All About the American Akita Dog - Akita 101
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Published 2024-04-04
I stopped for a bit on our walk at Veteran's Tribute Park to talk a little about the American Akita breed of dog.
I LOVE this breed.
I appreciate loyalty. I love how the Akita reserves their love for their family and are aloof towards others. It makes their affection feel more genuine. A lab is a loving dog, but if you had a loving lab and it got picked up by a stranger, that lab would quickly be happy in their new home. An Akita does not give their affection easily, and their bond is typically reserved for one person. Even if there is a household of people, the Akita my like the other members, but often will have one person they're very close to.
I appreciate strength, and the Akita is a very large and powerful dog that commands respect with their power. Mentally, they're very strong as well, and they don't bend easily. They have their ways, and they're very difficult to train to a high level of obedience. This just makes it more rewarding when you manage it.
I value a protector. Many other dogs are great, but I have a special place in my heart for a dog that will defend you from violence. If I had a dog that sat back and watched or ran and hid as I was dealing with an intruder, I would lose some respect for that dog. I feel a dog SHOULD be willing to fight to protect their pack. The Akita is naturally dispositioned to be a protector.
Despite how much I adore this breed, I do not recommend them. As I state in the video, too many people get Akitas because they're such gorgeous dogs, but find themselves unable to deal with the strong personality and independence of the Akita. Not to mention the dog reactivity.
Often in these cases the Akita will end up in a shelter, and I find that to be a betrayal. This isn't a breed that easily moves on from their owner. It's hard for me to forgive abandoning a dog, but especially so for the Akita.
One thing I haven't mentioned in the video... intelligence. I have two Akitas. The female is sweet as can be and is a lot different than Kinjo. She's not as smart. Kinjo is perhaps the smartest dog I've ever had. Even more so than our German Shepherd that I had growing up. Our GSD was a smart dog, but I swear Kinjo understands what I'm saying to him. It's in his eyes. It's in his response.
Kinjo isn't super obedient like my old GSD, but intelligence and obedience are not necessarily correlated.
Anyways, hope Akita fans like this video.
All Comments (18)
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I owened an American Akita and it was a pleasure to own. She was a very large bitch, more like a male dog in size but she was obedient and never ever showed any aggression to my family and loyal especially to me, yet she was aloof to strangers and had a fantastic loud bark when people knocked on the door fantastic dog, but she did not like other dogs. She was exactly how the man in this video explains the breed. I did spend a lot of time training her when she was a pup that paid dividends and every dog owner should train their dog regardless of breed.
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My Tomo is 8-1/2 years old. I agree with everything you say here. DON'T get an Akita if you think a dog exists to please you. And yes, I take my dog out for a walk, and I continue to be amazed at how many dogs react to him. Other than some Rotties, he couldn't care less.
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Ahh your Akita is so adorable. My Akita name is Kenzo. Heβs been with me since he was 12 weeks. He is now 8months old (still a baby). So VERY PROUD to be his owner. Please do more of your videos! What you said in your video are all very relatable & 100% facts.!
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American Akita . One of the best dogs I ever had. I will probably get one again in the near future.
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I hope this video receives lots of views as you did a great job discussing the Akita and it's challenges and perks of owning one. Since my adult hood I've owned nothing but Akitas on my 4th. Would never own another breed. I will add that if people watch and do additional research and decide to become an Akita owner to continue to do research on who they will purchase from.
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He's your 3 years old kid for the rest of his life, or yours. Everything you say is true. My Marcel, died at 18 , in my hands, he was my child. Never want to go through this again. He loved snow, and yes, he shed a lot, he didn't smell or bark, not even my wife could get close to me, is a dog that needs large spaces, try not to get him close to other big males. He will never attack a female, and the small dogs, he'll just ignore them.
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Akitas bond so heavily. I've had 2. They are amazing, but they take work.
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Own two American Akitas in St Louis County. Mine are a 130 LBS unaltered Male and 105 LBS Female. I walk mine everyday around Clayton, Ladue, U City but I don't do the long hikes that you do at parks all over the region as I hate driving on crowded roads and I like to keep it local in case it is too hot or too cold, I can get home in 15 minutes. My male likes car rides but the female really does not enjoy them plus they are giant sized dogs so it is easier to just walk them locally. Other dogs often are intimidated by them and they often react with fear based aggression which of course triggers the Akitas who view their exclusive territory as wherever they happen to be at any given moment so yes they are hyper-territorial and extremely intolerant of any dog that challenges them. You are spot on in regard to these dogs being ready to fight on sight and they like to fight so they definitely need to be leashed around other dogs and they are not doggy day care or dog park eligible dogs. But if you have coyotes, these dogs will run them down and rip them up if they get loose. Massive prey drive is an understatement, as these dogs love to fight, hunt and guard and they are really good at all three. They also hunt like cats and very stealthy and will ambush prey. They are indeed very much like cats - very clean and odorless unless very wet. Wonderful gorgeous movie star looks but they are mostly introverts and generally don't want to be mobbed by strange people. Very intelligent dogs as in they are like trained bears who are very self-directed to have their human feed them, walk them, and pet them. They are incredibly vocal when playing but often their play sounds like a dog fight and when they fight, they often make no noise and simply go at it. Very powerful dogs as in they can literally tear your rotator cuff if they wanted to when leashed. Wonderful dogs but not for marshmellows as these dogs are canine commandos and need to be treated with discretion and respect at all times because these dogs can do immense damage in seconds in the wrong circumstances. Really only get along with opposite sex pairings so while I have seen people with 4 Akitas in the same home, most people can only manage 2 at a time unless they want WW III and can separate their home with gates to keep the dogs apart. Definitely the wrong dogs for 97 percent of people who cannot commit totally to responsible ownership and put in the work socializing the dogs. Socialization only takes the edge off these dogs, it never removes the instincts to fight, hunt and guard so you always have to maintain situational awareness with these dogs. Until you wrestle one and try to break up a fight, you really cannot imagine how powerful these dogs are and how much stamina they have. You really need to be a Division I collegiate wrestler to safely handle dogs like these.
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Great video man. Keep them coming. I love my Akita like a son.
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I love them they are the best I've ever had
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I love my American πΊπΈ Akitas πΎ
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Loved the phrase: they just don't care.... πππππ Translated... They will ignore you until u do something Wrong . ππππ
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Love my Shayna. Female 1 year old. Favorite thing she loves to do is ging for rides in the car
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Michael, is NOT a dog, is your child, I'm old now, I will never have another dog again, I don't want to die before him.
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Only royal families could own, and they left them to watch babies also, they almost went extinct, and aufomaticly are guard dogs and take guarding very serious, samarui warriors kept them as well, Akita is a mountainous are in Japan that is osolated from society = mountain dog having a lot of wolf like traits, and wild animal characferistics, and ifs a diffrent dog outside than inside
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dosent do much does it?
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You forgot to mention one of the best things, the head tilt. Your pup gave an excellent demonstration when he heard his name, lol. Good video, but your history is a little off. Look at a picture of Hachiko, he has the bear shaped head, and that's before WWII. Look at the eyes of Helen Keller' Kamikaze-Go. It's not that JA's are more pure than AA's, is just two different attempts to revive the breed after the war.
