The American Akita is a faithful and loyal dog like few others, with a pronounced protection instinct and capable of going out of his way for his human family, and these virtuous characteristics must be taken into account when it comes to training him.
However, we must also mention that it is part of the nature of this dog to be territorial and dominant, and if we have not achieved a stable and balanced character, an American Akita male will easily enter into confrontation with any other Male dog.
In this AnimalWised article we show you the basic guidelines you must follow to train an American Akita.
Planning the foundations of your education
Although Akita dogs are faithful and protective like few others, in some countries these dogs are considered to belong to the breeds of "potentially dangerous dogs", nothing could be further from the truth, because There are no dangerous breeds, only irresponsible owners Training a robust and strong dog like the American Akita does not entail great difficulty, but it does require a firm commitment and an owner who does not easily defeat.
The first rule that you must always follow is show yourself firm before your Akita, under no circumstances give your arm to twist. Together with your relatives, you must summarize the rules that relate to it (not getting on the sofa, not receiving food from the table, etc.) the entire family unit must know and always comply with the same established rules. Failure to do so leads to confusion and role problems in the dog.
The American Akita, like any other dog, needs abysmal amounts of affection and companionship, but of course, This dog needs an owner with character, firm, authoritative and disciplinedIf you do not meet these requirements, it is better to get an adopted dog of other sizes or characteristics.
The basic pillar of dog training
One thing is a firm owner, and quite another is an angry owner who gets carried away by that kind of human emotion, this does not interest us when we want to train a dog.
The basic pillar of dog training should be positive reinforcement, this could be summarized as follows: a dog is not punished for his mistakes, but rather you are rewarded for your successesA good example of positive reinforcement application is clicker training, however, there are other methods.
Obviously, we cannot wait to reward our pet's successes when it is already in puberty or adulthood, proper training includes positive reinforcement from the first moment and starts at approximately 4 months of age, however, learning one's own name will start as soon as possible to facilitate the remaining process.
Socialization of the American Akita
All puppies need to be socialized so that they can fully enjoy their lives in our company, but this need is even greater in the American Akita.
This dog will perfectly tolerate children's games, will coexist without any problem with other pets that are in the home and will bend its territorial instinct to its owner's orders when it crosses another male specimen. However, to reach this point it is an early socialization is essential
Your puppy should be in contact as soon as possible with all members of his human family, and obviously this includes the little ones in the house. The same will happen with other animals, you must make immediate contact with the other pets in the house and you must make early but progressive contact with other animals. Always trying to make the first contact positive.
The socialization of the American Akita cannot be considered a secondary need, but the most important part of his education.
Starting to train the American Akita
The Akita is a very intelligent dog but in his puppy stage, like any other dog, he will have difficulty maintaining a state of attention for a long time, therefore, discard any training plan that includes long sessions.
5 minutes, 3 times a day and in a suitable environment free of distractions, will be enough to educate your Akita. The first objectives that we must achieve in training are the following:
- Answer your call
- Sit, stay and lie down
- Don't jump on people
- Allow you to take their toys and food without showing aggression
4 or 6 weeks after the start of training it is important to include new orders, since in a certain way this dog needs to be challenged with new challenges so as not to get bored.
Physical exercise facilitates the education of the Akita
The American Akita has great energy along with a strong and robust body, therefore he needs a lot of discipline and the best tool to provide it is physical exercise. Find out what proper exercise looks like for an American Akita.
Your Akita needs to exercise daily, this will not only facilitate education and training, but will also help your dog is able to manage all its vitality in a he althy way, without showing stress, aggressiveness or anxiety.
Advanced Training
Once our American Akita properly understands all the training commands he will need to be reminded of them on a regular basis. Devoting a few minutes a day to replays will suffice.
Once we have assumed the basics of his education, we can begin to practice advanced commands, fun tricks or introduce him to agility, for example, to continue stimulating the mind of the In the same way, we can include intelligence toys such as the kong in their daily life.
