Arya is always seriously hungry :) Diet

Hey and Merry Christmas to all also I hope the coming new year will be better thn this one, for all around the world.

I am trying to upload a video in order to show you our Arya’s progress as now she is exactly 4 months old
(I hope video will be uploaded without a problem) she is now 17.5 kg but looks rather thin. I know being thin is way better thn being fat at this time of age, especially because of her hip & elbow joints. On the other hand I am curious about your lovely girls and boys weight and looks at 4 months old (if you can remember right ) she is taking walks 1/2 hour in the morning and 1/2 at night also she plays in our garden about 1/2 hour by herself also. She is on “Acana heritage puppy for large breeds” kibble that she enjoys very much. According to Acana’s chart she’s got to be eating 280-290 grams but she eats about 420-430 grams a day and she is still thin. She has her worm medicines and etc so there is no possibility about worms ladies and gents do you remember how does your boys & girls weigh at 4 months ?

Edit: video didn’t work, I will try later again

Hello Umur - thank you for the latest pictures of lovely Arya - I do not think that she looks thin, to me she looks perfect, and as you know, slim rather than fat is far better for her health.

I do not know anything about the food you give her as I am a raw feeder but I am sure someone far more knowledgeable than I can advise you about that, but I do think that a lot of dog food manufacturers tend to just use a standard chart for the amount of food for dogs of a certain age and weight. Only all dogs are different even if they are the same breed and same age, some needing more and some needing less.

What does your vet say about Arya's weight? Does she weigh the correct amount according to her size and build? If you are concerned can you weigh her monthly to check whether she is gaining [or losing] weight?

And how is she getting on with you all and with her training - please keep us up to date with new pictures and how she is doing!

Hello Juli good to hear that you think she is slim also both I and our vet thinks she is in perfect shape for weight and posture and etc. The problem is "when someone needs other point of view in order to check if I am doing right", thn lots of dirty information is flying around the internet :/ and that confused me.

According to akita website charts she is thin but our vet and I thought otherwise. So I made a call to the breeder today and send the video and some pictures, he said she is in perfect condition from her looks. So I will keep her feeding program as it is.

I was a Barf feeder for about 3 years but the process of making meat and veggies packs and freezing process made me go nuts I was spending my 4 hours on sundays to make 10 day packs for 3 dogs. So it lasted only 3 years, thn I went to premium hollistic kibble. Now Loki and Arya is on premium hollistic kibble and twice a week raw food

I am weighing Arya weekly and so does our vet so she is gaining weight with no problem and not bulky amounts. She was 9 weeks old when she become part of our family,

9 weeks old 9,5 kgs
10 weeks old 10,8 kgs
11 weeks old 11,3 kgs
3 months old 13,5 kgs
4 months old 18 kgs (as of today)

Arya began to challange me a few times when I said "no" and barked as "objections your honor" so I took "no", to "NO" level and we are ok right now she walks right beside us and sometimes a little behind us (which I prefer) so walks are excellent. The only problem about walks is every sçent is new to her so we stop any&every new scent or visually new object in order to examine it thoroughly she attracts lots of attention and I encourage people to pet him and give hugs in order to socialize her properly so we are pretty good at daily schedule

I will try to post that video again from the computer and keep you posted

A lot depends on the quality of the breeding, bone structure and genetics but if she is fit and healthy I wouldn’t worry to much.

We have a Japanese Akita and my husband is constantly researching bits and pieces.
He thinks you pub look spot on
He is interested in the Protein % of kibble which is critical at the early development stage
He also read an article about the length of time to walk is only 5 mins per month and at your pups age he should be sleeping 18 hours out of 24
If he is out in the garden messing about he will be burning the calories off
These are all thing we have learnt along the way and questions we asked ourselves

You can trust the information you get on Breedia implicitly because if one person does not the answer they will either tell you, as I do, or there will be lots of people who do know. And it is not "dirty information flying around the internet" - it is accurate information from people who do know exactly what they are talking about.

Good!

I buy human poultry/meat for Tikva [and for Pereg before her] so we "share" the food - I cook mine though! But I do not make it up into daily packs, I pack and fast freeze chunks of turkey neck or chicken wings individually so I just have to take one out of the freezer for the morning meal, which is given frozen. Evening meals are meat [turkey gizzards/liver/hearts or ox lung] also packed and frozen individually, with a new pack taken out of the freezer to defrost in the refrigerator for the next evening, as I cut them up to mix with her evening meal [she is only a little girl but with a big appetite!] and for vegetables I buy kilo packs of frozen diced mixed vegetables - usually four packs at a time, one pack being put into five kilo size containers, each container holding enough for two days, with a new pack being opened every ten days. Like the evening meals, I take a container from the freezer to defrost in the refrigerator.

The evening "wet" meals have the necessary vitamins and supplements to ensure that nothing is missing from her diet.

