Yamainu

Q. & A. with Adrianna

• Why did you start breeding?

  When I was too young to know better, I tirelessly looked for a breeder of Japanese Akitainu, as I had always been drawn to them and had grown up with working stock and guardian dogs, but craved something wilder and bold, less dependent on my direction, but that still maintained loyalty to me as their master. As I found, this was harder than I initially expected. Nobody responded to my inquiries. I instead found unknown to me at the time, a puppy mill, it was disguised well and had many reviews and everything looked good from the outside. So my journey began when I picked up a 12 week old female long-coat American Akita from my local airport, the first one I had seen in person, she was everything Akita and nothing what I expected. She was incredibly challenging but I loved her dearly. Ultimately she had so many behavioral, and health issues due to her intense inbreeding that her life was very short, this left a deep deep wound in my heart, but taught me a lot. It taught me the value of good breeding practices, the importance of health testing, genetics, early socialization, and knowing your lines. I never again rolled my eyes at the prices of dogs that were shown and bred with intention. I saw the value in knowing what you were getting. I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the tireless work that goes into producing well bred dogs, I had no idea really. I met my mentor, who had a litter of the breed that had originally captivated me. Jai. It had been years since my last Akita, and I knew if I was going to try to own a breed like this I had to find the right mentor, and do it correctly. My life had recently changed drastically, my partner and I had moved from the city, back to the country, where a dream had room to spread its wings into a plan. We drove to a much bigger airport and picked up the puppy that would be everything I had been looking for a decade before. She showed me what a well bred dog could be, she showed me what a profound difference good breeding makes. She is the ultimate Akita in the best way, she exemplifies what I want to share with people about the Japanese Akita. The knowledge I have gained from my mentor has been absolutely invaluable. A good mentor is more than a teacher, they become your friend, your family. She introduced me to the competition ring, she taught me how to show, how to recognize good traits and faults in my own dogs. My life has only benefited and continues to make valuable connections in this small world of dogs thanks to my mentor. We are incredibly excited for the future as this journey continues to unfold it has become an international endeavor as we continue to search around the globe for the bloodlines and type that benefit the dogs in our program most.

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• What are the different breed coat colors in your program?

  Our puppies include white and brindle. Colors will vary depending on the parent dogs.

• Where do your breeding dogs live?

  They live in my home.