We
cannot begin this history without starting with the Matagi dogs of the
mountainous region of Hokaido – and quickly progressing to the
period when the dog was used in various forms of “sport” such as
pit fighting. As a judge,
you need to know just a little more than is spelled out in the
standard. It will help
you evaluate the breed, and hopefully, prevent nervousness on your
part.
The Ainu type was once known as the Matagi-Inu, a word meaning
"hunter." The
native red dog with light mask or muzzle, similar in coloration and
type to primitive canines all over the world, was eventually diluted
by exposure to the European imports and the inevitable cross breeding
which resulted. Even so, the primitive color pattern remains today and has
experienced a resurgence of popularity in Japan. The light face, underbelly, breechings, and paws in
combination with solid red body color is typical of pariah breeds such
as the Chow-Chow and Shiba.
But let’s look further back to understand the Akita that came
to America in the 1940’s. Drawings
and other artifacts dating more than 3,000 years ago document
existence of a wolf-spitz dog throughout Asia. This early domesticated dog evolved into breeds we call the
Chow Chow, Elkhound, Husky (generic term) and of course, the Akita.
Actually, the Akita's remote ancestors became identifiable by
about 500 B.C. The breed’s development is associated with Akita
Prefecture in the Northern part of Japan, Honshu Island. Specifically, the breed is closely connected to a particular
town Odate City, also known as "Dog City" and
"Boulevard of Dogs".
Odate City is remotely situated, surrounded by towering
mountain ranges, and virtually shut off to winter travel by severe
weather. The large region
that includes Akita Prefecture remained isolated until the fourteenth
century. Thus the local
dog that was to become the Akita-Inu evolved for several hundred years
with very little outside influence.
As his hunting and fighting prowess became known, he became a
favorite of Japanese royalty and during Emperor Senka's reign the
office of Dog Keeper was officially established. There was a special language used when talking to or about an
Akita, the words actually called "dog words". The care and training of the Akita was very ritualized and dogs
achieved rank according to their degree of training and of course, the
personal preference of the Emperor.
Dog fighting is probably as old as is the semi-domesticated
canine and it evolved in Japan during the Kamakura period (1185-1333)
under the reign of Shogun Hojo Takatoki. The Satake Clan of Odate City
(aka Dog Fighting Capitol) crossed the Akita-Matagi-inu with the
mastiff-like Tosa for precisely that purpose. During the Meiji Period (1866-1912), clubs hosted fighting
tournaments where eager fans would gather for a full day of
entertainment. In 1908
Japan passed ordinances that officially outlawed the fighting of dogs.
It wasn't until the eighties that all U.S. States officially
forbid dog fighting.
In about 1919,
Japan established natural monument legislation, designed to preserve
culturally significant objects and animals. By 1927 the Akiho
(Akita-Inu Hozankai Society) was established
in Odate City. Nippo (Nippo-Ken Hozankai) followed in 1928 and the Akikyo in
1948, each organization determined to restore the Akita as a natural
monument. In 1931 the
breed was designated as a natural monument and in 1934, the first
Japanese dog standard listed the Akita Dog.
World War II almost destroyed the still-developing breed.
It was considered traitorous to waste food on a dog and the
luxuriant pelt of the largest Japanese breed was felt to be more
useful on a soldier than on an Akita. Ironically, the akita-tosa dog was saved by American military
personnel who began to care for the few remaining dogs, most of them
strays. Servicemen
returned to the States with “dog souvenirs,” not necessarily
selected due to any adherence to or concern for type, but because of
their appeal as individual dogs. No doubt their courage and loyalty spoke to the same virtues in
our brave fighting forces.
Still extremely rare, the Akita moved into the AKC
Miscellaneous Class in 1955. By
1956 an Akita Club was forming and by 1959, the Akita Club of America
came into formal existence. There
followed many years of divisiveness, with various clubs struggling to
become the dominant authority on Akitas. The in-fighting and proliferation of splinter clubs was
resolved in 1972 when the AKC approved the Akita Standard as presented
by the victorious Akita Club of America.
Imports continued to be registered as foundation stock until
February 1974. Genetic
problems today are blamed on a small gene pool. It is said to have consisted of little more that a hundred
pedigrees. Others believe
that is just an excuse for lazy breeding practices because the facts
are indisputable. The
original dogs brought back from Japan were not themselves of pure
parentage. Dogs that
survived the war were turned into the streets by owners who loved them
to much to destroy them but could not risk being identified as owners
of such large hungry dogs. Nature
took its course and photographs of those early Akitas indicate much
variation. Indeed, the
Akita that stole the great Helen Keller's heart and with which she was
frequently photographed would not today be regarded as pure bred in
either America or Japan. Still,
those early imports had the intelligence and the character which makes
the breed so great today. In
addition, the dogs brought to America were allowed to cross breed, the
result being that by the time the Akita was recognized, it was
comprised of anything but a small gene pool!
The Akita most selected for in America is one that not only
displays strong guarding instincts but has the boldness to bite if his
"pack" is threatened. Although
a dog with a strong sense of self and one which will still fight other
dogs is still considered important in Japan, they do not stress
guarding instinct as we do and therefore the current trend to
hybridize Japanese dogs with American dogs is of great concern to
breeders in all of the western world who were attracted to the Akita
as a working, guarding breed.
Importation of Akitas was cut off until April 1992 and during
forty years of development in this country, it was strictly a guard
dog and occasionally hunter of wild bear in the deep south. When without any advance notice whatsoever, the AKC recognized
the Japanese Kennel Club, breeders hastened to import any and
everything registerable as a Japanese Akita. It may be stringently denied by those in the U.S. who today
favor the Japanese Akita, but facts are facts and photographic
evidence can not be denied. This
is important only to breeders and judges who today, would strive to
preserve the Akita developed here in America. It is therefore of genetic significance that the reason AKC
steadfastly refused to honor Japanese export pedigrees because of
concern for the authenticity of the paperwork and the purity of
breeds.
To set the record straight however, there were and continue to
be “typy” dogs brought over from Japan, one of which was Winners
Bitch at the 1992 National Specialty. Those who work to maintain the purity of Japanese type argue
that some were sent here only because they were not correct under the
Japanese Standard. Physical
and behavioral type is in fact quite different, the Japanese having
sought to reestablish the type native to their country. As should be the case if breeders in both countries have
succeeded, there is a wide gap between the best of the lighter boned,
smaller, lushly coated, exquisitely beautiful imports and the
substantially larger, stronger, heavier proportions and shorter coated
American Akitas.
The Akita fancy remains divided into three factions; those who
would keep the two distinct types separate, those who feel that each
type could benefit from blending certain virtues of the other, and
those who wish the foreign dogs would all go home!
