I have a 3month Akita, 25pounds (is that about normal?). I've been
going on hikes with her atleast 3 times a weeks this last couple of
weeks, but when ever we've gone she has the leash on. When she has
the leash on she tries to pull me everywhere, but I want to go hiking
with her with out the leash on. What should i do to ensure that she
stays atleast in eye sight?

She currently only knows Sit, Stay, Down. She is very socialble with
people and dogs. But i'm afraid if i let her off the leash what will
happen. How can i train her with the whistle 2 short = come. (that
one isn't that hard to train) but what about 1 long = stop, sit, stay.
(how could i train her to do that)?

I'd like to go backpacking with her in the Winter, Spring, and Summer.
But i dont want to go with the leash, what should i do?

On 22 Sep 2004 14:02:06 -0700 Travis whittled these words:
I have a 3month Akita, 25pounds (is that about normal?). I've been
going on hikes with her atleast 3 times a weeks this last couple of
weeks, but when ever we've gone she has the leash on. When she has

Good.

the leash on she tries to pull me everywhere, but I want to go hiking

Teach her to not pull.

with her with out the leash on. What should i do to ensure that she
stays atleast in eye sight?

Keep a leash on. Don't ask your dog to become something she isn't. If you
wanted an obedient, tractable dog then you chose the wrong breed. What
people love about the breed is their sense of independence, among other
things.

She currently only knows Sit, Stay, Down.

Excellent. They certainly can be trained. Just be careful about the
degree to which you rely on it when safety is at issue.

She is very socialble with
people and dogs.

She is socialable NOW, but as she approaches maturity you cannot count on
that continuing. If she is normal for her breed she will become dog
aggressive, and highly predatory. Any movement of wildlife should draw
her in a flash. If she is normal for her breed she will catch and kill
whatever small animals she is able. So you make sure that you have both
training and physical control.

But i'm afraid if i let her off the leash what will
happen. How can i train her with the whistle 2 short = come. (that
one isn't that hard to train) but what about 1 long = stop, sit, stay.
(how could i train her to do that)?

Same as you would with words. Take a class in how to train your dog. It
is a lot easier to learn when someone can see what you are doing and help
you avoid getting into bad habits. Someone watching can make you aware of
things you are doing or not doing.

I'd like to go backpacking with her in the Winter, Spring, and Summer.
But i dont want to go with the leash, what should i do?

Resign yourself to the leash if you value her. If she stays true to her
breed allowing her off leash is a risk to her life and your pocketbook.
It isn't fair to her to allow her nature to get her into deadly trouble
just to persue that particular goal.

http://www.thehatch-pack.com/akita-care.htm
http://www.nylana.org/RRACI/facts.htm

--
Diane Blackman
http://dog-play.com/
http://dogplay.com/Shop/

writes:

the leash on she tries to pull me everywhere, but I want to go hiking

Teach her to not pull.

When I read that, I glossed over "not" and thought it was cool that someone
else had the same idea.

I say give her a cart/wagon and let her pull your stuff. (Big tent and a
couple reclining chairs? No problem...) I had a problem with my dog
pulling on hikes and that's what I did. Works beautifully. We rarely go
for walks without the wagon now.

--kyler

"Kyler Laird" wrote in message
...
writes:

the leash on she tries to pull me everywhere, but I want to go hiking

Teach her to not pull.

When I read that, I glossed over "not" and thought it was cool that
someone
else had the same idea.

I say give her a cart/wagon and let her pull your stuff. (Big tent and a
couple reclining chairs? No problem...) I had a problem with my dog
pulling on hikes and that's what I did. Works beautifully. We rarely go
for walks without the wagon now.

--kyler

At 3 months old - your puppy is very much a baby and still has a lot of
physical growing to do. Her bones are soft and she has yet to develop the
muscle coverage to protect them and tackle the strain of this exercise - If
you posted this in a UK group you would have some pretty shocked replies and
questions about why you would want to exercise such a young pup to this
level. Sure, take trips out and about to busy places for socialisation, but
'real' exercise would not be recommended till the pup was at least 6 months
and strenuous exercise such as hours of walking and pulling a cart would be
advised against till the pup was a year - 18 mths.

