akita cross husky... help needed - Page 1

I have been offered a huskyxakita eight week old pup. I said Yes instantly but then I googled the akita dog. Almost every single site described it as being naturally dog agressive, danger to strange children and a dominant breed with a primitve personality. Would taken in this cross bred puppy grow up to be a risk towards my GSD's and my neices and nephews? I already know that huskies are difficult to train, would a akita make it more difficult?? Thanks

you answered your own question, hon.
pjp

I disagree with that, that they are "naturally" dog aggressive.  Many things come down to how you raise, socialize, and train a dog regardless of breed.  Aside from that, who is to say you will get more of the Akita traits in your pup? Huskies are extremely pack oriented and thrive much more being with other dogs. Huskies are typically wonderful with children if raised with them as well.  And there are also Akita owners who have their Akitas living with other dogs with no problem. It comes down to that individual dog.  I would want to know (if they can even evaluate this) if the pup is submissive towards the other pups, or if it is more dominant....Things like food drive, how is the pup around people? Wanting to play with them? Or do they even socialize the pup?  Pups should be socialized with children and adults from very, very early on, way before you would even get the pup at 8 weeks. Ask what all have they done to socialize the pup? Ask about it's temperament. I can go google things about Huskies and how "difficult they are to train"........and look at my own pack and know that it's total malarky. It's all in the skill level of the handler, and on the specific dog at hand. No dog is the same, and not "all" dogs of a breed will be what they are labeled as. That would be like me saying as a breed Pit Bulls are all killers.

As far as temperament goes you could possibly get the worst of both breeds and think where you will be then.  I would pass.  Nan

My sister-in-law has an Akita cross.  A spayed bitch.

The dog is fine with her two OLDER kids, not good with her special needs younger son.  The dog is okay with the family's other dog, also a spayed bitch but the other dog is a submissive personality.

She is HORRIBLY stranger aggressive and a little sneak biter who weasled her way up to me while on leash just to bite my hand when I was standing talking to my sister-in-law.  My GSDs mostly ignored her and she thought they walked on water and followed them like a shadow, actually having a DOMINANT pack seemed to calm her down and mellow her out.

Chances are this will be a high maintenance pup.  If you are experienced with dominant dogs and have a very firm hand you will be OK.  Tons of running, training and socializing will be required.   I love Akitas but I'm not fond of husky temperment.  So it really depends on what you like in a dog :)

brynjulf, what do you not like about the Husky temperament?

RLHAR, you have to consider that is just one dog, and it's a mix at that.  It drives me crazy how people will look at one dog and say how it is......as if every one who has that breed in it will be the exact same way. 

I agree that this may not be a good mix. I also agree that individual mixed breed dogs can be as different as apples and oranges, even if they are from the same litter.

Your solution would be to have an experienced dog person/trainer evaluate the pup as to temperament. Usually by 8 weeks, you can get a pretty good idea as to what a pup will be like in the future, though the assessment will not be 100% accurate.

An experienced breeder would be a good person to do the evaluation. It's the sort of thing they have to do with their pups at 8 weeks, when deciding which ones to keep for future breeding, and whch ones should go to which new homes.

I think that no matter what testing is done at eight weeks, you will not know until the dog grows up what the temp will be. When dealing with mixed breeds, the more similar the two breeds are, the more predictable the out come. When you are dealing with two breed that have juxtaposing temp/ personality as the Akita and husky you are then having to deal with much inner conflict in the resulting offspring. It would be like the conflict that a wolf/ dog offspring experiences. A husky/ Norwegian elkhound and Akita/ Kai Inu would make better crosses for example.

GSDguy,

Well ... yes.

In this instance the OP is asking about an Akita mix.  I have personal experience with an Akita mix, probably with sheltie given her size but her dominant characteristics physically are Akita.  I am sharing my experience with *this* dog.

When we vacationed together I saw this dog sneak nip 5 different people and lunge to bite a woman's face.   The bites were to people just walking by on a boardwalk, not trying to pet or interact with the dog, the dog will just bite and snap at people while on leash.

I in no way discount that this is a situation exaserbated by inconsistent and very passive training.  This dog needs a very firm, fair and consistent handler but she is the pet of a young girl who can't stand to say 'no' to her dog.  Its just sad that what started out as an adorable puppy/playmate for this young girl, who loves her dog has now developed into this situation where she also has to be afraid of her *cute puppy* biting her friends and little brother.