Hello, My name is Donald. We are getting our first family puppy. He is an Akita and his name is Joel. This will be my 3RD dog. I have had 2 Rottweilers in the past while I was single. I have been doing a lot of reading on Akita’s and what I read was the reason I picked the Akita breed. Does anyone have advice for a first time Akita owner?
Hi Donald, Welcome to the forum. When are you getting your puppy? Is he a Japanese or an American Akita? Do you have any pics of him? When is he coming home? I’m curious what it was that you read about Akitas that made you want to have one, and have you met or spent any time with one before? That’s a lot of questions, lol. You will find that they are a unique breed that need a confident but kind owner. If they don’t see you as being in charge, they will think you need them to be in charge. They need positive reinforcement, not heavy handed training. They tend to bore quickly during repetitive training but are very smart. When I meet someone who asks me about them, I usually tell them all the bad things first.. because I didn’t think they are a dog for just anyone. If you have children he will be very protective of them, but will need to be put elsewhere when your kids have friends over, especially if there is going to be any roughhousing. If you look in the Akita threads there is a recent thread titled new Akita owner. If you have any specific questions there are a few of us Akita owners, or, are owned by our Akitas, on here. I’m currently on my 2nd and 3rd Akita. They are both quite different from each other, even though they share the same mom, and different from my first Akita, who was more of the aloof, wary of strangers type Akita. It’s been a long rainy day where I live and I’m tired from clearing trenches in the rain on my road. I’ll try and respond more tomorrow but I’m burnt out right now. Congratulations on choosing what I think is an awesome breed of dog.
Hello Who owns who, Pretty much everything you said in the second paragraph. I like the idea of a protective family dog. He will be the perfect addition to our family. We work, go to school amd pretty much keep to ourselves. We live in Seattle so with all the rain we pretty much stay in the house and have a lot of fun together. He is an american akita and I am picking him up Monday afternoon from the airport. He was born 11/4/18. I have had 2 Rottweilers in the past and I was very ‘heavy handed’ with them. They were great companions and they were fiercly protective. I mean fierce! You couldnt even look at me funny without them getting in your face in an aggressive stance. The rotts were very loyal and they listened to my verbal commands very, very well. I am 6’2” and the largest of my rotts was as tall as me standing up on his hind legs. I am anxious to train a more intelligent dog - looking forward to the challenge. From what I have read it will be counter productive to be ‘heavy handed’ with Joel. Confident but kind - that is good. I will take that to heart while training Joel. Question about food - his human birth parents were feeding him a brand of food from Tractor Supply - ‘Retriever hi protein dog food’. I read about the product and some reviews and didnt really like what I read. It is pretty cheap dog food - $25-$30 for a 55lb bag. Not sure I want to feed him that food. Any suggestions on a good dry dog food for the Akita?
Hi Donald and welcome I can only “ mirror “ what Marc has said above I’m looking forward to see some pictures when you can We have had Yoji since he was a pup, he was 2 this week. We have had lows & highs with him I love talking about Akitas, so, please ask any questions you like, this site is full of support and knowledge Can I just irritate....do not punish your Akita, when something goes wrong take a deep breath and try again ! Do you have small children around ? If so it’s worth researching about them being around Akitas...respectful, calm and leave alone whilst eating is a good start Philipp & Yoji
Congrats on your new addition and I can’t wait to see pictures. You can transition to a new food by just mixing the old with the new over a period of time. This just keeps them from getting diarrhea full force. If tractor supply is convenient for you, we use Taste of the Wild- High Prairie. I mix in either a little canned food, raw egg or Dyne liquid high calorie supplement to mine. The dogs eat their whole bowl, I’ve found, if the food is slightly ‘wet’.
Hello Phillip & Yoji, After all the reading I have done I plan to take my time and be patient with Joel. From what I have read, punishing him will be counter productive. No small children - my youngest is 11. I purchased him from Happydale Kennels. They have pics of the puppies and parents - http://akitas.happydale.org/60/Welcome.htm As soon as we get him home we will for sure be taking pics and I will share them here. Thank you all for the feedback!
Hi Donald, I’m currently feeding mine nutrisource dog food, which they love and scarf right down. I previously fed taste of the wild, which they didn’t like as much, and often wouldn’t finish. The nutrisource is higher quality in my opinion, but also more expensive. It is denser so I feed less quantity than with the taste of the wild. I like a grain free food, preferably without lots of potatoes as a filler. Most taste of the wild uses potatoes. I think, and have been told by my vet, and the manager at the pet food store, that a good high quality food shouldn’t need added supplements. Also if the food is tasty you shouldn’t have to add anything to it to encourage the dog to eat it, just my opinion. Personally I think canned food is a waste of money and resources. It’s mostly water and so many cans to recycle. Mine get a very occasional can, on bday or I get them a can of duck dog food when the San Jose Sharks (nhl hockey team) play the Anaheim Ducks. Guess which team I route for... Yes please no heavy handed training. These dogs do not respond well to that type of treatment. I looked at the website of Joel’s breeder, and honestly I was not very impressed... I saw nothing about the parents being health screened or any kind of health guarantee for your pup, although at the price, I’m not surprised. Also nothing about their pedigree or if they or their parents had been shown, which can give indication if they meet or exceed breed standards. Nor did it give the age of the mom, or dad. I hope he is a happy healthy boy!! If you’d gotten on here before picking him out I’m sure people would have suggested getting a dog from health screened parents. Not trying to be judgmental, just sharing my thoughts. Sounds like he arrives today, that is so exciting. It may take awhile for him to adjust after his flight, which can be stressful for them. Both of mine were shipped from Missouri. Do you have an appointment with your vet yet? Even though he will have seen a vet to be able to get sent on a plane it’s always a good idea to have your vet check him over as soon as possible.
