The Companion Dog degree is awarded to all dogs who can perform the basics of being companionable. But, these pets have been trained to behave in the way the master wants.
Dogs learn at least every waking minute.
So then, obedience training is putting this learning ability to work. He's a good companion. By all means train your Akita. Akitas have become very popular. In 1963, you might have found two or three small ads for Akitas squeezed in between other miscellaneous ads in Dog World.