Third Interview - Ocean and Jitterbug

Jitterbug, also known as Jitter or Uppy, is an American Akita owned by Ocean Pappas. Weighing somewhere between 75 and 80 pounds, Jitter is an eight-year old female who's been with the Pappas family for nearly her entire life. As I interviewed Ocean about her beautiful dog, I came to know a few things about Jitter that I hadn't known previously.

So how did you get Jitter?

“We got her at Michigan Animal Rescue League. They had an Akita there, and they don’t usually have them because they’re kinda high maintenance dogs. She’d come in with two other dogs; one had to be put down because its injuries were so bad, and the other one had already been adopted. She was the last one, so we took her in.”

What kinds of quirks does Jitter have?

“She’s afraid of people, especially men wearing hats. She normally doesn’t bark unless it’s nighttime and someone’s coming up to the house.”

What's your favorite story to tell about her?

“Dad was washing dishes one time, and Uppy was outside, on the deck. (This deck is on the first floor, but it’s at the same height as a second floor balcony – Ocean’s basement opens to her lakefront yard.) There was a dog running along the shoreline that she wanted to play with, and all of the doors to the deck were closed. The next thing we knew, she was running with the dog! (Jitter had jumped from the deck, since she couldn’t get to the stairs. She wasn’t hurt by the jump.)”

Anything else you'd like to share about her?

“She’s had knee replacements, and tore the ACL in her back legs. She was in a pen in the dining room, and she just started spastically running. Then she tripped, and after that she was limping. We’ve spent about five thousand dollars on her. She’s not as hyper as she was before, though.”

After I'd interviewed and photographed Jitter, I headed home to format the information I'd gotten. When it was all ready to go, I did a bit of research on the breed. Here's what I found:

The American Akita is a rather new breed of dog in the United States, where it is not recognized as a separate breed from the Japanese Akita (Akita Inu) but rather a variation on the same breed. In most other countries, the two are considered to be entirely different breeds, with different standards. The most obvious difference between the two variations lies in the pattern seen on its coat; all colors are allowed in American Akitas, including pinto patterns and dark masklike markings on their faces. The Japanese variant must have a solid coat coloring, in one of five colors: red, fawn, sesame, brindle, or pure white. The dog must have white on its muzzle, cheeks, chest, belly, and the underside of the tail, so a dark face is a key identifying characteristic of the American version of the dog. American Akitas also tend to be larger, heavier-boned dogs when compared to the original breed. A female should stand between 24 and 26 inches at the shoulder, weighing about 70 to 100 pounds.

The Akita is a loyal breed, driven by its desire to gain the love and respect of its owner, and is very affectionate towards family and friends. It can be standoffish with strangers, and is territorial of its property. This courageous dog gained popularity in the West after three events that shed positive light on the breed in the early 1900s. The first was the story of Hachikou, an Akita born in Japan in 1923. Owned by Professor Eizaburo Ueno of Tokyo, the dog accompanied his owner to and from the Shibuya Train every day as the professor commuted to work. When the dog was 18 months old, Professor Ueno suffered a fatal heart attack at work, and consequently never returned home. For the next nine years, Hachikou continued to turn up at the train station, awaiting his master’s return. There is now a memorial statue in his honor. The second event was the naming of the Akita Inu as a Japanese Natural Monument, and the third was Helen Keller’s return from Japan in 1937; she brought home the two Akitas that were to be the first of the breed to stand on US soil.