Here’s a little video (see below) we shot of Lucy and Ethel playing on the grass. Japanese Akita pups often play rough with each other as they develop their social skills, and sometimes mommy Kaki has to step in to keep things from getting out of hand.
More than a month has passed since Kaki’s Japanese Akita twins, for lack of a better term, were born. We’re beginning to wonder if we gave them the wrong names because Ethel has recently started to become quite the mischief maker. Although Lucy seemed to be developing slightly ahead of her sister in the previous weeks, Ethel has managed to escape from the whelping box and ended up peeing on one of their doggy mattresses (ironically, both pups have fallen asleep on the pee pads we provide). So, sleeping on pee pads and peeing on mattresses. Apparently, someone didn’t read the memo. Ethel also decided Judy’s foot would make a fine place for pooping. Lesson learned: unless Ethel is asleep, just assume the world is her toilet. But rest assured, when we’re dealing with Japanese Akita puppies, we can easily overlook these little mishaps because they’re just that cute. Plus, there really is something intoxicating about puppy breath!
In addition to the physical changes, the unique personalities of the puppies are more apparent now. Ethel continues to whine much more than Lucy who is the quieter, more cautious of the two. Ethel is adventurous and loves to go exploring everywhere; it seems this puppy has no fear. In contrast, Lucy likes running on the grass but is wary of other mysterious surfaces in the backyard; however, she’s getting a bit more confident every day. Where Ethel looks like she’s always got a smile on her face, Lucy seems more serious and stares at us as if she’s trying to read our minds (or maybe she’s working on her Jedi mind control to get more food – dogs can do that, in case you didn’t know).
Last week, we started giving them a little bit of wet kibble to give Kaki a break from feeding duties and sharp puppy teeth and this week we’ve introduced the crate. We always let our puppies investigate the crate on their own so they don’t ever view it as a negative place but as a place of respite. Ideally, we want our puppies to naturally gravitate to their crates because it can help them adjust when they go to their new homes. It also helps with potty training too.
Soon enough, Lucy and Ethel will be meeting some of our other Junketsu Japanese Akitas, so be sure and check back again soon!