[Steve112]

Hi all,
I've had few dogs when I was a teenager but I don't think that counts so practically I got an american akita male puppy.
I'm trying to train him by myself , checking dog training articles, video as much as possible but I'm still afraid that I may do something wrong.
My puppy gets scared sometimes pretty easy and I wondering if that might be a problem in the future or it will go away.
At this moment, he's pretty scared to go inside the car, probably because I had like 2 incidents when I had to push the break a little harder and I don't know how to fix it.
He's 3 months now and soon I will be able to walk him outside but what I noticed so far, while walking him on leash to the car to go to the vet//pet shop, he's not so eager to execute my commands or crazy about treats..I hope this will go away after I will be able to walk him daily and he discovers that new world.
Also, he doesn't seem to like petting, he always tries to avoid/bite, very agitated.
One of my neighbors has a 3 years old huge american akita and they like to play, by running, jumping, cries and jumps on the fence when my neighbor is playing with his akita and other neighbor has a labrador puppy at the same age. Would be ok to leave my akita playing with the labrador puppy all day ?

Here is a video with me teaching him "down" command(in my language) after just a few sessions

Me teaching down command

I know I have lots of questions but any advices would be greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[3GSD4IPO]

The INSTANT his elbows hit the floor mark it with Yes or a click and FEED between his front paws. Be clear.

He is a baby. He is going to be afraid of things. Advocate for him. Do not force him. Lure him with food. Make a big deal out of progress. Do NOT let every person you meet pet him. Do NOT let every dog you see be his friend. This is an Akita, not a Labrador or Golden Retriever.

Be careful of on line videos. Some are good. Some are bad. Some are REALLY REALLY bad. Fenzi dog training and Leerburg can be your friend but I think I prefer Dave Kroyer DKA TV. Get a Gold Subscription ($10 a month) and don't be in a rush training.

 

[DaySleepers]

Definitely take it slow with the car, try making quick outings in the direction of the car - but not all the way to the car - several times a day, eventually working up so some of those outings get closer to the car than others. Eventually you can also work on rewarding for interacting with the car (like looking at it or sniffing it), and then jumping in and out. Try to let him set the pace, never pushing him if he's acting scared or stressed. If there's times he HAS to go in the car, it may help to make it distinctly different - for example, carry him to the car instead of letting him walk. This way it's much clearer when he has a choice in approaching and interacting with a car and when he doesn't. Sounds weird, but that distinction can help prevent setting back training when you have no choice but to push your dog past where they're comfortable.

As for interacting with other dogs and puppies, supervised play sessions can be great! But they need to be supervised, and they should definitely not be for extended periods. You need to be able to step in if either the other dog/pup is pushing your puppy to the point where he's stressed and scared, or if your puppy is being overly rude and ignoring the other dog's signals. This goes a long way towards reinforcing good dog manners and avoiding both bad emotional experiences that can lead to him being scared/reactive towards dogs as an adult, or physical trauma from a fight.

And definitely not all day play, even with a puppy his own age. You know how young kids get overtired and overstimulated and someone always winds up crying if you don't make sure they have breaks from each other, and periods to rest and nap? Basically the same with puppies. You do not want to live with a puppy who's constantly overstimulated and overtired, trust me. Total nightmare.

 

[petpeeve]

Enroll in a public obedience class / puppy class if you are able to. For a first time dog owner, an Akita may be somewhat difficult to train. So having the oversight and advice of a professional trainer, in-person, is probably a worthy expenditure.

For supplementary advice, and to prime yourself with the basics, I recommend youtube channels 'kikopup' or 'Zak George'. Both of them have plenty of how-to videos covering a very wide range of everyday training issues.

I would focus on using positive reinforcement, force-free techniques, and avoid punishment-based techniques as much as possible.

I also recommend addressing the 'petting / biting / agitation' issue, asap. Yes, not everyone should pet your dog, but he does need to learn to be accepting of certain touching and handling in certain situations which will likely occur throughout his lifetime.

Your video. That's some pretty good training for a first time owner with a puppy ! Keep up the good work ! The only thing I might recommend there is to make sure to teach your pup a release cue. A release really should be integral with teaching a stay. Otherwise, your pup will learn to self-release at his own discretion, which can often turn into a battle of wills and frustration for you if it's left unchecked or unaddressed. To avoid any miscommunication, ensure that each individual stay exercise is always completed / terminated by a release cue. For a puppy I would keep the duration of the stay relatively short for now, say between 2 and 5 seconds maximum, and then in due time build any additional duration very gradually.

 

[Steve112]

Thank you for all your advices, they're really helpful. I bought a gold subscription for Dave Kroyer DKA TV and after watching few videos I already learned a lot, like never leave my puppy unsupervised with another dog.
I know it's an akita and it's a difficult dog but it went really well so far, also with some advices from a trainer. The puppy always waits in sit or down position until I finish putting his meal and supplements in the bowl, always gets fast out of door way when I'm getting out, always brings back the ball ( a trick that I 've been told, always you are the one who starts the play you finish it ), I never leave food in the bowl, if he doesn't eat everything, I take the bowl with me.
I bought a raised ventilated bed when I got him at at 4 weeks old and he learned in 10 minutes that he must sleep there. He loves it there now, sometimes moves the bed but it the end he will still sleep on it. He executes sit and down almost 100% of the time but this is only when doing it in my back yard. We went outside only a few times to the vet and pet shop and there he's not focused on me at all. He just got his third vaccine one week ago and next week I'll be able to do exercises outside too.
Down was a little harder for him because he wasn't used to that position and probably didn't liked it either so I struggled a bit to find a way but afterwards he learned it in just few sessions. A small problem might be that after executing down command and resetting, he gets in down position before I say the command so he can receive a treat ) so I have to move until he doesn't do that and say the command again.
I never used punishment or forced training, only positive training and I also don't want to exhaust him as he's just a puppy so I only do 1, 2 max sessions per day and lots of the days I practice only recall, focus and get the ball.
I didn't saw a car training at Dave Kroyer DKA TV but I will practice crate training for the car, I believe it's the same thing, crate or car.
I learned a lot after watching puppy socialization video at Dave Kroyer DKA TV so I will never leave him alone with another puppy/dog and practice recall and play with him so that he gets dog neutral and always come to me. Also, finish the playtime when I feel that my puppy it's getting stressed by the other puppy, even if mine is 2-3 times bigger already than the labrador puppy( 17 Kg at 13 weeks )
This being said, I believe that training it's going well for now, I really like Dave Kroyer DKA TV videos and I would like to do the training myself and not bring a stranger, unless I feel it's necessary. I was worried a bit a week ago but his behaviour changed a lot very fast.
@petpeeve I'm always using a release cue, maybe I missed it in the video but I always use one, something like "free" and "ok" to signal he can eat the food now.

 

[storyist]

I had Akitas many years ago and there's no doubt in my mind I didn't have the knowledge or ability at the time to train them to do anything. But that was back when forceful training was all anyone I knew did ('60s, 70's, early 80's). Fortunately for me those were such grand dogs they didn't need formal training to fit in my horse-centered life. Both were bitches, which I think makes some things easier.

Right now I'm considering a Shiba Inu for my old lady's dog. By that I mean I've reached an age where downsizing from my current big dogs is only prudent. And I'm investigating all positive, clicker-based training.

Your video is impressive for working with such a young pup. The only thing I saw that made me wonder is your repeating commands over and over. Everything I know is that even with a puppy, you give a command once, and with clicker training you teach the desired action to the point you can rely on it before assigning the command.

My Akita experience is why I'm drawn to the Shibas. Mine were truly great, great dogs. Your boy looks on his way to the same.