akita growth.
Just wanted to share this information.
Akita is very slow growing dog. (I can't really explain it well since I'm not perfect in English.) some akita grow till 18 months on height as well. after height they develope their structure till 4 years old.
akiho consider full grown after 4 years old. that is why Meiyosho come out of dogs over 4 years old.
here is pic of puppy leg. you see the bump? ppl call it growth plate. most of dogs will fully grow(height) after 10 months.
here is leg of dog at 10 month old. you see that growth plate is gone right?
This dog's name is Tenbou. he got meiyosho.
this is pic when he was 1 year old.
this pic is when he was 3 years old. you see the difference? this dog looks totally different when he got into fully grown stage. some dogs are not great at young age but becomes very nice when they get older. some dogs are opposite.
I saw alot of dogs were amazing at young age. and wins alot of shows at early age. but alot of them can't win at adult stage. because of many reason. lack of care, developing issue, condition etc.
add or correct me if there is any comments to add or correct. I'm still in stage of learning about akita and I just wanted to share information that i think it's interesting.
Tim
Akita is very slow growing dog. (I can't really explain it well since I'm not perfect in English.) some akita grow till 18 months on height as well. after height they develope their structure till 4 years old.
akiho consider full grown after 4 years old. that is why Meiyosho come out of dogs over 4 years old.
here is pic of puppy leg. you see the bump? ppl call it growth plate. most of dogs will fully grow(height) after 10 months.
here is leg of dog at 10 month old. you see that growth plate is gone right?
This dog's name is Tenbou. he got meiyosho.
this is pic when he was 1 year old.
this pic is when he was 3 years old. you see the difference? this dog looks totally different when he got into fully grown stage. some dogs are not great at young age but becomes very nice when they get older. some dogs are opposite.
I saw alot of dogs were amazing at young age. and wins alot of shows at early age. but alot of them can't win at adult stage. because of many reason. lack of care, developing issue, condition etc.
add or correct me if there is any comments to add or correct. I'm still in stage of learning about akita and I just wanted to share information that i think it's interesting.
Tim
Comments
Thanks for posting this topic. I am very interested in how other Akita ken's compare to my dog. Saigo is 9 months and he is about 65 lbs ( tummy is tucked and he is very lean ). How much does Tachi weigh at this age?
Saigo appears to still have pretty big paws and big growth plates. This was him at almost 7 months:
What is standard weight and height for a male Akita ken? I think I knew Saigo was going to be a big boy ( he had huge ears and heavy bones as a puppy ) and his sire, Man Jin Go was a big boned dog.
Saigo do look like typical shirai dog. but I can't tell size by this pic. did you try to measure his height correctly?
not that it matters much but you should size him by height not weight.
I will measure his height today. I will have to try to find a measuring tape!
Yes, he is very typical Shirai dog. Are Shirai dogs bigger/smaller than other kennels or what is their "type"?
you can tell by looking at their face to tell that they are from shirai.
I also like Shirai dogs ears (Gojira has the most perfect triangles) unfortunately Saigo's ears are like big pizza slices. I love Kozaki dogs for their overall structure and nice heads.
Usually at what age the chest develops?
Mosura was 25" by a year old (tall for a bitch, but still just within allowed height) but only started gaining chest and real substance in the past four months. Now she looks fantastic -- and I never would have guessed she'd improve so much from how skinny she was at the show in February. But despite her broad chest and great height, she is not heavy, just 60 lbs. That's why weight doesn't tell you everything about a dog.
I agree completely with the time-table for these dogs filling out. JACA is starting to work on it's judge's education materials and we plan on talking about this subject. When working on the UKC standard, I went with preferred height. This would allow a dog to mature without the fear of being DQ-ed.
For the width of chest, my favorite akita book - "Basic's of the Akita Inu" talks about using pulling exercises to help build that wider chest. Some of the judges that have come out to the states have confirmed pulling exercises. Remember most of us do not have "dog boys" to train out dogs. We also teach our dogs to walk by our side or slightly in front of us.
For my next Akita, I plan on following a modified version of the training listed in the book.
@Tajo - I would expect your dog to fill in closer to year two.
6months (with fur):
11 months, 3 weeks (naked):
Toki at around 17mo:
Toki around 24 mo:
Of course, I am still learning the way akitas grow. So anyone can chime in and correct me.
Toki was wider chested at 3 months versus as a teenager (17 mo) when he had his growth spurt, and is just now starting to barely widen his chest (24 mo). However, I still consider him a teenager/young adult with a lot of room to grow. Having said that, could just be something only a mama can see :P
I honestly don't expect Toki to have a mature body until around 4 or 5+ years old; I expect him to take his time. His mother looked her best at 6 years old, thus I have to take this "age like a fine wine" idea into account. His sister still looks puppy-ish, albeit, in my opinion, better put together.
(also, having said that, I think females mature MUCH quicker than males, so that really isn't putting much into perspective, if I am right).
This is kind of related to growth, so I'm going to ask it here, esp. since paranoidparrot brings up the food issue. What do you all think about feeding to support the slower growth of the Akitas? Like probably not feeding a puppy blend, I'd guess (at least I wouldn't do that), but do you think there is a danger in getting too much protein or anything at an early age or not? Some people have told me they absolutely don't want the young dogs getting a protein heavy food, while others have not.
