KumaAkita

Akita's are giant breeds are they? Generally, Dane owners would wait until 2 1/2 before any running/jogging on lead Yep, may not be height wise like Danes, but are classified giant - males will weigh over 55Kg ish... big lovely boofers

I'm interested in this too... What about for Kuma - who is a nearly 12month old Akita? I understand giant breeds are different, do I need to wait until he's finished growing, or can I start to ramp up slowly in the last few months of his growing period? Sorry to hijack the tread!! I guess what I'm asking is - is there a general guide as to what exercise you can do with your dog at what stages?

Kuma is in Poo Corner only - no renegade turds in our house... He has to go as far away from his bed/play area as possible, so his poo corner is in the furthest corner of our yard. He really only likes to "go" when out of our yard, and I'm almost certain he waits until we go for walks to do his business, and then he'll often go twice! plus he has to pee on every tree, bush, or blade of grass... working on limiting that at the moment!

morning all... so, yesterday it was my turn to have "turd-dog" at training... we walked out of class about halfway through, coz a certain Akita wouldn't do a single thing! He was ignoring me and being a general idiot! There's also a husky puppy in our class that has taken a dislike to Kuma - she's growly and snappy at Kuma. I'd move away from her, but she'd keep following me and standing next to me. Weird... next week I will ask her owner to try and stay separate, or I'll move to another class. Cute vid KTB! You can also hire out Hoover to do landscaping work at our place, we need some holes for trees as well as a few trenches for our little retaining walls... will pay in kibble. Clastic - look at Mars' ears! They are adorable! Little pepper is a plucky girl! Can't wait to meet Mars...

My folks are in tamowrth, I'll let them know... If they hear anything I'll pass it on... This is awful... Lilli_star if your folks hear anything up there, can they pass it on?

Hi Kuma :D That is a Fuzzyard "I :D food" tag ahhh... looks like the lifestyle food channel logo! norty Hoover... scaring your humans like that... not nice

Hey MavericksMission... Is Hector wearing a lifestyle food dog tag??

Hey Max#1 - great news about the lunging. Take the wins where the come, big or small. More photos... Kuma's starting to blow his coat and I gave him a brush this arvo: And most of it landed on my jeans: One Happy Puppy ...and that's only the BEGINNING...

That is quite fun I must admit - there were many shocked faces and a lot of explaining what an Akita was! Our puppy preschool with Kuma at 12 weeks of age he was 12-13Kg, there was a mini JRT x (crossed with a sesame seed?) that weighed 1.8Kg on the first night it fell asleep before class ended! We had a good instructor who let the litte dogs and big dogs play separately. There was a Shar Pei in the class who was used to rumbling with its older Amstaff sibling so she and Kuma had great fun! Enjoy!

Foxyboi - Kyojin would already be bigger than Ike! Said it before Minxy - but hubba hubba... I showed the OH your photos the other day and he said "geeze... big boy, eh?". Kyojin is bigger than Kuma was at that age, but when we got him home he had been sick from a tummy bug and been on a drip/meds. Once home with us, his condition improved dramatically. Just be prepared for the 1-2Kg growth per week!

oh Hoover...

Wuffles: can I assume that Miss Ava got into some mischief today?? Max#1: hrmmm... good luck with that one ok... time for more photos: My Spethal Idiot Boy: This morning I let the boy in after breakfast (usually a no-no coz he ends up mussing my work clothes) and the house went suddenly quiet. Someone had snuck into the lounge room and onto the futon. Bear in mind, he's not allowed on the carpet, and definitely not on the couches! whoops, busted "I'm just leaving..." And Kuma in one of his favourite spots in the house - under the kitchen bench (sorry - photo quality is a bit iffy... Still learning the ropes with my camera)

Don't you know that wet food is bad KA?!?!? It goes through their system quickly, gives them the runs, no nutritional value whatsoever etc etc blah blah blah.... ;) Yaaaay for finding your clicker! I prefer when I find money on washing days. That happened this morning too! I found a tenner sneaking out of the pocket in the jacket I wear in the mornings walking the dog... Today was a great morning!

In other exciting news (but totally OT) I found the clicker I thought I had lost! Yay... Amazing what you find in pockets on washing day it's good too coz I wasn't really fond of the one I bought on Sunday, my thumb nail kept getting caught! *don't tell anyone, but Kuma gets wet and dry food coz he is too fussy to eat anything else...*

yikes heheheheh... take your own advice and leave that alone. Try the Advance and the RC as suggested - and even some others if needed (heaven forbid, you could try supermarket brands) because at the end of the day, if your boys are eating, lookin' good - and most importantly, feeling good - what's the big deal? Re Raw: I've heard pre-prepared supermarket BARF is worse than good kibble... *dons flame suit in case of emergency* My sister had two beagles, she used to open the window overlooking the back yard and throw the dogs dinner into the yard and they had to "search" it out. Worked for Charlie and Stella. ;)

Cool - just wanted to make sure I hadn't committed myself to something that I had forgotten about! Sunday it is

