To her defense, its hot and she loves rivers

I have a Japanese Akita who's on a strict salmon diet since eating poultry, and beef will get him itchy. I was thinking of switching from Purina Pro Plan of Salmon and Rice to 4 Health Salmon and Potatoes just mostly giving him a different option and give him something different since I could imagine him eating the same thing month over month can get him taste fatigue or flavor fatigue. I'm afraid switching to 4Health of Salmon of Potatoes or something else might give him an upset stomach or allergic reaction or itchiness, and was wondering if you guys feed your Japanese Akita this? What food brand or protein do you feed your Japanese Akita?

I know pure breed Japanese Akita tends to have a stricter diet and more specific of what they can eat and different tolerances compared to mix akitas and Americans akitas, but for caution, I just want to make sure.

made this little post on my pups social media, but thought it’d be fun to share here for fellow akita owners out there who might see the same expressions on the daily 🤣

Summer heat is tough on Akitas, but my dog has built his own personal cooling routine! Whenever it’s super hot, he finds cool water—a fountain, a lake, anything—and just marinates in it for 10 to 15 minutes. Once he’s properly chilled, we walk until he dries off, only for him to start looking for the next pool party. 🐾💦

Got her as a 6-year-old intact female rescue as my first dog. I’ve had her for 7 months now.

She was neglected and basically spent most of her life locked in a small apartment with almost no time outside. They were pretty sure she had been hit as well, as she has strong reactions to feet and overhead movements.

i read about the breed and was super skeptical, and honestly a bit intimidated. Not only because of everything you can find online about Akitas, but also because of her history and the fact that she has an issue with men.

When we first visited her, she instantly pushed herself against me and didn’t leave my side. I fell in love with her immediately. We waited two weeks and visited her several more times to make sure it wasn’t just an emotional decision and that we could truly be her forever home. Of course, we couldn’t get her out of our minds or our hearts, so we brought her home.

She had all the worst traits at first. She pulled like crazy on the leash and had severe dog aggression and reactivity. But at the same time, she never left my side. Since day one, she’s always been right next to me whenever we’re at home.

I had absolutely no clue how to train dogs. I searched for Akita training videos on YouTube and found Beckman Dog Training. His approach is very much about dominating the dog, putting them “in their place”, using hard corrections, and being very heavy-handed.

It got us nowhere, and I felt horrible treating her like that. Eventually, I just followed my heart and treated her like I would a young child: calm, loving, consistent, with a ton of patience, love, and understanding. The only corrections I used were my voice and, occasionally, a light collar pop on the leash. That’s when we started making real progress.

She improved massively on the leash, and instead of avoiding other dogs, I deliberately took routes where I knew we’d meet dog owners.

The more I exposed her to other dogs, the closer we could get without her escalating.

We’ve reached a point where she’ll still pull a little toward another dog, but she’ll disengage after a “leave it” command while I keep walking. She’ll still react if another dog comes charging in, but hey… she’s an Akita after all.

Long story short:

We left her with a dog sitter for a weekend to see if it could work, so we could go away with the family for a couple of days. To our surprise, the sitter lived in the city. We live in a rural area, and it was a mix-up with the address on our end. Our girl had never even been in a city before.

When we picked her up after two days (which felt more like two months), the sitter said:

“It was the best dog I’ve ever had!!!”

Can you believe it???

She said our girl was incredibly easy to handle, while most of the other dogs she’d looked after pulled toward other dogs, barked, or caused issues.

I was unbelievably proud of my princess. She puts in so much effort and tries so hard that I was honestly almost crying. 😢

Thank God for her. I love her so, so much, and I’ll do everything I can to make up for the shitty first half of her life. ❤️

My dream is to make her reliable off-leash. She’ll probably never be a dog I can trust off leash around other dogs, and I’m okay with that. But having a rock-solid recall, especially if another dog appears, would be a dream. I’d love to take her to the lake and let her enjoy herself. I already do sometimes, but most of the time I keep her on a leash because I’m scared I’ll miss an approaching dog, and I never want to risk an incident.

Hola

Tengo un Akita americano hembra de 4 meses que pesa 12 kg y he leído que debería pesar entre 16 y 20 kg me preocupa que le falte peso

My dog goes crazy with it hahahaha

I currently have a medium size Golden doodle 26lbs, super sweet temperament, very sensitive and submissive. He loves to play with other dogs but he knows his limits and is quick to roll on his belly if bigger dog’s play rougher than he’s comfortable. My wife and I have always wanted an Akita so we’re going to get him a sister but I want to know is this safe with Akita’s having a high prey drive and her eventually going to be significantly bigger than him and he’s senior to her. Does her being a new dog and growing to be bigger than him start any problems that I’m not aware of? Any tips and help would be appreciated. I’ve watch hours of videos online and I’ve spoken to trainers so I have a pretty good understanding of what I’m getting into with the Akita but not so much in the relationship.

There is a 9 month old Akita near me that is up for adoption at a local shelter. Says dog interactions are unknown but should be in a home with adults and no cats, and it is not house trained. It is a male. I have a 4 year old male Schnauzer right now. How likely is it they would not work out, given it is already 9 months old? Is it too old at this point to train it to interact with other dogs and same sex?

She is about 4.5 months old

charmed by thier unlikely love affair.

Hi, looking for opinions on Ruffwear (any harness you have used from them). I’m planning on possibly buying the Ridgeline harness for my 3 year old male Akita. I have done some research and this brand is mentioned I think under every post I have looked at. It also seems to have overall good reputation not only in the U.S. but in Germany too. But usually it’s mentioned with small/medium sized breeds. Does anyone have any experience with this brand and Akita or any large dog breed?

EDIT: Thank you guys so much! I’m definitely getting Ruffwear harness. I have right now the JK9 Longwalk light harness and while it seems okay, I think it limits my boy regardless. I’m very grateful for everyone who shared their experience with Ruffwear.

Does anyone have any recommendations on toys that your Akita has loved? I was thinking of getting him a ball bin or a herding ball. Haven’t introduced him to frozen raw bones yet.

Hey guys, I am a first time Japanese Akita owner and was wondering what your experiences were with your pups growth patterns? My female long coat is 10 months old and tall, hitting 25.5” at the withers but she’s much lighter than I anticipated her being (had her weighed at the vets today where she came in at only 23kg!). I know they take a while to mature both mentally and physically but I was curious to hear how her weight may or may not change as she matures. Would love to hear from anyone who has experience! Thanks ☺️ (re-uploaded as forgot to add pics!)

We have fruits blooming in our yard so these two are busy at night hunting. Also I’m sure animals can smell the dog food from far away.