What Breed is the iPhone Dog Emoji?

If you've ever used an iPhone, you've probably sent or received an emoji. They used to be basic facial emotions but now emojis include everything from tacos, to a crystal ball, to toilets, to pretty much every flag from every country. There's also two dog emojis which look a bit different than what you might think of as a typical dog. Here in the USA, labs, golden retrievers, and now pit bull and doodle mixes kind of rule, but the dog featured doesn't look like any of these dogs. The emoji dogs have pointed ears, a curly tail, and a strong, straight stature. It looks kind of like a husky but the emoji dog isn't thought to be a husky - it's reported to be an Akita Inu or Japanese Akita. As an Akita owner, I couldn't be happier to see my favorite breed represented!

If you are thinking, "I've never heard of an Akita," you are not alone.

The Akita is a large breed of dog originating from the mountainous northern regions of Japan. There are two separate varieties of Akita: a Japanese strain, commonly called "Akita ken" in Japan, "Akita Inu" ("inu" means "dog" in Japanese), or "Japanese Akita"; and an American strain, known as the "Akita" or "American Akita".^[2] The Japanese strain called the Great Japanese dog comes in a narrow palette of colors, with all other colors considered atypical of the breed, while the American strain known simply as the akita comes in all dog colors.^[3] The Akita has a short double-coat similar to that of many other northern spitz breeds such as the Siberian Husky, but long-coated dogs can be found in many litters due to a recessive gene. -Wikipeda

Our Akita, Kodi, is about 10-years-old. We purchased him from a local breeder when he was a puppy and though there are other local Akita owners, the breed isn't terribly popular, at least in this area. Probably because Akita ownership is no joke. Akitas are a large breed. My dog weighs in at 115 lbs. Originally bred for hunting bear, they can also be willful, aggressive and territorial. We are very blessed t in that our Akita is pretty much the sweetest, kindest, most obedient dog in the world. He's scheduled to make an appearance at my daughter's preschool for show-and-tell later this month.

Now, there's a third dog emoji that appears to be a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel but I can't speak intelligently on that breed, but they are really cute too!

If you want to learn more about adopting an Akita, visit the Petfinder website today!