minxy

She's gorgeous!! Yep, they are incredibly stubborn dogs. If my boy doesn't want to do something he'll plant his whole weight as firmly into the ground as possible knowing I can't do a damn thing about it 

Kyojin got diagnosed with discoid lupus almost two years ago now. He used to be on tons of medication but now he doesn't take any tablets, we just wash him every so often with a special wash from the vets. Now that it's cooler here it isn't really a problem for him, it's normally worse in summer and all of his hair falls out again and he gets lots of sores etc, so if we have to, we just give him another course of the prednisone until it's under control again. We just try and keep him out of the sun as much as possible. He used to be indoors whenever he wanted, but once he get lupus that was no longer an option as our floors were being covered with thousands of dead skin cells and huge chunks of hair. It was pretty revolting so unfortunately he just has to live under the patio now. 

 

When his sores are particularly bad we have to be really careful to check his ears as they often get blocked and he becomes temporarily deaf until we clean them out again. We had to do blood tests and biopsies and have a specialist check everything out to confirm his diagnosis. 

 

1. How many dogs do you have, and what are their names, ages and breeds?

 

1 - Kyojin is an American Akita who will be 7 in July 

 

2. Do you have plans for a new addition? No new dogs for us until Kyojin passes. He's suffered numerous health problems his whole life really and is now getting old and hard of hearing as well. So definitely wouldn't get another dog while he is around as that wouldn't be fair to him. We will be looking at getting something totally different next time around, probably something small like a Havanese. 

 

3. Did you have dogs growing up?

 

Yes, my childhood dogs have been: an Old English Sheepdog, Rottweilers x 2 and Bearded Collies x 2

 

4. Do you have names saved for any future dogs? Nope, I don't like to pick a pet's name until I see them at least

 

5. What is your favourite breed? Rottweilers so far, unsure if I'll get to own one again, but will always, always love them.

 

6. What is your favourite group? Probably more Utility

 

7. Is there a breed that you admire, but probably wouldn't own? Yes, love Samoyeds and French Bulldogs, and a few others I'm too tired to think of right now, but can't see myself ever owning either of these. They are beautiful though, just not the right breeds for us.

 

8. Do you compete with your dogs in any discipline? No

 

9. Have you had an achievement, large or small, with a dog that you're particularly proud of? No

 

10. What games do your dogs most enjoy playing? Kyojin likes to wrestle I guess, but not very often. He pretty much just sleeps all day and night

 

11. Are you drawn more to male or female dogs? Usually more male pets in general as I've usually found them more snuggly

 

12. What are your favourite coat patterns or colours? I love really striking looking dogs, so Akitas for me are probably the most handsome. The colours are amazing. Particularly red, white and blacks like my boy is. 

 

13. What discipline or sport in the dog world do you find most interesting? Not really into any of them myself

 

14. What would be your dream household of dogs? I prefer just one dog at a time

 

15. Where is your favourite walk? I don't have a favourite one, we just go locally but I'm now terrified of magpies after last summer so basically jump at every sound whenever we go walking now 

 

16. Does your dog have any funny habits? I just love the way he lies upside down with his legs sticking straight up in the air like a dead cochroach, snoring away 

 

17. Do you have a favourite piece of dog gear? Yes looooove our black leather K9 Pro collar and leash. Has lasted us so long.

 

18. What are your goals for your dogs? No goals for Kyojin other than to keep him comfortable while he lives his days out snoozing in the shade

 

19. Have you had what you consider to be a heart dog? Yes, my Rottweiler Chelsea. She was my absolute best friend. She died when I was away on Year 8 camp and I've never gotten over not being around to say goodbye to her

 

20. List five things you love about your dog 

 

How handsome he is

Such a cuddly teddy bear

His radar ears when he pretends he can't hear us

Gentle giant

The sound of his snoring, it's so peaceful listening to him

 

And... post a picture of your dog/s

 

Photo's from his 5th birthday

I love my Akitas, but next dog we want something totally different, possibly a Havanese. My husband and I have both only ever lived with big dogs before, so it would be a huge change for us!

