I have a new puppy!

[TorchTheWitch]

I hadn't expected to get the new Akita pup until November but fate intervened and the breeder decided this lovely 4 month old he had kept for showing he just didn't have the time to devote to for show training with all his other dogs plus this year's litter that was just born. So he offered him to me since he knew I was losing my marbles since my dear Boo passed away, and he wanted this wonderful pup to go to a good forever home. He was sad to part with him, but the timing just wasn't right and so decided it would be best for the dog to be a companion pooch with someone he knew would keep him and love him his whole life.

Puppy has got just the sweetest temperament and he's gorgeous and clownish, and with him I feel like I'm finally coming out of my coma of misery after losing Boo.

This is him when he was a little baby and checking out the outside world for the first time (I'm not sure why he looks purple in this photo - maybe it was a cell phone photo)...



And here he is with me at 4 months pooped out after we were playing in the yard for hours today...





He's taught me how to laugh again, and I adore him already.

[hobbit709]

1. AAAWWW!!!

[elleng]

2. WONDERFUL! And beautiful, of course!

[applegrove]

3. What a gorgeous pup.

[Lil Missy]

4. Awwwwww! Nice lookin' pup!!

[MrsBrady]

5. too cute! n/t

[KC]

6. Oh my

look at that face ! That's enough to make anyone smile !

[surrealAmerican]

7. congratulations!

What a cute little puppy face he has.

[Liberalynn]

8. How fantastic!

I am glad you both found each other!

[Liberal_in_LA]

9. beautiful dog

[femmocrat]

10. What a beautiful puppy!

Would you consider showing him?

BUT... he should not be wearing that choke chain! Too dangerous, plus it will ruin the fur around his neck. Get rid of it now!

[TorchTheWitch]

13. It's not a choke chain

It's a prong collar used mostly for training/correction and works totally differently than a choke chain. I hate choke chains - they're dangerous as hell. None of my dogs ever wore the prong collar unless they're on the leash - it's not meant to be used as a regular collar, and it stays attached to the leash so instead of taking off the leash when we're done with it I unclip the prong collar and hang up both as a single unit. He does have it on in that photo because I had to refit it with an additional link. A prong collar is made up of separate links that can be added or removed as needed since in order for it to work properly and stay on it has to fit just right. I took that photo when he finally crapped out from playing since all day long I'd been trying like hell to get a good picture of him and failing miserably... he was finally sleepy enough then that I thought it was a good time to adjust the prong collar and get a good picture of him, so I grabbed for the camera. I think I got about 50 photos today of either his butt, the insides of his nostrils or a blank spot on the carpet or outside of the grass since by the time I clicked the camera button he had already zoomed completely out of the frame. EVERY time he's being totally adorable and I'm just about to click the camera button he's off like a shot.

I'm glad that you mentioned the bit about the choke chain though... most people don't realize that they're dangerous, and they don't even serve the purpose very well for which they are intended.

I don't do the show thing myself. It's quite an expensive endeavor, and if you don't have a really exceptional dog you can lose a great deal of money. I always kind of thought of it as more of a well-off person's sort of thing. He may not have made a very good show dog since he lacks the typical Akita cat-like dignity and he keeps dropping his tail instead of holding it up 100% of the time curled over his butt. That was part of the problem why the breeder decided to let him go since if he was going to make it well as a show dog he'd have to devote a whole lot more time working with him that he just didn't have. But he didn't want to sell him to another show person either because he was afraid they would think he wasn't worth the extra effort and then turn around and sell him to Lord knows who. He couldn't stand the idea of that because he really loved this dog, so he made the tough decision to offer him to me since it was much more important to him that he knew puppy was going to go to a loving and forever home as a companion dog instead of a show dog even though the dog is a show quality dog (and it also meant he took a big financial hit with this decision).

I've always been more interested in working type dog jobs like search and rescue, cadaver, therapy and various sniffers. I've been testing him out a little bit and I think he might be a natural for some type of sniffer job. We'll see. I'd be over the moon with joy if he never was anything else than my best buddy and family though I believe it's always a good idea to work with them for whatever they show a natural tendency toward just so they feel they have an important job... working dogs are happiest when they're doing what they believe is some kind of work, but it doesn't matter whether or not it's for an actual job or just for fun for them.

[OhioChick]

11. Awwww.........

How adorable! :)

[astonamous]

12. Too cute! Next to pitties, I love Akitas.

Someday I would love to adopt an Akita. I have rescued a couple the last few years and just love their personalities. They are such good judges of character. We almost didn't need an application from prospective adopters, as the Akitas would let us know who they liked and who they didn't.

[TorchTheWitch]

15. they are indeed excellent judges of character

I've always relied more on their judgment than mine in that respect. I adore them, and with the first one no other dog will do for me. They so intelligent and endlessly fascinating with their bizarre quirks and the seemingly impossible things they teach themselves to do... though I hope this one doesn't turn on the bathtub to get a drink of water like my other two did because they never bothered to turn it off. I've already caught him paying attention to how the faucet works, so I have a feeling he'll be doing it, too, any day now. This one does actually drink out of water bowl though instead of tipping it over and lapping the water off the floor like the first one did, or turning around and sitting in it like Boo did. Every time he did that I nearly peed myself with laughter, and I think that's why he kept doing it... they always do things that they discover make you laugh. I always wondered how in the world do they know what laughter means? Dogs don't laugh, so how do they know? They always know all our emotions though even when we aren't sure what we're feeling ourselves. That's one of the most fascinating things to me about dogs.

[Lucinda]

14. He's beautiful.

♥ I'm glad you have each other.