I was ready to go to bed last night and was outside with my dogs when a stray dog (I think he lives on the other side of the canyon) showed up in the driveway. Dogs never just show up here... It all happened so fast. My dogs saw him, CHARGED silently toward the chain link gate and Bandit lifted the latch with his nose while going full speed with Katie Mae bursting through it right next to him. The stray dog high tailed it out of my driveway... I don’t think it was the welcome he was expecting... They were gone up the road and out of site in a heartbeat. He’s watched me open that gate many times, and sure looked like he knew what he was doing, it seemed intentional on his part, just saving that knowledge until he needed it. I stood in shock for a moment and came inside to put my shoes on, instead of my slippers, and was thinking of driving up the dirt road to look for them. Bless their hearts they came home and I heard them on the deck after 3-4 minutes!!! I went from worried to very happy in a second. They were panting hard. They did their job!!! They chased off an intruder and came right back home!!! Where else would they go... I shut the gate and found a lock for it so now Bandit can’t flip it open. Was a pretty cool trick on his part though. I gave them a bunch of love and told them repeatedly what good dogs they were. Unfortunately I was not tired anymore after the excitement, but my dogs came right back so it was ok
I thought guard dogs were supposed to defend their territory and alert the owners of potential trouble, not run off after a random stray dog and return at will? I would be extremely unhappy if my dog ever ran off my property in such a manner. Hopefully they did not attack the stray or anything.
My dogs did defend their territory and I’m proud of them for what they did and for coming right back home after they had chased it off to a distance of their pleasing. I don’t think bandit would attack a dog that was submissive, he’s never shown that tendency but I’m not as sure about Katie Mae... You know what, I live very rurally and if someone is dumb enough to let there dog wander over here at 10:30 at night and if one of my dogs got a hold of it, tough luck. I don’t want that to happen but nobody’s dog belongs on my 5 acres. My dogs are fenced so chances of that happening are low, it was my bad to not have a lock on the gate latch, but he’s never tried opening it before. Akitas are silent hunters, quietly stalking their prey. They chased the dog off and came right back home. It put a smile on my face. They saw an intruder (threat) chased it off and came home. I say “job well done”!!! I was frustrated that I didn’t have the latch secured but it never entered my mind to be mad at them. They were following their instincts, something in their DNA. I would rather they barked and let me deal with it but they saw a problem and came up with a solution on their own. This stray dog finds its way over the creek and to my or a neighbors property every month or two. It’s owner knows his dog does this and he knows we don’t want it over here but he doesn’t put up a fence. If I ever catch it again I will call animal control to pick it up. Maybe a fine for running loose and not having a county tag and having to bail his dog out will make him put up a fence to keep his dog home. My property is for my dogs, not someone’s repeat ofender wander dog.. We’ve called him enough times to come and pick it up. No more mister nice guy...
I was VERY relieved when they came back so quickly and didn’t take the opportunity to use their freedom to take an expository stroll. I’m glad that nothing bad happened to the stray but unfortunately he will probably be back, maybe not to my place but he will be bugging one of my neighbors again soon enough
It’s too late to edit my long post above but want to add, hopefully before I’m called heartless and cruel, I understand that a wondering stray dog is doing such because it’s human is being irresponsible. They either don’t have a fence or have one the dog can escape from. I would always call the number on a dogs tag, if it had one, before I’d call animal control. I’d even do that if the dog showed up a 2nd time, and maybe even a 3rd time, depending on the dog and how the owner responded to a call about their dog being loose. But 3 times is probably my limit these days. In the past I had neighbors on either side who’s wondering dogs were a huge nuisance. On one side her dogs ran thru here everyday for well over 10 years, chasing her car up the road when she was on her way to work and the same when she was coming home. This was hugely inconsiderate and rude and irritated my dogs, especially once a had an Akita. These same dogs would come over in the middle of the night and crap on things stored outside. She knew her dogs did this and did nothing to try and change their behavior. I’m getting mad just thinking about it.... On the other side I had a neighbor who had at one point more than 1/2 dozen hybrid wolf dogs who would bark and howl a lot, day and night, and sometimes the whole pack would escape. Another rude and irresponsible dog owner. So unfortunately my kindness has been worn thin by these inconsiderate, irresponsible, and mostly unapologetic neighbors.
Wow, I know that frightening feeling when you lose sight of them ! I’m glad it ended well for you It was a pretty clever move how they got out and quick thinking on Bandits parts, maybe you could teach them something useful around the house LOL I keep reading that Akitas are smart....there you go !
B"H they came straight back - as my yards can not be fenced my dogs have always had to be on tethers. Lexi was an escape artist and only my then neighbour and one of her brothers, who then lived there until he had to go into a residential home for adults, could find her and bring her home. That was when it was tether before door open. Pereg only once got loose, when the loop on her tether broke, but she had a great recall so had only gone a few metres out and came straight back in when she was called. But she did once end up with a stray dog on the ramp, f Same with Tikva only it was her leash had broken from her rope. But both came straight back, but not before seeing off stray dogs in the yard. One being four times the size of Tikki.
