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It's hard to tell but I thought it was a shiba

oh I was dumb and thought they were synonymous but apparently they're not x.x Oddly I also thought both were around 40 lbs, which is much too large for shibas and much too small for akitas @_@

Growing up I had a pretty mutt that was of unknown breed, and Akita was one of the suggested ones. Basically was like the black coat version of shibas (so my sister called her a german shepherd) but with longer fur and around 45 lbs. Same curly tail, etc.

So uhh yeah I guess having a dog be in between the size of the two didn't let me recognize they were different breeds and now I feel dumb x.x

Lol it's ok. Everyone makes mistakes! Btw does your dog have tannish eyebrows? I think I might know what it could be.

yeah, basically like this except longer fur, and the white markings on the face and chest were smaller and more tan when on the face --> http://myfirstshiba.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/AdobeStock_99867658_retouced-copy.jpg
She also had blue spots on the tongue, which the vet said might have come from a Chow, but definitely did not have the flat face (and not as fluffy). Coat length somewhere in between Chow and Shiba, more like a Border Collie.

Ah that picture was the breed I was thinking of. Think that's a black Shiba iirc but yeah yours could be bigger from being part Chow. Hard to say lol.

Did a bit more research and apparently it's not unheard of for shiba's to have blue spots on their dog... Both shibas (and akitas) and Chow Chows have fur that stands up and fluffs outward rather than hanging down, which doesn't match my dog so that's where Border Collie comes in. I've browsed through some more Akitas and none of the black coat ones have anything close to the same markings, so I guess my best guess is shiba/border collie... but then again the Akita browsing showed a few (maybe 1/5th of pictures viewed) of them having fur that hug down rather than puffed out, so shiba/akita is still a possibility.