Asking the Akita experts out there
As per my introduction thread I am very interested in Japanese Akitas and hope that perhaps later in the year once everything is settled I will have one join the family (my partner and I. I guess my main priority now is to ensure that the Akita is the right fit for us and by asking everyone here who has experience will help my decision further. We are based in the UK so I know the climate should not cause too much of an issue.
So firstly my partner and I regularly rock climb on weekends and we would very much love our dog to join us. This would involve hiking to the crag (sometimes 5 mins to 40 mins) and then just accompanying us while climbing. Whether chilling out on a boulder mat or next to one of us on the ground. Do you think an Akita would suit this level of activity? I am happy to keep them on lead.
We also plan to have a campervan that regularly travels to Europe that we would all live in for that time being. Again we would like to visit different areas, generally more countryside. How do you find traveling with your Akita? Especially on longer journeys?
Dog training is something I am actually very passionate about and I always enjoy a challenge. I would want to participate in all sorts of training classes including agility (for fun, not competition). Do you think an Akita can muster the energy to have a play on agility equipment? I am not after a dog that is eager to please, more a dog that I can put the effort into and build a relationship with. I find these activities are really good for this.
During the week both my partner and I work. I plan to take time off while having a puppy but how do Akitas go on there own during the day? I plan to house train of course so that the dog is in the house while we are away. Do you recommend finding a dog walker or someone to visit during the day? How do you go managing this?
I've previously owned a Cocker Spaniel, Boxer and Koolie (similar to Australian Shepherd). I found that the Koolie was too high energy, while we are active people I found sporting dogs too energetic. My Boxer was amazing, I will say right now I adore Boxers. However he was fairly needy, always under me feet. It can get tiresome. He also regularly barked when I was not home, no matter how much I walked him. I hate speaking badly of Boxers ever but that was one downside. The barking may of been a training fault that I could of looked at preventing but at the time didn't have the knowledge I guess. So by knowing what I like and don't like I am looking for a dog that: Is intelligent but not too eager to please, affectionate but capable of being independent, a loyal companion to travel with and a dog that is not so prone to barking as other breeds (though I am aware all dogs bark) and in a dog we can include in our lifestyle.
I just realised this is getting rather long winded so apologies but I guess I want to make sure I am making the right decision. Thanks in your advance for all your opinions
So firstly my partner and I regularly rock climb on weekends and we would very much love our dog to join us. This would involve hiking to the crag (sometimes 5 mins to 40 mins) and then just accompanying us while climbing. Whether chilling out on a boulder mat or next to one of us on the ground. Do you think an Akita would suit this level of activity? I am happy to keep them on lead.
We also plan to have a campervan that regularly travels to Europe that we would all live in for that time being. Again we would like to visit different areas, generally more countryside. How do you find traveling with your Akita? Especially on longer journeys?
Dog training is something I am actually very passionate about and I always enjoy a challenge. I would want to participate in all sorts of training classes including agility (for fun, not competition). Do you think an Akita can muster the energy to have a play on agility equipment? I am not after a dog that is eager to please, more a dog that I can put the effort into and build a relationship with. I find these activities are really good for this.
During the week both my partner and I work. I plan to take time off while having a puppy but how do Akitas go on there own during the day? I plan to house train of course so that the dog is in the house while we are away. Do you recommend finding a dog walker or someone to visit during the day? How do you go managing this?
I've previously owned a Cocker Spaniel, Boxer and Koolie (similar to Australian Shepherd). I found that the Koolie was too high energy, while we are active people I found sporting dogs too energetic. My Boxer was amazing, I will say right now I adore Boxers. However he was fairly needy, always under me feet. It can get tiresome. He also regularly barked when I was not home, no matter how much I walked him. I hate speaking badly of Boxers ever but that was one downside. The barking may of been a training fault that I could of looked at preventing but at the time didn't have the knowledge I guess. So by knowing what I like and don't like I am looking for a dog that: Is intelligent but not too eager to please, affectionate but capable of being independent, a loyal companion to travel with and a dog that is not so prone to barking as other breeds (though I am aware all dogs bark) and in a dog we can include in our lifestyle.
