Why a breed specific rescue dedicted to the Akita?
Why a breed specific rescue for Akitas? Akitas
are large, strong, highly intelligent, independent and loyal dogs.
Quick learners, they are loyal to their family and typically do not do
well in a shelter situation. Because the Akita is naturally aloof
except with his family, many shelters mistakenly believe them to be shy
or mean. Chances are they are neither but are choosing to distance
themselves from strangers while they wait (in vain) for their family to
come for them. Most shelter personnel have very limited knowledge of
the Akita and fail to give prospective owners a clear understanding of
the dog.
We believe breed-specific rescues are better for Akitas
because the Akita is not the right dog for everyone. Many Akitas end
up in rescue because their people got the dog before they learned about
the breed. Please do your homework before you decide to adopt any
breed of dog.
Reputable Akita rescue organizations work hard to match the right dog
with the right individual or family. Left in a shelter, it's almost as
if the Akita is embarassed to have been abandoned by those to whom they
gave their loyalty and trust; they are naturally aloof with strangers,
which makes it difficult for them to "show well" in the shelter
situation where strangers are showing the dog to other strangers,
generally with none of them knowing much about the breed. Many shelter
Akitas become depressed, frequently will not eat or interact with the
strangers who traffic through.
Additionally, when shelter personnel are "temperament testing" they
typically fail to take the breed standard into consideration, which
really stacks the deck against the dog whose standard says he is aloof
with strangers and may be aggressive toward strange dogs.
An example of temperament testing ... one of our family Akitas
miserably failed his "temperament test" in St Louis. He was a 6 month
old puppy, sick, injured and miserable, missing his family and
confused. He simply refused to interact with the tester -- no
aggression, he just ignored everything the tester wanted to do with
him. He had been attacked and injured by another dog at the shelter,
but he showed no aggression when faced with another dog -- again he
just failed to interact. Why anyone would think they could get a good
temperament test on a puppy who was injured and ill is beyond me, but
in any event, Baby Henry failed his tests and was recommended to be
euthanized. GSD rescue people in the shelter at the time saw what was
happening and were sufficiently outraged that they put a hold on him
and sent out a request for help from Akita rescue. When Henry arrived
at Blue Moon he had a broken tail, bruises and contusions, pneumonia, a
raging sinus infection and bordatella ... oh yes, and the usual
infestation of hookworm, round worms and tapeworms. Henry had given up
and we nearly lost him. It was more than six months before this puppy
quit whimpering in his sleep and stopped looking for his family. Today
Henry is 18 months old, a happy 140 pounds and still growing. He has
completed obedience training and has earned his Canine Good
Citizenship. He is a weekly favorite visiting a local nursing home.
Everyone who comes to visit us asks about adopting Henry. He's a clown
and loves everyone. Henry is forever home with his family at Blue Moon
but remember ... he failed his shelter temperament test and was to be
euthanized. Henry is not an unusual or isolated case.