Are Akitas Easy To Potty Train?

The Akita is a loyal, protective, calm, and independent dog that gets along with humans, kids, and other dogs, making it a wonderful family pet. But one of the most challenging tasks any new dog owner has to deal with is getting their Akita housebroken/house-trained/potty trained. No matter what you want to call it, this is something you want to be sorted out as soon as possible. You want your Akita to know where it’s appropriate to go and do their business and not have it around the house. Stay with me as I give you some techniques to help you house-train your precious Akita dog.

But before we get into the specifics, are Akitas easy to potty train? This breed is very independent and can be pretty stubborn, which can make training somewhat challenging. Luckily, these dogs are naturally clean, and this makes potty training a bit easy. In fact, some have been reported to potty train themselves.

If you’ve just gotten a new dog, you’re going to have to train them to make sure they don’t develop any bad habits like pooping and peeing indoors. Potty training a dog is like toilet-training a child; sooner than later, you get the general idea when your dog needs to relieve themselves. However, the process requires a lot of time, effort, and patience for it to be effective. Most importantly, you need to understand how your Akita behaves when they want to get rid of their waste as that will help you know how best to handle them during the training. Being independent and intelligent dogs, Akitas will soon master housebreaking, leaving everyone in the home breathing a sigh of relief and feeling a sense of accomplishment.

Are Akitas Easy to Potty Train?

As the name suggests, potty training is basically teaching your pet to eliminate outside and not use your furnishings and home as a potty. As soon as you bring your Akita home, it’s important to start this type of training, which, once mastered, will be a relief for everyone. But brace yourself, as this is not going to be an easy task.

Akitas are considered slightly difficult to train for a number of reasons. For starters, they tend to have a stubborn and dominant personality, which can truly get in the way of training. Secondly, these dogs were bred for hunting, and their strong instincts make them hard-wired for certain behaviors, which can be a huge distraction during training. Even with these characteristics, it doesn’t mean Akitas are untrainable.

As mentioned earlier, Akitas are clean-natured dogs. They self-groom and have an almost cat-like obsession with cleanliness. And this is helpful when it comes to potty training. Additionally, their loyalty and eager-to-please nature are helpful traits when teaching them to obey your commands. Lastly, they can understand new commands and learn new skills relatively fast, thanks to their fair working intelligence. Complex commands could take more time to learn, but they are expected to improve with practice and consistency.

No matter the dog breed, potty training takes time, and it would be best to start potty-training your Akita from an early age. This will allow them the necessary time to learn; plus, the sooner you begin, the sooner you’ll finish. But even after your Akita has mastered doing their business outside, accidents might happen from time to time. Avoid punishing or yelling at your dog, as that will only cause fear and anger. Instead, Akitas will appreciate when you encourage their good behavior and lovingly correct their wrongs. Remember, patience, consistency, commitment, confidence, and the proper use of positive reinforcement will make you the owner of a perfectly potty-trained Akita.

How Do You Potty Train an Akita?

It should be noted that an Akita in any color and pattern can be potty-trained at any age, preferably between 12 and 16 weeks. Keep in mind that puppies’ organs and muscles are not fully developed and won’t retain as much as adults. An Akita puppy may not develop full control over their bladder until they are four or five months old. This doesn’t mean potty training before this time is in vain. I advise you to prepare them for this education without, of course, forcing them to retain because it would be a waste of time! This will also give you some time in advance about the good practices and reflexes that your Akita should have.

There are so many methods of potty training a dog, so I’ve compiled a few tips of what I think and hope will make your life and the dog’s less stressful.

The very first step is to prepare a designated area, preferably outside the house, where your Akita can use as a potty area. On the other hand, it could be cold at night or during cold winter seasons when your pup cannot go outside. In that case, you should make alternative plans like buying dog pads. Then introduce your dog to this potty area. Potty training is best done in routines, so make sure you have a schedule and stick to it. The most regular schedules for puppies should be as follows:

• After waking up
• After meals
• After play
• After training
• Before going to bed

Since adults are more able to retain, their schedules can be every 3-4 hours, of course, after some potty-training sessions.

