John and Mary Kelly decided it was time to begin their search for a family dog. They watched the dog show on TV and decided an Akita was the right dog for them. The began their search on the internet and a few nice breeders told them a little bit about the breed, and suggested they begin reading more to decide if this really was the correct breed for them. John and Mary had two children ages 6 and 8. They read that Akitas make good babysitters, and a few breeders told them it wasn't exactly the truth. They bought some books on the breed, read them, but were steadfast in their wanting this breed and began looking. The first breeder turned them down as their yard wasn't fenced in. The second wanted them to install a fence and agree to a "home check". The third person they talked with said they breed their dogs for temperament only (they don't mess with show politics), didn't have any puppies available just yet, but would have some in another couple of weeks.

John and Mary talked a lot about getting this new puppy, and called a few  ads in the paper, quickly discovering that "some" breeders required them to spay/neuter their new dog. John and Mary had no intentions of breeding their new dog but still felt it was unfair for anyone to require them to do so.
 
One day while shopping they passed a pet store and inside was the cutest Akita you ever saw. The price was pretty steep and they had heard stories  of how pet store dogs are bred in those horrible puppy mills.  But this pet store said they ONLY got their dogs from USDA licensed breeders and showed them pictures of the place where this puppy was bred. They named her Lilly. Lilly came home a happy healthy bouncing baby girl-she even came with a one year health guarantee and a FIVE generation pedigree that contained Champions. John and Mary's vet put her on a vaccine schedule, heartworm and flea provenitve and declared her a healthy girl. By the time Lilly was 18 mos. old she had finally begun to adjust to life with the Kelly's. Sure she had had a few spats with the neighbors dog-but hat was only because that dog had come on to the Kelly's property and teased Lilly. She had knocked the kids down a couple of times, and they had to put her in her crate when the neighborhood children came over, but  that's just cause she was so glad to see them.
 
Lilly had spent some time out back chained to dog house, but only when the family didn't have as much time to watch her. One day she bit a little boy down the street, but he DID come into her yard and teased her so it really wasn't Lilly's fault. The Kelly's paid the Doctor bills and all was soon
 forgotten. 
One day Mr. Kelly's mechanic, Paul,  came over and saw Lilly-he said he had  a male Akita at home and asked if they like to breed her. John and Mary  said they'd like to think about it first. Paul said if they'd breed her to his dog he'd take a puppy instead of charging them money. He explained that his dog, Bear, was never house broken and "if" he could get a puppy just like him he'd give Bear away and keep the new puppy for his wife (who wanted a house dog). Paul told the Kelly's they could make a lot of money selling  the puppies.

John and Mary talked it over and decided that since they paid $800.00 for Lilly, and if she had just five pups they could sell four pups for $300.00 each and finally get the pool the kids had been wanting.
They took Lilly to the vets and told the vet their plans, the vet explained how dogs were bred and told them to get a book on breeding dogs and read  it. The Kelly's did and when Lilly came into season they bred her to Bear. A few months later Lilly had six puppies, and the kids got to watch.
The children named them
Spot-all white female with one black ear.
Blue (Clues)-a male white with black patches on his back
Fluffy-a male red, with longer hair then the rest of the puppies
Chip-a male red with white spots on his back
Bear Jr-a black and white male who looked just like Dad
Teeny-another striped dog, female who was very very tiny.
Lilly was a very good mother and took real good care of her puppies-but Teeny didn't seem to be eating too good-she died a couple of days after she
 was born-but the Kelly's were still happy they still had Four puppies to sell!
Paul (the owner of the Dad) came at six weeks and took Bear Jr home with  him. The Kelly's ran an ad in the paper and had homes for ALL of the puppies  before they were seven weeks old. They bought the kids that brand new  swimming pool they wanted-and had Lilly spayed-it was a lot of work raising puppies and everyone decided they didn't want to do it again.
 
Fast forward to two years later: 
Shortly after the breeding Paul's friend took Bear (the father) home with him, but he ran away and no one ever saw him again.
 
 Paul's wife began trying to house break Bear Jr-but he kept piddeling in  the  house-so they put him outside in Bear's Kennel. They just had a brand new baby and were looking for a home for Bear since he's so sweet and they  don't have time for him anymore, they couldn't find a home so they took him to the shelter so some one nice could adopt him-he was euthanized three days later.

Spot (the female) was sold to nice man who said he already had three female Akitas at home and was looking for another "brood bitch"-Spot is living in a small pen and being bred to the same male each time she comes in season.
 
Blue-the white male with black patches on his back-got into a dog fight and killed the neighbors Yorkie-so he had to be euthanized at the shelter or  the owner would have been sued.
 
Fluffy-the longcoat red male-went to another family with little kids where he was very very happy-until one of the kids let him run out the front door and he got hit by a car and killed.
 
Chip-the red male with white spots on his back-was taken to animal control and given up as the owners said they didn't have time for him anymore-no one wanted him cause he wasn't so friendly toward people and he was euthanizedby the shelter worker.

and Lilly? She spends ALL of her time tied out to the dog house now, if they let her  loose she runs away-and since the kids got the pool no one wants to play  with her anymore.
 
So Mr and Mrs. Kelly-was it worth it? Are the dogs that you produced living happy healthy well adjusted lives? Or are they dead or existing in frustrating conditions? You brought these  lives into the world-you chose to breed "your" dog. When you see your children out playing and splashing around in that pool, please stop and take a minute to think back to when you brought Lilly home and how excited the children were about their new dog, and how they fought over who was going to take her for a walk. When was the last time Lilly was taken for walk?
 
 Is this a REAL story or is it fiction?  If you are unsure, please take a copy of it to your local shelter-or any Akita rescue person and ask "them" if it is true.
 
Kathy Coffman