Did the old owner have him first or have any ideas if he had papers etc. Might be worth trying to track the breeder down, if it's anyone worth their weight, they'll want to know about.

I didnt speak to her the vet nurse at the vets did. The owner was quite unhelpful and didn't really seem that interested. She certainly didn't give any helpful information and didn't seem to have any idea who she'd sold her poor dog too

Im going to get in touch with Akita Welfare Trust tomorrow and see what help they can offer.

This is where chipping fails. Anyone can just chuck a dog out and go "Oh I sold it and didnt update the details" and the poor thing is left abandoned

Just remember that it is a legal requirement to inform the appropriate authorities that you have taken in a stray dog. If you do not you could be accused of theft.

The police are aware

Update on Khan:

Well yesterday he ate half his meal and snoozed all evening quite content in his outside kennel, (while he could see us all downstairs through the patio doors! However when we went to bed he was not a happy bunny and howled and cried! Now we are up again he is snoozing again safe in the knowledge we are not far away.

I have sent this email to the Japanese Akita Welfare Trust to see if they can offer any help; he really needs a proper foster family where he can live in the house (i get the impression he's used to the finer things in life an likes his cuddles and home comforts ) and not in a kennel, but he can't be inside with my two!

Not called dog warden yet as Im hoping for a reply from JAWT first! Does anyone have a tel number for JAWT, I cant find it on their webpage but they advertise having a 24 hr helpline!!

Anyway this is the email I have sent to JAWT:

"Hi,

Yesterday at about 4pm I was walking down Shepherds Way in Chorley, Lancashire and as I got to the junction with Lyons Lane I saw an Akita walking towards me (walking on the pavement next to a busy ring road with high traffic!) No owner in sight he was completely by himself! I was walking my own dog who doesnt like to be approached by strangers and she gave a low growl at him as he came towards us tail wagging. So then he obviously decided that it was a better option to take his chances with the traffic rather than try to make friends with Charley! Luckily all the cars on the busy road came to a standstill and I was able to tie Charley to a lamp post while I retrieved him (while appologising to the drivers "sorry its not my dog, im just trying to help!" Some obviously thought I was an idiot who'd let my own dog wander in the road!! However one very nice lady pulled over to help me and she walked the Akita back to my house holding his collar.

I then phoned the local police station and the vets in my area to let them know he is with me and no one has reported him missing Then I took him to the vets to see if he has a microchip, and hay presto he does! However he has aparently changed hands twice since the registered owner poor lad! The vet nurse phoned up the woman whose details were on the chip and she was most unhelpful! She didn't have a clue who she'd sold her poor dog too and only had a fleeting memory that they may have been from southport I havent called the dog warden yet as it was out of office hours.

However we did discover that his name is Khan, I think he still uses that name as he is responding to it. He is quite skinny (in my opinion although the Akita is not a breed I am very familiar with) his ribs and backbone are very pronounced, which gives him the look of having a disproportionately large head for the size of his body! Personality wise though he's great, really friendly with all the dogs he met at the vets, and good with the people, likes to be fussed! He even sat calmly in the kennel while my dogs barked their heads off at him!! He's an entire male and has some slight discoloration to his teeth. I'm think he's a young to middle aged adult; can't be any more specific.. He doesn't walk too badly on the lead and responds to basic commands.

Anyway last night I gave him a meal of Wainwrights dry dog food and he ate maybe half to three-quarters of it. He was quiet all evening in the outside kennel and decided he liked to mark the garden with wee as it didn't smell right in his opinion!

After being quiet all evening with me and the other dogs been in the house where he could see us through the patio doors, he decided that he didn't like not been able to see us when we all went to bed! And he howled all night to make known his displeasure So up early this morning and now we are all downstairs again Khan is happily snoozing in his kennel and we are all awake!

Unfortunately I can't let Khan in the house as of my own two dogs, one is a highly nervous young dog who is scared of anything bigger than her and the other who actually does seem to love giving Khan kisses through the kennel mesh I would never actually trust to mix with him properly, as she is unpredictable in the dogs she does and does not like and also can change her mind very quickly I was going to keep him in my kennel until hopefully the owners come for him, but he was so upset last night, I think he is used to living inside with a family and the finer things in life not just a kennel. So basically Khan needs some help now, I don't want to send him to the dog warden for him to be pts if the owner doesnt come for him or a rescue doesnt step in; but I don't know the procedures or what to do now. It would be such a waste for this wonderful dog to be put down; someone has obviously put some work in to him at some point and he does have a lovely temprement! He was so excited when I came out to him this morning, jumping up and offering kisses and then racing around the garden like a loon!

Please can you phone me on 0752******* an give me some advice

Many thanks Kirsty x"

UPDATE:

Khan's owner's have called and he has been collected

Great, all's well that ends well!

Oh good,how did he come to be straying the streets then, had he escaped?

How did they find out you had him?