The akitas are beautiful dogs, and ours was a male...early socialization was hugely important for establishing the ranking in the household. And reinforcement of that is needed quite often as they will truly test the limits. Obedience training must begin early, and you can't be wishy washy about it....They must complete the commands completely and the same each time. If you let them off, for example on a stay command where they get up too early before your release, you must go right back and repeat the command until they fulfill it, because if you give an inch, they will take a mile. With them, a rule is a rule, and there can't be special treats and relaxing of the rules, or they perceive it as you no longer truly being in charge, and they will attempt to fulfill the void in leadership themselves. This doesn't mean harshness, but firmness and unbelievable consistency.
As with all breeds there are personality differences, and a good breeder can probably match you up with an animal that is less alpha than others in the litter. As a novice owner, I would not recommend an older animal or an adoptee, because the Akita tends to be a one person animal in terms of whom they respect and consent to be subservient too. We found the Akita to be aloof with family members other than myself. Not necessarily aggressive, but standoffish and certainly not cooperative. They tend to view small children as inferior and will definitely try to establish themselves above children in the hierarchy. The odd thing is that they seem to perceive children as your personal property and will be most protective, while at the same time pushing the children around.....Their habit is not to be extremely vocal as many dogs, so you can't necessarily use growling and barking to clue you in to their reactions to other people and animals-the biggest barometer is their posture and the stance of their ears.
Some have a tendency to run. They just feel that they have the right to rule the neighborhood they survey. They will jump fences, can learn to flip gate latches, and the electronic fence systems seem to bother them little- a momentary incovenience and then they are free to roam. Our neighbor had a female who seemed to have the roaming tendency to a much greater extent than our male, but I am not sure if that is gender related or just personality difference between the dogs. Our animals did not come from the same litter or breeder. But both of us did raise them with other dogs-our nieghbors had a female Akita and a male doberman, with the dobe being the senior dog. We had an Irish Wolfhound and an
English Springer Spaniel, with the spaniel being the senior dog. In both cases, they were definitely the pack guards and protectors. But from day one, we preserved the existing dogs position as pack leaders with subtle cues such as feeding and watering the elder dogs first, letting the elder dogs in or out first, greeting the elder dogs first if we had been out of the house, and we didn't tolerate any sort of aggression toward the older dogs as the pups became older and started to feel their wheaties as it were. In other words, the humans are the alphas of the pack and all dogs must take direction and pack rank from the alpha.
Many people will tell you that certain dogs are harder than others, but I think that really depends upon your expectations. I think that it is merely a case of certain breeds being hardwired genetically to be more people oriented, and therefore easier to train because of their people bond-it is easier for them to be subservient to a human master and want to please the person. But all dogs respect consistent leadership and authority and seem to need the direction to be happy and well adjusted. I think you just have to go a little farther with certain breeds to establish the respect thing at the beginning-it isn't automatic. Good luck