Hey guys! I will be adopting an 8-week-old male Akita in September. I was hoping that other Akita owners could give me some pointers on early training before the little fella, Mack, gets home. What advice can you give for exercise, toys, feeding and training? Thanks!
Hi Hayden and a preemptive congrats on your Akita pup. Do you have any other dogs in your home or will the Akita be the only one? Exercise for an Akita is not really that hard compared to other dogs (I have a Husky too), too much walking can mess with their knees apparently. A good 45 minute walk would be enough imho, if he also has a garden to play in that would help you out considerably. All the family have to do their part in waking, feeding etc as these dogs will print onto whoever is the main care giver, so you will want to spread that responsibility as wide as you can. My wife and son promised they would do equal shares of the work, but lo and behold I ended up doing everything, so now the dog looks to me when they give her a command. Toys, it really doesn't matter what you put down in front of them, it'll get destroyed pretty quickly. I have found the best toys are the ones made of Fireman's Hose, Pet Smart have them. They have by far lasted the longest out of any toys I have bought mine. For feeding I used the Blue Buffalo large breed puppy food, mixed with a little water to let it expand in the bowl and not in the stomach. A lot of people go for the fully RAW diet, veggies, raw meat/fish. I'm not made of money, so I opt for a good kibble and I think Blue Buffalo checks all the points I need. Also make sure you and your other family members put their hand into the Akita pups bowl while he's eating it. You don't have to do anything other than swirl a finger around in it. You can take the bowl away from him also to see his reaction. Depending on the initial reaction, he'll will let you know how food protective he is. If you get a little growl, then the next time put your hand in and while he is growling, drop a few tasty treats in there. He will stop thinking his food is going to be stolen and be expecting something extra. Make all the close family members do this too. If you have other dogs, make sure they eat first and the puppy last and also separate from the other dogs. Now Luna (pic) will eat next to the husky who is sleeping right beside her bowl, but it wasn't always like that. She tried to bite him the first time he tried smelling her food. Its a lot cuter seeing a snap from a puppy than a 50-100lb monster and a lot less damage to deal with also, so the ground work has to be laid down now. Training should start on day one. We've all read not to start training Akita's until they are 6 months old, but no one around here is going to support that belief. A 6 month Male Akita will weigh anywhere from 40-70+lbs and the bad habits will be so much harder to correct by then. You'll probably be able to get Mack to sit and give you his paw well within the first week. I was blown away how quickly Luna picked up the basics. Socialization is extremely important for dogs like this, so puppy training school should be started as soon as possible. If you are from the US then I would recommend PetSmart puppy training, its cheap, there's lots of other dogs walking around the store. There are also lots of kids in the store too and its great to get the Akita around as many children as possible as they are mesmerized by them.
Feed the best you can afford preferably grain free. When you bring him home, if using complete' feed him on adult, so that he will grow at a steady rate and not too quickly. 8wks to 12 wks four meals a day/12wks to 6mths three meals a day, then drop to feeding two meals a day. Exercise as a puppy rule of thumb is a ratio of five minutes exercise per month of age a day is plenty, don’t overdo exercise until he is about a year old. Training As they get bored quickly Short periods through the day are best,.Patience, Persistence and praise. Toys Kongs filled with different things are good, it’s a case of trying to see what toys he prefers. If you can get the book Akita-Treasure of Japan, Vol. 2 by Barbara Bouyet (expensive) but an excellent book and tells you everything you need to know.
Yeah I do tend to rabbit on a bit, sorry for the long post. I swear if my wife would let me I would have another Akita in the house, I'd do it in a heartbeat, completely impractical as I am at my dog limit for this house legally, but they are unlike any other dog I have owned before. If you just use common sense, and be super aware of how big he's going to get as to what you let him do as a pup, you'll be good. The community here is awesome, a heck of a lot of breed specific information, I have found the info here to be invaluable.
I agree with the previous advice, especially training. Our Akita, Sakura, learns scarily fast and it seems to make her happy to "do work" as we call it. It helps her confidence as well, learning or reinforcing learned behaviors. As for toys, I agree Kongs are great. Sakura likes basically anything that makes noise and these seem to occupy her for longer than non-squeaky toys. However, they might drive you insane
Thank you SOOOO much for this--What a big help! I don't have any other pets (the one on my profile pic is a dog a used to sit) so Mack is gonna be an only-floof. His mama is 109 pounds and his dad is about 115 so early training and socialization is absolutely a must. I'm really excited and nervous but the breeder seems to have a lot of really well-tempered dogs that are absolutely beautiful! This is Akira, his mama: This is his dad, Cody: Akira's nose is a little snipey and she looks funny because she doesn't have the full dark mask but the breeder says because Cody's bloodline is so solid that his genes will be more dominant. So it is likely that they will have pups that look more like their handsome dad.
I'm getting him from Hollis Zane at www.XtremeAkitas.com. They are located in Delaware and have excellent reviews. In all my searching for the right breeder have never seen an akita breeder so professional about their business and so protective and sweet about their animals. They breed the most beautiful akitas with the most sweet, fantastic temperaments.
