My akita i would have to say was one of the best outdoor hiking partner i had..Now she is 11 and is slowing down so I take it east with her...Recall is great but at the same time I enjoy letting my dog run around when in the mountains...When i'm out on my mountain bike she would keep up with no problem..Maybe i just got lucky..Now my apbt Is a athlete beyong anything I have ever had..
I wanted to offer my 2 cents to this post as there are some interesting responses posted here on this thread. I have my first Akita, 75% JA, and she is only 8 months now, a female. I started taking her outdoors from about 10 weeks old, to trails, hiking, etc, obviously not too long, under 1 hour because she was really young then. She did well off leash, even though we hadn't done much training, she always followed me and never wondered too far, but now that she has gotten older and MUCH MUCH Faster if she decides to run there is no way I can catch her, she does tend to run away from me now wanting to play chase, I am working on that and going into formal training again soon. Here is something to REALLY SERIOUSLY consider, the Akita will NOT do well in weather hotter than 75 degrees, at the most, I live in Maryland, US so there is humidity here, after end of Spring I can only take her out for a few minutes, up to 10-15 minutes on hot days at the most, I have heard a lot of horror stories on Akita's simply overheating, this is nothing to take lightly, this dog is a northern dog breed and they dont like the heat. They have very good air conditioning (panting) but they do not like the heat and will get lazy very quickly on the trail on a hot day. Generally speaking my Akita is pretty active especially on the trail, but they can also get tired quickly and the stamina is not like other dogs. Also the prey drive of my dog (not sure about other ppls Akita's) is out of control, anything moving, leaves, any kind of small animal she will go nuts and run away, my breeder of succesful breeding for over 30 years told me, that no matter what type of training you do with your dog, over about 1 year old her pray drive will get so strong that she will not come back. Honestly I still have a hard time believing that is the case with my dog, but I can tell you with more of a Japanese line in my dog, I believe this is true. She seriously loses all training and concentration except for the pray when she sees something that is a moving object, anywhere from leaves to rabbits, etc.
So consider the hot weather aspect, also HIGHLY consider that even if you do amazing training wtih your Akita, they can most likely become very dog aggressive, and if a dog on the trail challenges your dog with a very simple growl, or even a stance, trust me the Akita will fight, and you want to stay away from that and try to prevent it as much as possible.
I did extensive research before purchasing my Akita, over 6 months and spoke to over 50 breeders in the US, asked them detailed question and logged each call, I can honestly tell you out of the 50 98% of them agreed that no Akita should be walked off leash once they mature, some even said after 6 months of age.
I had the same requirements as you, and I know where your coming from, but from what you say, an Akita is an amazing companion but I do not think it will accomplish your outdoor needs that you want to fulfill with this dog. You cannot change 100 or more years of dog fighting with the Akita, and thousands of years of guarding and hunting.
Some might dis-agree, but I did my research and spoke with many reputable breeders which will stay the same exact thing.
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So consider the hot weather aspect, also HIGHLY consider that even if you do amazing training wtih your Akita, they can most likely become very dog aggressive, and if a dog on the trail challenges your dog with a very simple growl, or even a stance, trust me the Akita will fight, and you want to stay away from that and try to prevent it as much as possible.
I did extensive research before purchasing my Akita, over 6 months and spoke to over 50 breeders in the US, asked them detailed question and logged each call, I can honestly tell you out of the 50 98% of them agreed that no Akita should be walked off leash once they mature, some even said after 6 months of age.
I had the same requirements as you, and I know where your coming from, but from what you say, an Akita is an amazing companion but I do not think it will accomplish your outdoor needs that you want to fulfill with this dog. You cannot change 100 or more years of dog fighting with the Akita, and thousands of years of guarding and hunting.
Some might dis-agree, but I did my research and spoke with many reputable breeders which will stay the same exact thing.