As for pulling, a method that has worked very, very well for my weim is
using 2 leads attached to a flat leather buckle collar, one being attached
to a tough leather belt along my waist. The second is really only cos my dog
is (hopefully, growing out of) a want to jump at people and is very fast
about doing so, so I have immediate extra control.

You'd be surprised, but at waist level there is a much better centre of
gravity one the lead, so if you'd dog does pull, its easier to stop dead and
not be pulled along a few steps. I combined the 'traffic lights' / 'like a
tree method' with a clicker and treats for walking beside me. After clicking
and treating for walking being in the correct walking position, I then fed
the reward from behind me, allowing me a second opportunity to get a click
in as she came back forward in to walking position.

At 14 months, she's generally pretty good on lead now - especially given
that weims are a particularly slow maturing breed and have a very high play
drive and she is certainly no exception to that. I believe (don't know for
sure as I've never lived with one) that mentally, Kites grow up much more
quickly so as long as you are patient and consistent, you should get there
quite quickly.

Diana


--
Cindy's web site
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

"Travis" wrote in message
om...
I have a 3month Akita, 25pounds (is that about normal?). I've been
going on hikes with her atleast 3 times a weeks this last couple of
weeks, but when ever we've gone she has the leash on. When she has
the leash on she tries to pull me everywhere, but I want to go hiking
with her with out the leash on. What should i do to ensure that she
stays atleast in eye sight?

She currently only knows Sit, Stay, Down. She is very socialble with
people and dogs. But i'm afraid if i let her off the leash what will
happen. How can i train her with the whistle 2 short = come. (that
one isn't that hard to train) but what about 1 long = stop, sit, stay.
(how could i train her to do that)?

I'd like to go backpacking with her in the Winter, Spring, and Summer.
But i dont want to go with the leash, what should i do?

I see that no one else added that strenuous physical exercise (such as
hiking) with a large-breed puppy can make pre-existing orthopedic problems
*much* worse and can cause the development of problems which would not have
manifested in the first place.

You generally should wait until she is about 2 years of age before hiking or
jogging with her (including the cart pulling idea).

And follow Diane's advice--an Akita is not an off-leash kind of dog. Also
it takes quite a bit to get a puppy to the level of obedience you expect
when dealing with a dog that is bred to perform these exercises at a ditance
(retrievers, etc.) An Akita may never be reliable in your *yard* let alone a
new place.

--
Emily Carroll
Fluttervale Labradors: www.fluttervale.com/kennel
Canine Biography: www.fluttervale.com/biography
Please visit CPG, The Oldest Cyber Animal Game on the Web:
http://www.geocities.com/cyberpetgame


---
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"Fluttervale Labradors" wrote in message
m...
[,,]


I see that no one else added that strenuous physical exercise (such as
hiking) with a large-breed puppy can make pre-existing orthopedic problems
*much* worse and can cause the development of problems which would not
have
manifested in the first place.


You might note that I did, but very subtly as I have had problems with other
posters understanding this point in the past,
see he

Her bones are soft and she has yet to develop the
muscle coverage to protect them and tackle the strain of this exercise - If
you posted this in a UK group you would have some pretty shocked replies and
questions about why you would want to exercise such a young pup to this
level.

Diana

--
Cindy's web site
http://cindy-incidentally.mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk

Let this baby grow up safely! She's Far too young to be taking hikes
now, unless you want her crippled before she's middle-aged.

She's still in the age group for puppy kindergarden, where you would
have learned, now, what kind and how much of what kinds of activities
are physically safe for this cutie. You'd have also begun to teach her
the right way how to not pull on her leash.

After the age of four months,you shold be able to enroll her in a good
basic obedience class where you will really learn to train her. As has
already been said, having someone to guide you through this process is
really very helpful!!!
Having to retrain something because it wasn't done quite right takes a
Lot more time and effort that doing it right the first time. grin
Been there... not with an Akita, but with a terrier, which is also a
hunter and free-thinker.

