Training an Akita is a challenge and takes someone that will be the leader and dominate the dog. By dominate, I don’t mean hit, punch or kick the dog. I mean someone that won’t let their dog walk all over them. A person that understands that these dogs need to know their place in the pack structure. Every dog demands to know where they fit in the pack and will become restless and feisty until they know for certain.
Most dogs don’t have much of a problem allowing a human to fill the pack’s “alpha” position. No so with the Akita. They like to be leader and may challenge you for your position. But dogs are very smart and will do it in subtle ways that you won’t even notice. They may take your favorite chair or position on the couch/bed and growl when you try to move them. They may race outside ahead of you when you go outside. They may even try to steal your food. The one rule of being an alpha is that no one steals their food.
When training this breed, there are Akita training techniques that one must employ. Other than house breaking, come, down, sit, stay and heel, there are others. Be aware of of the puppy when he protects his food bowl and toys. Do not let him get away with this. If you do, when grown, this dog can guard other things such as a bed that you want to sleep on, doorways and can become very aggressive with family members. So stop him from guarding his food and toys now and save yourself a lot of potential problems.
Socialize your Akita. Take him places, introduce him to people and animals. There are some cool dog names you can give your Akita puppy that will make him stand out.
Akitas have a strong prey drive, they don’t like sharing their territory with very many animals. They can get along with other dogs as long as they accept their dominance over them. They can get along with chickens, ducks, cats, and other small animals if trained to accept them. Even if they accept Fluffy, strange cats are fair game to them. Train then to ignore strange cats and other animals takes work, but it’s worth it.
Akitas need firm and consistent training. Lots of socialization with people and animals. They need to understand how to greet people. Don’t let them jump up on anyone. They could easily knock over a child and hurt them without meaning to. Akitas are wonderful dogs for people that take the time to train them. Training is important to create a bond between you and your dog. Also it keeps the dog aware of who is in charge.
German Shepherd training commands can be taught in any language, but you must be consistent. They can cover the basics or advanced: Sitz (sit), Platz (down), Hier (come), Bleib (stay), Fuss (heel), Hopp (jump), and Bringen (fetch). These are simple commands that you can teach your puppy.
What if you have a dog that is grown and you want to teach them the German commands? Start out with what they know already, then add the word you wish them to learn. Rex, stay, bleib” This will give your dog a mental work out. This is just what German Shepherds are good at.