I just realised this is getting rather long winded so apologies but I guess I want to make sure I am making the right decision. Thanks in your advance for all your opinions
Comments
This would involve hiking to the crag (sometimes 5 mins to 40 mins) and then just accompanying us while climbing. Whether chilling out on a boulder mat or next to one of us on the ground. Do you think an Akita would suit this level of activity? I am happy to keep them on lead.
I think so. Sometimes we go on hikes that are several hours long, and he loves that. Other days we have slow 1 hour long walks along the road, he loves that as well. I think the akita is happy as long as he gets to spend time with his/her owner as much as possible.
We also plan to have a campervan that regularly travels to Europe that we would all live in for that time being. Again we would like to visit different areas, generally more countryside. How do you find traveling with your Akita? Especially on longer journeys?
I am from Norway, but study in Hungary. Normally we go by plane for 2 hours. Last year we drove through Denmark, Germany and Austria to get to Hungary in a tiiiny car. As long as you make sure you got all your vaccinations in order and a safe place in the car/campervan for the akita to stay while you travel (e.g. crate or dog-safety belt) and make frequent breaks for legstretching/bladder emptying it should be pretty fun for both you and your dog
Do you think an Akita can muster the energy to have a play on agility equipment?
Yes, definetely.
How do Akitas go on there own during the day? I plan to house train of course so that the dog is in the house while we are away. Do you recommend finding a dog walker or someone to visit during the day? How do you go managing this?
I think a lot depends on how well trained your dog is to being left alone. It is important to start early with the "home alone"-training. When mine was a puppy and I for some reason couldn't take him with me I had a dogwalker come by to walk him during the middle of the day. Now as an adult he can hold his bladder for a workday and gets to spend his day alternating between sleeping on his doggybed, the floor and the human bed
I will definitely look into a dogwalker then. I plan to use a crate for short term and a puppy pen for long term to begin training. From then he would have full access of the house.
Again thankyou, you definitely answered my questions
Are Akitas good around small dogs/cats? Hypothetically, if I get a puppy and train it to adulthood, will the Akita understand that small dogs and cats are not hunting prey? From my understanding, the Akita was bred for hunting, so I don't know how strong their prey drive is.
What is their play style? Is it similar to Shibas? Do they know, or understand dog body language very well? I.e. if a dog wants space, can the Akita give that?
Secondly, besides appearance, are there differences in temperament in the American Akita and Japanese Akita? I try to get some decent info about the Akita, but all the info online starts to go on about 'dominance and wolf-pack' mentality which I just do not subscribe to. Hoping to hear something more sound.
Lastly, what is a very good amount of exercise for an Akita and what is the best thing to do with one? (I.e. most stimulating for an Akita).
Thanks
Are Akitas good around small dogs/cats? Hypothetically, if I get a puppy and train it to adulthood, will the Akita understand that small dogs and cats are not hunting prey? From my understanding, the Akita was bred for hunting, so I don't know how strong their prey drive is.
We live with a cat, and all our friends have small dogs. He goes well with them inside and on walks (except the pugs, but I think they are to blame due to their very poor social antennas!). But if we see another cat or another small dog (or pigeons) outside he will go into stalking mode. Also I've noticed if one of his buddies have had enough and tells him off, he goes into a "you telling ME to shut up"-mode and I think that may lead to something not so nice if I'm not there to get his attention. He is easily distracted when that happens though as I don't think he *wants* to get in a fight, he just doesn't like being told "no".
Here's a short video of him playing with one of his neutered boyfriends:
What is their play style? Is it similar to Shibas? Do they know, or understand dog body language very well? I.e. if a dog wants space, can the Akita give that?
-Yes and no. He will if my shiba tells him off, but he doesn't like other dogs telling him what to do
Secondly, besides appearance, are there differences in temperament in the American Akita and Japanese Akita? I try to get some decent info about the Akita, but all the info online starts to go on about 'dominance and wolf-pack' mentality which I just do not subscribe to. Hoping to hear something more sound.
-This I don't know
Lastly, what is a very good amount of exercise for an Akita and what is the best thing to do with one? (I.e. most stimulating for an Akita).
