TROJANRYNART AKITAS UK
AKITAS THAT ACCEDE
Information on Akitas
CH Calicelesti Slaymaker (Sumo) This Champion Dog, In My Opinion is as close as you can get to the Ideal Akita.
Reproduced by kind permission of Calicelesti Akitas.
Breed Standard:
General Appearance:
Large, powerful, with much substance and heavy bone.
Characteristics:
Large broad head, with relatively small eyes and erect ears carried forward in line with back of neck; large curled tail, in balance with head.
Head and Skull:
Skull large and flat, forehead broad, with defined stop and clear furrow. Head forms blunt triangle when viewed from above, free from wrinkle. Cheeks well developed, bridge of nose straight. Nose large and black. Lips tight and black. In white dogs flesh colour is permissible. Muzzle broad and strong. Distance from nose to stop is to distance from stop to occiput as 2 - 3.
Eyes:
Relatively small, almond-shaped, clean, moderately set apart and dark brown. Eye rims dark and tight.
Ears:
Relatively small, thick, triangular, not low set, carried forward over eyes in line with back of neck and firmly erect. Moderately set apart and slightly rounded at tips.
Mouth:
Jaws strong with perfect, regular and complete scissor bite, i.e. the upper teeth closely overlapping the lower teeth and set square to the jaws.
Neck:
Thick and muscular, comparatively short, widening gradually towards shoulders. Pronounced crest blends with back of skull.
Forequarters:
Shoulders strong and powerful, moderately laid back. Elbows very tight. Forelegs well-boned and straight when viewed from front. Pasterns slightly inclining forward.
Body:
Longer than high, as 10 is to 9 in males, 1 I to 9 in bitches. Chest wide and deep, depth of chest is one-half height of dog at shoulder. Well developed forechest. Level back with firmly muscled loin and moderate tuck-up. Skin pliant but not loose.
Hindquarters:
Strong and muscular with long, well developed thighs and moderate turn of stifle. Strong hocks with only moderate angulation, well let down, turning neither in nor out.
Feet:
Thick, well knuckled and very tight turning neither in nor out. Pads hard. Nails hard. Dew claws on hind legs customarily removed.
Tail:
Large and full, set high and carried over back in a three-quarter, full or double curl, always dipping to or below level of back. On a three-quarter curl, tip drops well down flank. Root large and strong. Tail bone almost reaches hock when let down. Hair coarse, straight and full with no appearance of a plume. Sickle or uncurled tail highly undesirable.
Gait / Movement:
Resilient and vigorous with strides of moderate length. Back remains firm and level. Hindlegs move in line with front legs whilst gaiting will single track.
Coat:
Outer coat coarse, straight and standing off body. Undercoat soft and dense. Coat at withers and rump is approximately two inches and is slightly longer than on rest of body, except on tail where it is more profuse. No indications of ruff or feathering.
Colour:
Any colour including white, brindle or pinto. Colours are brilliant and clear. Markings are well defined with or without mask or blaze.
Size:
Height at withers:
Dogs 66 - 71 cms. (26 - 28 ins.);
Bitches 61 - 66 cms. (24 - 26 ins.).
Faults:
Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to the degree.
Note:
Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.
Training Tips
10 Tips for productive training sessions.
1. Training is fun!
Your dog will enjoy training if you make the training sessions
fun, it will also help you enjoy the training as well. Play is a
very important tool in training and it helps to build a strong
bond and understanding between dog and handler.
2. Keep it short.
If a training session lasts too long, then your dog will get
bored, bored dog doesn't learn. Five or ten minutes at a time is
a good length to aim for. Puppies get bored more quickly, so aim
for three to five minutes, and of course you can have multiple
sessions through out the day.
3. Always end your training on a good point.
You should always end the training session on a good point, ending
with lots of praise and a game. This will leave your dog wanting
more – remember training is fun! If you are having problems with
one exercise at the end of a session revisit an exercise you know
your dog does well, so you end on a good point.
