No dog, more coyotes.
 

Interesting observation, since our wolf sized dog died we've had a major influx of coyotes. He would walk the fence line of our 10 acres and mark it. One or two would come in to get gophers or ground squirrels but that was it. Now they wander around every night. We were supposed to have had a rescued Akita by now but they haven't gotten back to us on it. I'm probably too old to train another one from a puppy. The last guy was 65+# at 9 months. When they are that big and shift into puppy mode, look out!

Hope you hear back on your possible new dog soon, sounds like you need some patrolling!

Great Pyerenees perhaps?
 

Sorry you lost your dog. Have you considered a Great Pyrenees?

I've had Akita's for nearly 50 years. I'll stick with what I know. Plus, do you think a Great Pyrenees would enjoy living in SE AZ in the summer? :eek:

Pat
Have you looked at a donkey or mule? :munchin

LOL...point taken re: SE AZ. Do Akitas do tolerate the heat? I suspect any do would need a lot of water and a nice shady spot to rest.

Yes, sir, JJ_BPK, the donkey would certainly be a great guardian. I understand they become possessive and have a low BS threshold.

My wife saw a couple of miniature donkeys in Bisbee last year and mentioned they'd be fun to have. Not sure if miniatures would effect the coyotes or not.

Akitas aren't very active. He did OK. On a walk if he got hot, he'd just lay down in the shade or head back to the house. Once he was down, you were going to take a break whether you wanted to or not. :D

Good luck with them getting back to you. My wife and I are about to start searching for a Belgian Malinois. If we were further north like Tucson or Phoenix, we'd need to keep that in mind too. I sometimes forget how hot it gets up there..