Any Akita owners out there?

[southerncrunchy]

 Hi everyone,

Hubby and I have a 2 yr old lab/akita mix. He's a total sweetheart  but from all i've read he definitely leans more toward the akita personality. He's leery of people he doesn't know, but is not aggressive towards them...(except for hubby's ex-girlfriend that came to the door. )  He is very pack oriented, and is VERY attached to me, he likes hubby and I in the same room so he can "watch" us both at the same time. If we are not he whines until we are.

I have 2 questions for anyone that has experience with the Akita breed.

1.) Our first child is due any day now and I was wondering if anyone had any experience with how Akita's did with a  new person coming into the pack so to speak? I've read they are very protective of their people esp. children but I wasn't sure if that included children that arrived after they did? Does that make sense? He loves my younger siblings to death and thinks they are the greatest playmates ever but they are not babies attached to me. KWIM? I wasn't sure if Akita's had any jealousy issues?

2.) He is a very social dog, but at the moment is the only dog we have. Hubby really wants to get another dog for him to have a playmate and i was wondering how Akita's did bringing another dog in? We're not doing it immediately since I told hubby I could not handle new baby and new dog but maybe sometime in the next few months? Should we go with a puppy? or a little bit older dog say around the same age as him?

Sorry this is so long. Thanks in advance for any advice anyone has.

[itscandace]

I hope your Akita mix doggie is loving your new baby...

Our Akita loved children even though we didn't have any while he was with us (we lost him in March).  I am due in Feb and wishing I could have experienced him around our own baby.  He had such a loving spirit.

I would definitely wait to get another dog until things settle in with the new baby.  Outside of that I would take your pup to a dog park and see how much or little he wants to play with other dogs.  Our Akita would be social with dogs (mostly female dogs) but he never really cared to play and play with them so we never got him a playmate because he really showed no interest in having one full time.

[mamarhu]

My Akita was quite elderly when the YoungSon was born. She had no particular interest in him, but patiently allowed him to climb all over her. ElderSon and she were quite bonded, but she was clearly my dog. She also never had much interest in other dogs or cats, in the family or out.She was 3-5 years old when she came to live with us, so I don't know much about whether she had been around children before. I always trusted her 100% around kids.

She was by far the best dog in the world.

[RabbitMomma]

As far as babies go, they're a totally different species to dogs and most don't really know what to make of them. They don't automatically see a baby and think "a little person, I must be gentle with it" like most people think. I would practice with a baby doll before your LO comes so you can teach him not to mouth, jump, or nudge the baby. You can teach him a leave it command and praise him when he doesn't touch the doll (or baby). Just remember to keep things positive and that your dog doesn't automatically know how to act around the baby without you teaching him. I personally wouldn't leave any dog alone with a young child, no matter the breed and no matter how gentle they usually are with kids. You just don't want to risk it.

I believe that Akitas have some issues with same sex aggression, so if you do get a dog you should probably look for a girl. I would also advise against getting a new dog simply for a playmate for your other one- it always ends badly. A new dog brings a totally new dynamic to the family and its a lot of hard work to get both dogs settled into it. You also have to remember that another dog is going to be twice as much work for you.