It was really hard to tell Max and his sister Zoey apart. They were like bookends. Fortunately she was already spoken for or we might have brought 2 of them home.
Well Max and I started school the other night. I have to say that I was really apprehensive about it. But it turned out great! As it turned out Max was one of the better behaved dogs in the lot. There was one little guy who barked the entire night and that made most of the other ones start barking. It got pretty loud a few times. Max chimed in once just to let them know he was there too. But most of the time he sat by me and if we were in one place for a while he just laid down.
We learned some good basic things about walking and getting him to come when he's called. Now if it would just warm up a tad so we can go outside and practice.
I know I'm looking forward to the next lesson.
Ted
School is going well. It's all about home work. She shows us how to do it and it's up to the owner to practice at home. Max is a fast learner but he's still an Akita and he can be very independent. (that's my nice way of saying headstrong/stubborn)
Last week they showed us how to get the dogs to lay down. Well Max was having no part of that. The next day my wife spent about a half hour with him and now he does it like nothing. Last night we did meet and greet where she had 2 owners and dogs come together like meeting on the street. The dogs were to sit and stay while the owners chatted for a few seconds and the walk on by. Max did pretty good on that. The truth is with him, he's more interested in meeting the owners then the dogs. He just loves people!
He turned 6 months old on the 3rd so I weighed him then and he was just over 80 lbs. Yup he's more then 10 times what he weighed when he first came home.
I'll get some new pictures of him this weekend.
Thanks for asking about my pal! .......................Ted
Our girl Kita is not even full blooded Akita and she shows many of the same traits you've mentioned Max has Ted.
She is very well trained and I can take her outside off leash for extended periods in our front yard while doing various tasks and she will automatically sit or lay down in her favorite spot and will stay in place regardless of what's going on around us.
Like Max, she is not all that interested in other dogs but does love to interact with their owners and people in general and she also has a remarkable ability to remember people who she only sees on an infrequent basis.
Being as smart as they are, I'm sure that Max is also like Kita in that NOTHING escapes their attention! They have exceptional eyesight, hearing and sense of smell! She can sense a cat ANYWHERE in or even close to her "domain"!
Like Sue, I'd love to see some updated photos of Max when you have a chance Ted!
Richard
Last edited by thebankerstoy; 02-26-2014 at 08:22 AM.
My wife and I are in total agreement that Max will never be off of his leash when he's outside of the yard. These dogs are hunters and they will go back to that instinct in a heartbeat. If he were to hear or smell something to his fancy he'd be off in a flash. I've heard of way too many of these dogs running off and never to be seen again or getting hit by a car. I'm going to do everything I can to try to avoid that from happening.
If spring time ever does come again I plan to bury rail road ties under my fence so he cant tunnel out. I already know how good a digger he is.
Here's a few shots that I just took of him. H e really wasn't in the mood for posing. He was barking at me all the while I was trying to take these. He was much happier hanging out on the ice.
Thanks for all of the kind words. Enjoy!
Ted
He sure does. Plus last week we noticed that inside of his tail had changed to a silver color. He's like a chameleon.
Here's a nice shot of his face too.
He's funny. If I'm sitting with him and petting his head I can rub his ears to no end. But God forbid if I touch his paws!
Here he is on guard duty this morning. He knows that he's not allowed on the furniture but if he wants to look out the front window we let him. A few seconds after I snapped this the barking began. He's such a good boy!
well Max has been with us for just over a year now. As you can see he has completely taken over the house.
Here he is in his daily routine of relaxing on the bed that he lets us sleep in at night. Enjoy.