My Akita Won’t Eat The Dog Food I Buy!

The other day I received the following question from Chris (USA):

What do you feed your Akita?

I’m having a problem finding a food my Akita “likes.”
He never seems to WANT to eat only if I force him too.
He gets plenty of exercise just doesn’t like the foods I’ve had him on (Solid Gold, Innova).
Do you have any experience with the newer foods that have high protein levels “40%” and no grains?

His coat is fine but he does chew on his right above his paws A LOT!

An Akita without an appetite, so it seems.

I recognize the problem as I’ve been worried about my Akita’s eating habits a lot in the past. He too did never seem hungry despite the long walks every day. He is and has always been a very energetic dog and so I thought he must have discovered the secret formula for the energy problems the world is facing. Without any fuel he could walk on and on. But most of the time he is in fuel saving mode. Akita’s are not jumpy all the time like Jack Russells (thank god).

Now the Akita has been bred by the Japanese in harsh circumstances. I’ve read the story that they didn’t want to bring too much food on their trips and so they bred dogs that didn’t need to much energy. These conditions shaped the Akita as it is today. A loyal companion that needs a lesser amount of dog food than you would expect looking at it’s size.

Back to my personal experience with an Akita. When my dog didn’t want to eat I went out and bought several brands of dog food. He didn’t like any of them and since I was worried I started giving him all kinds of fish and meat. This he did eat, so my Akita was just being picky (like children can be.. no room for vegetables, but I can still eat ice cream). Then I had a phone call with the breeder that raised him up to 7 weeks old. She told me that an Akita will eat when it’s hungry and to not be worried. I also visited the vet, same story. He told me to not worry about this as my dog was looking perfectly healthy, not too thin, not too fat, just perfect!

Then Kensho got diarrhea and I had to stop feeding him until the diarrhea had passed. Then he got hungry! Not eating at all awoke the desire to eat. After that episode (that lasted almost 2 days) Kensho just eats his regular kibble with joy.

At times I do feed him complete balanced lamb, which is meat plus vegetables, but Kensho leaves out the vegetables and eats only the meat (he is and will remain picky and not eating vegetables reminds me so much of myself when I was little ). On a daily basis he gets ‘Specific’, which is dry kibble available only at the vet’s. I’ve tried other brands as well and some he will eat but I discovered that he likes to chew! Cat kibble comes in different shapes and sizes because cat pays more attention to how the kibble feels like but dogs just gorge and don’t seem to actually pay attention to the food’s flavor (but thousand times more to the smell of it). Akita Kensho with his pointing ears and a preference of fish over meat seems like a cat in more ways. He actually chews his food and eats bite by bite. Because of this he has a preference for hard large pellets. Just a personal trait I guess and your Akita may have other wants and wishes. It just took me a while to find out and to be relaxed about his eating habits.

As for the high protein diet, I wouldn’t recommend this. The protein level doesn’t need to be high as long as it contains all the required, digestible, amino acids your dog needs (so the dog food should be complete and balanced). For dog’s the protein level of dry dog food should be between 25 and 30 % (for a healthy dog). A dog that is fed a meat only diet will get too much protein and risks developing ‘all meat syndrome’. Occasionally a high protein diet is recommended for animals that need to recover after being ill for a while.

My answer to you is: Don’t force your dog to eat and have him checked out by a vet to make sure it’s not a health problem. Also have him (or her) look at that paw. When a dog is constantly licking it’s (itchy paws) this may indicate an allergic reaction (and it may not!). When it’s only one paw then make sure there is no physical damage (a little piece of glass on the pavement he walked on, for instance).