Submissive Akitas?

I met a beautiful Akita mix on the weekend at a "dog hike" we went on. He was the company owner's dog and goes on all the hikes. His personality struck me as odd, he was so the "cool cat" and didn't care one bit about the presence of the other dogs or humans. He wasn't interested in playing, interacting, or anything - but at the same time he was not the slightest bit suspicious or nervous. He would just hang out, surveying the group, but if you called his name or made eye contact he didn't respond in the slightest. It was just odd, I guess I'm so used to Scout being a wackjob and thriving on attention.... []   Here he is:

Yep, I know about the correlation between bloat and anxiety. It pretty much keeps me up at night worrying. I've been taking every precaution I can think of to keep him from bloating...but given his personality, I'm willing to bet it ends up happening sooner or later. [] I'm doing my best to be prepared.
 

Just as there are Alpha dogs-evey pack has their Omega, and that is an important pack role.  These are the dogs that will socialize, mind, look after, play with the younger, smaller, weaker pack members.  They are the ones who stay behind while the Alphas would lead the hunt for food and generally mind the store.  They can be provoked if somebody or something were to hurt the other pack members.  They will fight to the death for what they consider to be their babies-Omegas can be male or female, but more commonly are lower ranking females.  And believe it or not, it really doesn't bother them to have that role...They tend to be a bit more playful, clownlike, and try to mediate scuffles between other members by being goofy.  I had an akita/GSD cross who was definitely Omega, and we also noted that he never developed the habit of raising his leg to urinate-he didn't mark territory as much as he would urinate over the other dogs spots-specifically any youngsters in residence-much like a female would camoflage the evidence of her defenseless  litter.  They will eat stool to hide the fact that another of the pack is ill or very young-they will also clean up after an animal who has vomitted for the same reason.  They tend to be loving in the extreme, and remarkably easy to train, because they expect direction and guidance from superior pack members.  They are caretakers and nuturers, and that isn't necessarily a bad thing-especially in a household of multiple dogs.   I found that ours blended in everywhere with everyone, and that made him a great travelling dog.  You are the Alpha, when you are out and about, and your dog will expect your protection, but likewise, they will protect you to the best of their ability.

 
You just described Ogre to a T. I always wondered why he had an obsession with eating the puppies' poop...that pretty much explains it. []
 
Ogre is definitely the guardian in our pack. When Axl, my bulldog, was younger, he was a decent watch/guard dog...now, we say he's "Retired," since I doubt he'd even wake up from his nap if an intruder were clonking one of us on the head right in front of him. [8D] Ogre though is an EXCELLENT watch dog- which I'm very happy about since it's what I was mainly looking for when I adopted him. He may be very submissive towards us and the other dogs, but I doubt a stranger would ever make it through the front door with him here.
 
 
Scout in Canada, that dog is GORGEOUS. He has some amazing eyes!