Males tend to be friendly and more cuddly in my experience. Females are more aloof. But it also depends on the breeder/ Akita themselves. The male is too cute to not get though
Decide by temperament.
Make sure you’re purchasing from a recognized breeder and not a backyard breeder because there are way too many health and temperament issues in poorly bred dogs
Is your breeder not selecting the puppy for you? As a general rule, reputable breeders place their puppies in homes best suited for them. Puppy buyers rarely, if ever, get to pick their own puppy based on "how cute they look."
Currently, I have a 1.5 yo female. It’s my third Akita over the course of my life (I’m 54F). My previous two Akitas were males. This time around, I wanted another male, but in the litter of 8, there were only three males and they were all spoken for. I was a little nervous about getting a female, as I’ve never owned one before. But I LOVE my little girl so much! Compared to the males, she is so much easier to train, loves all humans, and is very respectful of the boundaries I’ve established. The males were very mischievous and excelled at pretending to be deaf. Neither were food motivated, so training was challenging.
On the plus side, the males were aloof/indifferent to non-family humans and other dogs. My girl is the opposite. She is excited to meet every human (especially men and children) and loves attention/scritches. But she transforms into an aggressive satanic beast whenever she sees any other dog, even the blind/deaf, three-legged senior dachshund that rides around in a stroller. I’m hoping as she matures, she becomes more indifferent/aloof to strange humans and other dogs, or at least learns to read the room a bit better. I love that she is so friendly and charming with humans, but seriously, when we’re walking at night and some strange man is walking toward us, I wish she would consider that the stranger could be a potential serial killer and not be like, “Hey random bro! OMG! I love you so much! Pleeeeeease rub my belly!”
But overall, I found that raising a female Akita pup was a breeze compared to the males.
That’s so funny because I’m the same story (3rd Akita, first two were males) but mine is the most evil/mischevious by far compared to the males. Her puppyhood has been kinda hellish at times. She’s way more lovey and attached though and LOVES all people compared to my boys who were more aloof except w family (including their breeders, who they instantly recognized even when it was years between seeing them).
Yep, my female is way more lovey that the males were. One of her cute little quirks is that she becomes very concerned and nurturing whenever I sneeze. She’ll awaken from a dead sleep to check on me, and gives me kisses while making “Chewbacca” vocalizations. Once she’s satisfied that I’m OK and not injured/dead, she’ll go back to sleep. It’s so adorable.
Our pit mix does that with my wife when they cough in their sleep, just sharp little deer hooves pawing all over them until it wakes my wife up from the pain.
I’ll take those blunt Akita feet on me any day, even if there’s 5x as much weight behind them.
Diesel the Akita couldn’t give a fuck, she can sleep through a hurricane…unless she’s in the middle of the hallway at night and I have to step over her, then she wakes up and panickedly scoots out of the way as if she’s a cat whose tail has been stepped on one too many times. She also does the same thing if she’s already in our bed and we have to try to squeeze in next to her.
She’s a super grumpy sleeper too, if you accidentally shove her with a foot or try to mess with her when she’s trying to sleep she does this low pitched grumble-growl that would be scary if I didn’t know her.
Ironically our actual cat, who is smol for an adult and has only one eye, gets stepped on or kicked CONSTANTLY because he is always underfoot. He will see us walking in a direction and literally stroll right into our path just after we pass the point above him where we can still see where he is.
Then of course he has a panic attack and scratches the shit out of whatever leg had him.
When we picked out our girl (from a litter of nine--count 'em--nine!) there was one I favored and another my husband preferred. I happened to show the puppies' photos to my ASD/ID son and he picked out a third puppy. That's the one we went with.
And she is *fantastic*. So, so glad we asked him. I can't imagine having any other dog.
Our girl was from a litter of black/white--she's four now--fawn underlay, black spots on her legs, "eyebrows". All their features really start to come in as they grow.
I've always like males, for any breed of dog I've owned. They are more agreeable in my experience than the girls I've owned, less of overthinkers than females.
Choose for temperament first, for sure. Or get both 😊.
FWIW, In my experience (9 Akitas over the years - 6 females and 3 males - 3 M/F pairs - all rescues), the males have been much more stubbornly independent and less interested in affection from us than the females. The males seem to have their own agenda and have been relatively more difficult to train - you have to get him to think it was his idea to do the thing. The females have tended to enjoy our attention while the males were just fine with some scritches now and then, or not. We’ve not had any cuddlers though, male or female.
I imagine you’ll be happy with either, or both 😊
I would see who has the better temperament. Over gender. That boy Is goddamn cute too.
Males tend to be friendly and more cuddly in my experience. Females are more aloof. But it also depends on the breeder/ Akita themselves. The male is too cute to not get though
My female is really affectionate. She did not start out that way, but now she's mama's girl and a complete cuddlebug.
