Seandres

i only saw this recently in the hire shop - ive known the story since i started resesarching the breed. Thers a statue of Hachi in the town where he lived and the akita is a 'national treasure' in japan. i'ma bit tentative about watching it after these remarks - i cry at anything at the moment!

Im quite glad this movie didnt get much publicity as that would only encourage morons to go buy a cute puppy, some people have no idea that certain dog breeds might not be suited for their lifestyle, and insist on getting the one they like the look of.

Seandres - this is correct but i believe the temperament is the same, my boy would do anything for me... they are very much a 'one owner' dog and this also makes them very difficult for rescue (i have been involved in a few cases) as some do not bond with new owners.

Totally agree on the temperment being the same as my Akita follows me or the missus everywhere.

I have read in a lot of Akita books and from people's experiences that the Akita's are very much a "one owner" dog but from my experience with my Akita it seems she has bonded with missus just as much as she has with me. From an early age we did encourage this as Akina-chan was always going to weigh around the same as my missus hence we both need to be able to control her.

I also agree that I am glad that this movie didn't get much publicity, Akita's definitely aren't for everyone.

I want to see this, I cried when I read about this dog many years ago.

I'll be terrible. Anything to do with animals and I can't hold it back. Marley and Me made me sob into my popcorn

In that case you will require a "box" of tissues ;)

The breed of Akita in the movie is the Japanese Akita, which is different to the American Akita in that they are generally smaller in size and have smaller eyes. Japanese Akita's are very rare in Australia as most of the Akita's here are American Akita's.

The puppy used in the beginning of the film was a Shiba Inu and not an Akita, this was used as it was easier to train than a puppy Akita. The Shiba Inu was still cute but if they had used Akita puppies your heart would have melted in an instant.