Look past the size and these two breeds have more in common than almost any other pairing on this site. Both rate 2/5 with strangers. Both rate 2/5 with other dogs. Both attach to one or two people and treat everyone else as a question to be answered. One weighs four pounds and one weighs a hundred, and that single fact changes what the same attitude means.
This page is for someone comparing the two ends of the size scale and wanting to know what actually differs beyond weight. It covers the shared reserve, the enormous difference in barking, the Chihuahua's dental and tracheal problems, its remarkable lifespan, and what each costs to run.
The Chihuahua is the cheapest and longest-lived dog on this comparison and the noisiest by a wide margin; the Akita is quiet, expensive and physically serious, and both need the same careful socialisation.
Choose the Akita if you have space, a fenced garden, experience with a powerful breed, and want quiet. It barks at 2/5 against the Chihuahua's 5/5 and tolerates being alone at 3/5 against 2/5. You are accepting 1/5 for first-time owners, 5/5 shedding, $110–$240 a month and a 10 to 13 year lifespan.
Choose the Chihuahua if you want a small, portable, long-lived dog and can commit to serious early socialisation. It rates 5/5 for apartments, costs $50–$100 a month — the lowest here — and can live 12 to 20 years. You are accepting 5/5 barking, 2/5 trainability, 2/5 with children, and a fragile frame with real dental and tracheal problems.
| Feature | akita | chihuahua | Winner |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weight | 70–130 lbs | 2–6 lbs | Equal |
| Height | 24–28 in | 6–9 in | Equal |
| Lifespan | 10–13 years | 12–20 years | chihuahua |
| Coat | Dense double coat | Short or long | Equal |
| Grooming need | Moderate (3/5) | Low (2/5) | chihuahua |
| Shedding | Very high (5/5) | Low (2/5) | chihuahua |
| Energy level | Moderate (3/5) | Moderate (3/5) | Equal |
| Exercise need | Moderate (3/5) | Low (2/5) | chihuahua |
| Trainability | Moderate (3/5) | Low (2/5) | akita |
| Barking | Low (2/5) | Very high (5/5) | akita |
| Good with kids | Moderate (3/5) | Low (2/5) | akita |
| Good with other dogs | Low (2/5) | Low (2/5) | Equal |
| Friendly to strangers | Low (2/5) | Low (2/5) | Equal |
| Apartment suitability | Low (2/5) | Very high (5/5) | chihuahua |
| Good for first-time owners | Very low (1/5) | Low (2/5) | chihuahua |
| Tolerates being alone | Moderate (3/5) | Low (2/5) | akita |
| Typical monthly cost | $110–$240 | $50–$100 | chihuahua |
| Typical first-year cost | $1,700–$3,200 | $800–$1,500 | chihuahua |
The Chihuahua's 5/5 for barking is the highest rating on the scale, and it is the single most common reason people give up on the breed.
A Chihuahua barks at the door, the lift, the corridor, the neighbour's television, the bin lorry and any dog it can see from a window. It is alert, opinionated, and physiologically built to produce a sound that carries. In a flat with shared walls this becomes a relationship with your neighbours rather than a habit of your dog.
It is trainable down, not out. Blocking window sightlines, teaching a settled alternative behaviour, and rewarding quiet consistently all reduce it substantially. But the breed's baseline is high and no amount of work produces a quiet dog.
The Akita's 2/5 is one of its underrated advantages. Akitas are famously reticent — they will bark when something genuinely warrants it and otherwise say nothing. What they lack in volume they make up in physical presence, which is a different kind of neighbour problem in a shared corridor.
Aggression tendencies appear explicitly on the Chihuahua's condition list, which is unusual, and the reason is not really genetic.
A hundred-pound guardian that growls at a stranger gets addressed immediately — training, management, professional help. A four-pound dog that does exactly the same thing gets described as feisty and picked up. The behaviour is rehearsed daily, never interrupted, and by three years old it is who the dog is.
The fix is to treat a Chihuahua exactly like a large dog. Socialise it properly from eight weeks — surfaces, noises, calm adult dogs, people of all kinds. Let it walk rather than carrying it everywhere. Do not allow behaviour you would not allow from a Rottweiler.
The Akita gets the opposite treatment and needs the same discipline. Its dog-intolerance, frequently same-sex, typically arrives at social maturity around two years old in a dog that was fine as a puppy, which means socialisation has to continue well past the first year.
Both breeds rate 2/5 with strangers. Only one of them is routinely excused for it.
The Chihuahua can live 12 to 20 years, and the upper end of that is genuinely exceptional — few breeds of any size reach it. Planning for a twenty-year commitment is not unreasonable.
The conditions to know about are mostly mechanical. Dental disease heads the list: a full complement of teeth in a tiny jaw means crowding, plaque and early extractions, and retained baby teeth are common enough to need checking at neutering. Daily brushing genuinely extends this dog's life.
Collapsing trachea is the second. The windpipe cartilage softens and flattens, producing a characteristic honking cough. Never walk a Chihuahua on a collar — a harness is not optional in this breed.
