Questions

Eamon79

I've paid my deposit for JA puppy and can't wait for her to join our family. On the other hand it's a bit worrying as I never had An Akita before, I done a lot research and decided that's a dog I want to get. As many of you are experienced JA owners I want some advice in regards fur treatment, what kid of kit I Should get? Also what kind of food supplement I should give to the puppy. Thanks lot and any other general advice would be much appreciated.

Saya

Have you met a AA or JA akita before?

It all depends what brand you like there is so many large breed kibble it's hard to choose sometimes.

I'd get small bag what breeder is feeding and then slowly transition to what you want to feed.

Fromm is good kibble I think.

Totw is decent, wellness, and few others out there. I'm sure akita owner here can help better with this.

Supplements only ones I gave as a puppy is salmon oil and now Saya is three I give her joint supplements for preventive.

There are many supplements, but I wouldn't want to overdue it with it. if kibble is good quality then no supplements should be needed I don't think besides salmon or fish oil.

Saya got caned salmon or sardines once week when she was on kibble also got cooked egg once week too.

jellyfish

Dogfoodadvisor.com

Go there. Its wonderful.

Toki, my JA, as done the best on Orijen. It gave him a ton of refreshing energy. He has also been on Blue Buffalo grain free, Taste of the Wild, innova. He is on Nutro right now. Its the worst food he has ever been fed, but it was a recommendation so were trying it out.

Supplements. ....agreed. if the kibble is good then you dont need them. But I like to give Toki eggs and oils for his coat. It is one of his best attributes, so I want it to look its best.

*JackBurton*

Are you in the US or another country? I ask only because different countries have different brands of food.

Eamon79

I am in UK

rikumom

Compared to my shiba, my JA does not digest Orijen, Nature's Variety and other high protein kibble (min protein >30%) well, she gets very soft stool. She does best on a raw or dehydrated raw diet. We have her on Addictions from Australia now. We're still searching for a suitable kibble.

cdenney

@rikumom we are on a raw kibble blend and the kibble we use and like is natures variety instinct raw boost grain free deer something or other. I feed it as supplement to raw, it may be high protien though, I'm not sure.

rikumom

@cdenney,
My fur kids both love the Natare's Variety raw boost, we've tried chicken, rabbit and venison so far, but alas, the little JA doesn't process it well. She gets shitty shitty poo poo on her butt :-( So I only use them as training treats for her.

She does best in an exclusively raw/raw dehydrated diet, which gets expensive, so I'm experimenting with California Natural kangaroo & red lentils. I don't know why but when it comes to kibble min. 20-25% protein ones seem to be more solid, regardless of proteins source

exempt

I'm a big fan of Nature's domain from Costco. For the price it's unbeatable compared to Blue/totw. Our family herd of dogs love it, and it can be supplemented with a bit of olive/salmon oil for coat softness and general health

Eamon79

Thanks to all reply's and your advice as it's much appreciated. However I am still in two minds about the kibble as currently Mika is 6 weeks old and all the puppys are on Hill's and apperantly they all doing fine on it. I think that's where I am gonna start and will try and introduce Orijen or Taste of the wild as haven't decided just yet, but most likely will try both and see on which one she does best. However the other thing the breeder suggest that she should stay on puppy food fot at least until she is 6 months old, but after going through information here I sort of understood that the best for JA puppy is to be introduced to adult dog foods from about 4 months old. The other thing I want to ask maybe some1 heard about supplement called FAUGIS as that's been recomended by a breeder. Thanks all in advance.

rikumom

Not heard of FAUGIS, is it this? http://naturesprotection.eu/faugis/about-faugis/

Our breeder had the pups on adult food to wean them, our vet suggested puppy food up until 6 months, 3 meals a day. Another half-sibling's breeder fed kibble/rice mixture, their vet suggested puppy food up to a year, someone else on this forum suggested puppy food free-feeding. So there's no consensus on how long JA pups should stay on pup food.

The only thing is I recommend 3 meals a day (vs. free feeding) b/c it makes potty training easier, and <4 month puppies go potty almost immediately after they eat

Eamon79

@rikumom, in regards FAUGIS that link you posted that's the only info I've managed to find.

*JackBurton*

Check out this group. https://www.facebook.com/groups/279712473162/

This is the Japanese Akita Inu group in the UK. They should be able to give you information specific to UK brands.

FYI I only do adult food for the pups.

white_bear

@Eamon79 there is a huge difference between Orijen and TOTW, I stand by @rikumom's advice, no high protein kibble was digested well by our JAs and they didn't fair well on kibble that had more than 26-27% protein. We also give adult food to the pups, just as @JackBurton, precisely because it has less protein.

Eamon79

@white_bear, It will have to be TOTW than and take it from there and I will start adult kibble from when she is 4 months as that is what most owner's advising to do. I do appreciate you sharing this information as it is very helpfull.

rikumom

@Eamon79,
Personally I avoid TOTW b/c they don't own their own manufacturing plants, and often times the recall notices are by the manufacturer's name (Diamond), with impacted brand names coming out over time...

For example,
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/diamond-dog-food-recall-expands-again/

For kibble, we prefer brands that manufacture their own foods, such as:
Orijen
www.naturapet.com/
http://www.firstmate.com/
www.addictionfoods.com/
http://frommfamily.com/

Even though Natura Pet Foods have been bought out by P&G, the plants in Nebraska have been running independently thus far.