good morning everyone, Just had some general questions about your guys experience with your akitas as pups. My girlfriend and I recently got our first Akita, but we’re no strangers to large breeds or the Inu family. She raised and bred Bernese mountain dogs and I had Shibas through my childhood and young adult years. His name is Kuma (I know not original, but fitting) he’s about to be 4 months old in a couple of days and we just want to be sure we’re doinf everything right and address some of his behaviors with the community. -what we do: walks 3-4 times a day for about 15-20 minutes. Training 3-4 times a day for about 10-15 minutes. All kinds of socialization, take him to petco/petsmart weekly, goes to the dog park about 1-2 times a week, try to keep him around people frequently. as far as training goes he knows sit, stay, down, heel, and leave it like the back of his paws (inside with treats, were transitioning training to outside and more distracting areas) -what he does: so this is the naughties... with my girlfriend he tries to hump her, but when she stands and tells him to sit he does. He is a bit of a biter (we tried the ow! Thing), and he loves to look at us bite something he knows he’s knows he’s not supposed to.. stops for a second when we say “kuma leave it” then goes crazy running around and repeats the process a few times. Are these behaviors normal for a near 4 month old? And is there things you guys can recommend? Thank you tons!
The biting will ease if you keep being consistent. 16 weeks is the age when baby teeth start to come out and new teeth push through and, just like babies, it's a bit of a sore time for them. Your girlfriend could try giving him something to do after giving the sit command, be that a game, a bit of training or whatever. This way he is both rewarded for doing as he's told and then his mind is taken away from the humping to help stop the behaviour. Puppies love to test the boundaries, but it seems you are doing pretty well at letting him know what your boundaries are.
Hi Anthony Any pup at 4 months old is going to behave just as you have described. We have an Akita, he is 13 months old now,so, I understand how difficult it is to deal with some of the behaviours given his size We overcame the biting/mouthing after a while ( even now he still tries, but, you can tell he knows it’s wrong and stops himself ) How we did it... we had many of his toys scattered around and every time he went to bite/mouth we put a toy in his mouth, he would then hold onto it whilst you fussed him. After a few weeks we found he had worked out what was expectaed of him. Now, when we come downstairs on a morning or come through the door from being out, he goes himself and grabs a toy, he then comes over, we command “ sit “ and that’s the time we fuss him Just a thought for you, we never ever play “ tug of war “ with him and if he has his toy as I have just described we don’t try to take it off him It has worked for us and it’s worth a try We regularly tie a thick sock or rope into knots and tuck a piece of his kibble into the knots, that keeps him entertained for a while. Watch out for him nibbling the material though you don’t want him eating the fibres This is Yoji at 12 months old saying “ good morning “ to my sister with one of his trusty rags. It really has calmed things down. Let me know how you get on Philippa
@My bear Yoji Seeing your avatar regularly, I lose track of how muchYoji has grown. He really is a big boy now isn't he?
He really is a big boy Carole I have many breeds in the past, only as pets, I have to say that as complex as the breed are he he the dog I have got so much pleasure from. Maybe it’s a mix of me being older and more patient, plus having more time on my hands I can see how things can go so wrong with people who have very busy lives Philippa
He is doing so well, as I said to Carole I think it’s because I am older and have more patience and time ! Don’t get me wrong he still has his moments, but, we are over the hardest parts ! I have to say our success is also due to a lot of moral and practical help from you and others here Philippa xx
Philippa - you and Yoji put me to shame. Tikva is 2 years and 9 months old and is still a little devil - mostly when I am trying to unclip her tether from her harness. Can you believe that small as she is, she is almost too strong for me to unclip it? Little Tikki? She rolls all over the couch, mouthing my hands, so even trying to get the clip is almost impossible. Once I have succeeded she zooms into the bedroom waiting for the little bikki that she has when she goes into her crate, And she also has hysterics when the telephone rings... @Maldo321 - Tikva is not an Akita - I was responding to Philippa @My bear Yoji and I apologise for interrupting and not being able to help you. Anyhow, welcome to Breedia from Tikki Tikva and from me.
