As a dog lover and having been raised with 5 different types of dogs in my life, this was perhaps the most fun experience. A word of warning, wear clothes you do not mind getting dirty, because the dogs will not mind if they do. I grew up with a German Sheppard, two huskies and two mixes between those two. Having met Akita Inu, as called in Japanese, added an incredible amount of love that I have for dogs. If you have been to Shibuya station in Tokyo and have seen the famous statue of Hachiko, he is a dog coming from Odate city in Akita prefecture. And if you know the famous story of Hachiko then you know why you must make this trip.
Akita Inus are powerful, independent and dominant breed usually aloof with strangers but extremely affectionate with family members. When we arrived at the place we met the owner and breeder of Akita Inu. He was a small and kind old man that initially was not a breeder but only until 7 years ago. He had an Akita Inu himself but because of his job he could not take care of it. Because of that he decided to quit his job and become a breeder and caretaker for the race. Already seeing an Akita Inu even from afar is great, as they are not very common. Having played with three today was completely over the top!
Akita Inus come in three different colours. Red, which is the orange tint commonly seen in pictures, White and stripped Red and White. They are commonly only allowed to be sold around the 3 months of age since after a certain period of time the dogs will create a high amount of loyalty to their master which will be difficult to adapt to a new one. Starting prices for an Akita Inu would start around 100,00Yen which is about US$800. There are more expensive ones which could sell around 20million yen equivalent to about US$150,000. A yearly competition is held to decide on the best Akita Inu which in the end will decide the cost for the future offspring of that dog.
Maybe you have heard that last year Russian President Mr. Putin received as a present an Akita Inu called Yume from Japan. The picture above is Yume’s Mother Lara. If Yume is as fun as her mother, then President Putin is going to have the time of his life with his new present.
Written by Alan Roberto T
