Any AKita owners?

[karen01]

We have an American Akita called Storm she is 6 months old, black and white. She is extermely playful with DH and DD (8 yrs) but really gentle with DS (10 months) and myself.

I just wondered if there were any other Akita owners on here.

[slug]

Japanese, and I have to say they are the nicest dogs I've ever known. She's had Akitas for years, and apart from a worring tendency to be a bit stupid around traffic, they've always been the most adorable of pets. The sluglet used to ride on the back of her male dog when she was little.

[KatieHaslam22]

Hiya not sure if this discussion is still going but I thought I would add that I have an Akita husky cross and she LOVES all children! I have a 2 year old daughter and they are literally best friends, and I have had a large number of my friends children playing at my house all at the same time, which was quite chaotic and my dog was in her element with them all playing with her. While I would never leave her on her own with children (mainly due to horror attacks on children in the news) I do trust her around children even very young babies (again would never leave alone) and honestly believe she would never harm a child on purpose. I can even let my 2 year old give her treats and she will be so gentle when she receives them. I accidentally left my Akita/husky dog alone with my guinea pig once too( guinea pig was loose) and came back in to the dog gently licking the little piggy. While I wouldn't recommend this and it happen accidentally the guinea pig didn't appear scared as they interact through the cage daily and 'play' by running side to side with each other (guinea does have an enclosed are he can escape to if he didn't want to interact) I believe that as long as an Akita has been trained correctly and brought up in a firm but nurturing environment and has early exposure and experience with playing children and other animals there is no need to be concerned, depending on your dog. As I am sure you are aware every dog is different and mine just happens to be the Akita/husky version of nana off Peter Pan. I also believe that teaching a child how to behave around an animal is a massive factor as I know a shar pei dog that was totally fine around children until one that wasn't educated on correct behaviour with pets grabbed and pulled and chased her around making her wary with children now.