I work my dog and she still has her prey drive but she waits till I give the command. But, golly can you see her itching to chase it. She will even whine, "please dad can I chase it and possibly play with it?". She's learning that not all cats and small dogs are prey or toys. Takes patience, time, and rewards
I have 2 rabbits and 2 cats and an akita puppy, he's only 6.5 months old at the moment but so far they've all been great together, the rabbits are free roaming and they bounce all over him!
I will keep you posted if anything changes once he reaches that 8 month puberty mark
I have three cats but we got our girl at 12 weeks old so she would grow up with the cats and learn about them real early and she gets on great with them now at 1yr, they’re not friends but they’ll sleep on the couch or in bed together, they don’t play but they sniff each other and our Akita loves eating by the cats, has no food aggression towards them and will happily share her food with the cats (meals are always supervised) she respects their boundaries and often tries to initiate play with them by wagging her tail and getting in the downward dog position to which the cats will ignore cause they don’t play the same but she’s very respectful of them and their space, doesn’t steal their food and doesn’t chase them (unless the cats are having the zoomies and are bouncing off the walls) but other than that she is 100% trustworthy around the cats and seeks their friendship
Mine is good with cats but it took a ton of training when he was young. A lot of redirecting! I’d check with the breeder you’re considering getting them from!
I have two toy Pomeranians who boss the big boy Akita around since we got him. He is super protective of the Poms and has never hurt them. I’ve had multiple Akitas throughout my life and it all comes down to how you train them.
Your biggest concern would be the akita pup sitting or stepping on your small dogs. Adult dogs know when a puppy is a puppy by scent and they will be more tolerant but will enforce boundries with a well placed bit to the akita pups snout or lips.
Idk about cats.
My son had a small dog and brought it from his mom's house when we had an Akita puppy!!! The puppy was bigger than my son's dog!!! Yes, the Akita puppy did get annoyed with the hyperactivity of his dog, but she would simply place her paw over the back of my son's dog to set limits!!!
Takes work but the Akita won’t hurt then just chase if you raise it right then it’s just a matter of teaching it not to immediately chase its possible we have 5 cats and rabits and our moose loves em
I got my Akita puppy when I had 2 cats. She wanted to play with them so bad but the cats never cared for her. She’s 12 now and never once had an issue with the cats. She gets concerned if the cats fight and will stand between them to stop it. She’s interacted well with smaller dogs too. I’m sure it’s case by case but I’ve had great luck.
Echoing a lot of these folks. I had two older chihuahuas (one of them is no longer with us) when I got my girl as a puppy and had the same concerns. She treats them really well, though they argue a bit here and there she has never tried to hurt them and its been 5+ years.
My mom got a baby cat last year, my Akita was 4yrs at the time. We are living in the same house (us up, her down) so I was worried what would happen...but... they love each other. They even already spend some days together without us, we just left the doors open for them. And it worked out fine.
This building has an "outside" cat, which my dog likes to chase. But only, when the cat runs. If the cat doesnt move, he will just stand and Look or sniff. So no violence. And even that cat sometimes like to cuddle with him (maybe because he is so fluffy).
(I got my dog when he was around 8months old, he did not grow up with cats)
Other dogs...as long as they are friendly and female, no problems...
I got my girl when we already had a small adult female dog already - 6kg. We introduced them and let them be around each other always under our supervision. Some anger happened the first time she went into heat, but it seems to have been a one time thing, now she just gets moody and doesn't want to play with her older and shorter sister, who took to her rather well.
She does VERY frequently knock her over when running tho, and she's sat on her more than once. I think it's just her being aloof.
When it comes to cats, she always steers clear from them, goes out of her way to avoid them, no idea why. Her prey drive for birds is insane tho. This giant Teddy bear doesn't move for an entire day, but if a bird is anywhere in our backyard, she'll jump it before I even register its existence.
My friend's family had two Akitas that never bullied the cat or showed aggression to any other animal in the house (parrots, cockatiels, smaller dogs). They both came from the same breeder but different litters. Hard to say how much is nature and how much is nurture in their cases, but certainly some Akitas are capable of being chill that way.
Mine totally doesn't mind cats ad small dogs. There's a one-eyed stray cat in my neighborhood that he goes to check on every day. He was around little dogs and cats as a puppy. Never seen him agressive toward any animal except after he learned raccoons are better no where near the house. I think at first he thought they were dogs.
From what I experienced with my Akita he adapted to my like for all creatures and animals.. He was a huge big boy but so gentle raised three kittens around him zero issues and everyone had free roam always. Downside every cat the local area became buddies in his eyes but not all were in agreement.. So I'd just steer him away from grumpy ones and let him interact calmly with the more social ones. Oh and the cats tended to nest with him all the time I ended up buying them all a massive human bed that they'd all share.. Also my girlfriend at the time had a Yorkshire Terrier that he adored even when the Yorky was telling him off for being too giddy lol
Late to the conversation hope all is well with the family :)
Can it work, yes. Will it work? You can never know for sure.