I was going to suggest Havanese for you, as we have started researching suitable breeds for our next pet and that is what we have as our main pick at the moment. (Similar requirements to you). I haven't met one yet, but have started doing research on them. I do also plan on asking about them on here when we get closer to actually looking at getting a dog.

 

I did every breed selector quiz I could find and found some pretty mixed results, but that is where I did find the Havanese and Coton De Tulear, which seem to be the best suited dogs I have come across for us so far, but there is only one Coton De Tulear breeder in Australia as the breed was only introduced here a little over a year ago, so obviously that makes things a bit harder, and also more expensive!

 

I found the better quizzes were ones that allowed you to select multiple answers for each question, or say that you have no particular preference for that question, as some of them were very black and white, i.e. choose only short/medium/long hair, rather than letting you choose two, or that any would be okay.

The Purina one came up empty for me, apparently no breed is suitable :laugh:

Check this one out: http://www.iams.com/dog-breed-selector

I was impressed with the options and questions. They give you a few results and a % match - which I assume is against your answers.

I got the following:

Border Terrier (82%)

Newfoundland

Great Dane

Pug

Mastiff

Boston Terrier

Leonberger

Chinook

Bulldog

Keeshond

English Bulldog

Swiss Mountain dog

Lapphund

Cesky Terrier

Staffy

Boxer

Beagle

Wolfhound

Fox terrier

St Bernard

Norwich Terrier

Norfolk Terrier

Rat Terrier (what I always call an American foxie)

French Bulldog

American hairless terrier

Basenji

Bedlingotn

Cocker

Norwegian Buhund - Um... Based entirely on the listing on that link they're 100% a NO.

Podengo Pequeno (59%)

Googled the ones I don't know. No need to google the Podengo because of "our" lovely Ping

Interesting mix - No corgis :) Some very "me" results but not sure if they missed the "Smooth coat, no grooming per week, I am no willing to use a professional groomer" answers. Going back to the iams page to play again.

Changed the answers up a bit and got:

Border Terrier again - this time at 81%

Basenji

Rat Terrier

Bearded Collie

Aussie Shepherd

Westie

This one was a lot more accurate for me!! Top two results were Shiba and Akita.

First result was a British Bulldog. There wasn't a single dog on that list that I would consider :laugh:

I second what Lhok said, particularly about the training stuff. They are incredibly intelligent but also very stubborn. If my boy doesn't want to do something, he'll plant his entire weight on the ground knowing I can't move him. :laugh: He also pretends not to hear me sometimes except I can see his ears spinning around in my direction, even though he'll have his back towards me.

My Akita was on Proplan dry food at his breeders and he has done really well on it, so I have never changed brands and he's 6 now.

I don't give wet food but he does get some food scraps from time to time (more so now as he has lost a bit of weight due to having Lupus). It's not necessary though and I'm careful about what I give him.

I have an Akita. The size of an apartment/courtyard probably wouldn't be an issue for them exercise wise. Akitas are fairly lazy low energy dogs. Kyojin has slept all day every day since he was a puppy. If you throw a ball for him, he'll fetch it twice and then go and have another snooze. He'll happily go for a walk, but also would be totally fine if he never went for another one in his life.

However, I would say they'd most definitely be unsuitable for that sort of living arrangement because they are a protective breed, which means that even though they don't bark just for the sake of it, any time a stranger walks past or something that is unfamiliar etc, there will be very LOUD barking that would definitely upset neighbours.

Our Akita has had this surgery done on one knee. He ended up not needing the other knee done as it was strengthened from supporting the other leg as it recovered. We had Kyojin confined to our laundry with a baby gate when we weren't home rather than crating him as he was crated for sleeping at night and we didn't want him in it 24/7. It was so so worth it for our dog. We had the surgery performed by a specialist.

With ACL surgery, patella surgery, lupus etc it's certainly been worth it for us. We spend about $100 a week just on meds for Kyojin's lupus and with only one income now, having pet insurance really helps. Cost a few grand just to diagnose him, as well as about $16k for his two surgeries.

Kyojin looks like a beautiful dog, and sounds like the insurance has helped you a lot. Could I ask, as it sounds like you are in a good position to answer some questions I had:

* Have your premiums seen much of a change each year, especially in years after making large claims (how long has Kyojin's been insured for)?