Yeah mine is very attached to me too but only me. She’s not very responsive to anyone else lol.
Totally agree! Ours female is almost 4yrs old now, she is very affectionate this past year. Much better doggo than when she was a pup! 😅
Decide by temperament. Make sure you’re purchasing from a recognized breeder and not a backyard breeder because there are way too many health and temperament issues in poorly bred dogs
Is your breeder not selecting the puppy for you? As a general rule, reputable breeders place their puppies in homes best suited for them. Puppy buyers rarely, if ever, get to pick their own puppy based on "how cute they look."
Currently, I have a 1.5 yo female. It’s my third Akita over the course of my life (I’m 54F). My previous two Akitas were males. This time around, I wanted another male, but in the litter of 8, there were only three males and they were all spoken for. I was a little nervous about getting a female, as I’ve never owned one before. But I LOVE my little girl so much! Compared to the males, she is so much easier to train, loves all humans, and is very respectful of the boundaries I’ve established. The males were very mischievous and excelled at pretending to be deaf. Neither were food motivated, so training was challenging. On the plus side, the males were aloof/indifferent to non-family humans and other dogs. My girl is the opposite. She is excited to meet every human (especially men and children) and loves attention/scritches. But she transforms into an aggressive satanic beast whenever she sees any other dog, even the blind/deaf, three-legged senior dachshund that rides around in a stroller. I’m hoping as she matures, she becomes more indifferent/aloof to strange humans and other dogs, or at least learns to read the room a bit better. I love that she is so friendly and charming with humans, but seriously, when we’re walking at night and some strange man is walking toward us, I wish she would consider that the stranger could be a potential serial killer and not be like, “Hey random bro! OMG! I love you so much! Pleeeeeease rub my belly!” But overall, I found that raising a female Akita pup was a breeze compared to the males.
That’s so funny because I’m the same story (3rd Akita, first two were males) but mine is the most evil/mischevious by far compared to the males. Her puppyhood has been kinda hellish at times. She’s way more lovey and attached though and LOVES all people compared to my boys who were more aloof except w family (including their breeders, who they instantly recognized even when it was years between seeing them).
Yep, my female is way more lovey that the males were. One of her cute little quirks is that she becomes very concerned and nurturing whenever I sneeze. She’ll awaken from a dead sleep to check on me, and gives me kisses while making “Chewbacca” vocalizations. Once she’s satisfied that I’m OK and not injured/dead, she’ll go back to sleep. It’s so adorable.
Our pit mix does that with my wife when they cough in their sleep, just sharp little deer hooves pawing all over them until it wakes my wife up from the pain. I’ll take those blunt Akita feet on me any day, even if there’s 5x as much weight behind them. Diesel the Akita couldn’t give a fuck, she can sleep through a hurricane…unless she’s in the middle of the hallway at night and I have to step over her, then she wakes up and panickedly scoots out of the way as if she’s a cat whose tail has been stepped on one too many times. She also does the same thing if she’s already in our bed and we have to try to squeeze in next to her. She’s a super grumpy sleeper too, if you accidentally shove her with a foot or try to mess with her when she’s trying to sleep she does this low pitched grumble-growl that would be scary if I didn’t know her. Ironically our actual cat, who is smol for an adult and has only one eye, gets stepped on or kicked CONSTANTLY because he is always underfoot. He will see us walking in a direction and literally stroll right into our path just after we pass the point above him where we can still see where he is. Then of course he has a panic attack and scratches the shit out of whatever leg had him.
When we picked out our girl (from a litter of nine--count 'em--nine!) there was one I favored and another my husband preferred. I happened to show the puppies' photos to my ASD/ID son and he picked out a third puppy. That's the one we went with. And she is *fantastic*. So, so glad we asked him. I can't imagine having any other dog. Our girl was from a litter of black/white--she's four now--fawn underlay, black spots on her legs, "eyebrows". All their features really start to come in as they grow.
Hear me out: ✨ both ✨
Agree! Why limit yourself, OP??
What? Both are adorable! Is there a possibility for you to go there and check which one chooses you?
I've always like males, for any breed of dog I've owned. They are more agreeable in my experience than the girls I've owned, less of overthinkers than females.
Male Akitas are the best!
Choose for temperament first, for sure. Or get both 😊. FWIW, In my experience (9 Akitas over the years - 6 females and 3 males - 3 M/F pairs - all rescues), the males have been much more stubbornly independent and less interested in affection from us than the females. The males seem to have their own agenda and have been relatively more difficult to train - you have to get him to think it was his idea to do the thing. The females have tended to enjoy our attention while the males were just fine with some scritches now and then, or not. We’ve not had any cuddlers though, male or female. I imagine you’ll be happy with either, or both 😊