Long coat Akitas require more grooming than standard coated Akitas. Their long hair can get tangled and matted so frequent brushing is necessary. <\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The best type of brush to use for their long hair is large slicker brushes and \/ or long toothed pin brushes and combs.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s best to avoid undercoat removers like the Furminators because of the risk of pulling out the long outer coat.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Additionally, more baths may be necessary for longer coated Akitas due to the fact their long coats can be magnets for dirt, debris, and other stuff that you wouldn\u2019t want to leave in their beautiful coats.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Do Long-coated Akitas Shed?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Long coated Akitas do shed – or \u201cblow\u201d their coats  like normal coated Akitas<\/strong><\/strong><\/em> – twice a year to be exact. <\/span><\/p>\n

During shedding time, extra attention to grooming and a good vacuum should keep things manageable around the home.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fun Fact:<\/strong><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

If you save your Shibas or Akitas undercoat, you can eventually collect enough to have it fashioned into yarn! <\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Companies will take all of  the undercoat, clean it, and turn it into yarn that if you have or know someone with knitting skills – can turn into a beautiful throw.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Can I Tell If My Akita Puppy Will Be Long Haired?<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

It can be difficult to tell if a Akita Inu puppy will be long haired if the puppy is too young as all Akita puppies usually appear to be chubby fluff balls or fur.<\/p>\n

However, experienced Akita breeders should be able to tell if a puppy will be long haired by 8 – 10 weeks of age.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Also, Akita breeders that perform genetic testing on Akita parents should know whether their offspring will have long coated Akita puppies or not. <\/p>\n

Most reputable dog breeders have solid puppy contracts that state provisions about when puppies can be returned due to unexpected coats, etc.<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Final Thoughts<\/strong><\/strong><\/h3>\n

The realm of canine genetics, however complicated, is fascinating to learn about.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em> <\/p>\n

The history of the long-coated Akita paints a story of a dog purposely developed to acclimate to their harsh environments.  <\/p>\n

The results of those out crossings can still be appreciated today whenever we get a chance to witness a long-haired Akita Inu or long-haired Shiba Inu, (the Akita\u2019s \u201ccousins\u201d).<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And as we learn more about canine genetics, we can understand that certain recessive anomalies should not be stigmatized or be a source of shame for breeders.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Instead they should be appreciated for playing an important role in maintaining genetic diversity in a currently closed gene pool.<\/p>\n

Educated breeders understand that their occasional long-haired offspring have just as much or even more to offer than their normal coated siblings. <\/p>\n

Due to their milder temperaments, long-haired Akitas have been used as therapy dogs as well as cancer detection dogs with great success.<\/strong><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

And of course, are loving companions to families with homes big enough to cater to this large, fluffy teddy bear.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n

Thanks for visiting Myfirstshiba.com!<\/em><\/strong> We do our very best in providing our readers with awesome content about our beloved Shiba Inu breed. Some of our articles include reviews and recommendations to our favorite products. We do occasionally earn commissions from certain affiliate links that help support our work and mission. Thanks again for visiting. Shiba Kisses To All!<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On occasion, our posts contain affiliate links. However, we only recommend products that we truly believe in. For more information, visit my privacy policy page. Large, fluffy, and impressive, the Long-coated Akita Inu is a sight to behold.  Often described as huge teddy bears waiting to be squeezed, the long-coated Akita is instantly loved by those lucky […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13955,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[74],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-akita-inu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13923"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13923"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13923\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13966,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13923\/revisions\/13966"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13955"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/myfirstshiba.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}