JA, and my Max is on the far more calmer spectrum of an American Akita. So neither of them are a fair representation :)
  • edited February 2018
    You can check at Sakura No Sono kennel, where owner is ex husband of Karina Radziminskaya. He keep the kennel now.
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