4. Variety is the spice of training!
Don't let your training become a routine, as your dog will start
anticipating what comes next. You will end up teaching your dog a
pattern rather than separate exercises. Do your training at
different times of the day, and in a different order. When you are
confident that you dog understands your commands you can start to
vary the place you do your training. Start off in places with
little, or no distractions; gradually building up to places with
greater distractions as you gain confidence in your dog.
5. Stick to the same commands.
When teaching your dog you should decide on a word for each
action, and only use that word for the action. You may have two
words for one action but never two actions for one word – what
will your dog do, and when? Don't worry about having too many
commands; your dog will be able to associate a large number of
commands with the appropriate action. I made a quick count of the
number of commands my dogs understand, I counted about 40 and I
don't think I counted them all!
6. Don't continually repeat your commands.
The repetition of your commands will teach your on of two things,
either that they can completely ignore the command that you are
repeating, or that they only need obey the command after it has
been repeated 4, 8, or 10 times!
7. Only train your dog when you are in the right frame of mind.
If you are in a bad mood or don't feel well etc., you should not
train your dog; your mood will travel down the lead and affect
your dog.
8. Smile when talking to your dog.
OK- this sounds daft, but try it. You should find that your voice
sounds more pleasant, this will make your dog want to work harder
for you.
9. Praise your dog, but only at the right time.
It is very important to praise your dog, but it needs to be done
at the right time. Timing is very important, get the timing wrong
and you could be teaching your dog something completely different
from what you actually intended. Remember: praise is not just
patting your dog on the head and saying "Good Boy", but giving a
nice treat or playing with a toy etc. You voice is a good tool for
praising your dog – when you say "Good Boy" mean it!
10. Be Consistent.
Be consistent in what you expect from your dog, and what you
praise for. This will allow your dog to learn what you want
quicker, and to act more reliably.
Crate Training
Crate Training:
Always remember training your puppy to use a crate is not cruel and
unusual punishment! When the puppy is crate trained properly before
long s/he will consider the crate as a "den" and go there
automatically when they are tired or just want to be alone.
Few fundamental rules:
* A crate should never be used as punishment.
* A puppy should never be confined to a crate for longer than
2 or 3 hours when you are not home.
* If you purchase a large crate that will fit your puppy when
it is full grown, then you should partition off part of it so that
the puppy doesn't have too much room. If the crate is too large, the
puppy will use it to go potty.
* Move the crate from room to room with you and allow the
puppy to sleep in it's crate in your bedroom at night. This gives
them a sense of security and they will settle down much more quickly
knowing you are right there.
A key ingredient in crate training is to make it fun for the puppy.
Do this by putting some treats in the crate and letting the puppy
find them. Toss the treat into the crate and when puppy goes in to
get it, praise by saying "Good Dog" or "Good Puppy" Once in a while
when the puppy goes into the crate to retrieve the treat, close the
door for a few minutes. If the puppy is nice and quiet say GOOD
PUPPY. However, if the puppy is making a disturbance – Ignore
him/her. When it settles down, say GOOD PUPPY and then open the
crate door.
Keep in mind to make this a fun. It should never be in a form of
punishment!
Crate training is a wonderful way to help you house-train your
puppy. Puppies will avoid using their "den" as a place to go potty.
Immediately upon taking the puppy out of the crate, bring it outside
to relieve itself. Do not stop to play with it first! Once the puppy
has relieved itself outside give lots of praise! As soon as you feel
confident that the puppy is "empty" you can then return to the house
and play with it.
Keep in mind puppies have next to no bladder or bowel control. What
goes in one end very quickly comes out the other. So when you feed
them, immediately take them out to go potty and when they go give
lots of praise. When you take them out to potty use the same phrase
each time. Something like "potty", "toilet" or "hurry" works well.
As mentioned earlier, you should not restrict a puppy to a crate for
more than 2 or 3 hours at a time when you are not with them. If you
work away from home all day (as most people do) you can arrange for
an alternate to come and take puppy out several times a day. Puppies
should not be trusted to have free run of your home. There are too
many things they can get into - things that can hurt them and
destroy your property. When you are busy you can either crate the
puppy or tie its lead to you so that you are constantly aware of
what puppy is doing. Use constant commands and phrases such as
"settle down" or "easy" when puppy is acting too wild.
