Akita Houston Dog Bite Lawyer

Seeking a Free Consultation with one of Texas’ Houston Dog Bite Lawyers? Call the Akita Houston Dog Bite Lawyer Reshard Alexander today at 713.766.3322.

Akita Houston Dog Bite Lawyer Reshard Alexander helps the victims of Houston animal attacks receive full and fair compensation.

The Akita (秋田犬 Akita-inu, Japanese pronunciation: [akʲita.inɯ]) is a large breed of dog originating from the mountainous regions of northern Japan. There are two separate varieties of Akita: a Japanese strain, commonly called Akita Inu (inu means dog in Japanese) or Japanese Akita, and an American strain, known as the Akita or American Akita.^[2] The Japanese strain comes in a narrow palette of colors, with all other colors considered atypical of the breed, while the American strain comes in all dog colors.^[3] The Akita has a short double-coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds such as the German Shepherd or Siberian Husky, but long-coated dogs can be found in many litters due to a recessive gene.

The Akita is a powerful, independent and dominant breed, commonly aloof with strangers but affectionate with family members. As a breed, Akitas are generally hardy, but they have been known to be susceptible to various genetic conditions and can be sensitive to certain drugs.

In all countries except the United States, the Japanese and American strains of Akita are considered two separate breeds. In the United States, however, the two strains are considered a single breed with differences in type. For a while, the American strain of Akita was known in some countries as the Great Japanese Dog. Both forms of Akita are probably best known worldwide from the true story of Hachikō, a loyal Akita who lived in Japan before World War II.

Seeking a Free Consultation with one of Texas’ Houston Dog Bite Lawyers? Call the Akita Houston Dog Bite Lawyer Reshard Alexander today at 713.766.3322.

Temperament

The Akita is generally seen as territorial about its property and can be reserved with strangers.^[45] It is sometimes described as feline in its actions; it is not unusual for an Akita to clean its face after eating, to preen its kennel mate, and to be fastidious in the house.^[46] They are known to be intolerant of other dogs of the same sex, as stated in the AKC breed standard.^[4]

Since it is a large, powerful dog, the Akita is not considered a breed for a first-time dog owner.^[45] The breed has been targeted by some countries’ breed-specific legislation as a dangerous dog.^[47]^[48]^[49]^[50] The Akita is a large, strong, independent and dominant dog.^[51] A well-trained Akita should be accepting of non-threatening strangers, otherwise, they will treat all strangers in an aggressive manner.^[51] As a breed they should be good with children; it is said that the breed has an affinity for children.^[52] Not all Akitas will necessarily have the same temperament.^[53]^[A]

Akitas tend to take a socially dominant role with other dogs, and thus caution must be used in situations when Akitas are likely to be around other dogs, especially unfamiliar ones. In particular, Akitas tend to be less tolerant of dogs of the same sex.^[45] For this reason, Akitas, unless highly socialized, are not generally well-suited for off-leash dog parks.^[46] Sometimes spontaneous, it needs a confident, consistent handler, without which the dog will be very willful and may become very aggressive to other dogs and animals.^[53]

Training

The Akita Inu is one of the most dominant dog breeds. Therefore, training should start in an early age of seven to eight weeks.^[56]