Apexx Akitas · Sussex County, New Jersey · Est. 2003
About
Apexx Akitas
The Program Behind the Dogs
More than twenty years of principled American Akita breeding in Sussex County, New Jersey. Every dog we have ever produced is the result of deliberate decisions rooted in verified health testing, champion bloodlines, and a genuine long-term commitment to the families who bring our dogs home.
Ron Durant
Founder and Head Breeder · Sussex County, New Jersey
Ron Durant founded Apexx Akitas in 2003 with a single purpose: to breed American Akitas the right way. Not for production volume, not for profit, and not because it was convenient. He built this program because the breed he loved deserved more than what most breeders were willing to give it.
What began as a personal passion has grown into one of the most respected American Akita breeding programs in the Northeast, placing dogs with families across the country and maintaining active relationships with the majority of those families long after placement. That sustained contact is not incidental. It is what this program was built around from the very beginning.
I do not view what I do as production. I view it as stewardship of a breed that demands more from its breeders than most are willing to give.
A Passion That
Became A Standard
Ron's connection to the American Akita started long before Apexx Akitas existed as a formal breeding program. It began with a genuine fascination with what this breed truly is at its best: a powerful, loyal, and deeply intelligent working dog with a history rooted in Japan and a distinct American identity forged through decades of separate development after World War II.
Most people who encounter an Akita are immediately struck by its presence and bearing. Ron wanted to understand why some Akitas embodied the breed's best qualities while others fell short, at a structural, genetic, and temperamental level. That question led to years of study, mentorship from experienced breeders, deep pedigree research across both American and European bloodlines, and extensive hands-on evaluation of breeding stock.
When Apexx Akitas was established, it was built on conclusions drawn from that foundation rather than assumptions or shortcuts. Health testing became a firm requirement before any other consideration. Champion bloodlines were evaluated for structural correctness rather than selected for name recognition alone. Temperament was tracked across multiple years and multiple generations of offspring. None of that has changed since the first litter was born in Sussex County, New Jersey in 2003.
The Apexx Akitas
Mission
Every decision made at Apexx Akitas connects back to a single commitment: to produce American Akitas that are genuinely healthy, structurally correct, temperamentally stable, and placed with families who are fully prepared for what ownership of this breed requires. That commitment does not adjust for convenience, trend, or profit.
The American Akita is not a breed for every household. It is a powerful, independent, and intensely loyal animal that demands more from an owner than most breeds do. We take that seriously. It shapes which dogs we breed, what we test for, how we raise our litters, and which families are approved to receive them.
Breeding is not about producing puppies. It is about producing outcomes that hold up ten years from now in the home of a real family.
Six Pillars of the
Apexx Akitas Program
Every breeding dog at Apexx Akitas carries full OFA certifications covering hips, elbows, eyes, thyroid, and cardiac function. All results are publicly verifiable at ofa.org. We never ask anyone to trust our claims. We direct families to the public database and let the records speak for themselves.
Our pedigrees trace to American and European champions with documented structural correctness, sound movement, and verified health histories across multiple generations. Bloodlines are studied and evaluated before every pairing, not selected for name recognition or marketing appeal alone.
We track each breeding dog's temperament from birth through adulthood and across multiple generations of offspring. Formal temperament testing is conducted at seven weeks on every litter using a standardized protocol. No dog with an unknown or unstable behavioral history contributes to this program.
Every Apexx litter receives Early Neurological Stimulation from days three through sixteen, structured progressive socialization, daily handling by multiple people, exposure to varied sounds and surfaces, and individual assessment through week eight. The first eight weeks of a puppy's life are not passive time in our program.
Every prospective family completes a detailed application and a direct conversation before any placement is confirmed. We evaluate experience level, living situation, lifestyle, and long-term commitment. Families that are not a realistic match for the breed are told that plainly, with respect and with resources to help them find the right dog.
Our relationship with puppy families does not end at pickup. We maintain active contact with approximately 80 percent of our families long after placement, providing health guidance, training consultation, and personal support for the life of the dog. This is not a policy statement. It is what we have done consistently for more than twenty years.
The Dogs Behind
The Program
A breeding program is only as strong as the dogs within it. Our breeding stock is selected for structural correctness, verified health, proven temperament, and meaningful pedigree contribution across multiple generations.
Twenty Years of
Principled Breeding
Apexx Akitas has been operating in Sussex County, New Jersey since 2003. What has accumulated over that time is more than a record of litters and placements. It is a documented body of outcomes that confirms our approach consistently produces what we intend it to.
The families who purchased from us in 2005 are still in contact today. The health data we tracked across early litters informed the breeding decisions we made in later ones. The temperament patterns we observed in certain bloodlines shaped which lines we retained and which we moved away from. This program is not built on guesswork. It is built on two decades of recorded, traceable evidence.
Why Families Choose
Apexx Akitas
There are other American Akita breeders. What distinguishes Apexx Akitas is not a single quality but the consistency of standards across every dimension of the program, maintained without exception for more than twenty years.
Every OFA certification for our breeding dogs is publicly searchable at ofa.org. We do not ask families to trust claims made on a website. We direct them to the public database and let those records speak for themselves. Any breeder who cannot do this is not breeding responsibly, regardless of what their marketing says.
Twenty years of breeding the same breed, in the same location, with the same standards produces something no newer program can offer: a genuine multi-generational track record. We know what our bloodlines produce at three years, at seven years, and at ten years because we have been following those dogs the entire time they have been alive.
We answer questions from families who purchased from us years ago. Our 80 percent long-term contact rate is not a marketing claim. It reflects what happens when a breeder is genuinely invested in every dog they have ever produced. Most breeders lose contact within the first year after sale. That is not how this program operates.
We do not place dogs with the first family who submits a deposit. We evaluate every applicant, ask direct questions, provide honest breed education, and sometimes advise people to wait or to consider a different breed entirely. A good placement is one that holds for the life of the dog. That is the only outcome metric that matters to us.
Proven in the
Show Ring
Conformation titles are not the primary measure of what Apexx Akitas produces, but the show ring provides something valuable that no breeder's own evaluation can replicate: objective, expert, third-party assessment of structure, movement, and breed type measured directly against the AKC standard.
Apexx Akitas-bred and owned dogs have achieved conformation recognition at AKC events, with judge evaluations confirming that our structural standards produce dogs that hold up in direct competition. More meaningful to us than any ribbon are the long-term outcomes we track in family homes over years. The two are connected. Dogs that are correctly built move and age well, and both of those qualities matter across a ten-year lifespan.
We researched American Akita breeders for over six months before finding Apexx Akitas. Ron's transparency, health testing, and genuine care for his dogs stood out immediately. Our Akita Bear is now four years old, has never had a health issue, and is the most well-adjusted dog we have ever owned.The Martinez Family · Pennsylvania · Apexx Akitas Alumni
Ready to Learn More
About Apexx Akitas?
The best way to understand this program is to engage with it directly. Review our health testing standards, explore our pedigrees, read testimonials from families across the country, and reach out with any questions. We respond to every inquiry personally and we welcome every serious question from prospective owners.