Raising Your Akita:
There is no doubt that you are excited about getting your new Akita puppy. You want to show the puppy lots of love and affection and you don't want to do anything that will make it not like you. These are common mistakes people make with their Akitas. Show your Akita puppy affection, buy it treats, and play with it as much as you want too. But never allow it to get away with anything as a pup that you wouldn't allow it to get away with as an adult. The Akita wants to please you, so it will be ok with a little scolding when necessary. It wants to know it's boundaries.
Start training early and often. Short periods of time in the beginning, slowly making the sessions longer as the puppy grows. Make sure you can be around it's food from the time it is a puppy. Akitas are notorious for being food aggressive. Do not let your Akita growl at you around it's food bowl. Getting a grip on this when it's little is a whole lot easier than when it weighs 100 lbs and has adult teeth. Feed your Akita a good quality non-soy commercial brand dog food. Do not feed it puppy food past 12 weeks of age. Akitas, atleast our lines, grow very rapidly and puppy food can cause irregular growth. Remember an Akita is a dog, not a baby. Raise it with a firm but loving hand. Make sure you worm your Akita every 3 months with Panacur. This will treat most internal parasites and also treats Giardia which is common in dogs. If your dog ever drinks water out of mud puddles or anything similar then they can get Giardia. Akitas, in general, have a weaker immune system than the average breed. When giving vaccinations, it is a good idea to only give one vaccination per visit. Give heartworm medication where applicable. If you have ever seen a dog being treated for heartworms you will not wish that on any dog. Daily exercise will help your pup grow normally and keep it physically fit. Please do not try to have 2 males or 2 females together. People ask me all the time about this and it just doesn't work! Take your Akita to training classes as a pup and get it used to seeing and being around other dogs. This will help with it being tolerable of other dogs later in life. No guarantees, but will certainly help. Under NO CIRCUMSTANCES PLAY TUG OF WAR with your Akita. This is giving your dog a challenge and they see it as being your equal. They are not your equal! If you allow them to be your equal, they will assume they are the dominant pack leader. This is very dangerous! If your Akita takes the 'Pack Leader' role, then when you try and disipline him/her, they will consider that a challenge for dominance. I have witnessed first hand how an Akita can be if allowed to assume the Pack Leader role. It is not, I repeat not pretty! These dogs are awesome dogs when raised properly, undoubtedly one of the best dogs out there. But if not raised properly they can be a nightmare. Please do your homework! Make sure this type of dog will fit into your family for 10-15 years. Too many Akitas end up in shelters or Rescue because their owners don't raise them properly and they end up being too much to handle. An aggressive 120 lb Akita has very few options for adoption and most end up being euthanized.
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