Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Dogs that have found their forever home
Deborah

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Deborah »

Miko is a good dog and I'm lucky to have him. He is very patient when we are at work and neighbours say he doesn't bark just watches out the window. He is shedding at the moment, has been for 2 months. He sometimes likes a groom but gets bored easily so I have to bribe him with treats. I'm trying to brush his coat out now as it's very hot. I do obedience training with him sporadically. He is very good at wait/leave it, I've got some videos on Facebook. I might but them on this forum when I get time. He also does sit down (at distance) and roll over. I'm trying to teach him to balance a treat on his nose but we aren't there yet. He is always up for a cuddle and is a very chilled out boy. He is finally finding his voice and now barks at strangers coming towards the house but not in an over the top way. He's fine around the reptiles. We've contemplated seeing a behaviourist for his dog aggression but he's well managed with a lead and muzzle so haven't yet. I've also been working on his recall in the garden and its excellent. He was sat beside me the other day and a noise at the back of the garden bothered him. He started quietly barking but not moving. I encouraged him to investigate then called him back which he did. Today I was grooming him using treats and Shannon was out next door. Shannon coughed and miko ran to investigate. I called him back and he did a uturn mid run. I was so impressed. My phone is full of photos but I'm on my phone. Next time I'm on the computer I'll update some photos. We are going to Cornwall in July to the same place we took miko last year. I can't wait.
sarahh

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by sarahh »

I'm Deborah's sister so get to see Miko quite often and today he came for lunch to mine. He's always a joy- still loves to sit on feet and generally bound around happily.

These are from a couple of months ago when I was in High Wycombe. Please excuse my mum having a chat in the background.




And just a short one from today because whenever I got my phone out he got distracted by a car door slamming or an interesting rustle - he's not used to my noisy neighbourhood. My dad's talking over the start of this one....
Julieh
Posts: 837
Joined: Mon 02 Jun 2014 19:08

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Julieh »

Brilliant update , gorgeous Miko, what a wonderful home for a wonderful dog xxx
Deborah

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Deborah »

If you are on facebook you would have seen Photos and updates of Miko. I'm eventually getting round to putting some photos on the forum. I'm doing night shifts this week so I get to spend more time with Miko. He is currently sleeping. Standard. Andrew said he always goes to bed in the evening and he would have liked Miko to keep him company when I was at work. Nothing wrong with sleeping, It just means he is relaxed. He is pretty good on walks too, although barking sets him on edge, he doesn't require much encouragement to walk away from other dogs. I've taken him on 3 walks with Mikey, a friendly westie but not sure if its a good idea as he is more on edge around other dogs around when he is with Mickey. Who can blame him for disliking barking after spending so much time in noisy kennels. He is great with children. On saturday he came with us to a BBQ and sat on various strangers feet and played with a football. Allthough when the dogs barked next door he started focusing on the fence so I put him on a lead so he didn't destroy the boarders.

He is starting to find his voice and sometimes barks at strangers approaching the house although he certainly isn't a good guard dog as he sometimes doesn't spot them or he is just happy to see them. When familiy visited we didn't hear them knock, Miko did but didn't let us know. Maybe we need a doorbell. The other time he is finding his voice is sometimes when I'm doing tricks and he is objecting to not getting treats quick enough. The other day I asked him to wait for a really smelly treat and he did a long howl. That was the one and only time I heard him howl and it was adorable. I wander if he was discourged to make any noice in his first home as he really is a quiet dog. It would be useful if he growled to let me know he's uncomfortable but I'm learning his body language. It's quite subtle.

We are lucky Miko has fitted right into our working life with no or very little seperation anxiety and seems to have a bladder of steel. I bit of miscommunication earlier this week and we accidentally didn't let him in the Garden for 17 hours. I hadn't realise Andrew hadn't taken him for a walk before work as he was very chilled when I got home so I fell asleap and took him out after midday. He didn't even pester me. Not going to make a habit of it though as I don't want him getting a UTI.
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MandaTK
Posts: 2744
Joined: Tue 10 Jun 2014 12:09

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by MandaTK »

Lovely update and gorgeous pics Deborah. Miko so loves you both. Thank you XX
Deborah

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Deborah »

Just a quick update. Miko is doing really well at ignoring other dogs. Even when an off lead terrier approached him he was more interested in sniffing the bushes. They sniffed noses then I walked him away. Here is a photo of him wanting to walk away from a JRT. He had very little interest while we stood around chatting and was even calm enough to let the owner stroke him. Before I met any dogs that were aggressive or overexcited around other dogs I would think with was no big deal, but anyone who has got a reactive dog will understand how nice and a big deal this is. :). angel13.gif] Normally we don't talk to any other dog owners, except in passing. I can't work out to resize the photo on this computer... I might try another day.

In a week's time we are going to the same cottage in cornwall we took Miko to last year. It should be fun. 0028.gif :icon_barking_dog-116.gif: 0028.gif
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ChrisE
Posts: 358
Joined: Sat 23 May 2015 14:53

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by ChrisE »

As promised Deborah I have put up the pics for you.
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Deborah

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Deborah »

A little update: miko is a very settled family dog. He has taught me so much about dog training and communication in general. I have got some great training tips from an akita page and have worked on his impulse control and trained out slight guarding behaviour early on. He started to show aggression to some men who he believed were invading his territory. The next door neighbour just needed to throw him some biscuits and now is mikos best friend. He also barked at a workman with special needs so I looked up training. Now we have a good routine for when visitors arrive. He alerts me to their arrival. I send him to bed while I open the door and ask if they are OK with dogs. Then miko is fully focused on me and when I say 'OK, go on then' he greets them nicely. The other day we had a plumber round to fix the boiler and his hackles were up before I opened the door but after following this routine he was soon ignoring the plumber and watching out the front window. No photos yet I'm afraid. He doesn't shed too much so is not too hard to keep up with grooming, allthough he has started his spring shed so we need to get back on track with a daily groom which he hasn't needed over winter. He loves to sleep, eat, cuddle, walk and sleep some more. Sometimes he'll play but only if he feels like it and I work really hard to excite him. Nothing like the dog he was in Kennels.
sweetpea
Posts: 3301
Joined: Fri 14 Aug 2015 20:58

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by sweetpea »

Lovely update. ...just shows how patience and understanding pays off in bucket loads :thanks.gif: :goodjob.gif: woo.gif]
Deborah

Re: Miko Akita x Staffie DOB 2012 High Wycombe

Post by Deborah »

We've moved house and miko loves the new place. He stays on the ground floor (when we are in) and loves his private space behind the table to sleep in. There were thunderstorms when we moved and he came up to the bedroom and slept in the corner but after being sent downstairs the following morning he's just been waiting downstairs, first at the bottom of the stairs but now he doesn't often leave his bed until its walk time! He's settled amazingly well, don't know why I was worried as he settled well out of kennels. His summer coat is coming through nicely at last so he's panting less and I think may have more brown spots than last year. Might me. Something to do with the fact we are feeding him more fishy foods for the omega as recommended by the vets. I'll try posting pictures when I've got the time.
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