I have a 5 year old Yorkie who is both loving and spoilt - she is extremely fit and energetic, enjoys playing and sitting on my knee (or at my feet - depending on how the mood takes her!!), through the day when I'm at work, she has the free run of the house - she's a really good girl and no trouble at all. My sister has a 2 year old Japanese Akita (dog not bitch), she has recently had a baby and is thinking about giving up the dog - she admits he does not get as much attention as he should. I hate the thought of the Akita being given up and have thought about offering to take him on, but how would he fit with my Yorkie? They have met before when the Akita was a pup, and the Yorkie put him in his place - they got on quite well. Since then, the Akita has grown considerably and if he took against my Yorkie, it would be a very unfair match! Has anybody any experience of mixing these 2 breeds, and can anyone advise me if it would be a good idea? Please help!! All advice would be greatly appreciated.

I must admit i like Akitas, but i think that you having him would be the wrong thing to do, they are a naturally dominant breed, and i dont think the two would mix well with the difference in ages.  I think the first port of call would be to the Akitas breeder just to see if they would like him back.

I agree, go back to the Akita's breeders & see if they will have him back. Having said that, I have to say that my Akita - who will not tolerate other males, was absolutely wonderful with my last puppy. She wriggled into his run when she was 8 weeks old (about Yorkie size) - I nearly had a heart attack when I looked out of the window & saw her!!!!! Since then, they have been the best of friends - until 3 wks ago when she was mated, now she turns into a Crocodile every time he tries to play, so he just stomps off, hurt.
Akitas are usually only aggressive towards dogs they see as a threat, so little dogs of the opposite sex are usually OK. It's pretty heart-stopping when you first let them together tho'!
If you took him on, do you have the facilities to keep them seperate while you are out? I would never, ever leave an Akita & another dog together unsupervised, if the other dog annoyed the Akita unbearably, the Akita has such potential for damage it's just not a risk worth taking, especially when there is such a difference in size.

Our akita boy is the same with pups,he is a fab father even with  the ones who aren't his,also agree about never leaving them unsupervised.I'd be very wary about taking on the dog,do you see him often?Have just re-read your post,didn't catch the she bit first time round,in that case I might be willing to take him on,Sandra.

Thanks everyone for your guidance and advice - I've discussed everything more widely with my family, and for now we hope we have come up with a satisfactory arrangement. If I took him on I wouldn't even consider leaving them unattended and I do have the facilities to keep them separate, however - for now we are going to try to keep him with my sister - she would be equally heart broken to lose him. Between myself and 5 other family members we are going to share looking after him whilst keeping him settled in my sister's house. It's fairest for the Akita to only disrupt him if it's really necessary - so we've made arrangements to share the grooming, walking etc and even do some babysitting so my sister can have more time with him - he knows us all already, so he'll probably love the attention! During this initial trial we are also going to introduce him more and more to my Yorkie to see how they take to each other long term, that way if the worst comes to the worst and she can't keep him - we'll know if me taking him on is an option. We spoke to the breeder - the good news is that one of his brothers does live with a small cross breed, and they get along well, so there's hope. Thanks again, Nick.

Thank you,Thank you,thank you for thinking of the dog, Sandra :)

:)