Akitas, The most dangerous and the sweetest dogs on the planet. Yes, they are very contradicting dogs. Many owners who have Akita know the fact that their dogs are the sweetest babies in the world at home, however, they change to Cujo outside!
In this quick article, we will learn about the reasons for Why do Akitas Howl!
However, if you’d like to learn more about Akitas in-depth, please look at our latest article here and make sure to comment and tell us how is your Akita and now let’s start our article!
Is Howling of Akita a Myth?
Akita, a dog with dual layer furry coat and an active looking face, Howling is not a myth about them. You will often hear about howling of Akita from their owners’ mouth. Like his many other brothers of Canine Kingdom, they can also be heard howling. However, it’s not compulsory that every Akita dog will howl to the same extent. Howling of an Akita will depend upon many reasons. If you have an Akita, and you have never seen howling, it doesn’t mean he will never howl also ever.
Akitas howl for the following reasons
| Howling reason | Description |
| Physical Damages | Something might be wrong with him. He might have an injury |
| Mental Issues | Akita are energetic dogs. It is said that boredom is the number 1 reason for howling |
| Illness | Akitas are known to howl when they are sick. Visit a vet if none of the above reasons are an explanation for his howling |
| Behavior Issues | Akitas need lot’s of training otherwise you can get all kinds of behavior issues. Howling is one of them |
| No Reason | Sometimes they just howl for no specific reason |
Physical Damages Causing Akitas Howl
Generally, when your Akita howls, you have to look for anything that might be wrong with him/her. If you just finished walking and when you returned, you found out that your dog is howling excessively, then you have to take into consideration that this might be due to an injury during walking.
Also, if you found that your Akita is howling excessively and doesn’t move a lot or limps when he is moving, then you should plan a visit to the vet to check on his bones immediately. This howling is a sign to let you know that there is something wrong with him.
Mental Issues Causing Akitas Howl
In our previous article, we mentioned that Akitas are large dogs with very high levels of energy and that means that if you leave your Akita for several days without any mental or physical stimulation, you are likely to face many problems like Excessive Chewing, Aggression, hyper behavior, and HOWLING.
That’s true if you are concerned why your Akita is howling too much while he doesn’t suffer from any physical pains, then you must look at his exercises’ schedule. Generally, Akitas will not warn you that he needs to be walked, he will start acting aggressively immediately, so it’s better to care for your Akita yourself.
It is said that boredom is the first reason for the howling of all dogs. That’s because they want to grab anyone’s attention to them. Akitas aren’t the kind of dogs that can always stay in a cage, they need to run and play. They need to feel important. So please, if you decided to have Akita, you have to make sure that you have enough time for it!
Illness causing Akitas Howl
So, if you went to the vet and found neither bone-related problems nor mental Issues. It’s time to run a full check on your Akita.
As I said earlier, most Akitas howl for a reason, if they howl, they’re probably wanting to grab your attention for something unusual. So, please take care of that and pay close attention to that.
As we said in our previous articles, if Akita were badly bred, then they will likely have many immune-related issues or non-immune-related issues. Some of these issues are Autoimmune hemolytic anemia, Sebaceous adenitis, Pemphigus foliaceus, etc.
So give a visit to the vet to run a full check on your Akita if you couldn’t find any physical or mental issue.
Behavioral Issues Causing Akitas Howl
Now, to be honest. This is indeed the most famous one of all the time.
The problem with Akita is that it’s not suitable for new owners. That being said, if you have an Akita, you have to train them well. As the absence of training will lead to many issues and sadly many owners do forget to train their dogs well.
That leads to many issues, including howling. Now, we can cover most of the behavioral issues that will lead to howling.
Alerting a.k.a Aggression
Well, I am not joking here. All of us love to have dogs which bark at strangers and send them away from our home or our territory and in many times, we do reward them for doing so.
However, Akita needs special treatment, Akita is a very territorial dog, if you didn’t spend effort correcting this behavior, you will likely face a lot of problems. That’s why I always advise people to train their dog early and draw the boundaries for them from the first day.
However, Akita will take it to the next level where he howls at strangers to let them know that he is the boss here. He is showing that he is a leader in the same way as his ancestors (the wolves) did!
Showing Leadership
If you have more than one dog in your house, then most probably you will see the strongest of them howls a lot to show the others that he is a leader. Especially Akitas that are very known to be leaders on any other dogs and that’s why it’s said it’s not preferred to have 2 male Akitas together because they’re most likely to end fighting each other daily.
Asking to Marry.
This related to male Akitas, if you had a male Akita and there was another female that had heat, then your dog will howl to show that he is here and that he is ready to marry her. However, this is not really common at all, but it does happen sometimes.
Gathering Dogs (Wolves Style)
If you are like me and you’re living in a place where you have many stray dogs around you. Then your dog will howl in the morning or evening to gather them around your house. This behavior is really common with Huskies too!
So, make sure to keep your dog away from your backyard or balcony if you face this issue.
Attention seeking
This may be related to the mental issues where your dog wants to grab attention to play with him when he is bored. However, some dogs want to grab their owner’s attention even if they have just played. So you have to correct this behavior.
Separation Anxiety
In fact, this is the most common reason for all. If your dog howls only when you leave your house or someone leaves it, then you need to start treating him from separation anxiety.
In fact, separation anxiety is really common in all dogs including but not limited to Akitas. So it is really important to treat this behavior from the beginning because as the dogs get older, it will be harder to succeed in doing so.
No Specific Reason.
Sometimes dog howl just because they want to howl. However, stopping that behavior is easy but if it’s not too frequent you don’t need to bother yourself by thinking about that.
What to do About Excessive Howling
If your pet is howling excessively then, of course, it is not a circumstance which is not ignorable by any pet owner. If your Akita is howling excessively then, you must take these below-mentioned steps to prevent this condition.
- Contact dog trainers for help
Akitas generally howl to give information as per their trait which comes from the Canine Kingdom. But if your dog howls excessively, then it also indicates bad grooming. A dog trainer is a specialist in this concern. He can tell you steps and things to do, which will help you to get rid of this problem. Always prefer an expert who is experienced in training Akita’s. - Pay your dog less attention when he howl’s
Most of the time, dogs have been heard howling to seek the attention of their owner. If you react on the howling by your dog, he will take it as a good sign as he is getting attention. Try to pretend like listening to nothing when he howls. Once your dog admits that he is not getting enough attention on howling, he will soon choose to stay quiet. For developing this habit in your present, him his favorite biscuit for staying calm. - Spend some time with your dog
Separation anxiety and fear are the other very prominent reasons why a dog howl. So don’t make your pet feel lonely. Akitas especially like outdoor activities and exercise, so spend time with him to comfort him, it will keep them happy.
Conclusion:
Knowing the reason for your Akita’s howl can be a really hard and irritating task. However, if your dog isn’t howling frequently, just leave him to do so. But, if he is howling a lot then it is better to check every aspect that we went through!
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Have a nice day!