Any quality animal has two things on which to rely:

1. Breeding, Parentage, or Genetic Structure with which it is born.

2. Environment

Item #1 has been provided by your breeder to the best of our ability.

Item #2 is the responsibility of the new owner. The way your Akita looks at maturity depends entirely on the environment the new owner provides for him/her while growing to maturity. Full maturity of the Akita is not until 2-3 years of age.

The genetic structure of your Akita has provided him/her with a certain potential. Your goal is to help your Akita acquire 100% of that potential.

EXERCISE

The preferred exercise is self-exercise. This allows the Akita to run, jump and play when it wants to and then to rest when it wants to. The most desirable type of self-exercise is with another dog. The single pup should be allowed freedom in its fenced area, but may also need daily imposed exercise with the owner. Walking and jogging with the pup on lead is a good form of imposed exercise. Allow young pups to rest when they get tired. As the pup grows, it needs more exercise to grow properly. Playing with your pup in the yard, using toys for running and jumping is also a very good way to complete the exercise routine.

TRAINING

Always use the same word for desired action. Such as going outside to "potty". Use "OUT" or "POTTY" They learn what these words mean. The proper side the pup is to stay when lead training is your left side. Check with your local Kennel Club for training classes. You can find the Kennel Club thru the Chamber of Commerce in the phone book. Puppy classes, or kindergarten is good for socialization of your pup with other dogs. Businesses like Pets-Mart have classes and information for training. Do not begin obedience classes until the pup is at least 6 months old. Take your pup with you whenever you can, to get it used to going in the car. Ask people to pet your pup so it will not have a problem with strangers.  If you have questions, ask your breeder first.

FEEDING

Proper feeding and supplementation is the most important thing you can do to help your Akita acquire its full potential. Never feed your Akita any product containing soybeans, soy meal, soy flour or anything containing the word soy. Ingredients can be found on the dog food bag. Feed a dry food that contains meats and grains. Purina One Beef and Rice or Lamb and Rice are good examples. A good canned food is Pedigree Beef. Also, table scraps are good for dogs too, but never any beans. They can cause bloat and also cause the thyroid to go low. The Akita breed can have both of those problems.

We also recommend supplements. We use a generic multi-vitamin/mineral supplement from Wal-Mart. We also add extra Vitamin C and Calcium. We only use people vitamins here at Chereed. We have found over the years that the doggie vitamins to be lacking in many essentials needed. For further information on vitamins and dogs, read the book, How to Have a Healthier Dog written by Belfield.

Brewers Yeast given daily will help to get rid of fleas. Vitamin E will help with the coat.

Here at Chereed we also feed people food to our dogs. We cook rice with garlic and parsley, cool it, and mix it with raw hamburger meat and cooked eggs, at a ratio of 4 to 1, rice to meat/eggs. To this mixture we add our supplement package and feed this as a meal, once a day.

We start the pups on canned, evaporated, milk when weaning them. After a few days, we add cooked eggs to the milk. This is a morning meal up to about 3 months of age. One meal per day is the homemade food. Dry food and water are available to them at all times.

When housebreaking your pup, remove the dry food and water at night to help them get thru it without accidents.

HOUSEBREAKING

We recommend a large wire crate put in the kitchen or wherever there is a floor surface that is easy to clean. Put newspapers in the crate. Keep your pup in the crate when you cannot be there to supervise it. Be careful that the pup cannot get into cabinets that have household cleaners in them. Give your pup plenty of doggie toys to keep it busy. Puppies sleep more when young, so let them sleep when they want to. When they wake up, it is time to take them outside for potty time. After they eat, it is time to take them out for potty time. They like to play after they have eaten as well. It is best to do any training before they eat, then feeding them reinforces the training. Most Akitas housebreak well, as they do want to please you.

VET CARE

Here at Chereed we worm the pups at 3 weeks, 6 weeks and 9 weeks. We give the first puppy shot (DHLPP) at 6 weeks, another at 9 weeks and then at 12 weeks. The new owners are expected to keep this schedule. Take your pup to your vet as soon as you can, after you have gotten it. All puppies that we ship have been vet checked for a health certificate which is required by the government to fly them. Rabies shots are done between 4 and 6 months of age. Younger than that and the rabies shot will not take.

If you have questions, contact your breeder first.

Website Design by BCS Designs
Copyright 2000-2007 All Rights Reserved
Last updated May17, 2007