Saturday or at training on Sunday??? I'd like to call this one "The Donald Trump Look" I had a crazy dog this morning... all revved up for some reason. He was sooooooo excited to go for a walk! He was doing zoomies at the end of the leash - ears back, tail down full pelt running... silly dog. I told him to sit and watch before we moved on. It's just so weird. I forgot to mention (don't know if i should... ;) ) that I had a dream about DOL the other night. In my dream, Wizzle was actually a big fat sweaty dude with no dog I think I need a DOLiday

hmmm... there could be a number of reasons why Elbie did that last night. Like Wuffles said - wondering where Hoover was, heard a noise, just wanted to go zoomies, anything... Can I stick in a devil's advocate here and say if it happens once it is just "a moment", if it happens again tonight then worry? Kuma has "moments" all the time... if they become a pattern, then I worry (like his tail chasing episodes, which we have put a stop to)

:D nope, Kuma is none the wiser *shhhh, don't tell him* Just remember to follow the instructions and introduce new foods slowly Oh, and you also have to consider that Hoover is playing you for a fool. He knows that you'll do as much as you can for him, so he may be thinking in that cute but devious brain of his "maybe if I continue to be disinterested in this kibble stuff, they'll give me more of that raw stuff". Kuma tried it on for a while, and now after some persistance will chomp down his food in minutes. (except on "fasting" days, but that's an Akita thing)

I have a small bag of Advance Puppy growth forumla at home - I meant to buy the Growth for Large Breeds but managed to pick up the wrong bag and didn't realise until it was opened! If you're interested in giving Advance a go, it's yours.

ha! too funny... When I got home last night from Sydney, I asked the OH what he had for dinner. His answer "a mini baby bel cheese". Hmmm that's satisfying! Yeah, thanks for having us - we had a great time. yay... we usually get there around 8:30. Kuma can't contain his excitement for too long on Sunday mornings, so I've decided that it is best to just get in the car and get to the grounds! We get this all the time! People always bend to look under Kuma to see what he is, and because he's been snipped - there isn't much to see! ravenau1: your little girl is a cutie! nawww... don't they look comfy (well, Pepper is more comfy than Mars!) They are beautiful - great shot! I can't wait to meet Satch, he seems like such a chilled out dude. As mentioned on here before - we have all experienced this! It's just so heart breaking when you know they can do something but they are simply refusing to cooperate! Kuma does this all the time... will work great for me at home, but is an idiot at class. I feel we will be repeating bronze - I don't have enough time to put into training him to pass, but will keep at it. Ha ha ha ... Kuma goes sliding on our tiles when ever he runs down the hall or in through the sliding door. We try not to laugh, but sometimes it is just too funny! That's just too cute! +1 So, I got home last night at about 9:00 pm after crappy travelling in Sydney. Kuma was sound asleep in his kennel when I walked in the door, but when he heard my voice he was at the back door begging to be let in. He was all wriggly and happy to see me. He was stuck to my leg for about 15 minutes and I couldn't go anywhere without him following me. I sat down on the couch and had a huge Akita head in my lap. It was so lovely. Both my boys were happy to have me home, and I was so glad to be there!

Hey all... I'm sitting in the qantas lounge at Sydney airport after two frustrating days in the big smoke. And qantas have dicked me around both flights. If the qantas lounge didn't exist I think I would have chucked a huge tantrum. Anyhoo... Back to normal programming. I haven't had a chance to read everything thoroughly, but what I can remember: * don't worry, everyone has idiot dog at training. That would be Kuma on Sunday... He gets riled up by the husky pup and the dalmation spotted stuffy type dog (really have no idea what it is, other than hyper). Kuma would not heel, stay, etc... But walked well loose lead. Yay for small mercies. * hoover is adorable. Seriously adorable. Elbie and he will be great 'brothers' I am sure. * I, glad Kumas old bed is going to good use, it was in our garage for a couple of months... The bed was only used for a short time because he grew so quickly! He is not a chewer, so that has helped in its longevity Everything else I will review in greater detail later...

Glad Max is ok! Re crate training... Try K9Pro website for Steve's program. Easy to follow and works! Dashing out now...

OH keeps maintaining that cats are less work so we should have got a cat despite my deathly allergies He has already decided that upon my death, he will go and buy 2 cats. :p Norty Mr Koala... I'm sure we can find you some good drugs to keep the allergies at bay. Sure, cats are easier - we had cats when I was a kid - but there's nothing quite like the devotion from a dog. Cats hang around because you dish out the food, dogs hang around because they enjoy your company** ** Again - all IMO. I am not relying on any professional studies or substantiated data to prove my point

Compeltely agree - Their kiddies really wanted a dog, but instead of getting a nice gentle "family" breed (oh, something easier to train, less exercise IYKWIM) they got a dog that needs 100% time committment! Last I heard, Patch was going to "the farm" because he wasn't the right dog. Their daughter said "that's ok, you can get me another dog" :p the OH threw a cardboard box at Kuma the other weekend... he was so scared of the box and the noise it made he ran away. I gave him a small bit of the insides and he happily munched away. That reminds me... do your dogs have any irrational fears? Kuma is deadly scared of alfoil being pulled out of the roll. Slinks out of the room scared. ETA: KTB we must have been posting at the same time. I think there are "easier" dogs, not "easy" dogs. For example, from my understanding CKCS are easier to train and easier to look after than, say, an Akita. BUT - it doesn't mean they come out of the womb trained or "easy". There are "family friendly" dogs that fit in a pecking order well, don't fuss with the kids, enjoy sleeping on your couch... those kinds of things. Working Dogs require a bit more "work". This is all IMO, not qualified or substantiated in any way