World War II
"Obviously, all these breeding efforts came to a halt with the advent of WWII. Whatever direction the Japanese dogs might have taken without its intervention is conjecture. Keeping large dogs alive in a country on a war-time footing proved almost impossible. Not only was food restricted, but dog fur was used to line military clothing.
Because they were a drain on a fragile economy, police in Akita Prefecture received orders that all dog in the towns and villages except the GERMAN SHEPHERD used by the military and police were to be taken and clubbed to death. Dogs that survived were either working with the police or hidden by their owners, an easier task in the more rural areas.
The toll on all the dogs was enormous. By the end of the war, the Akita was close to extinction. (Linderman, 17-18). Dedicated efforts managed to keep the breed viable, and by 1948, a third Akita organization, Akitainu Kyokai, (AKIKYO) had been formed. Each club, NIPPO, AKIHO, and AKIKYO maintains its own registry, has its own breed standard, and holds its own shows. Many dog were registered and shown in more than one of these organizations. "

Years ago the school Iworked at signed up an Akita for protection training. Just didn't work out. Dang near killed myself from the effort to get some sort of response with a tug, or from threat. Used to lay around on my back panting like an idiot after those classes. I was in really good shape back then, and it still was pointless. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/blush.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/mad.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Niket, I think the website Dennis has linked. Fairly portrays the differences between shepherds and Akita's. With the one exception, that Will pointed out the expectation the dog would protect the children.

I had fatboy from 1987 to 2002. He was a great pet. I can give you 3 examples where he protected me. 1. I was walking him and a neighbors Doberman charged at us. He took care of that situation in about 15 seconds. 2. I had a friend slap me on the back of head, hard enough I almost fell out of my wheelchair. He release himself from a down/stay and clamped down on a 6ft 6in 300 pound man's forearm taking him down before I knew what was what. 3. For the first 10 years, I had him Fatboy would walk the fenceline barking at the mailman. After 10 years, fatboy stopped barking at him. On day out of the blue, mailman decides to reach over fence and pet him. Big mistake he got bite. Thankfully, the mailman didn't sue. He praised him for being a good dog. He said for years he wanted to pet him and had sweet-talked him and fatboy still wouldn't let him in my front yard.

This is a dog that washed out of personal protection. He was gun-shy and the first sign of bad weather would send him running. He would disappear until thunder and lightning would stop. His dog/run was struck by lightning when he was a pup. He would bite a sleeve in prey had a good deep grip but could not handle a strong decoy or work in all environments and situations. Thus,stopping him from being a personal protection dog.

Akita's are great dogs. If, you are willing to put up with their eccentric personalities. Never expect perfect obedience my experience showed a akita will do maybe 3 good reps of what's asked of then and they say screw you I'm bored.

2 words too unstable

The breed makes a wonderful pet. If, you can handle the shedding, willful and aloof nature of the breed. As for my dog, he was not unstable. He just didn't have the correct temperament, drive or nerves to be a personal protection dog. He was a great pet.

Okay, I'm going to write this, even though I know it may cause some controversy. I intend no offense at all and am only trying to learn.

Since I'm new to PP, I just wanted to make sure that I'm actually learning something. (Will--your thoughts would be appreaciated.)

To me it seems that only one of Tracy's examples really was personal protection--the slap on the head incident. To me, the first example--the doberman incident--seems to be more of a dominance issue between the dogs. The third example--the mailman--seems to be more of a territory issue.

Thoughts?

The doberman incident was me taking my akita for a walk on leash. A neighbor let his Dobie out of front door and it atacked us in the street. I let the leash go since I was in between and did my best to get out of way. Fatboy nailed him and killed it very quickly.Should say Dobie attacked a elderly woman causing stitches and broken leg a couple months before.

Stacie,
I owned Akita's in the distant past when I did strictly AKC Obedience. I found them very attractive, but their working ability pretty much sucked due to their drives being shaped more for a hunting breed than a classic working breed. And I wasn't having any intense need to go bear hunting, so I work other breeds nowadays.
They also tend to wander and aren't particulary fond of staying on their home turf, which further decreases their utility in my eyes.

I'm not surprised by Tracy's story regarding the Dobe attack incident, but then Akita's are pretty darn dog aggressive to begin with - bloodshed between two males in the conformation ring with Akita's wasn't that unusual in my experience. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" />

Just not my first choice for a potential ppd. Could it be done? Sure, maybe.......one chance in *several* thousand, but there are just much better choices available.

Will, is right about the chance of finding a true PPD Akita. I wouldn't purchase a Akita puppy with the intent making it into a PPD dog. That's hard enough using breeds that are still bred for that work. A Akita makes a great deterrent when in a fence yard or taught to bark on command. This will freeze the blood of 99% of people to see one bark and grumble. Akita's are territorial and are leery of strangers. Akita's are usually same sex aggressive and most will tolerate opposite sex. I didn't have a problem with my dog wondering but friends who now owned Akita's have. When obedience training a Akita try to do it with positive methods. They don't respond well to heavy handed snatch and choke. Be ready to have your Akita to challenged you for it's lifetime. Akita 's can be very stubborn. I had the privilege of living with one for almost 15 years. Wouldn't have traded Fatboy for a Rin-Tin-Tin.