Kahuna is doing well, he has already grown a good bit! He is now bigger than Loa, when we picked him up he was almost exactly Loa's size. He is also doing better with me and is less skittish.
Here are some random pics I took of hims the past few days...
*Excuse how dirty our house is, we cleaned it today - it's been crazy the past few weeks. \
Kahuna loves to sleep on the couch like the other Akita, it's pretty cute. )
I took a cute video of him today, I'll get it posted sometimes this week.
Emilie - The food he is eating has 1.2% Calcium, we were under the impression we shouldn't supplement calcium because too much calcium could cause problems with his joints and bones. The food he is on now is Canidae All Life Stages, the food he was on before [at your kennel] had 0.80% calcium - so he is getting more calcium now.
Does anyone have any recommendation on this? Should we supplement him for calcium?
NO! Brad, let me direct you to the "dog food help" thread where I wrote some things about the calcium content in dog foods. As a large breed puppy, Kahuna should ideally get around 0.9-1.0% calcium.
Take floppy ears over potential developmental bone disorders!
Sarah - I remembered that thread but I wanted to make sure I understood it 100%. Sounds like I did. We had Kahuna on a different food, that had 0.90% calcium, but it seemed to bother his tummy. We just recently switched over to Canidae All Life Stages [not the grin free] for him. He seems to do well on it, and we mix it with a lower calcium can food so I think it probably equals out to 1% Cal.
Thanx Sarah!
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We don't give him Velvet Elk Antler [it is really expensive so we only give it to the pups that need it]. Maybe we should start him on that??? It has collagen in it so it may help his ears w/o adding calcium. Thoughts?
I'm confused...isn't Kahuna still a little young for you to be worrying about his earsit? I thought it took a while for Akita Pups ears to stand...I was just commenting on how Nihon Ken Pups look cute with their half-floppy ears.
Out of curiosity, do you remember how old Lani & Fuji were when their ears stood up? ~
Um.... that is a hard questions to comment on. Yes Kahuna is young and still has time for his ears to lift, but it is starting to push the envelope a bit.
He is like 6 months now, it can take up to 11 months for an Akita's ears to stand up. His mother and father were around 7 months when theirs went up, so he has a little time.
Having said that, every "Akita person" [breeder, fancier, rescuer] that sees Kahuna makes a comment about his ears not being up yet. So that kinda concerns us.
Fuji and Lani had their ears up when we got them, so that happened under 6 months with them. I think Fuji was born with her ears up. lol With Lani it too to like 3 months I think.
It does tend to take longer for male's ears to stand up.
Brad: with 1.2% Calcium, It's what I want to know , so: no more! (0.90% minimaly in the food, so it's Ok) Kahuna has got large ears, they' ll be up. Some Akita have got their ears up very later.(7 month old for his mother Vokoa !) ;-)
If I'm not mistaken, Kahuna shares his birthday with me ,so that makes him a a few days under 5 months. His ears seem on the way to standing up and since his mom took her sweet time :-), I has a tendency to take it slow too. Kuma's ears were almost up by 5 but still very floppy, so I don't think Kahuna is that far behind. I'm with Sarah on the calcium thing, don't risk the skeleton over the ears.
Also, the puppies [K and L] have started the "Steal Stuff" game. They steal everything and take it out in the yard. That have stolen my shoes, our door stopper, the mail, the newspaper, and a bottle of lotion. It is hard because L is so tall and they work together.
Well, here is a video of me finding part of Jen's luffa sponge that L had taken out of the shower [we had it very high up] and K has killed:
Okay Brad, any time you need to go somewhere you don't have kennel the kids, just buy me a plane ticket and I will stay there...Im sure Im not the only one who wants to hang out with your pack... :P
Comments
Here are some random pics I took of hims the past few days...
*Excuse how dirty our house is, we cleaned it today - it's been crazy the past few weeks.
Kahuna loves to sleep on the couch like the other Akita, it's pretty cute.
I took a cute video of him today, I'll get it posted sometimes this week.
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You know, I really hope they stand up, but I have to say I LOVE the half-floppy ears Akita puppies [+Hilo
But once they do stand he'll probably look more grown-up
He looks very good at your home. ^_^
He's so proud on the second pic!
about his ears, their not better up than when he's at my home. perhaps you can give him more calcium in his food.
;-)
big hug for my lil'boy!!!
:-))
I second the ears, Im sure they will stand up but they are SO adorable while they are floppy. Hilo's ears always make me smile
I'm glad he's doing so well. I'm looking forward to the video!
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Emilie - The food he is eating has 1.2% Calcium, we were under the impression we shouldn't supplement calcium because too much calcium could cause problems with his joints and bones. The food he is on now is Canidae All Life Stages, the food he was on before [at your kennel] had 0.80% calcium - so he is getting more calcium now.
Does anyone have any recommendation on this? Should we supplement him for calcium?
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Brad, let me direct you to the "dog food help" thread where I wrote some things about the calcium content in dog foods. As a large breed puppy, Kahuna should ideally get around 0.9-1.0% calcium.
Take floppy ears over potential developmental bone disorders!
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/comments.php?DiscussionID=2502&page=1#Item_0
Thanx Sarah!
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We don't give him Velvet Elk Antler [it is really expensive so we only give it to the pups that need it]. Maybe we should start him on that??? It has collagen in it so it may help his ears w/o adding calcium. Thoughts?
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Out of curiosity, do you remember how old Lani & Fuji were when their ears stood up? ~
He is like 6 months now, it can take up to 11 months for an Akita's ears to stand up. His mother and father were around 7 months when theirs went up, so he has a little time.
Having said that, every "Akita person" [breeder, fancier, rescuer] that sees Kahuna makes a comment about his ears not being up yet. So that kinda concerns us.
Fuji and Lani had their ears up when we got them, so that happened under 6 months with them. I think Fuji was born with her ears up. lol With Lani it too to like 3 months I think.
It does tend to take longer for male's ears to stand up.
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Kahuna has got large ears, they' ll be up. Some Akita have got their ears up very later.(7 month old for his mother Vokoa !)
;-)
His ears seem on the way to standing up and since his mom took her sweet time :-), I has a tendency to take it slow too.
Kuma's ears were almost up by 5 but still very floppy, so I don't think Kahuna is that far behind.
I'm with Sarah on the calcium thing, don't risk the skeleton over the ears.
Also, the puppies [K and L] have started the "Steal Stuff" game. They steal everything and take it out in the yard. That have stolen my shoes, our door stopper, the mail, the newspaper, and a bottle of lotion. It is hard because L is so tall and they work together.
Well, here is a video of me finding part of Jen's luffa sponge that L had taken out of the shower [we had it very high up] and K has killed:
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P.S. Love when Hilo runs and his ears flap **sigh...heart melts***
I also like Kona's "I've got a stick" strut.
Gosh, I love how Lani buries her head in your lap. I have such a crush on her!
Kahuna is like a comedian! hahaha
Kahuna and Lani are so funy together!!!
:-)))
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Thanks for the spam.
He look very happy with all of your dogs.
It's a very beautyful pack you have, Brad and Jen!
:-))
Today Kahuna went to the vet for a fallow-up on his eye, everything is fine and his eye looks ok now - the vet thinks it was just allergies.
We got his weight when we were there and he has gained 10lb since he got here! That's 5lb a week!
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He's giving Loa a real fight on tug of war, huh?
How much is he weighing now?
What a cutie!
Tug of war was my favorite video!