Once you bring the dog to the potty area, provide the cue to do their business. Praise and reward your Akita with treats immediately after they eliminate at the right spot. Your Akita will relate this to having done the right thing, and since they are eager to please their owners, they’ll do it again. Gradually, your Akita will understand they have to go outside to do their business. And as they get better, extend the quantity between bathroom trips.

Are Akitas Easy to Housebreak?

Nothing is probably more frustrating than a pet that isn’t 100% housebroken. I mean, who wants to find poop in every corner of their house. Plus, dogs are very territorial and will mark their territories by urinating everywhere, leaving your house smelling bad. Needless to say, housebreaking is a priority when bringing your new furry friend into your home. Generally, training an Akita can be a daunting task given their stubborn personality; however, these dogs have been praised for their almost cat-like quality of cleaning themselves, making housebreaking a bit easier.

There are three keys to housebreaking an Akita:

Patience

If you’re expecting a miracle during housebreaking, you’re in for a huge disappointment. This process takes time, even months sometimes, and you will need a lot of patience. You cannot get angry, yell, or even punish them when they mess up. This will only lead to resentment, anger, and fear on the dog’s part. There will be times when you initially start house-training your Akita that you’ll feel they are just not getting it. Don’t be discouraged, they may have accidents now and then, but they’ll soon catch up.

Food/praise

Akitas are hunting dogs, and their strong instincts can distract them during training. You want the ultimate attention grabber, which is treats. Food stimulates the reward system in your Akita’s brain, effectively overriding otherwise rational thoughts, thus making training easier.

Schedule/routine

The trick to successful housebreaking is to get your dog to go out on a set schedule, say after every 3-4 hours. Puppies cannot hold it in, so you’ll need a different schedule for them. You can take the pup outside after sleep, meals, play, and before bedtime. The dog’s elimination system will be stimulated at these times so they can do their business outside. Some Akitas will learn to tell you when they want to go by sniffing the floor, circling, barking, squatting, and sitting at the door that leads outside. Needless to say, keeping an eye on your pup is a crucial part of getting them housebroken.

How Long Does It Take to Housebreak an Akita?

Just like people, every Akita dog is different. Some learn fast, while others may take a while. The average duration it will take to housebreak an Akita also depends on you. If you treat the process like a full-time job and can train your pup all day, every day, you might be able to get breaking done in about 2-4 weeks. But this may not be possible for everyone since we live busy lives with other responsibilities to take care of. In that case, expect your Akita to take at least 4-8 weeks to get used to their new potty routine and schedule. That being said, it typically takes 4-6 months for an Akita to be fully house-trained, although some might continue to have accidents for up to a year.

Several factors play a role in how long it takes to housebreak your Akita, including:

Your Experience – If you’ve house-trained a dog before, then it should be easier this time around, just as long as you remember that every dog is different.

Patience, Determination, Consistency – These are the most important pillars when house-training an Akita. The better you are at them, the quicker the process will go.

Time – The more time you have for training your pup, the faster the learning process.

Other family members – Having multiple people house-train the dog can slow down the process. That’s because everyone might have different training techniques that might confuse the dog.

Age – Experts recommend starting to house train between the ages of 12 and 16 weeks because that’s when puppies begin to have control over their bladder, and they can hold it in to stop a bowel movement until the scheduled potty time. Are Akitas easy to potty train as an adult? After 16 weeks, it may be slightly late, and housebreaking will take longer, but not impossible.

Previous Living Conditions – You might find that you need to break your Akita’s old habits before establishing more desirable ones. Perhaps he was an outside dog before coming to your home, or they have physical or emotional issues that cause them to poop and pee inappropriately, or they have been eliminating in a cage and eating their poop – these factors make housebreaking a bit tricky.