Last weekend we went to Leenderbos which is near Eindhoven in the Netherlands. It was a cold, but sunny day and at days like this… hiking is just really nice.

Our Akita ‘Kensho’ doesn’t need much to be happy. He just needs to be with the people he loves, “the more the better” he seems to think. And don’t try to leave the group, since he’s counting all the time.

Just look at this happy face:

He’s great at posing for the camera. I taught him that. See this great face:

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Today I received these stunning Akita pictures. It’s Daigo (this is Kensho’s brother) and Rona, an Akita bitch.

Daigo (left, male Akita) and Rona (right, Akita bitch)

Rona loves agility!

Akita Agility with Rona

Exercise is very important in a dog – dog owner relationship. Being your dog’s owner by law or by payment does not mean your dog will acknowledge that fact. You have to deserve being the alpha, the guy or woman in charge!

According to Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer”, you should maintain a healthy relationship with your dear Akita via this formula: 50% physical exercise, 25% discipline and 25% affection. Exercise, including playing with your dog, establishes and confirms your and his position every time.
In order to be able to enjoy exercising your Akita and take him out often for long walks, he (or she!) should learn to behave well on the lead. This also implies YOU should learn how to use the leash well. Too many dogs are just being dragged around on a leash. Think about elephants or horses being taught tricks. By no means a man can force an elephant to do something he doesn’t want. There is no aggression or force involved. Only gentle instructions and motivational rewards, and a lot of patience.

Remember this when you train your puppy. No matter how small the animal to be trained: don’t use force! It will damage your relationship and work counterproductive. If you feel the urge to do so, then bang your head to the nearest tree and start over.

Teaching an Akita, or any dog for that matter, to walk gently besides you on a leash requires patience too. From my own experience with Kensho I can tell you it requires a lot of patience… but it really pays off!

When my Akita was about 9 months old he would pull the leash to make me go faster. Of course I would not let him have his success. So every time he pulled the leash, I would just stop. And I would wait…. and wait… and wait until he stopped pulling. Only then I continued walking. This way I could take 30 minutes to walk 50 meters. So then I changed my method. Every time Kensho would pull the leash I would walk in the other direction. This must have looked very strange to people on the street but this worked. Kensho noticed he did not succeed when he kept pulling the leash. And every time he walked besides me on a loose leash, I would praise him heavily. Good dog!

Another method I used was substituting his dog collar for a halti. A halti looks like a muzzle but your dog can still bark, bite, eat, drink and lick. A halti can work miracles but only when you use this tool correctly. You can NEVER apply any pressure for this can cause severe neck injury. My experience is that because a halti looks like a muzzle, people would assume I was walking an aggressive Akita. Since I cannot control people’s thoughts I just continued using the halti until Kensho was ready to walk with his regular dog collar again. He’s a fast learner so we could make the switch within a couple of weeks.

Back using the dog collar he sometimes relapsed and then 5 minutes with the Halti (which was always in my pocket at that time) he remembered the lessons and behaved like a very nicely educated Akita again.

You can search the internet looking to buy a halti online or you can ask for it at the nearest pet shop.

For guidance as how to train your Akita you can subscribe to the free six day dog training course.

More information about dog dominance is also covered in the three free e-books that you can download from Best Dog Food Guide. The only thing you have to do to get your hand on these is subscribe to the ezine ‘HoundBytes’, receive your password and then go to the Members Only section of this website.

Do you know of a clever way to feed your dog cheese without the use of your hands?

No cheating allowed!

Watch this (very short) movie and discover Owen’s solution to the question.

The result of this: They have become best friends within 10 seconds!
But Owen almost immediately went to the bathroom to brush his teeth

But please children, I have to warn you: do NOT try this at home!!
Not all dogs are as cute as Kensho.
Never let children play with dogs without the supervision of an adult.

Please don’t forget to vote for Akita Kensho at the Canon photo contest.

Remember this is the picture that was sent in by semi-professional photographer T-Nell in the category Light & Animals:

Just follow these simple steps and I’ll give you Karma points!

1. Visit the Canon contest website and sign up as a new user.
2. Check you mail account to find and click the activation link.
3. Go to Kensho’s picture and vote.

Most Akita dogs aren’t that keen on getting wet. Perhaps it has to do with their dense coat. One time Kensho fell in a pond by accident and it took nearly 24 hours for him to dry.

But Kensho does like to get in the water up to knee height (like we do when it’s cold or forgot our swimming suit). He likes to run with his mouth open, gulping the water and he’s drinking just for fun (like we do when we go out; the ‘drinking for fun’ part I mean ).

It’s a perfect way to get the dirt of his coat from digging that big hole earlier today.

Akita’s are very photogenic because of the contrast rich colors they have. It’s so much more difficult to take a good picture of a dark dog.

But Akita’s aren’t photogenic just because of their colors … it’s their smile! See for yourself. The Akita character ‘Riku’ in the Japanese anime novel ‘Kino’s journey: the Beautiful World’ always smiles. Does your Akita have a beautiful smile too?

And finally some pictures which I took today…

Would you want to have a picture like this one of YOUR dog?

You’d have to make your dog laugh first. If that’s not in his nature then here’s a great help:

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It’s a strange weather lately. One second the sun is shining, the other it’s snowing and the streets turn white.

Usually we arrange a date for Kensho and Joy so they can play together. Today was an unexpected surprise to meet Kensho’s best female friend. He’s not very monogamous but this Husky is his number one Lady friend.

Today it was like the sun was giving them energy since they both were indefatigable.

For more pictures of Akita Kensho and Husky Joy pay a visit to www.akita-pictures.com sometime.

The Akita was designated as a Natural Monument in July of 1931 by satisfying the criteria of “a domesticated animal unique to Japan”. Soon other Japanese dog breeds followed.

These other Japanese breeds are: Akita Hokkaido Kai Kishu Shikoku Shiba Inu

Until that time, Akitas were known only to the local population around Odate in the Thoku District, and by a handful of fanciers, as Odate-inu or Kazuno-inu. The designation as a Natural Monument changed the breed’s name to “Akita” and triggered the effort to preserve and restore the purity of this magnificent breed.

Akita Kensho meets his number #1 lady friend Joy, and joyful it certainly is.

I can shoot some great pictures whilst Kensho is enjoying himself.

Not too long ago Joy has been spayed and she has recovered just fine. On the third picture she has Kensho’s ear between her teeth.

Every once in a while they both take a rest and enjoy the feeling of the wind and sunshine.

It’s beautiful to watch these two dogs have fun. You can only hear panting sounds as these kind of dog breeds don’t growl when they play. It’s more action than noise and with Terriers it’s the other way around. This is one of the reasons Kensho doesn’t ever want to play with Terriers.

This looks aggressive but to them it’s just PLAY TIME .