We have very successfully placed several of our adult Akitas into new homes, where they thrive with their new families. We though you might like to read the story of one such successful placement. We'd like to thank Lexie's new owners for allowing us to re-print their emails, and most of all, for providing Lexie with a wonderful new life.
Lexie's Story
Dear Lorraine;
I’ve been meaning to sit down and update you on Lexie for a while now but there always seems to be something to do or a walk to go on. My apologies.
This may end up resembling a novel because everything is new and so much has happened.
We’ve been having a great time with Lexie and she is certainly teaching us about both herself and us. She’s settled in so well that I find it hard to believe that she’s only been with us for 2 months. No worries, her spirit is still unquenched and she has gained several new nicknames from Wigglebum to Goofball depending on what level of bouncing and gallivanting she is demonstrating at the moment. She’s been a bit hard on the hardwood floors but keeps us smiling.
The first couple of weeks was a bit of a challenge getting used to her energy and her tendency to be a bit of a thief. In one 24 hour period we had a very busy day since she:
• chewed pieces off of her wicker toy basket
• broke a ceramic basket
• stole paper out of the recycling bin and shredded it
• attempted to eat an assortment of bath products (apparently she really likes soap) - multiple attempts
• started relandscaping the backyard
• stole another basket from the office and started chewing it
• stole at various times shoes, slippers, pyjamas and socks to take to the living room to gum
• gnawed on a book that she took from the book shelf
• and to top it all off, used my cell phone in its belt clip as a chew toy – multiple attempts
She continued to add to the list in the next week by, among many other things, stealing a roll of toilet paper and shredding it – all over the living and family rooms. Luckily, she couldn’t figure out how to take the paper off the holders in the bathrooms – but she tried to. Our houseguest was polite enough to not comment about the missing chunks and teeth marks in the roll. You also can’t turn your back on her in the kitchen – she’s already managed to score part of a package of Crisco and one of butter. It is most definitely a case of trying to keep an eye on a two year old. Since we are far older than she is and definitely more out of shape, the constant vigilance has been a bit tiring. I’m happy that the incidents are slowing down quite a bit.
For several weeks, I was seriously wondering if they sold puppy helmets. I hope that she will develop some more coordination quickly before she does some permanent brain damage. I can't count how many times she has whacked her head on the furniture or just plain ran into the wall when she was excited or was playing. She’s learning slowing but frankly, she seems far less concerned about the occasional “thunk” than we are. Most of the time I’m not convinced that she notices.
The crating only lasted for a few weeks. We were very fortunate that I wasn’t working for the first few weeks after we got her. I was able to be with her all the time until she got used to us as well as our house. We started with 2 weeks of crating her in our bedroom at night and then another week and a half of leaving the crate door open in our bedroom with the bedroom door closed - to keep her from wandering the house unsupervised. After that, we were able to give her almost free range through the night. The crate has been moved down to the family room and we leave the door open so she has somewhere to go and get away if she wants. She does go into the crate regularly but usually only lays down for a few seconds and then leaves.
However, it is still a favourite place for her to hide her bones. After about 3 weeks, we also started leaving her loose in the house for short stints while we did errands. We had her up to about 4 hours before I finally went back to work. Amazingly, there have been no accidents in our house and she’s learned the new routine without any trouble. We aren’t going to bother with the outdoor kennel now that she seems to have adopted an “indoor dog” attitude. Apparently outdoors is only good for playing and going to the bathroom and if we don’t go outside with her, she wants right back in. She also seems quite fond of the idea of air conditioning.
She’s done the rounds of several family events and has won almost everyone over. The first weekend after we picked her up, we took her with us to my sister’s to meet my side. She ran around with our 10 year old Nephew so much that she slept like the dead for 4 hours straight in the car on the way home. (Apparently it wasn’t too hard to get our nephew to bed that night either.) When the neighbour’s dog rushed the fence snarling (little man syndrome I think) Lexie just gave it the one ear cocked curious look and then looked for the Nephew to play with again.
She’s been a star with all of the dogs she’s been meeting and the new situations that she’s been in. We spent several days at a family member’s cottage on a lake. She climbed right onto the pontoon boat when we called her and it only took seconds for her to decide that she loves it. It must seem like a car with all of the windows down. She was like a figurehead standing at the front with the wind ruffling her fur. She spent the rest of the time getting onto the boat any time she could - even if it wasn’t going anywhere. We also discovered that she can swim – but isn’t fond of it. She is however, quite happy to wander in up to her knees so we’re good with that compromise. After 2 days, even our 5 year old niece who is afraid of dogs, was regularly coming up to her to pat her head.
We introduced Lexie to Myles the Weimeraner not even a week after we brought her home. We did it at a neutral location to reduce any stress or territorial issues. We needn’t have bothered. After the walk, we ended up bringing them both back to our house where the 2 of them proceeded to have a nap lying next to each other. The first time we took her to his house, they each took one of his bones and lay on different dog beds. And then, as if someone blew a silent whistle, they would drop the bones, get up and switch beds and then start chewing the other bone. They did this “switch” 4 or 5 times in a row. It was quite remarkable to watch. They are now great friends and she gets excited when we pull up in front of his house.
