Just saying hello. I just bought home my Akita puppy Luca last week and I am new owner of the breed. I joined just to hear some advice and stories from other akita owners. Only positive stories !!! Because as a long time dog owner I understand that most accidents are the owners fault. Any games or treat suggestion are welcome. Luca is 9 weeks and 22.3lbs, he's on Diamond Natural brand dog food which the breeder had him on but soon I will be switching him to Orijen Large Puppy. Also after his secong round of shots next week we start puppy classes and socialization.
Hi Scott, welcome to the forum. Luca is very sweet. You will find there are quite a few recent posts on the Akita forum. Look under breeds beginning with A.
Hi Scott, congratulations on your new pup!! I have 2 American Akitas, a 23 month old male and a 9 month old female who have the same mom. From what I remember the Orijen dog food has a very high protein %. I was told by breeder I got my dogs from that 28% is about what they should be getting. Acana dog food has % closer to ratio I was told is appropriate and I believe is made by the same company. I feed my dogs taste of the Wild pine forest. If you get the protein % too high you are going to have a dog with gas... trust me you don’t want a large dog with bad gas..... I see in your photos you have a chain type collar as well as the red flat collar. I would highly suggest not using the chain type collar. I did use one of those on my previous Akita but don’t use them anymore. I generally walk them on harness’ but sometimes I just use the collar so they are accustomed to both. I don’t know about your pup but both of mine are very mouthy so one of the first things I taught them was kisses so that they wouldn’t nip me and especially strangers. Cute puppy!! Have fun and good luck, hope you stay around here, their are a few people who have really good advice.
@who owns who I think Luca's photos show a martingale type collar. Flat around the neck, but with a captive chain loop. These collars should not be left on when the puppy is unsupervised, as the chain loop can get caught on projections. Though I wouldn't advise one of these for a tiny puppy, I do rather like this pattern as a training collar, and actually use them for my own Beagles.
It should be correctly adjusted so that when in place, the leather or webbing part almost, but does not quite, meet. This allows for a tiny squeeze, which signals a check to the dog, but does not allow the collar to tighten around the neck even if the dog pulls.
Hmm. So this is a good safe training tool? Sounds like a dog could slip out of it though the way you describe it. I’ll have to go look at them at the store. I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking my dogs on something they could slip out of...
That would be unlikely if the collar was the correct size for the dog, so I would only ever use the adjustable type. If the dog pulled back, the chain would pull the two rings together, making the collar similar in effect to a close fitting buckle collar. IMO the only drawback is that they should not be left on when the dog is unsupervised - if a dog is running free with no lead attached, the loop of chain could possibly get snagged on something like a low branch. I understand that not everyone likes this type, - in fact my own trainer will only use a buckle or snap-fastened collar, and I was once asked if I would replace my dog's collar with a flat collar by a judge at a working trial, (because of jumps), but I have been using this type for 40 years without a problem.
Thanks for the advice since he’s a bigger pup I plan on using this collar while he’s younger so when he’s 100+ lbs he’s not pulling me or my girlfriend on walks. He only wears the collar on walks when we are training. He’ll graduate to a harness when he’s ready.
Hi Scott Seeing Luca takes me back to when Yoji was a pup, they are beautiful aren’t they We have a Japenese Akita, he’s 20 months old now I can see you are getting plenty of advice about food and collar/harness, can I recommend a couple of things that we learnt along the way Luca needs lots lots of sleep and will probably need encouragement to do so, it’s important for mental & physical growth. Also, don’t over exercise him, here is a link to an article to help https://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/ge...-your-new-puppy-or-dog/puppy-and-dog-walking/ As you have already mentioned you are socialising him already, if I had my time again with Yoji I would have done things differently, with that I mean..... socialising doesn’t mean he has to be touched by every human or be fiends with every other dog. As they as so cute looking people want to cuddle the like a “ teddy bear “ not all Akita want that, just bear that in mind I now understand that “ socialising “ can be replaced by “ de sensatising “ ...... noises traffic, out side schools at playtime and actually walking straight past other dogs without approaching, Akitas will never be friends with every dog ! You have probably read articles about not letting Akita off the lead, that’s great advice, of course I ignored it, it was fine whilst he was younger and wanted to come back to me, but, as he got older & independent he would look at me and bolt. They are a wonderful breed and a complex breed, all the traits you read about are just that, you can soften their edges but always have in your mind they were bred for hunting and guarding, they do both jobs really well even though we don’t really want them to I could talk hours about what I have learnt in my short time as an Akita owner and the people in this group have been brilliant Please stay and ask ask ask, that way you will get lots of different ideas about different things Philippa
It is called a ‘check chain’ when used properly, it only becomes a ‘choke chain’ when put on the wrong way or the dog allowed to pull into it. I use the half check leather adjustable collar on my Akitas and Gsd’s, with the rings just meeting when tightened and you can get 2 fingers underneath.