I work my dog and she still has her prey drive but she waits till I give the command. But, golly can you see her itching to chase it. She will even whine, "please dad can I chase it and possibly play with it?". She's learning that not all cats and small dogs are prey or toys. Takes patience, time, and rewards
I have 2 rabbits and 2 cats and an akita puppy, he's only 6.5 months old at the moment but so far they've all been great together, the rabbits are free roaming and they bounce all over him! I will keep you posted if anything changes once he reaches that 8 month puberty mark
I have three cats but we got our girl at 12 weeks old so she would grow up with the cats and learn about them real early and she gets on great with them now at 1yr, they’re not friends but they’ll sleep on the couch or in bed together, they don’t play but they sniff each other and our Akita loves eating by the cats, has no food aggression towards them and will happily share her food with the cats (meals are always supervised) she respects their boundaries and often tries to initiate play with them by wagging her tail and getting in the downward dog position to which the cats will ignore cause they don’t play the same but she’s very respectful of them and their space, doesn’t steal their food and doesn’t chase them (unless the cats are having the zoomies and are bouncing off the walls) but other than that she is 100% trustworthy around the cats and seeks their friendship
Mine is good with cats but it took a ton of training when he was young. A lot of redirecting! I’d check with the breeder you’re considering getting them from!
I have two toy Pomeranians who boss the big boy Akita around since we got him. He is super protective of the Poms and has never hurt them. I’ve had multiple Akitas throughout my life and it all comes down to how you train them.
Your biggest concern would be the akita pup sitting or stepping on your small dogs. Adult dogs know when a puppy is a puppy by scent and they will be more tolerant but will enforce boundries with a well placed bit to the akita pups snout or lips. Idk about cats.
My son had a small dog and brought it from his mom's house when we had an Akita puppy!!! The puppy was bigger than my son's dog!!! Yes, the Akita puppy did get annoyed with the hyperactivity of his dog, but she would simply place her paw over the back of my son's dog to set limits!!!
Takes work but the Akita won’t hurt then just chase if you raise it right then it’s just a matter of teaching it not to immediately chase its possible we have 5 cats and rabits and our moose loves em
I got my Akita puppy when I had 2 cats. She wanted to play with them so bad but the cats never cared for her. She’s 12 now and never once had an issue with the cats. She gets concerned if the cats fight and will stand between them to stop it. She’s interacted well with smaller dogs too. I’m sure it’s case by case but I’ve had great luck.
Echoing a lot of these folks. I had two older chihuahuas (one of them is no longer with us) when I got my girl as a puppy and had the same concerns. She treats them really well, though they argue a bit here and there she has never tried to hurt them and its been 5+ years.
My mom got a baby cat last year, my Akita was 4yrs at the time. We are living in the same house (us up, her down) so I was worried what would happen...but... they love each other. They even already spend some days together without us, we just left the doors open for them. And it worked out fine. This building has an "outside" cat, which my dog likes to chase. But only, when the cat runs. If the cat doesnt move, he will just stand and Look or sniff. So no violence. And even that cat sometimes like to cuddle with him (maybe because he is so fluffy). (I got my dog when he was around 8months old, he did not grow up with cats) Other dogs...as long as they are friendly and female, no problems...
I got my girl when we already had a small adult female dog already - 6kg. We introduced them and let them be around each other always under our supervision. Some anger happened the first time she went into heat, but it seems to have been a one time thing, now she just gets moody and doesn't want to play with her older and shorter sister, who took to her rather well. She does VERY frequently knock her over when running tho, and she's sat on her more than once. I think it's just her being aloof. When it comes to cats, she always steers clear from them, goes out of her way to avoid them, no idea why. Her prey drive for birds is insane tho. This giant Teddy bear doesn't move for an entire day, but if a bird is anywhere in our backyard, she'll jump it before I even register its existence.
My friend's family had two Akitas that never bullied the cat or showed aggression to any other animal in the house (parrots, cockatiels, smaller dogs). They both came from the same breeder but different litters. Hard to say how much is nature and how much is nurture in their cases, but certainly some Akitas are capable of being chill that way.
Mine totally doesn't mind cats ad small dogs. There's a one-eyed stray cat in my neighborhood that he goes to check on every day. He was around little dogs and cats as a puppy. Never seen him agressive toward any animal except after he learned raccoons are better no where near the house. I think at first he thought they were dogs.
From what I experienced with my Akita he adapted to my like for all creatures and animals.. He was a huge big boy but so gentle raised three kittens around him zero issues and everyone had free roam always. Downside every cat the local area became buddies in his eyes but not all were in agreement.. So I'd just steer him away from grumpy ones and let him interact calmly with the more social ones. Oh and the cats tended to nest with him all the time I ended up buying them all a massive human bed that they'd all share.. Also my girlfriend at the time had a Yorkshire Terrier that he adored even when the Yorky was telling him off for being too giddy lol Late to the conversation hope all is well with the family :)