If you are busy and decided to crate puppy, try putting the crate in
the same room with you. That way the puppy doesn't feel like it's
being punished and can keep an eye on you at the same time.
At bedtime put the puppy's crate in the bedroom with you. Puppies
that are allowed to sleep with their humans tend to settle down much
more quickly. And when puppy needs to go potty in the middle of the
night you will be able to hear their call.
Crate training has many additional benefits. If you plan on taking
your puppy/dog with you on vacations being able to tell a
hotel/motel innkeeper that your dog will be in its crate when you
are not in the room is a big advantage!
GROOMING
GROOMING & BATHING
YOUR AKITA FOR A SHOW
Plush Puppy Grooming Products for Show Dogs
Akitas - Part 1
Bathing Double Coated Breeds
The double coated breeds are a true challenge breeds are a true challenge to keep
in good show condition for any great period of time. Ten to one, the pride of your
life will explode coat just when that big show is due.
You rarely see a bitch of this breed being "specialed". Huge expense goes
into a "special" circuit dog and to have a dog out of the loop for weeks on end
not winning all important points is sometimes not worth the effort. Bitches will
throw their coats usually twice a year whereas a dog will hold his for most of a
year and if carefully handled as he gets older for 18 months and longer.
I always use a strong cattle dryer which is cool air only and blow out dead hair
in the coat after bathing every week. This allows the coat to regenerate on a
constant basis and prevents that awful felting and clumping one tends to see on
some dogs. Looks awful as these breeds are definitely not "wash and wear".
The weekly coat blowing also keeps the coat even without the horrid holes that
occur when the dog is shedding. Your dog will stay neat and tidy and be able to
be shown quicker. The older dogs tend to "roll" their coats with this method and
will only kind of "fluff" out instead. This means they are never really out of
coat and can last as much as two years.
The coat can be addressed in 3 different stages. Firstly, when it has shed and
the dog is naked, secondly when it is just right and thirdly when it is an old
coat and you're hanging onto it for dear life.
At the first stage you need to body build with
to volumise the coat. Do not use conditioner at this stage as it will flatten
out the coat. Better to use a leave in moituriser such as PP Reviva Coat
instead. Second stage use PP All Purpose Shampoo followed by a light condition
with PP Silk Protein Conditioner and third stage use a good conditioning shampoo
such as PP Conditioning Shampoo with Evening Primrose to keep up the moisture
and whack in heaps of leave in moisturizer rather than a regular conditioner
unless you want to loosen the coat and accelerate shedding.
If that all important show is looming and the coat is ready to go to God, then
for heaven's sake don't bathe and condition it. Just rinse it through with a low
foaming wash such as PP
all over and pray. Just use a partial bath routine with either PP Whitening
Shampoo or PP Deep Cleansing Shampoo for the whites or more explicitly the legs,
face and underbelly. Dry CAREFULLY and stop if coats starts to explode. In that
case, allow to dry naturally and hand pick the loose bits if needed.
At all other times blow dry the coat forwards from the rear to the head Don't
forget to carefully comb the underneath of the tail near the base. (looks
ghastly when not done and the dog carries his tail up) and not forgetting around
his bollocks. Why do people forget to comb around this area?
Now for the short hair areas such as ears face and legs. Use a flea comb. It
really fluffs these out. I will go over the best combs and brushes I have found
work well and styling and finishing products in the next part.
CHERYL LECOURT
This Article Has Been reproduced by kind permission of Cheryl Lecourt
and Plush Puppy Grooming Products
Plush Puppy Reviva Coat
Plush Puppy All Purpose Shampoo with Henna
Plush Puppy Conditioning Shampoo with Evening Primrose
Plush Puppy Silk Protein Conditioner
Plush Puppy Hydrobath and
PP Whitenening Shampoo with Ginseng
Plush Puppy Deep Cleansing Shampoo
Plush Puppy Grooming Products for Show Dogs
Akitas - Part 2
Grooming Double Coated Breeds
Following on from the last part, your dog is now washed and dried according to
the present state of the coat. Now look at what else can be done.