She’s also met many dogs from our neighbourhood. Clara the terrier was a bit grumpy the first couple of times but Lexie just ignored her until she was willing to do the sniff exchange. Now, they meet anytime we get together with our neighbours. At our other neighbours, Lexie play wrestled with a Schnauzer for a solid hour. The dog was so short that she would lie down so he could reach her. Believe it or not, they were rolling down the hill on top of each other. We couldn’t stop laughing. Of course, she went to bed before we did that night – even a power nap couldn’t recharge her.
We’ve already been to the dog café where Myles picked out the biscuits for both himself and Lexie – she seemed to agree with his choice. We have started taking her to [Dog] Park where she has certainly blown some Akita stereotypes for some people. She is on her rope but still greets other dogs very well. We tend to try and avoid the “occasional user” times and go when it is mostly the diehard every day types. Their dogs are well socialized and we haven’t had any problems. She loves the park and zigzags back and forth through the wooded areas sniffing everything she can. She’s probably getting 5 times the exercise than we are. She also comes with us to the weekend farmer’s market and enjoys all of the attention she gets – apparently the organic dog biscuit samples are pretty good as well.
With the weather this spring, we are very thankful that she isn’t afraid of thunder. We took her with us to the fireworks for Canada Day. We had an exit strategy if she got nervous but she was so curious about everyone around her I don’t think she noticed the fireworks until they were half over.
I started a new job 2 ½ weeks ago. Lexie wasn’t thrilled about being left alone all day but didn’t have any accidents and didn’t wreck anything.
However, I was finding it hard to get going early enough to give her a morning walk. We definitely noticed that by the end of the first week, she was getting more hyper in the evenings. I contacted the dog walker that Myles goes with every day to see if she could trial Lexie. Not sure if you will believe it but Lexie now goes for an hour walk every weekday with anywhere from 4 to 10 other dogs. She is one of a maximum of 4 that Cindy walks on lead. The rest are off leash. She seems to love it and gets excited when Cindy shows up to pick her up. I think that the fact that she already knew Myles made the transition easier. The walker is experienced and interviews all her potential clients for temperament before accepting them (not just the people but the dogs as well!). We’ve discussed that she’ll have to watch to make sure Lexie doesn’t start to assert dominance but so far, Lexie hasn’t shown interest in anything other than being a suck (she gets more scratches and belly rubs that way!). She’s doing really well and accepts that Cindy is the pack leader. Lexie doesn’t actually play with the other dogs very much but spends her time sniffing what she can on the trail.
However, she has no issue sharing the truck, sniffing and being sniffed. Her white patches may not stay white long but she seems happy. We’ve had to increase her food intake to keep up with all of her activity. I wish we could say that about Peter and I. Lexie still goes for her evening walk with us but the dog walker is a great way to break up the day for her while we are at work.
She adjusted to being in the city remarkably well. It has been a bit hard to convince her that every person on the street is not there to scratch her. I’ve been amazed she doesn’t bark at other dogs (Ok, sometimes at the paperboy but really, who could resist?).
For some reason diesel engines from busses and fire engines make her a bit skittish but it passes quickly after they go away. We still have an issue with the fact that she completely loses her head when she sees a bunny – which our subdivision is over blessed with.
There are dozens more stories but this is already ridiculously long. Peter and Lexie and I hope things are going well for you all. If you are [ever in the neighbourhood], please drop in to visit us!
I received the following note from Lexie's new owner, in follow-up to the above. Despite a busy beginning, Lexie has now settled happily into her new home.
Hi Lorraine;
Please go ahead and transfer her registration. I'm sure you won't be too shocked to hear it but - you can't have her back.
She has settled down quite a bit which is mostly reflected in the fact that she tends to just shake and chew her own toys instead of whatever of ours is in reach. It's nice not to have to be constantly monitoring to make sure that we have put everything mouth sized behind closed doors. This weekend we opened the last bedroom door (the one where the guest bath products are). Lexie is now even mostly trained to stay off of the furniture. Naturally we aren't silly enough to image she doesn't sometimes climb up while we aren't home (the rather askew pillows give her away). However, we've come to a détente where she doesn't get on the couch when we are around. It is pretty funny when she is gallivanting around, forgets that we are in the next room and then hops on the couch. All of a sudden we holler and she gets a look in her eyes along the lines of - "Oh crumb, busted - I forgot you were here!".
We don’t mind if you put my note on the website. It astounds me that some people don’t think dogs are flexible. I think they handle change much better than we do. Besides, I think we scored getting Lexie when she was older. She still plays with us like a puppy but we didn’t have to housetrain her. I'm also not sure she would agree that she qualifies as an "adult" - I'm thinking "teenager" is as far as she's managed.
We would love for you to drop by anytime you are nearby. Just drop us an email or give us a call. If you give us enough notice, I’ll even give her a bath to try and freshen her up for you. That’s the only downside to the dog walker and taking her to the park. She gets filthy quickly. The dog walker was also concerned about insect bites so Lexie also now has an almost permanent scent of lemongrass. That's from the all-natural, pet safe insect repellent that we bought for her. It’s really not that bad but I wish that I liked the smell better. You can email or call at home or I’ll give you my work contact info as well.
