[Zeretaas]

I have a Question from when i was about 16. My step brother had a dog it was a Akita, How ever he was known to be very aggresive towards kids and younger people.. Hence i wasnt allowed to get close to it.. One day i was going to the park to play football and this Akita was bound to the car in leech and he would bark aggresively towards me, I looked at him got eye contact and then continued to the park. Now this is where things get odd, And it has been bothering me for a few years and i wonder why, hence why i am here now!

One day i was watching television my parents got a job in watching out for this dog for a day.. the strange thing tho is that this dog was not allowed to enter the living room as i was there, Untill they let the fence gate stay open and the dog came running towards me, It would literally lay down on top of my feet and let me pet it... And this is not a one time Occurance from this point.. After this happened i was to go to my step brothers birthday and the dog was bound to a leech and he would seek me out to come and play with him, when i sat down he would lay down next to me like totally up close to the point where i could use that polar bear as a "leaning" part if i so wanted too and he certainly didnt mind! How is it that I become such good friends with this dog when it was known to be so aggresive towards kids? The dog certainly become a really good friend and i have always wondered "what triggered" this behavior towards me but not others? Any help please?

Thanks.

 

[Eenypup]

Not knowing details about the "aggressive" behavior, my first thought is that 16 may have been old enough for the dog to be comfortable with you. Did he typically respond poorly to older teenagers?

For example, my dog does not feel comfortable around kids and preteens and cannot be trusted around them. However she is totally fine and enjoys being around anyone at least 16 years of age. For my dog that seems to be around where the cut off is, 16 year olds are adult-like enough that she treats them as lovingly as she treats all other adults!

Also could be that the dog had gotten used to your presence, a strange child and a familiar one are often very different stories!

 

[Zeretaas]

Not knowing details about the "aggressive" behavior, my first thought is that 16 may have been old enough for the dog to be comfortable with you. Did he typically respond poorly to older teenagers?

For example, my dog does not feel comfortable around kids and preteens and cannot be trusted around them. However she is totally fine and enjoys being around anyone at least 16 years of age. For my dog that seems to be around where the cut off is, 16 year olds are adult-like enough that she treats them as lovingly as she treats all other adults!

Also could be that the dog had gotten used to your presence, a strange child and a familiar one are often very different stories!

Well first of all, i dont know much about the aggresion, i just got to hear that the dog was pretty violent against kids and that i wasnt allowed to meet it at the time.. I love animals, cats, dogs, everything animal related so i wanted to know this dog despite listening to it being dangerous.

For your second statement, Well he saw me ones, that was when i was going to the park, and then the second time when he came up to me and kinda proved him self a very good friend and with that i can hardly say i was any familiar with him, but i dont know that much about dogs to know when you are a familiar or stranger.

What i think it may be, is that I have always been good with animals... Wether it be my grandmothers cat that didnt want any contact with humans at all, well he would come up and sleep next to me.. My neightbor cat that i dont know? it would come and follow me to the store, wait for me untill i returned and follow me back... I have similar stories with dogs as this Akita Or my uncles dog wich is a Hunting dog used for moose (not very good with breeds)

but hey i could be wrong. maybe the dog never really had the chance to meet any kid that it "endangered" so it showed aggresion because it never had the chance to get to know the people that was surrounding him. or maybe frustration i dont know, but my parents and my step brother also explained it as strange that this dog would just come up to me like that.. So might be a reason as well

 

[mathilda]

perhaps with 16 youR'e not in the "child"-cathegory anymore for the dog.
It could also be that the dog just got used to you and so you became a exception.
it could also be that he wasn't necessarily aggressive against children, but aggressive against "small people that are very fidgety and so it was difficult for him to predict what they do".
It could also be that the Akita just didn't like strangers and was okay with children he knew.