Japanese Mountain Dog

A new dog on t-e block,not for long I -ope. T-e article made my blood boil,also t-e owners cowardly be-avoir,t-e owner of t-e victim took a picture,so -ope -e is caug-t.Looking at t-e dog it cld be an Akita.I wis- I -ad been t-ere would -ave jumped on -is back and wrestled -im to t-e ground,

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-fleeing.html

Gemini54

Horrific. That poor woman.

But Gemini - you would not have been able to save this dog from the attack. No one could have. It was reported that the dog owner 'rugby tackled' it to no avail. The damage was inflicted in 20 seconds.

The explanation given by a dog behaviour expert was that 'these types of attacks are on the increase as the trend nowadays is to have very small dogs' (no mention of the 'trend' for some to have very big powerful dogs!)
and that 'some big dogs see small dogs as 'prey'. I believe this. But the onus is on the owners of the 'big dogs' to keep them under control.

I've had both a child and a dog attacked 'without warning' in the past. But always read that dogs NEVER attack without warning and that there's always some reason for it or something the person they attacked did. Well, my answer to that is it might well be so but, if the person or dog on the receiving end of the mauling has no idea what it was - well - ? This little dog was lying down under its owners chair and she was sitting down too. Hardly provocative behaviour.

In the circumstances, this dog to me falls into the category of 'dangerous dog'. Yes, the owner should have had it on a lead but there's no saying it could not still have killed the tiny dog even if it was on a lead - if they passed close enough to it.

What a dreadful article! Doing no favour to the poor dog that died.....just a few points...

Yes the dog should have been on a lead, if it has done this previously and should be one a lead anyway as it was being walked in a pedestrian setting. Obviously he was completely wrong in giving false details. A dog on dog incident and with such a size difference only one was going to get really hurt. Devastating for the owners. But no, the Daily Fail has to go further.

- 'The man started a acting strangely after the attack' I presume everyone would act differently pre and post their dog attacking another!

- from what the artical said he wouldn't have know the dog was going to die as it was pts sleep later.

-'the dog could have attacked a child!' Let's pump up the hysteria why not! Dog to dog aggression is different to dog to human aggression!! Why do they think it will follow on naturally! Tonks killed a fawn the other day, terrible, but it certainly didn't cross my mind that I should start fearing for my children's lives!!

- ' the man rugby tackled the dog to get it off'....and? So now you criticise how he tried to stop the attack?!

- he strolled off afterwards? Well, presumable he knew you were taking the poor little dog to the vets...how did you want him to leave the scene? Sobbing? Running off? Sinking away?!

I'm not defending the Akita's owner..but, as Dr Roger Mugford said...these things happen when big dogs mistake tiny ones as prey. Terrible! Awful! Yes the man should have had his dog on a lead...but let's not pump the hysteria even more with sensational reporting...injustice the facts are sad enough.


And what's all that about a new type of Japanese mountain dog.....Akita!

And I know lots of very well socialised Akita's. In fact our dog walker has one who lives in a house with a GSD, a pup, a two year old little girls and many many dogs coming and going boring with her. Three years ago there was an Akita who was approached by a stranger when it was tied up outside shops near here and the terrible newspaper that reported it took a a picture it found of my friends dog from the Internet and published with a similarly sensational story about dangerous breeds!

All dogs, regardless of size MUST be socialised from a very early age, und 16 weeks, with dogs of ALL sizes!!

Who is saying anywhere that there are not many 'well socialised' Akitas? I see no mention of that.

And the guy 'strolled off' AFTER giving a FALSE NAME AND PHONE NUMBER.

Of course there are 'well socialised' Akitas! There will be well socialised examples of EVERY BREED of dog that has attacked, maimed or even killed other dogs and humans. This isn't the only Akita that has ever killed (so there are obviously others that are not well socialised) - and the case I am thinking of DID involve a child. Killed a 5yr old boy here in Cyprus a few weeks back. Dog was owned by the best friend of the boy's father who was visiting with the boy and his 21 yr old sister. The boy was not alone with the dog and no one could save him either as it happened so quickly.

This makes me so angry even if a dog or person provokes another surely it is still the responsibility of the attacking dog owner to have control of their dog ! My old Benny and Duncan on various occasions were mobbed by other dogs off lead (mine were nervous aggressive) making them want to attack the dogs mobbing them. I stopped that happening by getting between them and the mobbing dogs or using a muzzle or simply running away with them.

