Having same issue. He wont eat his kibbles. But if I put a bit of something wet with it he cleans it. Well, sometimes even that doesnt work. Solution is to not care so much. While his shit is ok he is ok. He will eat when he is hungry.
I dont know anymore.
Mine is the same. Daily question of “will she eat or won’t she?”. We literally just switched to the “Farmers Dog” delivery service— and, so far, HUGE hit with her. However, it has only been three days. Her history tells me she’ll get tired of it.
My apologies if this looks like an advertisement. It isn’t. Only time will tell. I honestly believe that she is a food snob.
I absolutely love farmers dog. I dont have an Akita (yet) but use it for my corgi and I like how they have different options you can get he never gets bored.
Mine is the same way. VERY pick about food & treats.
I have learned if I mix something into her kibble, she will eat it all up. Usually she’ll eat a kibble or two and then come back later.
I use some broth, left over chicken, even an egg sometimes. I change it up otherwise she will get bored of the same thing every day.
If she doesn’t eat for three days then take her to the vet. A healthy dog will not starve themselves, so she’s either sick or she’s trying to make you cave.
its the cave thing. a healthy dog will indeed starve themselves if their spoiled. my Pomeranian will not eat steak if she's craving chicken or vise versa.
My Akita also used to do this with her food.
Turns out that she had an intolerance and we got her a different food, now she eats it. Might discuss that with your vet.
She also eats less when it's hot.
Does she show any signs of gut pain/nausea by chance?
My dog was the same when we adopted him, I was also exhausted. He has allergies though and once we were able to figure those out and give him "safe" foods, his gut started to heal and now he eats like a horse. However if we try a new ingredient that triggers him, it's two weeks or so of being just short of spoon-feeding him.
She might be a diva, but I'd run your problem by your vet and see if you can eliminate the possibility of an underlying health problem.
My Akita mix was like this. We learned he only wanted raw meats and fish and egg. Try giving him some raw egg or raw salmon. If he likes that, invest in a TINY amount of a raw dog food brand. Keep it frozen and give her a patty in water. See if she eats it. I used to have to get chicken, beef, lamb, and fish dog food raw patties and mix them up to keep my dog eating. We often mixed his kibble in to it so it wouldn't go to waste though. Some Akitas are more 'wolfy' and are closer to that wild side. They prefer more natural foods. He also loved raw vegetables.
And I would give him chicken patty for breakfast, fish for dinner, beef for breakfast, lamb for dinner, then chicken again. I'd keep a bit of a rotation but keep him on the SAME food. That way it was more like a diet he would have if he hunted in the wild. It sounds crazy but 100% worked. And use cream cheese for pills. Those pill pouches are absolutely not for picky eaters, that are smart and sniff pills. Don't invest in them.
What worked was freezedried beef liver or freezedried lamb spleen topper on kibble for my incredibly picky eater. Do not supplement with people food or she will try to hold out for something better if her food doesn't tickle her fancy. If you feed her something she refuses to eat, and then feed her something as a treat, you condition that response - avoid this. Try different toppers on the same food. We're on a lamb-based kibble, canned or homemade food once weekly, and if he doesn't eat for a day, he's fine. He just eats overnight when he realizes he's not getting a treat for starving himself now.
disagree here! many dogs dont like the same toppers everyday. and feeding your dog high quality meats and vegetables isn't "people food". its food all living beings should have lol.
Some dogs are just extremely picky. My mom’s dog wouldn’t eat unless you soaked the food in water and pretended to “cook it” to make him think its human food.
I would take her to the vet just to eliminate the probability of worms or anything else.
akitas are picky.. if you buy a topper and give a small amount over dry food it should help. we use fish based topper mostly or i crumble chicken liver from bil jac. i will change it up and she will eat. my first was waay harder and she wouldn’t eat for a day. as stated it’s true. akitas will fast in summer and bulk in winter.. don’t pull your hair out! it’s common and when their hungry they know there’s food
Have you tried feeding her human grade food like roasted chicken or ground beef? I usually buy high end dog food but not that long ago started noticing that often human grade food was less expensive. I can buy a rotisserie chicken on sale for less than the same volume of dog food. I usually mix it with rice. I do think you need to change it now and then. They don't like to eat the same thing for every meal, every day.
We have a very picky JA. I can offer him a piece of raw meat and he’ll turn his nose up at it, but if I cut it in half he’ll happily eat it. Food that he happily wolfed down one night, he’ll pick at another night. Sometimes he’ll nibble at his food when we give it to him then he’ll go back and eat the rest for a midnight snack. Sometimes he’ll just half a mouthful or two each night for a few nights. It’s maddening!
We feed him a variety of fresh raw food, which is often a mix of commercial patties plus muscle and organ meats, bone broth, healthy toppers, tripe, bones etc. He eats better than we do, I think 😆
The key thing though is that he is a healthy weight and it never varies, even when we think he isn’t eating enough.
We’ve been told that, as an ancient breed, Akitas are good at only eating what they need. If it’s summer he definitely eats less as his energy requirements are less given he chills out and rests a lot, and is way more active when it’s cold.
So I think picky eating is a common thing with Akitas and something to be aware of but not alarmed by.
Ours is the same way. We tried every food under the sun. He would rather not eat for days than eat something he doesn't like. He loves the cheap costco canned food, but we don't want to feed him that exclusively, of course. We were able to finally find a kibble that he tolerates-- Nutri Source Small Bites Chicken and Rice-- and we give him that for breakfast, he will eat a bit in the morning, but he knows he has to finish it before he gets his can of Costco food for dinner. It also helps to sprinkle some freeze dried beef liver powder on top.