I have road tested numerous brushes and combs and find that my ultimate
favourite are a large slicker brush, an oval pin cushion brush (no knobs on the
end of the pins), an oval 1/2 bristle & 1/2 plastic Porcupine Brush (available
from Plush Puppy), a wooden handled poodle comb and a metal one inch toothed
comb that has wider spaced teeth at one end. Lastly a good flea comb for inside
and outside the ears and the fine hair on the face and legs.
Even though I use a cattle dryer and slicker when drying the dog, I now go over
section by section with the oval pin cushion brush and then once again with the
Poodle comb for the longer hair and the one inch toothed comb for the shorter
hair working from right down at the skin through to the ends and combing the
coat towards the head. I don't like to see any matting whatsoever at the base of
the hair.
Then you must attend to the hidden areas such as the inside of the back legs
brushing upwards, the bullocks area and the willy and not forgetting right up
under the armpits. It is important these areas including the inside of the ears
are well dried otherwise you tend to get red staining. A good puff of ear powder
doesn't go astray either. Don't forget to wipe and dry well between the toes.
Now out with the scissors and though we don't get to play hairdresser with these
breeds, we do have to trim the long hair between the pads. Some dogs hat it and
others will tolerate it. None like it. They also hate toenails and dewclaws if
present being done too. A really simple trick taught to me by my sister, a pug
exhibitor, is to cover the dogs eyes. Voila! Works well when the dog has to have
a blood test too. My vet is impressed. For cutting nails I prefer the guillotine
type but held back to front. Ask me to show you sometime if I am at your show
and I do popup all over the place.
I am constantly asked about red elbows and what to do. As it appears to from
lying in water or wet concrete we paint our kennels with two-pack paint. My dogs
never use a bed - they eat them instead. They eat everything! If really drastic
measures are needed then you may have to bleach the elbows using a good advice
from someone that knows how - or email me. The alternative is to cover the red
areas with PP Cover Up Cream which is applied with a small damp piece of kitchen
sponge and then chalked with loose chalk to dry. Works brilliantly and won't rub
off.
Now the day of the show grooming. Lightly spray the coat with PP Quick Fix
Conditioner or PP Reviva Coat if the coat is dehydrated at a ratio of 1
tablespoon to 3/4 cup of warm water in a spray bottle. Plush Puppy have Measured
Spray Bottles and ratio is 1 tablespoon to 200 mls. If you need more coat then
use PP Volumising Cream at the same ration and use neat when blow drying. Makes
3 hairs look like 3000!
Comb through the flat areas with the Poodle Comb lifting upwards all the way
through. Use the one inch comb for other areas. Finish brushing with the 1/2
bristle 1/2 plastic Porcupine Brush and a light comb through both sides of the
ears with the flea comb. Spray with PP Odour Muncher for clean fragrance and
apply PP Cover Up Cream if needed to stained areas and do any chalking. Some
judges detest chalk left in the coat so make sure it is done well in advance to
eliminate this problem. Chalk blocks all work well. I use a chalk block on the
face and inside the ears but loose chalk on the rest applied over PP Sit and
Stay which will hold the chalk on the legs etc. Dust lightly with PP Pixie Dust
for shimmering finish and sift a tiny bit through the topline to grab the
spotlight.
For ringside emergencies - males tend to pig root when having a pee - use the PP
Wonderwash and lather up and towel off. Instant clean. Oh and I don't trim
whiskers. This seems to be an old show thing and not generally done anymore. I
like the character it gives to the dogs when left natural.
Now spray the coat with PP Shine & Comb and your dog is ready to strut the ring
with the very best of them.
CHERYL LECOURT
Plush Puppy Porcupine Brush
Plush Puppy Cover Up Cream
Plush Puppy Quick Fix Conditioner
Plush Puppy Reviva Coat
Plush Puppy Spray Bottle
Plush Puppy Volumising Cream
Plush Puppy Odour Muncher
Plush Puppy Sit N Stay
Plush Puppy Pixie Dust
Plush Puppy Wonder Wash
Plush Puppy Shine & Comb