Once she's old enough to begin shorter hikes, with no extra gear, at
about a year, you may suddenly discover that the trails you want to hike
Require all dogs to stay on leash... IF they allow dogs at all. In many
states, if you allowed this natural hunter breed to be off lead on the
trail and she did a little free-style hunting because you couldn't
control her with just your voice, you'd get nailed if you didn't have a
hunting license for whatever she happens to catch.

Pulling a cart isn't very practical on most hiking trails, the way it is
in a city park, but wearing a well-constructed dog backpack can be.
The dog can then carry part of it's own food or water, so you don't have
to. But an Akita pulling a cart in the city will get you attention from
a lot of babes, which is not a bad thing.

Don't plan on an adolescent or adult Akita being responsive to voice
commands only. I don't know a single Akita that is reliable off leash
in other than a very controlled environment... and then it's iffy. As
has already been said, this is an on-leash breed. If you wanted a
reliable off-leash companion, you should have gotten a retriever, or a
herding breed. Live and learn.... grin

Good Luck!

Jo Wolf
Martinez, Georgia

(Jo Wolf) writes:

Pulling a cart isn't very practical on most hiking trails, the way it is
in a city park,

Huh?! "Most hiking trails" I've been on are perfectly adequate for a
wagon/cart/travois.
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/luxton/sect_2/2d2.htm
Sure, we're not talking about vertical ascents, but there's plenty of
hiking to be done without going to extremes. Most horse trails and
single-tracks should suffice. (Water might be an issue sometimes.)

but wearing a well-constructed dog backpack can be.
The dog can then carry part of it's own food or water, so you don't have
to.

I was thinking that a backpack would be riskier for a young dog than
a wagon (for the same weight). I'm not a source for expertise about
health issues though.

But an Akita pulling a cart in the city will get you attention from
a lot of babes, which is not a bad thing.

Indeed.

--kyler

I'm sure you all know a ton about dogs and akitas, I love to hike and
I love the outdoors, and i want to go with my puppy, but you say that
at the moment she shouldn't be going on hikes at all, and at 4months
she should be able to go on shorter hikes, but always onleash. She
will be turning 4 months old on October 8th, and when i got her, there
was a 6mo Akita, female, their, and she was almost as big as his full
grown akita's. Why wouldn't i be able to hike, with her, and have a
dog pack with her? How big, in general, do akitas get at 6 mo old?
And could i start going on medium hike lengths around 6months? I'd
like to go backpacking with her but i should wait until she is atleast
a year old, correcct?

Dog parks, are they okay to take her too, at 3months old? She has
been going for awhile and has gotten along really well with the other
dogs, playing and running in and out of the water, chasing balls and
returning them, etc. The other dogs dont really be mean or try to
power over her, or try to get on her, but if they do i leave right
away. She has fun playing with the smaller dogs and sometimes some
medium dogs. Is that cool (as is am i doing okay)?

btw Thank you all for what you have said and posted, i am so glad that
you all are here and helping me out. I have had an Akita in my youth
and love akitas.
In case any of you are wondering what she looks like, b/c she is
really cute, i'll post a link to her picture later today, when i'm off
work, thanks again )

In article ,
Travis wrote:
Why wouldn't i be able to hike, with her, and have a
dog pack with her? How big, in general, do akitas get at 6 mo old?
And could i start going on medium hike lengths around 6months? I'd
like to go backpacking with her but i should wait until she is atleast
a year old, correcct?

I do a fair amount of hiking with my Siberian Huskies, who
carry packs. I actually think that 6-9 months is a good age
to introduce the pack so that the dog will get used to it
and comfortable with it early. However, I'd keep the pack
empty until the dog is about 9 months or so and then I'd
only add a small amount of weight and increase it gradually.
You want to wait to fully load the pack (~20% of the dog's
weight) until she's about two years old.

Also, my dogs stay on-leash all the time when we're out for
hikes. Aside from concerns about them taking off after
wildlife or accidentally going over a ledge, I occasionally
run into other hikers, not all of whom like dogs. A lot of
hikers really don't like to see dogs on the trail and try to
get them banned from trails on public lands, and it's
excellent public relations to keep your dogs on-leash,
well-behaved, and clean (don't leave dog crap on the trail).
Frankly, it's just not a bother at all to keep them leashed.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

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