#knowledge corner

Sakura is an Akita/German Shepherd mix (spayed) female - black - Mina rescued from a kill shelter, roughly 3 years of age and larger than average for a female by only a couple pounds. She’s a bit skittish but a total love-bug. It takes her a second to warm up to a new situation. Her bark is deep, she never howls. Aki is a 2.5 year old mix of the rare Ryukyu Inu and Akita - brown. Due to his Ryukyu heritage he also sports dew claws on his back legs, allowing him to climb trees (only for a few feet) as his relatives do/did. Aki is a spunky rough and tumble (fixed) male, but he is small due to malnutrition from his puppy days and he still has patches where his fur is thin and never grew back properly from the mange he had before Mina took him in. Aki is deeply human shy as he was feral for the first year of his life. He is fiercely loyal and loving to the majority of the people of the village. Anyone beyond that is a threat to his family and him and he will treat them that way - his aggression is fear based, though it is mostly posturing. He has yet to actually bite anyone outside of play nibbles. Both dogs know the airstrip is their territory and when the gates are closed and the lights go on at night they are in full guard dog mode. Anyone who breaks in are fair game. Mina’s house is located just a handful of yards off the tarmac, and those dogs can run. Sadly the number of Ryukyu is dwindling, as few as 400 left reported in 2015. They originated in Okinawa, Japan and are fascinating and beautiful. Please read more about them on their Wiki page here.