Patellar luxation, hypoglycaemia in puppies, hydrocephalus and heart disease complete the list. Small puppies need frequent meals for the first months to keep blood sugar stable.
The Akita's burden is immune and endocrine instead — autoimmune disorders, hypothyroidism, progressive retinal atrophy — with hip dysplasia and bloat as a large deep-chested breed, and a known sensitivity to some anaesthetic protocols.
At $50–$100 a month and $800–$1,500 in the first year, the Chihuahua is the least expensive dog in any comparison on this site. A four-pound dog eats almost nothing, and parasite treatments, medications and boarding are all priced by weight.
The Akita runs $110–$240 a month and $1,700–$3,200 in the first year, and the gap is almost entirely food and dose-based products.
The caveat on the Chihuahua's number is dentistry. Anaesthetic dental work every couple of years for a decade and a half adds up to a substantial figure, and it is close to a certainty rather than a risk. Budget for it as a routine cost rather than an emergency.
On space the Chihuahua rates 5/5 for apartments against the Akita's 2/5 and needs only 2/5 exercise — two short walks and some indoor play. The Akita needs 3/5 exercise, a securely fenced garden and room for a dog that sheds at 5/5.
Grooming is 2/5 against 3/5, though the long-coated Chihuahua needs more brushing than the smooth.
Three rows tie exactly and they are the three that describe personality: 2/5 with other dogs, 2/5 with strangers, and 3/5 for energy.
That is not a coincidence of the scoring. Both breeds are genuinely reserved, both bond tightly to a small number of people, and both are perfectly willing to tell an approaching stranger what they think. Neither was bred to be indiscriminately friendly and neither pretends to be.
Where they part company is consequence and volume. The Chihuahua says it constantly — 5/5 barking, the top of the scale. The Akita rarely says anything at all, at 2/5.
The other separation is the first-time owner rating, and it goes the way people do not expect: 2/5 for the Chihuahua against 1/5 for the Akita. Both are difficult breeds for a novice. One of them can be picked up when the difficulty starts.
On the ratings, yes — both are 2/5 with strangers and 2/5 with other dogs, and both bond tightly to one or two people rather than liking everyone. The differences are volume and consequence: the Chihuahua barks at 5/5 and weighs four pounds, the Akita barks at 2/5 and weighs up to 130. The same suspicion produces very different problems.
A great deal — 5/5, the top of the scale, against the Akita's 2/5. It will announce the door, the lift, passing dogs and the neighbour's television. Blocking window sightlines and training a settled alternative behaviour reduces it substantially, but the baseline is high and no amount of work produces a quiet dog.
Because small-dog reserve is rarely addressed. A hundred-pound dog that growls at a stranger gets training and management; a four-pound dog doing the same gets picked up and called feisty. The behaviour is rehearsed daily and never interrupted. Treat a Chihuahua like a large dog from eight weeks and the problem largely does not develop.
12 to 20 years, and the upper end is genuinely exceptional for any breed. The Akita lives 10 to 13. A Chihuahua is a two-decade commitment, which is worth thinking through properly rather than treating as a bonus — it will outlast most life changes you have planned.
Dental disease first — a full set of teeth in a tiny jaw means crowding, plaque and extractions, so daily brushing matters. Then collapsing trachea, which is why a harness rather than a collar is essential. Patellar luxation, puppy hypoglycaemia, hydrocephalus and heart disease also appear on the list.
The Akita at 3/5 against the Chihuahua's 2/5, which surprises people. A 2 to 6 pound dog with fine bones is genuinely at risk from a toddler and tends to defend itself when handled roughly. Neither breed is a natural choice for a house with small children, and both need supervision for opposite reasons.
The Chihuahua, at $50–$100 a month against the Akita's $110–$240, and $800–$1,500 against $1,700–$3,200 in the first year. It is the cheapest dog on this site to feed. The offsetting cost is dentistry: anaesthetic dental work every couple of years across a fifteen-year life is close to a certainty.
The Chihuahua if you want a small, cheap, very long-lived dog and will socialise it as seriously as you would a large one. The Akita if you have space and experience and want quiet — it barks at 2/5 against the Chihuahua's 5/5.
The Chihuahua runs $50–$100 a month and the Akita $110–$240, with first-year totals of $800–$1,500 and $1,700–$3,200. Budget separately for Chihuahua dental work every couple of years.
No — use a harness. Collapsing trachea is a common condition in the breed, and pressure on the windpipe from a collar makes it worse. This is one of the few pieces of breed-specific equipment advice that is genuinely non-negotiable.
The Akita, decisively, at 2/5 against 5/5. Akitas are famously reticent and bark only when something warrants it. Their neighbour problem is physical presence in shared corridors rather than noise.
Health information here is general and is not veterinary advice. If your dog shows pain, sudden behaviour change, or worsening symptoms, consult a licensed veterinarian.
Some links on this site are affiliate links. We may earn a commission at no extra cost to you, and we only suggest products we believe are helpful for dog owners.
Match your lifestyle to the right dog.
Take quizNot sure which breed is right for you? Take our 2-minute quiz to find out.
Take the quiz