I guess it's how one defines a ‘guard dog’ to me a true guard dog is one that has been specifically trained by a professional in protection work to protect a particular place/handler. In the UK owners and handlers of guard dogs are subject to various laws primarily for the protection of themselves and third parties.https://www.inbrief.co.uk/animal-law/guard-dogs-and-the-law/ I would class my dogs as ‘watchdogs’ as they alert me to anything unfamiliar, and if given the chance yes believe they would chase something.
Nigredo stands between me and any intruder. He does not chase it off his territory. Even with my neighbors dog that BARKS at me. All he does is stay between her and me and he badgers her until she leaves on her own. He doesn't leave his territory or follow her when she leaves. He barks if he sees something. Guard dogs or watch dogs (here we call them the same thing) are never supposed to leave their territory. While they're busy chasing that dog up the road, ANOTHER could come from a different direction or a person or anything and intrude and they aren't there to defend anything. Dogs bolting off their property to chase another dog that did the same thing isn't really doing a good job IMO. He wasn't able to even call them back, they returned at will a time later. They're weren't under his control at all. Now the neighbors dogs weren't either and I understand his frustrations on a PERSONAL level, but still. Nigredo is not an Akita or a breed high on the bite list, though he was barred from a training program because he was STUPIDLY deemed to be "An Akita or any mix thereof". He is not aggressive, he is not passive aggressive, he is merely defensive. He is NOT fearful and will boldly stand up to anything, though I suspect if his facade did not work and it came to a fight, he very well may flee. I can't be sure but I don't think he has much fight in him. I get that different dog breeds will behave differently, I just can't see myself being HAPPY that my dogs ran off on me like that. I would be so mega unhappy about that. I DEFINITELY would not praise my dog for bolting off his property and ignoring recall.
It was obviously mistake that has now been rectified. My guess is that the praise for returning was as much relief as anything else
Breeds with inherited high prey drives are more likely to chase. Although there is always the exception, Akitas are generally known to have unreliable recall no matter how well trained. It was unfortunate that they managed to escape. He did not praise them ‘for (Quote bolting off his property’ but for quickly coming back. Punishing them is not going to help, and could deter them from coming back.
As an Akita owner I would have been delighted about the outcome I am so surprised that they came back in such a short time The stress when they bolted must have been beyond words given their nature
Meh I guess I can understand that. And I would not punish the dogs regardless. They are unlikely to know why they are being punished. Seems Akita owners expect this sort of behavior, while I would be mortified by it.
They are only young dogs, and as far as I know, they haven't had any guard dog training. I will admit that my two would have done the same thing, (and would not have come back as quickly), just because it is in their breed nature to seize any chance of a chase.
I was very impressed with how quickly he opened the latch, it was effortless, he didn’t even break his stride.. Poetry in motion.. Akitas are very smart but often if they don’t see the point in doing something they won’t do it, which is why, IMO, they can be stubborn/difficult to train. Bandit hadn't gotten loose for a very very long time. More then a year and a half easily. Katie Mae has never gotten loose before the other night. I hate the feeling of my heart sinking when I don’t know where my dog/s are. I hope this is a one time thing, but odds are they will get free again sometime in their lives... But they didn’t have a desire to wander, so once the intruder was chased off they came right back. I’m ok with that.
My dogs have not, nor will they ever have any guard dog training. I’ve read (this could be incorrect) that Akitas should not be trained to be guard dogs, they just do it instinctively. If you try to train them as guard dogs you will confuse their natural instinct to do so...
I was so happy and relieved that they returned happily on their own that of course I praised them, both for doing what comes naturally to them, protecting their territory, and for returning so quickly!!! If I had scolded them they might not return as promptly if they escape again in the future. Honestly though that didn’t enter my thoughts at the time, was just happy I didn’t have to go looking for them.
Just so you know, my fenced area around my house doesn’t extend to my property lines, so just because they left the fenced area doesn’t necessarily mean they left the property. I also have another larger fenced area around my workshop and garden. I do however think that they did leave the property. Me and my neighbors own our road, we maintain it. It is private property, not city, county or state property. I think your original comments were very judgmental... as well as some of your 2nd post.. My current dogs as well as my previous Akita have never shown any threatening behaviors towards humans, let alone try and bite someone. Just a few days ago I took bandit to the vets for a foxtail. The vet saw no reason to muzzle him, just had the vet tech and me hold him while he poked around inside him to find the foxtail. Of course I had the end of him that included his mouth.. He was very good during the procedure. They had someone who works there bit on the face by an Akita who was in their kennel, and even having seen firsthand the damage an Akita can do he didn’t see a need to muzzle my Akita. He praised their temperament!! I didn’t even try to call them back as I was kind of in shock at how fast and smoothly they escaped. They are fast and by the time I thought to call for them I felt like it would have been useless. Basically they went from 0 to 60 in a split second.