I just googled reviews for that breeder, and there was only one but it wasn’t good. Of course often people don’t say anything when they are happy... There are many brands of high quality dog food. It was suggested to me by my dogs breeder that around 27-28 protein and 17-18% fat content was good for an Akita. Too much protein and you can have a large gassy dog, and nobody wants that..
Hi Donald it’s me again I know it’s super exciting about getting a new puppy, it’s probably not what you want to hear or even want to do, but, Marc knows what he’s talking about and I agree that you should get your pup checked by a vet as soon as you can I’m sure your not happy about what you are reading, but, the sooner you get the all clear from a vet you can relax Please let us know how you are getting on Philippa
I appreciate the feedback. I respect the opinion of others. I shopped around a bit and the choice I made to purchase Joel was based off of my available budget. A lot of the Akita’s I saw while looking cost twice as much as Joel. I was a bit skeptical at first to be honest. I spent a good hour talking to the breeder on the phone and I made the decision to purchase the puppy. I will get him to the vet ASAP for a check up. Thank you all for your feedback.
I was hesitant to express some of what I did as I didn’t want to turn you off to this site, which I’ve found to be a valuable resource. When I was looking for a new Akita in November 2016 two things kept popping up in my searches, other ancient dog breeds, and other “most expensive dog breeds”. My brother gave me my first Akita and my 2 dogs previous to that I got from a young girl in front of a supermarket. So when I bought Bandit I rationalized his cost by thinking all my previous dogs I didn’t pay for... and I fully stretched my finances to be able to get him. Despite all my research he showed up lathargic and 12 hours later was at the emergency vet with parvovirus, and I paid a whole lot more than what Joel cost. The breeder did however pay $500 over his cost towards my very large vet bill, and offered me another dog for free, in the future, my pick of the litter.
I’m so pleased that you asked for advice I’m really looking forward to seeing him and hearing all about his cheeky antics Philippa
@My bear Yoji, So where’s a thread for Yogi’s big bday? With some new pics and an update on how he’s behaving?
We picked up Joel from the airport yesterday. He was bigger than I expected for being 2 months old! The employees at the cargo pickup office were all over him, they were loving the heck out of him! Kids are loving him. He seems to like to go after feet - hilarious to watch the kids jump around with him chasing there feet. I thought he would be a little more tramatized from the trip but after he got in the car he was curious and checking everything out. Sniffing and trying to chew on stuff. Looks like he has/had a bad case of fleas... I see 3 spots where the fleas have done a number on him. Got some flea shampoo and gave him his first bath... That was fun! Got a flea collar on him and we have a vet appt for the 16th. Any advice on getting rid of fleas and treating the affected areas will be appreciated. I will be posting some pics today. Super busy yesterday and didnt have the time, energy or desire to bust out the camera. His color is tan but his fur is black closer to the root. I would like to see him get darker for sure. Any thoughts on this? Will he stay a tan color or will he get darker?
They can be big pups! Great that he didn’t seem traumatized, he was probably happy to get away from all the fleas.. Covered in fleas was part of the complaint that I read. I give both my dogs NexGard chewables, which the package says for dogs 8 weeks and older. These work for ticks too, which we have lots of in the winter here. I haven’t dealt with fleas in a very long time so don’t know how to get rid of them, or treat the sores. I was under the impression that a flee collar had to have some skin contact to work properly. I’d talk to vet about treating sores. Very irresponsible breeders to let a pup get fleas so bad, good that you got him out of there. I was asked by my breeder to take pups to vet within the first few days. Short of that I would definitely take a stool sample to the vets pronto, given the flea issue, I’d not be surprised if he has parasites too. Test for giardia as well. I would expect him to get a darker overlay over time. Looking forward to seeing him!
Hi Donald, I'm fairly new here but my pup also came home with sores that I believe we're acquired from food allergies as they disappeared when I figured out he couldn't have egg. I wanted to give you some advice for those. My Akita hates water so bath time is a pain. After speaking to a few veterinarians and even some physicians I work for I was directed to try vitamin E. It is sold in liquid form in most any pharmacy or supplement store. I poured the liquid on his sores daily and within about a week they were practically healed! I now feed him salmon because of the high Omega percentage and have not had any problems whatsoever! If you are looking for a great brand of food on a budget Addiction is wonderful and does not have near the added nutrients and things that taste of the wild has. It is very natural dog food. It has to be ordered but can be ordered and shipped in 2 days on chewy.com. Hope that helps you! Keep us posted!
Joel at the vet. Vet says he is healthy. He got some shots. We are heading back in a few weeks for follow up and more shots. All is well. He has a mind of his own! Having a lot of fun with him. Been reading quite a bit about the Akita lately and I love everything I read. Cant wait to see how big he gets!