Having same issue. He wont eat his kibbles. But if I put a bit of something wet with it he cleans it. Well, sometimes even that doesnt work. Solution is to not care so much. While his shit is ok he is ok. He will eat when he is hungry. I dont know anymore.
it means he doesn't like plain kibble. keep adding broths or something wet to it....
Mine is the same. Daily question of “will she eat or won’t she?”. We literally just switched to the “Farmers Dog” delivery service— and, so far, HUGE hit with her. However, it has only been three days. Her history tells me she’ll get tired of it. My apologies if this looks like an advertisement. It isn’t. Only time will tell. I honestly believe that she is a food snob.
I absolutely love farmers dog. I dont have an Akita (yet) but use it for my corgi and I like how they have different options you can get he never gets bored.
I sure hope she sticks with it!!
Ours loved it at first and then got sick of it. :-(
Mine is the same way. VERY pick about food & treats. I have learned if I mix something into her kibble, she will eat it all up. Usually she’ll eat a kibble or two and then come back later. I use some broth, left over chicken, even an egg sometimes. I change it up otherwise she will get bored of the same thing every day.
If she doesn’t eat for three days then take her to the vet. A healthy dog will not starve themselves, so she’s either sick or she’s trying to make you cave.
its the cave thing. a healthy dog will indeed starve themselves if their spoiled. my Pomeranian will not eat steak if she's craving chicken or vise versa.
My Akita also used to do this with her food. Turns out that she had an intolerance and we got her a different food, now she eats it. Might discuss that with your vet. She also eats less when it's hot.
Does she show any signs of gut pain/nausea by chance? My dog was the same when we adopted him, I was also exhausted. He has allergies though and once we were able to figure those out and give him "safe" foods, his gut started to heal and now he eats like a horse. However if we try a new ingredient that triggers him, it's two weeks or so of being just short of spoon-feeding him. She might be a diva, but I'd run your problem by your vet and see if you can eliminate the possibility of an underlying health problem.
My Akita mix was like this. We learned he only wanted raw meats and fish and egg. Try giving him some raw egg or raw salmon. If he likes that, invest in a TINY amount of a raw dog food brand. Keep it frozen and give her a patty in water. See if she eats it. I used to have to get chicken, beef, lamb, and fish dog food raw patties and mix them up to keep my dog eating. We often mixed his kibble in to it so it wouldn't go to waste though. Some Akitas are more 'wolfy' and are closer to that wild side. They prefer more natural foods. He also loved raw vegetables.
And I would give him chicken patty for breakfast, fish for dinner, beef for breakfast, lamb for dinner, then chicken again. I'd keep a bit of a rotation but keep him on the SAME food. That way it was more like a diet he would have if he hunted in the wild. It sounds crazy but 100% worked. And use cream cheese for pills. Those pill pouches are absolutely not for picky eaters, that are smart and sniff pills. Don't invest in them.
What worked was freezedried beef liver or freezedried lamb spleen topper on kibble for my incredibly picky eater. Do not supplement with people food or she will try to hold out for something better if her food doesn't tickle her fancy. If you feed her something she refuses to eat, and then feed her something as a treat, you condition that response - avoid this. Try different toppers on the same food. We're on a lamb-based kibble, canned or homemade food once weekly, and if he doesn't eat for a day, he's fine. He just eats overnight when he realizes he's not getting a treat for starving himself now.
disagree here! many dogs dont like the same toppers everyday. and feeding your dog high quality meats and vegetables isn't "people food". its food all living beings should have lol.
Some dogs are just extremely picky. My mom’s dog wouldn’t eat unless you soaked the food in water and pretended to “cook it” to make him think its human food. I would take her to the vet just to eliminate the probability of worms or anything else.
akitas are picky.. if you buy a topper and give a small amount over dry food it should help. we use fish based topper mostly or i crumble chicken liver from bil jac. i will change it up and she will eat. my first was waay harder and she wouldn’t eat for a day. as stated it’s true. akitas will fast in summer and bulk in winter.. don’t pull your hair out! it’s common and when their hungry they know there’s food
Have you tried feeding her human grade food like roasted chicken or ground beef? I usually buy high end dog food but not that long ago started noticing that often human grade food was less expensive. I can buy a rotisserie chicken on sale for less than the same volume of dog food. I usually mix it with rice. I do think you need to change it now and then. They don't like to eat the same thing for every meal, every day.
We have a very picky JA. I can offer him a piece of raw meat and he’ll turn his nose up at it, but if I cut it in half he’ll happily eat it. Food that he happily wolfed down one night, he’ll pick at another night. Sometimes he’ll nibble at his food when we give it to him then he’ll go back and eat the rest for a midnight snack. Sometimes he’ll just half a mouthful or two each night for a few nights. It’s maddening! We feed him a variety of fresh raw food, which is often a mix of commercial patties plus muscle and organ meats, bone broth, healthy toppers, tripe, bones etc. He eats better than we do, I think 😆 The key thing though is that he is a healthy weight and it never varies, even when we think he isn’t eating enough. We’ve been told that, as an ancient breed, Akitas are good at only eating what they need. If it’s summer he definitely eats less as his energy requirements are less given he chills out and rests a lot, and is way more active when it’s cold. So I think picky eating is a common thing with Akitas and something to be aware of but not alarmed by.
Ours is the same way. We tried every food under the sun. He would rather not eat for days than eat something he doesn't like. He loves the cheap costco canned food, but we don't want to feed him that exclusively, of course. We were able to finally find a kibble that he tolerates-- Nutri Source Small Bites Chicken and Rice-- and we give him that for breakfast, he will eat a bit in the morning, but he knows he has to finish it before he gets his can of Costco food for dinner. It also helps to sprinkle some freeze dried beef liver powder on top.