Hello, I`ve been thinking about getting an akita for ages. I`ve done quite a lot of research and am aware that this breed isn`t easy. I`m not new to training and having dogs : so far I`ve had a German Shepherd ,two mixed breeds, I also had a rescue St.Bernard dog that I trained and rehomed succesfully.I would like to add I`m also studying to be a vet tech. I would really aprreciate some training tips or if you could just share some breed quirks these guys tend to have.I would generally just aprreciate advice on akitas. How do they manage in the summer and hot weather? Are they aloof with family members or just strangers? All advice and tips highly aprreciated! If I were to get an akita ,I have a big fenced in yard,no other pets and the dog would VERY rarely spend times alone as 90% of the times somebody is home.It`s always been a dream of mine to get an akita,preferably a male. Thank you in advance.
Hi Victoria You seem to have the right attitude toward getting a dog/puppy We have a male Japanese Akita, Yoji, he is 2 1\2 now. This group is a great place to ask for advice, people here have helped me many times Generally ( I know there are often exceptions ) but, all the traits that you read about Akita are really strong traits, with a lot of work, gentle yet firm attitude toward day to day behaviour you can soften the edges of some of the traits We crate trained ours and it worked perfectly for us, when he got to 1 1\2 we got rid of it & he roams the house freely now with no specific sleeping place We never allowed him on our sofa or bed, WE felt we didn’t want to “ claim “ these space & given their size it’s not too practical either We were able to have him “ off lead “ until he was about 1, since then he was more interested in his surroundings & less inclined to come back to us. We learnt the hard way, but, now he is always on a lead, we use a 8 meter horse lunge rein, it works well, occasionally we throw toys and let him run with the lead flapping, saying that I had been pulled over twice as the long lead wrapped around my ankles and as he ran it literally pulled me off my feet....nor pleasant Potty training was so easy, I think that’s more about the breed than my super training ! There are so many other areas to talk about, but, you may already know about them, but, feel free to ask any specific questions & I can answer from my own experience I am not any kind of professional, but, given he has a complex character I do obsess about every part of his life I feel at 2 1/2 we now know his pros & cons which make our life easier, we try to work with him rather than against him I have hundreds of photos of him, Akita’s are so photogenic This is us, me with my hubby Paul & Yoji
I hadn't realised that Yoji had grown so big! What a lovely photo. He has matured into a very handsome dog.
Yes he has. You can see why we didn’t want to encourage him onto the sofa He is big, but, not overweight, he is about 45 kilos and his waist is still good ! We are quite proud of how he has become, after, lots of tears ! Philippa
He's certainly grown into a beauty, Phillipa. You've done a wonderful job with him. Always such a tough road with this breed as they are so blooming obstinate
Lovely picture, Yoji has really filled out and looking handsome as ever,glad things worked out in the end.
Oh wow ,Yoji is so beautiful.Thank you so much for the reply I have a question about their coat. I`ve read they,,blow" their coat twice a year.How long does that last for? I`m planning to feed raw/barf.Any tips? How affectionate are akitas towards family? Thank you so much
From my experience Yoji loves his family, although it is only the two of us. We do get lots of visitors that stay long weekends & sometimes longer. In general he is great & the next time they visit I can tell he remembers them. The worse rime was when my sons came to visit, he barked & barked, then he softened, but, if they went upstairs when they returned he started barking again. We instructed them just to ignore him & go about their business slowly & quietly. Yoji came around after a few hours. By the end of the weekend all was calm. They have just visited again last month & all was perfect I think once the dog realises they are “ friends “ & can see there isn’t any danger all is well. I haven’t got any experience about raw feeding, we use a good quality dry kibble. He seem to do well on it. You are right about the coats, he seems to have 2 big malts a year, that probably last about 3 weeks, daily brushing can help save your vacuum. After the malts it’s very minimal, in fact some people comment how surprised they are about him being so fluffy he doesn’t lose any hair
Hello Victoria - I do not know anything about Akitas so I am afraid I cannot help you there, but as I have been a raw feeder [my version of BARF] since mid 2011 I can possibly answer any queries you have about diet. I do not feed ready frozen raw for dogs as I cannot get it here, and am limited with meat [beef needs a mortgage and lamb needs a millionaire partner, neither of which I have], so the meat and bones are poultry. And some raw feeders do not give their dogs vegetables, whereas I do. Depending on what I can get. Plus various vitamins and mineral supplements, to make sure the diet does not miss anything - which is usually added to dog dry and tinned food. It is not for everyone though, especially when you have a sink full of fresh meat that needs to be packed and frozen in portions. Not so bad for me as I only have a small dog, but when you are up to your elbows in turkey necks cut in thirds, or turkey gizzards, livers, hearts etc - ugh. Luckily as it is all human food we share it, dog eats raw, I eat mine cooked! I am not sure I could afford to raw feed a large dog though.
@VictoriaM again. If you have an abattoir near you it might be possible to get meat and bones at an affordable price. Or maybe a friendly butcher/poulterer who lets you have things such as carcasses, bones etc cheaper. I could buy things from an abattoir but only if I buy a truck full... and I bulk buy and freeze as much as I can as it is. I do not stick to the BARF 80% meat, 10% bones and 10% offal - for Pereg I fiddled around with what I could get, what suited her, until both she and I were happy with what she was fed. She had previously been on a top quality kibble. Tikva, who weighs much less [±6kg as against Pereg's ±20kg] has exactly the same, I just use a smaller bowl for her, without weighing things. But she has been fed raw since I weaned her. Tbh it would have been a lot easier [and cheaper] had I not changed Pereg from kibble to raw, and it is far more difficult for me now with little Tikki, but there is no way I would go back to kibble. Just my opinion though, and I would never say that my way of feeding is better than any other.
Thank you for your reply I`m thinking about feeding half and half:as in a bit of a good quality kibble and a bit of raw meat and bones. We`ll see.