In the past, since, I'm a raw feeder, I just waited til the pups were able to handle raw with bones (often about 5 months) and switched them over. I know people who have GSDs and wean them to raw with no apparent problems in later life, but....I just started thinking, well, can't hurt to do more research and see if I need to change things up. Links would be useful, of course!
A couple of years ago restricting protein was the way to go, but now they have done new research (yay to science!) and find that the protein is very important (surprise, surprise), so what they are doing now with large breed puppy food is restricting the amount of fat. I just recently changed Nuki to adult food because while the puppy food made him grow nicely it is not doing much to fill him out, that will be the job of the adult food
I've certainly known raw feeders who wean to raw and have very healthy long lived dogs, so I don't think even feeding raw to puppies is necessarily a problem, but since it's been awhile since I looked into this, I thought it wouldn't hurt to do so now.
I guess we all know it is important to avoid too big growth spurts as it may cause developmental diseases. Earlier it was common to restrict the amount of protein, but protein is the source of the most important building-blocks in the body so the "new" thing we learn is to restrict the amount of fat.
Of course puppy blends are not good for all puppies. If they e.g. live outside in a kennel they will need more energy to keep warm. Our breeder rawfeeds both pups and adults and they are all very healthy. Personally I am staying with kibbles because I know that I will not be able to do it right
I switched Keiko to a raw diet when she was around 4/5 months and I have noticed such a difference in her digestion, energy levels and her coat looks amazing. I was concerned about ensuring she gets the right levels of nutrition and calcium/phosphorous but I was recommended to a site by the owner of Keiko's sister @venus called the dogs dinner and there is detailed information and a guide to feeding raw to puppies which I have found extremely helpful and apart from little moments of fussiness with certain meats I have had no issues so far and she seems to be developing really well.
The site is called the dogs dinner and here is the link to the puppy page: http://dogsdinner2.webs.com/feedingpuppies.htm
forum topic, with many helpful and insightful posts and articles on the topic:
http://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/forums/topic/large-and-giant-breed-puppy-nutrition/
one article i liked in particular: “Growth and Skeletal Development of Great Dane Pups Fed Different Levels of Protein Intake” Nap, Hazewinkel, Voorhout, Van Den Brom, Goedegebuure and Van ‘T Klooster
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/121/11_Suppl/S107.full.pdf
List of suggested commercial foods:
https://docs.google.com/a/dogfoodadvisor.com/file/d/0BwApI_dhlbnFTXhUdi1KazFzSUk/edit?pli=1
from doctor mike who rates the food for that site in regard to the list:
Hound Dog Mom,
Thanks for posting your list of recommended foods for large breed puppies. The commercial products it contains appear to be both practical and well-researched.
--one member there said, "Did I say, “I love this thread!”…I have learned so much. And to think of the foods I fed before I thought I knew what I was doing… I’m so glad I know better now." ....prior to finding that topic i was planning on feeding Orijen Large breed puppy formula, after i was still able to find a food that met my criteria of not having been recalled and being manufactured at their own plant while still having appropriate calcium levels, i ended up choosing Fromm's Surf and Turf grain free formula for the first year and then transition to Orijen adult or Petcurean Go! (still marked all life stages food) after the first year...helped me a lot, thought i might add it here as others might find it useful as well, the list also contains suggested RAW diets for large breed (akita) growth, as well as grain free, and grain inclusive ones
and on the topic of protein from that thread:
"Yes – high levels of protein (preferably animal-based protein) is a very good things as dogs have a strong carnivorous bias and are designed to eat a primarily meat-based diet. When I fed kibble I never fed foods with less than 30% protein. My dogs now eat a raw diet with protein levels ranging between 45% and 55% at each meal....No, I’m not a vet – but I’m back in school working towards it so hopefully in a few years!...[a kibble with] 42% protein is definitely not too high – my girls’ meals are generally in the 45% – 55% protein range. There’s really no risk of feeding “too much protein” to a healthy dog and this issue definitely would not occur with a kibble – most kibbles are much lower in protein than a natural raw diets due to the nature of kibble (a starch source is required for processing). When excess protein is consumed beyond what the dog’s body utilizes, the excess amino acids are catabolized into waste nitrogen, converted to urea in the liver and kidneys and excreted in the urine. This is a passive process that does not cause any harm or additional stress to the dog. I personally prefer kibbles with at least 30% protein."
I tend to agree with what was written in that quote. When I feed them commercial foods, my dogs never get kibble under 30% protein, and I often add in fresh meats and eggs. A lot of people say raw is low protein but if you take away the moisture it's higher than they think. An average raw meal I feed my Shiba (chicken leg, beef heart and liver, high-fat ground beef, egg) has around 46 grams of protein, which is more than EVO red meat which has 44 grams per cup (he would eat 1 cup of this kibble).
Everything is balanced (with some leeway depending on what's being fed) according to 2006 NRC recommended nutrient levels, so it's not like I'm just randomly throwing things together and hoping for the best.
I think it's rather hilarious that people think you must feed a kibble or your dogs won't be getting proper nutrient amounts. If this were true, most dogs eating commercial foods would be seriously messed up. What I feed is more "balanced" than all kibbles I have run the numbers with. The nutrient profiles of kibbles vary so widely that almost none are similar, even amongst the same brand. (Some, like Fromm, are almost identical, but others like Nature's Variety, have some formulas that are very different.)