Whats best food too bye your American akita pups at 8 weeks ? Also how long do you think akitas should stay on puppy food for ? Kind regards Jamie
I am afraid that I cannot help you Jamie, but I am sure there are lots of people who can. I have never had big dogs so my little ones had suitable puppy food until they were 5 months old, but from what I have learned from other people, large breed dogs should eat what is suitable for them until they are old enough to have adult food. I am a raw feeder which is why I really cannot give you the advice you want. Oh, and if I insulted you previously, please accept my honestly meant and offered sincere apologies.
Thanks for your feedback and I accept your apology know harm done Looking forward hearing your knowledge in the future Kind regards Jamie
Thank you Jamie. I did not mean any harm as I am sure you know. I have not fed dog food since maybe mid 2011 when I changed to raw feeding. But to be honest there are times in the evening that I am so tired and I would love to be able to just put an x amount of kibble into Tikva's bowl, but I just cannot do it. Morning food is easy - just take a frozen chunk of turkey neck or a frozen chicken wing... "Brekkie Tikki" and it is snatch and run! Evening is her vitamins/minerals and supplements in hot water, 120g of frozen mixed vegetables [defrosted but not cooked], and ~30g defrosted and cut up various raw meat. Oh yes, kibble would be so much easier but I just could not feed it now. And having to individually pack and freeze fresh raw does take time. But the pleasure that Pereg had from raw once I changed her onto it, and now little Tikva, who I put onto raw as soon as she was fully weaned - nah, Tikki will be the last wubble to share my life and I will always make sure that she has the right amount of raw food that she needs.
Hi Jack When we were planning on getting our Akita my hubby researched everything about them and what he learnt about the puppy food ( kibble/dried ) we chose is a minimum 25% protein minimum and if you can buy sprats as a great that would be great SLEEP your pup needs a minimum of 18 hours sleep out oh 24 WALKS surprisingly your pup only should have 5 minutes for each month although yours at 8 weeks will be vulnerable as I suspect it won’t have had all its injections I could spend hours talk about dogs, so, please ask anything you like. Ours is a Japenese Akita and he’s 20 months old, boy oh boy, there have been tears along the way and I’m sure there are more to come, but, he is a joy to have Philippa
Thanks for both your help most appreciated . What do you think about my akitas going on raw food is this better or not ? I just want what's best for them give them the best start in life I can possibly giving them
How hard is it too tall the difference between American Akitas and Japanese akitas as I can't see that much and also lots people just call them akita lol
Jamie - I read up and learned as much as I could about raw feeding, and my original idea was that it might be better for Pereg, who was epileptic. Whether it helped her I do not know but I do know that she loved it. And now it is habit. I buy mainly fresh poultry as things like beef and lamb would need a lottery win to buy, and everything I get is from my own poulterer so the food is strictly Kasher and is shared - first between Pereg and me and now Tikva and me. Only they had/have theirs raw and I cook what I want for myself! But this way of feeding is my choice and I would not try to convince anyone that it would be good for them or their dogs. It was difficult to tell if it really did help Pereg but with Tikki? From a 3-week old less than a handful who still needing bottle feeding, to a 6+kg 3+ years old rock solid little girl who has been raw fed since I had fully weaned her, I must have done something right.
I don’t think I can help you with food because we have different brands in the US than you have there. My brother fed his Akitas the barf (bones and raw food) diet for awhile and he thought they had better coats and were overall healthier. I live off grid and am vegetarian so for both those reasons a raw diet isn’t going to happen for my dogs.. Feeding a raw diet is a lot of work. I watched my brother prep the food, it’s time consuming and messy, but his dogs ate better than his kids did. He eventually stopped the barf diet as it just took too much of his time because of work and taking his kids to their things and trying to play music with his friends. Do lots of research if you want to make your dogs food. There is another site, related to this one, called dogsey and they have a long thread about raw feeding. I fed my male, Bandit, puppy food until he was almost a year old but fed my female, Katie Mae, puppy food only until she was about 8 months old. I changed her food because she had a nasty habit of eating her own poop (I know, gross) and wanted to see if changing her food would help stop her. She has recently stopped this nasty habit and there is a thread I started about this subject. I was told about 28% protein for Akitas but Philippa said 25%. Probably anywhere in that range is pretty good. The fat content in their food is 15%. I wouldn’t suggest much higher protein % as that will create a gassy Akita and you don’t want to large gassy dogs... The brand I feed is “taste of the wild” just in case it’s available there. If you have the time and desire making them food is a good option, I just don’t have the stomach for dealing with the raw meat and I have to create all my own electricity so it’s not happening for my dogs. Most vets are very skeptical about raw food, but they don’t get a lot of training about diet and I would suggest to not buy any food that the vet is selling... Love that your thinking ahead about this. Have you come up with a new name for the girl puppy? Hope we get to see pics of them as they grow!! Glad you’ve stuck around!! Marc
No not got name yet but not here till Sep 15th so we got time Rocco coming on Saturday I can't wait too meet him
They are cute and so tiny. The brindle girls colors will probably change some as she grows but I think the black and white boy will stay the same. Good that she has a new distinctive name.
When you first bring them home you want to feed them whatever the breeder has been feeding them and slowly switch to whatever you choose.
https://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?p=2108670#post2108670 That thread taught me so much about raw feeding. Unfortunately the pictures have gone [Photobucket wanted a monthly fortune to use their service and removed all pictures from people who would not pay] but @Tarimoor explained things very well, even without the pictures. I agree totally that a person has to have the time and the stomach for handling raw meat - it can be messy, it can look horrible [not to the dog though!] and yes, most vets really do not know much about diet, and even less about raw feeding. It took my wonderful vet such a long time before he realised that Pereg and now Tikva thrive on it. I agree 100% and again, thank you Jamie @Rugby1983 for accepting my sincerely meant and offered apologies. If you do decide to go the raw feeding [BARF] route I will be only to happy to advise you. But I never push this on anyone - people feed what they want and can.
Thank you all I'm off too get some training pens today get them the new collars and dog beds and toys today
Hello, i also have an american akita pup got him at 8 weeks the breeder was feeding him and his mother diamonds natural for large breed puppies and Luca (my pup) was doing great on it. At 8 weeks he was 17lbs and now at 11 weeks he is 26lbs, no fat at all very lean. I will slowly start switching him to a champion food brand either orijen or acana. Also i read that Akitas do well with fish as main protein in food. P.S Taste of the wild is common too and is a pretty solid brand of dog food.
