Akita Inu - TOP 10 Interesting Facts

1) Ancient history

The Akita Inu origin goes back more than 1000 years ago and this dog breed was developed from native Japanese dogs. We can be sure, that dogs similar to today Akita Inu were living in Japan in 1600s, where they served as guards for Japanese royalty and for hunting large game.

2) National treasure

In Japan, Akitas have strong presence in culture. They represent hapiness, long life and good health and often times, they were given as gifts as a Get Well Soon tokens. Japan just love Akita Inu and they are real national treasure here.

3) Royalty

If you owned an Akita in 17th or 18th century, you were someone. They symbolized status and wealth and their ownership was restricted to Japanese aristocracy. Even though they were living spoiled life, they were still used for hunting. In the 19th century, Emperor Taisho allowed ordinary citizens to own Akitas again.

4) Hachiko

Hachiko is the symbol of loyalty and the most famous Japanese dog. Hachiko was a dog who would accompany his owner to the train station every day and than he would patiently wait until his owner gets home from work. One day, the owner died in the office, but Hachiko was waited for him anyway, for next 10 years. The dog became famous and when he died in 1935, bronze statue of him was made in his memory.

5) Personality

Hachiko was extremely loyal, and you can say that about all the Akitas. They are also pretty dominant and they like to be in charge. That is why they are not good choice for novices, because they need strong leader. They also tend to be independent and if not socialized properly, they can be agressive. On the other hand, socialized Akita Inus make excellent friendly and loving family companions.

6) Size

The Akita Inu is a large dog breed with average height between 24-28 inches which is 60-71 cms and weight between 70-130 pounds which is 31-59 kgs. The females are naturally little bit smaller than males.

7) Living with

As you already know, Akita Inu makes good family companion, but they should be supervised with other pets or children. They will be loyal guards for kids, but if the child is not old enough to know how to treat dogs with respect and they would mistreat the Akita, the dog would not like it. Akitas are dominant dogs and they might be bossy around other dogs in the family. And dont forget that they were developed as hunters, so always supervise the situation when there is a child or another pet around your Akita Inu.

8) Exercise

Akita Inus are active dogs, they need daily physical and mental stimulation. They love their owners and they will love to do almost any activity with them, they especially love hiking or running. They prefer to do these activities in colder climate, when its hot outside, you should not over do it with the exercise. These dogs are much more active during the winter and they are big snow lovers.

9) Clean dogs

Great fact about Akita Inu is, that they are very clean, almost cat like. They groom themselves and it seems they are obsessed with cleanliness. But you should still brush them regularly, since this is high shedding breed and by regular brushing you can minimize the shedding.

10) Health

Akita Inu average lifespan is between 10-15 years and they are prone to some health issues, most commonly to hip dysplasia, bloating, progressive retinal atrophy, Autoimmune Thyroiditis and von Willerbrands disease.