- Couple of hours mountain/forest hiking would be ideal
--traveling with an Akita (esp. in a camper van). This will probably be fine. All my dogs (Shiba, Kai, Akita) travel well. But my Akita is BIG! He's an AA. But he is 120 pounds and takes up a lot of space. I always dream of having a camper van, then realize just Oskar would take up most of the floor space! *lol* Different for those getting a JA of course, but....
--Agility...AAs at least are big and somewhat....clumsy. But there are AA agility champions, so it can be done! And a JA is a more compact size. I find them fairly easy to train--they're not crazy eager to please (which I like about akitas!) but they learn quickly and tolerate more repetition than your average Shiba for example. You have to motivate them, or they'll simply refuse, and Akitas tend toward the lazy, so you'll have to get past that, but it's not actually that hard to do.
--all my dogs live well in the house, and the Akita is big, and doesn't need to go out midday anymore. I find Akitas a bit slow on the housetraining, but it could just be the ones I had. As puppies, though, it seemed to take forever, and young dogs for sure need that midday break. Adults, not so much.
--Akitas with other dogs/cats. Don't know about the cats, but Akitas can get along with smaller dogs fine, if they are properly introduced. Introducing a puppy to an existing pack is ideal (and that can be either with the Akita as the puppy, or a puppy of a smaller breed being brought it). My Akitas live with Shibas and Kai Ken. My big male doesn't like puppies at all, so the first few months involved brief, supervised interactions, but he got used to the other dogs, and is friends with them once they mature. That said, none of my other dogs are that small.
That said, Akitas play ROUGH. It is similar to Shiba but with more paw action. Sometimes my big male literally flattens the other dogs with his paws. So a truly small dog or a fragile dog might not be a good match. (My Kai boy just goes back for more!)
I think akitas are great at giving space, once they are adults (as puppies, no, they don't know the meaning of space!). Reading other dogs? Not nearly as a good as a Kai Ken. And here's where trouble can start (esp. for those who have Shibas!): Akitas often don't want to be bothered, and will tolerate a lot, but they almost never back down from challenges. Of course, neither do Shibas. And Shibas can get snarky, and push an Akita too far, and then there is a fight, but neither dog will back down, and the Akita outweighs the Shiba, so...problems. With supervision, though, this doesn't happen often, or at least doesn't in my house.
--differences between AA/JA. I'm totally speculating here, since I don't have a JA. These are my impressions from my years with AAs, then hearing people talk about their JAs. So I think AAs tend to be more suspicious with human strangers, have more desire to "guard" their territory (house, etc). While they're not ideal for personal protection dogs (though AAs have been trained for this occasionally), they can be decent watch dogs, because they will alarm bark, and are naturally suspicious. (This is probably true of JAs, too, but I get the idea that AAs are a bit more this way?). They're bigger, too, so more impressive as watch dogs.
They might tend towards more dog aggression, but I'm not sure about that.
I lucked out in that Saigo is a very well adjusted dog. We did lots of socialization with him as a pup and I think this is the result of getting lots of exercise everyday and being exposed to tons of stuff and people. I think with the right dog, a Japanese Akita makes the perfect pet.
Once you get your puppy shots done, the more socialization you do the better off you are. Just always remember to keep a little bit of your guard up for supervision between your akita and other animals.
Our akita actually trained himself that his crate was the bathroom for some strange reason. He refused to housetrain, especially overnight. But as soon as we just let him out of the crate overnight, he literally never soiled the house overnight again. Hated that crate! Lol. Promptly sold the crates.
We take our two year old akita to a dog park. He has done well....but he is starting to cause a few issues because of his rough, at times dominant, play. He will, as someone above mentioned,bowl a smaller dog over with his paw, or smash the back with his paw. Or he will find a submissive or smaller dog and play rough (not biting, but just being heavy handed). So probably we will be finding him a sister so that they can play together without risking the ire of other dog owners.
As for energy, Sampson's nickname was the philodendron with fur. Gryphon's not far behind. Yes, he's a puppy, so has moments of mischief and frolicking...but even those are low-speed. Sometimes, he needs a nap to rest from his naps. That's one of teh reasons I love the breed, because, all things considered, many of them are pretty low key.
Gryph also takes stubborn to new heights. He's very bright and KNOWS a lot of things...but like others have said, unless he WANTS to do them? He won't. Motivation is key. We've done two obedience levels (and I think we got an F+ in both