how much is enough?

[Guest Anonymous]

I've got a five month old Akita and was wondering if anyone could tell me how much I should be feeding him. Right now he gets two cups three times a day. It seems like hes always hungry. The vet doesnt really seem to want to answer me, anyone have any ideas? Thanks

[Aroura]

well if thats what your feeding him and he's not too skinny its probably fine. All dogs very with what they eat, thats probably why the vet wont answer you. Its one of those things you have to know the dog to know how much to feed it.
Sounds like your doing fine. 8)

[Shannon_C]

Im no expert on Akitas, but i do know they need worming regulary, like other breeds. Puppies tend to eat an awful lot, and coming back for more when they have worms....now this isnt a problem, you can get either tablets or paste from your vet who should explain...if he doesnt then hes not much of a vet is he...personally i should change your vet to someone else who knows about what animals needs are.

There is a Akita owner that comes here, perhaps you could have a word with them.

[Guest Anonymous]

When obtaining a new animal, puppy or adult, I usually test their appetite first by giving them 'free feed' for a few days. I might fill the bowl up with 5 cups in the morning, when the dog is finished, I measure how much is left - do this several days in a row and average out what the dog is eating at each feeding. Your puppy may be going through a growth spurt and need more food than he/she might need during a regular period of life.

One thing you absolutely must be aware of: Bloat, this is an absolute emergency! The best way to avoid bloat is to use elevated bowls, prior to eating your dog should be rested for about an house, after eating about two hours. This will help prevent the stomach torsioning.

IMO there is no set in stone amount you should be feeding your dog, I feed my adults ( 3yr old female (95 pounds) 2 yr old male (80 pounds - but underweight due to illness)) twice a day 2 c each for each meal. If Storm , my male is still hungry (rare) I give him an additional cup. Howevre, if either of them started to put on a little extra weight I would reduce the amount by half a cup at each feeding.

I wish I could be more of a help - I just go with my gut with my guys and my rescues - no real science involved.

[Guest Anonymous]

hamrhedd napisał(a):

I've got a five month old Akita and was wondering if anyone could tell me how much I should be feeding him. Right now he gets two cups three times a day. It seems like hes always hungry. The vet doesnt really seem to want to answer me, anyone have any ideas? Thanks

If your dog is not underweight then you are ok. Pups are always hungry - its like teenagers :-)
Do check out the parasites situation and he really should be ok on two meals a day pretty soon now (same volume just cut daily feeds in 2 parts instead of 3)
What did your dog's breeder suggest?

[Guest Anonymous]

I met with my vet today, hes up to 58lbs and the vet says hes looking great, not to heavy, not to thin. He recommended to actually keep him hungry[anxious to eat, not starving] so that he doesnt grow to fast which as we know causes problems with bone developement and the like. I did forget to ask him when to cut down to twice a day though. Akitaresq,whats your experience been? How many Akitas have you been involved with and what made you start? Hope you dont mind me asking :-?

[Guest Anonymous]

[quote name='hamrhedd']Akitaresq,whats your experience been? How many Akitas have you been involved with and what made you start? Hope you dont mind me asking :-?

Don't mind at all. We adopted our female in '99, she weighed 29 lbs and was guessed to be about 6 months old at the time - grossly underweight. Since we just had her at the time, I left food down all day long for her - she gained 30 pounds in a month, not fat either we kept her well exercised. A little faster than I would have liked for her to put on weight, but she was severly thin for hre age.

Last August we adopted Storm, our 2 yr old male Akita. He's been diagnosed with VKH, Ehrlechia, severe anemia, and hypothyroidism. Needless to say, he's a sick pooch. He's underweight by about 20 pounds, but can't esem to gain any weight - I suspect due to the above mentioned diseases. He's been a training challenge, first with aggression - he would randomly attack my two females, and has bitten my husband twice - the last time being the worst and was an actual attack. However, I am very proud to say that he has made a complete change in his behavior. But it has taken an enormous amount of work and patience.

In December I rescued 3 3-week old female Akita puppies (http://djkapa.tripod.com baby pics - http://akitaresq.tripod.com what they looked like the day they were adopted). I had to bottle/hand feed them for several weeks (until they were 8 weeks old and no longer wanted the formula but preferred the kibble). I believe in letting them decide when to be weaned, same thing I did with my Grey (parrot).

Aside from direct influence with the above mentioned dogs, I volunteered at my local animal shelter all 4 years of high school ('90-'94). In high school I majored in laboratory animal science, joined the army, and am now majoring in Biology. Upon completion of my BS I intend to apply to vet school (lifelong dream). I've fostered dogs, taken in strays, and rehabilitated a whole bunch of them. I'm a dog person, though I love the rest of my bunch as well.

Why Akitas? Well, I do enjoy a challenge, so training an extremely intelligent animal to behave the way we wish is challenge #1. #2 is the physical challenge, because I prefer adult dogs to puppies I often end up with older dogs that have been abused, neglected, unsocialized, etc. This makes training them more difficult because you first have to understand where the dog is coming from by observing their behavior, then you have to take that knowledge and put it in dog vocabulary. (I'm going for a minor in psychology as well.) I use love as a reward for training, as such their loyalty is beyond reproach - my 14 yr old border collie/dalmatian mix (I've had 14 yrs!) would leave me in a heartbeat to be with someone else. Why? I have no clue!

Storm was so dog aggressive our first day in obedience class I ended up having to put a muzzle on him. IMO he would have been unadoptable, that's how I would have evaluated him - meaning, he probably would have either lived his life in a kennel or PTS had we not adopted him. Of course add in his diseases and the daily care, nevermind cost... there aren't many places that can justify keeping a sick aggressive dog alive when there are so many others that need to be rescued.

So, aside from personality, they are absolutely breath taking to look at, they are powerful, but gentle/proud, but clowns. There are a thousand reasons that I love Akitas and do as much as I can in rescue for them. It all comes down to my husband seeing Allira at the animal shelter on his way home from work... she was our first Akita and stole my heart.

Let your dog tell you when he is ready... though 6 months is normally the time feedings are taken down to 2 times a day and should remain there for the rest of the dogs life. (Deep chested dogs, to include Akitas, are suseptable to bloat, 2-3 small feedings a day with limited activity afterwards are your best bet to prevent this from occuring.)

If you don't mind me asking, What are you feeding your Akita? At the very least, check to make sure that soy is not a product used in your dog food - Akitas are known to be allergic to it. Also, keep in mind that Akitas were brought over around 1920-1930 from Japan, so their dgestive needs are a bit different from other dogs. In Japan they have a diet rich in fish, something most of our diets don't have a trace of.

Let me know if you have any more questions, if I can't answer them I will ask other club members and some other Akita friends that I have.

Best of luck!