Bear was a red sesame akita with white and gray markings.  He has the double curl tail and big bear head that makes the Akita stand out among other dogs.  My oldest son, Hunter is pictured here with my husband, Lowell.  This picture was taken at Pacific City when Hunter was just two months old.  That was 13 years ago.  Bear is just over two years old in this picture.  He was a very loving and loyal Akita.  Always protective of the family and excellent with kids.  His personality was laid back and gentle but dominant.  He loved to roam our property.  All of our Akitas freely roamed the property  without the need for fences or leashes.  They behaved well and just wanted to be with us where ever we happened to be.  We miss Bear very much.

This is my favorite picture of the Three Muskateers.  From left to right, Tara, Bear and Sasha.  We got Sasha from Lowell's mom at one year of age.  She was a big girl as you can see in the picture.  She was six months older than Bear and I'll never forget the day we brought her home.  Although poor little Bear was only 6 months old, she quickly learned her place in the pecking order after attempting to be pack leader.  Sasha had a strong loving personality and was ever so gentle with the kids.  I remember my youngest son, Tanner taking a ride on her back when he was only 18 months old.  She was very patient and loved the extra attention she got from the kids.  Sasha passed just one week after her 13th birthday.  As with Bear we miss her dearly. 

My girl Tara.  Tara is one of Bear and Sasha's puppies from their first litter.  Tara was a very big girl, even right out of the gate.  She was the biggest puppy, weighing in at 17 oz.  Tara continued on her massive growing streak and was a whopping 110 lbs at 10 months old in this picture.  She continued to grow, topping out at 145 lbs. at 5 years old.  Tara and Sasha regularly scuffled over who was #2 in the pecking order.  Unfortunaley, Tara passed at the young age of 6 yrs. to what we believe was an undiscovered respiratory condition, possibly asthma.  This was extremely hard, given the amount of time and effort put into trying to find out what was causing her so much trouble.  Tara was a very loving girl.  She loved the kids equally as well as our other Akitas.  She holds a special place in our hearts.