* With the two surgeries, how long was it before the claim was approved and you were able to recoup the funds?

Cheers,

Camo

Thank you, he's a very sweet boy.

Our premiums have gone up each year but it says it's based on his breed and age not based on us making claims. I am not sure how much it's been each year but we've definitely found it to be worth it. If I can find our most recent letters I'll try and see how it compares to our cat who hasn't had any claims before.

Medibank are super quick and easy to deal with. Usually takes a few days for them to receive the claim from our vets, they send us a text to let us know they've received it and are processing it, and then maaaybe up to a week later we've got the money, usually it's only a couple of days from when they receive our forms. As they pay via bank transfer it's a pretty quick process. They used to do cheques when we first claimed so that would take an extra week or so.

We've had pet insurance since we first got him (5 years ago) as my sister had a Rottie years ago that cost her tens of thousands of dollars as we weren't aware of pet insurance back then, so I wasn't taking any chances this time.

With ACL surgery, patella surgery, lupus etc it's certainly been worth it for us. We spend about $100 a week just on meds for Kyojin's lupus and with only one income now, having pet insurance really helps. Cost a few grand just to diagnose him, as well as about $16k for his two surgeries.

We use Medibank and they have been amazing. We've claimed ten's of thousands of dollars and they have always been brilliant. Generous coverage and quick to pay up. Never had anything questioned or had to chase anything up.

My parents just had to put down their dog last week. They didn't stay. Neither of them can handle it. My dad has only ever stayed once and that was when my sister had to put her Rotty down. She wanted to stay and so my dad did too so that she didn't have to do it alone.

Yup! Every birthday for both my dog and cat I get a photo of them wearing a party hat. The cat gets a tin of wet food as a treat and Kyojin will get a ginormous bone.

We are with Medibank and they have been absolutely fantastic. Kyojin has needed a few different surgeries and other issues here and there. Refunds have always exceeded our expectations and the turnaround is very quick.

I'm all for it, as long as they're on lead and under control. Though I don't like taking my own dog to them because it's harder to move around and I'd prefer not to have to worry about him and just enjoy myself.

Neither of my two rotties jumped a day in their lives, but I'm positive they could if they had actually wanted to.

Happy birthday Stan! Still so handsome

Squeeee!! So so cute

Nawww so beautiful!

Just ordered myself this for my Christmas present - hopefully it will do the job.

https://www.catchoftheday.com.au/event/42913/product/philips-hard-floor-easystar-robot-vacuum-cleaner-303182/

They didn't work for my dog at all

Hey Malakita, I went through this surgery with my male Akita a couple of years ago. Recovery was longer than we expected, probably about 6 months in Kyojin's case before we were allowed to leave him out in the yard again. At one stage I thought the surgery hadn't worked at all, but then all of a sudden, I noticed just how strong his left leg was getting and his knee never popped out again. It even forced him to use his other leg so much that his right knee never popped out again either!

We kept him confined to our laundry with a baby gate at first which proved to be difficult as he managed to escape a couple of times, so then we had to lock him in there and he didn't like that at all. He got used to it though. I didn't want to crate him in there all day while we were at work, but in hindsight, maybe that's what I should have done.

Just the main thing is to keep him quiet and relaxed. The physio we had at the surgery told us to do some muscle exercises to stretch out his leg which seemed to really help (and got him used to us touching his leg when it was like that) He really limped at first and struggled to walk, but after a while he was pretty good at it. Perhaps those harnesses that Jumabaar suggested would be really helpful. If Kyojin ever needed surgery again, I would get one of those. He's 55kg and I'm only a touch under that, so I can't even begin to try and lift him.

In the end, I'm so, so glad we did the surgery. Definitely was the right call for us. We now have a dog who can finally run around, he can go to the beach, he can play with his friends, kick the soccer ball etc. It used to break my heart watching him fall over and then have trouble walking for a bit when his knees were bad, so I'm so happy that now he can be a normal dog again.

Good luck, it is tough, but in my experience, worth it.