My beloved Akita, Rohan, crossed the bridge at an average age for his breed. He was the result of a full brother-sister breeding (dad ate through an airline crate, escaped the locked garage the airline crate was in by breaking the glass and jumping through a tiny window six feet up, went over two six foot chain link fences and bred his sister. A determined male dog can often find a way.
There were 12 puppies in the litter; all survived. Three went on to show conformation successfully; two finished and were used for breeding (crossed out a little more than average to counter-act the inbreeding a bit, I think). My dog had HD, but the five litter mates I know about had good hips. He had flea allergies, mild, easily controlled through use of Frontline/Advantage. He bloated at about seven, survived the surgery and lived another two years, about average for an Akita. I would say, overall, he was not particularly more or less healthy than many other dogs I've known; more healthy than one of my collies, less than the other, for instance. My current batch of dogs are too young to compare meaningfully yet. Eileen Morgan The Mare's Nest http://www.enter.net/~edlehman --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.455 / Virus Database: 255 - Release Date: 2/13/2003