Why do people think it is not their responsibility to keep others safe ? I just don't understand it.

Because the whole tone of the artical, and the intro from Gemini is 'a new threat from a new Japanese type mountain dog on the scene'!

New flash! Dogs kill animals and dogs kill other dogs! Devastating yes and largely preventable....but not if it is a dogs first time and they are off lead in a suitable area. That doesn't mean that particular breed is the issue! Labs have killed, poodles have killed.

I did say that what he did was wrong...but giving the false details was wrong, not the way he left the scene. If they stuck with the bare facts it would be better. Like I say...how should, he have left the scene? Give correct details and then what? Run away? Walk away? That's what gripes me...the facts are sad enough without sensationalising them!

TBH I don't believe much about what is written about dog attacks because I don't think we ever get the real facts. So the dog that killed a child near you...they say it had been well socialised with children? From undere 16 weeks of age? The play with children had always been supervised and didn't involve any rough play or ragging and tugging toys? The child was well versed in how to behave with dogs and someone was suitably close to monitor the dogs body language? Had bite imhibition been taught AT AN EARLY AGE in a positve? After an attack the owners of the dogs are usually always going to say something along the lines of 'I don't understand it. They were always so well behaved and seemed to love children!' Because they think they have done the right thing ...that doesn't mean they have! How many people on here come on asking for advice because their dog growls at their children/dogsand they've told it off for doing it but its getting worse...or they can't stop their puppy nipping and they've tried holding its mouth shut, spraying it with water pistols, smacking/tapping it on the nose, alpha rolls etc etc. just because newspapers report that everything was fine until this incident doesn't mean that there hasn't been a catalogue of minor errors through out the dogs life that has lead to the terrible incident!

In this case the dog should have been on lead. I'm certain the dog didn't attack with no warning. There is almost always warning.....if you can read a dogs body language of course! A tensing. A increased interest in something. A slight jump forward. I was only talking about this to my four year old yesterday when she asked why I said 'off' to Tonks and put her on lead and head collar. Because her body language told me very clearly that she had seen/smelt a cat in a bush.

I am not defending the man I am attacking sensationalist journalism! The real expert got a tiny paragraph at the end of the article.

I'm a big fan of the real expert at the end but he seemed to blame people having smaller dogs which is not the problem at all ! He doesn't usually talk such rubbish so must have been having an off day or was quoted out of context I guess.

That's the thing isn't it...I doubt very much that is all he said....but that was all that was reported! An intelligent highly educated man doesn't sum up a situation like dog attacks in a couple of lines.

Hi A little confused,Japanese Mountain Dog is it an Akita,I thought from the article,that this was a hybrid,In Japan Akita's are thought of as family pets and there is even a statue to one because of its Loyalty.
I have heard breeders on many occasions,if they get feed back from people who have had there puppies,and as the puppy grows and shows a tendency to be aggresive,oh they say we will have to use another stud,and when they use another stud the aggresive tendency isnt present,so maybe the simpler way to sort this out is to give prospective puppy owners a questionaire,the results fed in over a period of time,and if a certain litter are showing signs,they could trace it back.With Greyhounds if a person wants to buy a good racer, they check the family tree back.
It seems even in dogs there is this argument its the way a puppy is brought up, Socialised (Nurture) or maybe the answer could be in the breeding.Until someone undertakes an experiment we will be always be in the dark.
I for one taking on a puppy at 5mths old, would feel extremely guilty if she was aggresive,and reading all the articles on this subject there seems to be no hope re my circumstances,so by that argument do I write my puppy off,as she hasnt been socialised in the period stated,I have had to teach her very slowly because she is very timid,some of the things like sitting have taken months which means she is a young dog now with very few skills,so because of her past does that mean I will have to put her down because she hasnt the criteria that is expected or will I have to get her tagged,just in case she could be aggresive as she is scared of other dogs,even if they sniff her her tail goes down and ears,she has now started barking at everything that she sees as a threat, to other dog owners barking is a form of aggression,and have been told that in no uncertain terms by people who are walking there dogs,and Faye will bark,because she is scared.Gemini54