Last week I froze 2 kilos of turkey neck chunks, 2 kilos of chicken wings, and 2.8 kilos of turkey hearts, although the latter were open frozen on trays and then tipped into a large plastic carrier bag to pack in Pereg's freezer. All done in less than a day. About two or three weeks before I packed and froze 2 kilos of turkey gizzards, and the next lot to order, pack and freeze will be 2 kilos of turkey livers and some time later 2 kilos of ox lung. I still have the remainder of previous orders in Pereg's freezer, plus some large frozen whole sardines, heads/fins/tails included and ungutted, also as a morning frozen "bone" meal. The morning frozen "bone" meals and all the meat lasts weeks, so it is not a weekly thing for me to have to make up daily packs - it is 15-20 minute pack and put in the freezer whenever things are running low.

It sounds like she is doing very well - thank you for the update! I cannot compare Pereg's or Tikva's weights to Arya as they were/are not Akitas. Pereg was a small/medium size mutt and Tikki is a small cross Dachshund/Minpin who is slender but not as skinny as she looks but is much heavier than her looks and size indicate, as she is mostly rock solid bones and muscles!

I may have confused you, the walking guide you work out for yourself.
For every month old you pup is you multiply it, so, Arya is 4 months old 4 x 5 ( min ) = 20 min walk per day, it will obviously increase as she gets older

I’ve always limited ‘forced exercise’ but they could do as much off lead exercise and playing as they wanted (as long as it's on soft surfaces, not concrete) they will stop when they get tired, but long lead walks or exercises like jumping or jogging should be avoided.

Hey Vee sorry for late answers since we were really busy.
As for Arya, She is always playing in our garden so she is on soft surface and when she gets tired she sits beside her elder brother Loki and keep an eye out for us lol. She is very protective of her garden,yet real silent. She is here with us about almost 2.5 months and she barked only 2 times at night when she didnt understood that it was me in the garden at night day time didnt heard a thing from her. But listening to Philippa we cut our daily time walks to half. Arya was walking about 1 hour daily so we cut that to 30-40 minutes daily on pavement.

Hey Philippa

Thanks for the tips about walking and sorry for my late answer we cut Arya's daily pavement trips to "about half" and socialize her all the way.

About the kibble I am putting the ingredients table in the picture section below, her next kibble pack will be puppy & junior type since we dont want her to be massive with much protein and have possible joint problems since she hit the 4 month mark as of last week

Hey Umur! I have owned an Akita for 12 years now. My hubby and I lost our boy Bruiser back in April last year. I am sorry for your losses! We were extremely devistated as well. Bruiser was 11, his sister Blaize is well and now 12, we got Tonka now who is a year old, and we also have added Princess Laia to the pack at 2months now (great Christmas present to us,lol) Laia just got back from the vet and she is 20.2lbs. She is simply fat. Doc said she was perfectly fine and it is no problem. She will thin out as she grows kind of like baby’s fat. He said we should still feed her 3 times a day as a puppy. Tonka my 1 yr old weighs 90.2lbs but is very slim. He has always been that way even as a baby. Doc even thought he would only be about 80 lbs. Tonka is slowing on his food intake so he is down to eating 2 Times a day. I think your baby is doing just fine. Just an FYI your post is what made me get on this chat. Thanks for that! I love all things Akita so I look forward to sharing all of our journeys. Talk soon.....

I forgot to mention that Tonka has roundworms so we just had him treated. He was on heart guard and still got them. As a result we had to get stronger meds. Heart guard company is also paying for his appointments and treatments because they guarantee their product. I would ask your vet next appointment about worms. Could be why so thin, my Tonka is also thin. We were very worried parents for sure!

@Akitamommy - Tara - welcome to Breedia to you and your lovely Akitas from Tikva and from me - thank you for the delightful pictures!

I do not know anything about Akitas but there are quite a few here who do so hopefully someone who does will soon be around to give you any advice you may need.

Hey there Malma thanks for the welcome from you and Tikva! I’m excited for the new friends and advice.

Tara, I am either Malka [user name from way back when] or I am Juli - my real name. As least it is the one I am known by where I live.

Tikki Tikva is my current four-legged horror - correction, delight [HUH] and not my beloved angel epi Pereg as in my avatar and I honestly do not know anything about Akitas - just that there are people who have or who have had those beautiful dogs still around, who I am sure will help you, give advice, and be good friends in the process.

All I can say for now is to hang around [we do not bite] and ask whatever you need to ask - I may not be able to help but we do have some real experts who can and who will.

Keep with us Tara and you can be assured that the advice and advise you will be given will be the best,

That is what Breedia is for.

Thanks Juli! This is great. I had no idea you guys were out here. I have had many things come up that I could have used you all for. I am still figuring out all the features of Breedia. This is so cool! I just saw you are from Irael that is very fascinating. Have any of your dogs been obsessed with digging and eating dirt? My Tonka will not stop digging and then eating dirt like it’s his food.

Tara, I am from England - just so happened that

[messed up post, sorry]
Tara, I am from England - just so happened that I came here a long time ago. Tikva, my current little monster is the result of an accident Doxie dam and a Minpin sire.

But I can promise you that there will always be someone on Breedia who will be able to help you - I can not but at least you know I will always be here for you so can hopefully steer you to someone who can. And I have never heard bad advice from anyone on Breedia wherever they live.

Stick with us Tara - Breedia is a very a very special forum.

Juli & Tikki Tikva xx