However, people who have never seen an Akita will often confuse them with a Malamute or Husky. The size difference alone is very obvious. Otherwise, if seen in the flesh, nobody would confuse them at all. “I think people only confuse the two breeds if they only know them from pictures. Kaluzniacki points out the need to see the dogs in person. There is usually a big color difference between the two breeds as well.” “With the Akita being the largest of the Japanese breeds and the Shiba Inu the smallest, it is a pretty obvious difference. “I don’t think people usually confuse the two breeds,” she says. Pendergast says size is an obvious distinction between the dogs. Shibas have definitely kept their hunting instincts they will hunt birds, rabbits, squirrels, and other small game in your back yard.” Distinguished by Size

“Originally, Shibas were bred to flush birds and small game and were occasionally used to hunt wild boar in packs,” Pendergast says. They were originally hunting dogs but were later also used as guard and fighting dogs by introducing other breeds such as the Tosa, as well as some European breeds.”Īccording to Pendergast, the ancestors o f today’s Shiba Inu may have accompanied the earliest immigrants to Japan over 9,000 years ago. “It is the largest of several Japanese breeds which are similar in type, the Shiba being one of these.

“The Akita is an ancient Japanese breed whose history can be traced back from both pictures and ancient scrolls to at least medieval times in Japan,” Kaluzniacki explains. “The fact that the breeds are both Japanese in origin and most likely descend from the same ancestors is also a similarity,” she says.

She notes the main similarity between the Shiba Inc and Akitas is their conformation, or overall look and structure. A board member of the Akita Club of America since 1979, she has produced more than 150 champion Akitas all over the world. Sophia Kaluzniacki, DVM, has owned, bred, and shown Akitas since 1968. As a parent club-approved breed mentor and an AKC bronze-level breeder of merit, she explains not only do both dogs share comparable body structure and profiles, but both also have double coats, so their coat texture is similar as well.ĭr. Lori Pendergast is past president and current corresponding secretary of the National Shiba Club of America.

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