On the 29/10/2009 Ruby
the Japanese Akita was born. She is a Pinto with
black and white masked Akita bitch who for the first
couple of weeks of her life was owned by someone
else. On the 03/02/2009 we purchased her from
someone who could not cope with her. At this point
she was 14 weeks. We brought her home and the
settling in began.
03/02/10
Settling in and the vets.
Over the next couple of
days it became clear that she was dehydrated as all
she would do was drink and her wee smelled really
bad and was very yellow bordering orange. A couple
of days in and she had stopped drinking all the
water in the bowl every time you filled it and some
would be left. Due to this excessive water intake
she weed all over the place for the first couple of
days and I must admit that I was at this point
concerned whether we had actually done the right
thing in getting her. We let her sleep in the hall
and closed all the doors so she could not wee or
chew anywhere or anything and after only a couple of
minutes yelping shut up and went to sleep herself.
On the second day we had her we took her to the vets
and had her tagged in case she gets lost and had her
first injection done and a wormer / flee drops which
now have to be done monthly. The
vet also did a full health check and said she was in
a perfect state of health. He weighed her and she
was 11.4kg which is ideal for her build. The vet
recommended feeding her
Hill's Science plan as it is formulated to
contain all the nutrition that a large breed dog
requires for healthy growth of bones. By night 4 & 5 she had
not weed on the hall floor at all but in the
excitement of seeing people and getting to the back
door she had wed on the living room floor (luckily
all our floors are laminate so its not to big a
problem cleaning them). This was a bit frustrating
as she had managed to go all night but at least its
one step closer to the garden so I cant complain. By
day 8 she was reasonably consistently not weeing in
the hall and managing to get to the garden in the
morning which was a great point to be at. She is
fantastic with the kids and isn't bothered (not
anywhere near as much as the cat that is) by the cat
so all is good there. All that we are waiting for
now is her second injection and then we can take her
out for walks and start to socialize her with other
people, sounds and animals.
07/02/10 and all is well.
Ruby is nearly 4 months old
and doing well. I can only assume that there was not
much input from adults in the first few weeks of her
life as when we got her she couldn't do anything but
in the couple of weeks with us she will play and
execute a few simple commands sit etc...
Click here to view a slideshow of Ruby up 4
months of age. She has never had a tag with her name
and number before and after finding out how much
they can be I started looking on the internet and
found a company on eBay that do all manner shapes
and designs with your engraving on the back. I
decided to be patriotic and go for an enamelled
union flag with her name and my number on the back.
Amazingly this tag with
the engraving and postage was only £2.49 which is
about a third of the cost of one from a pet shop or
cobblers. Now I understand that putting a union flag
on a Japanese dag may seem hypocritical but lets
face it she was born in Telford so she is as English
as next dog.
18/02/10 back to the vets.
Ruby went to the vets for
her second injection, 2 weeks after the first. She
was ok to start with in the vets but the she
realized where she was and started to whimper and
cry. All injections now done and in 7 days we can
take her out for walks and start to socialize her
with people and other animals which is apparently
very important for an Akita so they don't get
aggressive towards things in later life. She was
weighed again and in 2 weeks had gained 3.3kg making
her now 14.7kg. Ruby has had a couple of meetings
with the cat now none of them to good on Ruby's
part. She is fine and just being inquisitive but
unfortunately the cat doesn't see it that way and
hits her on the nose. In the cats defence she is 14
years old and really isn't interested in a new
friend. Amazingly the cat isn't bothered by the dogs
presence she just wants her to go away. See the
picture and the video below.
I have also noticed small
balls of fluff on the laminate floor and on closer
inspection of the dag found the fur on her back legs
was not as smooth and fluffy as the rest of her. I
consulted an Akita book and it stated that from 5 to
7 months they will shed virtually all of there puppy
coat and can become almost bald in the process. It
also recommended a pin brush so I went to the local
pet shop and got a soft pin slicker which is
designed to remove undercoats and for moulting. I
used it when I got back and I must say it removed
more fur than I expected but I an sure this is
nothing compared to how much it will remove in weeks
to come. Ruby is now lovely and fluffy again and the
fur on her back legs is fine once again.
27/02/10 walkies.
Well its been a week from
her last injection and the time has finally come to
take Ruby for a walk. We all went as a family to the
local field and which is quite large and a dog
walking spot. We have had a lot of rain (and snow)
of late and the field was a swamp but all of us
except me had wellies so where ok playing in the
puddles. We decided to let the dog of the lead and
hope for the best and she didn't let us down. She
met people and dogs, big and small and she was well
behaved and loved running in the puddles with the
kids. I took a pocket full of dog treats to entice
her to come back but it wasn't necessary when called
she came back. Well most of the time. Even when she
was on the lead she didn't pull any where near as
much as I had excepted. All in all a good first walk
with no disasters or aggressive behaviour to anyone
or anything. When we got back Ruby was very dirty as
she is white underneath so i dried her with a towel
and she fell asleep. an hour later a brushed her and
she is almost as clean as when we went out so there
wont need to be a bath after every walk to make her
look respectable which is good.
As we didn't purchased
Ruby directly from the breeder I decided to contact
them as there address was on the pedigree form and
ask if we could see Ruby's parents just to see what
they where like (size, colour, temperament etc...).
A day after posting the letter they texted me and
said it would be fine to visit so we plan on going
some time in the week when the kids are at school.
Will let you know how that goes.
10/03/10
Nearly 5 months old.
Well Ruby is nearly 5
months old now and she is coming along nicely. She
doesn't wee in the house anymore apart from the odd
accident when exited, but I think that goes for all
women and not just her. She is good on walks and
when off the lead comes back almost first time every
time. She is growing quickly. I haven't taken her to
be weighed for a while now but will do soon to make
sure she is gaining weight properly.
