There is plenty info about race standard but always there is little info about bright and sad sides of Hokkaido Inu:)



Hokka (we have shortened the breed name) is a very energetic dog, always in motion “when he walks, he runs” , after long walk or run Hokka will return to home, and will be ready to the next trip or a hard work in a few minutes. Our Siberian Husky is very lazy comparing to our hokka <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->.

As a hunting breed for large game hokkaido is supposed to be loud traditionaly japanese matagi (hunter) were hunting with two dogs, their main task was so called Hoe-dome "Holding by barking" and the second role was Kami-dome "Holding by bitting" usually only one dog was trained as "bitting one" and also usually it was a female.



And second role as a guarding dog for japanese home is making them double loud:)



So Kiba (our Ainu) is a very loud and "talking" dog, he have several barks and howls:) for different occasions - sometimes he sits before us and starts to talk <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->



We know who is coming to us, long before a real person shows at our doors, <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->there is separate howl for "it is postman", or "daddy's is coming home" or "I don't have idea who he/she is".



Kiba is vary cautions dog, he always look for a higher place from he could easily observe surroundings, he is always ready for action - we are joking that he sleeps with one eye open.



One very important thing, Hokkaido inu is a rather small / medium dog, but he is a extremely strong dog, recently during a veterinary visit (we have checked his eyes) we needed three persons to hold him in one place



He is very good regarding agility, sometimes when they are bored they start their own agility run, choosing the most dangerous route, jumping over obstacles, sliding under bushes, they have different style of play than Siberian husky or shiba inu.

First part of play it is almost always the phase of approaching, Hokkaido hides in grass and is slowly advancing toward his opponent, then it is attack phase – he jumps towards his target with loudly barking and howling, and the last phase I’am calling it the dance phase – hokkaidos are running and jumping around his target, they are making many false moves, without touching opponent. Funny thing… they seems to know how to cooperate, when Kiba and JaJa are playing with Buffy, when Kiba is barking at Buffy, JaJa always jumps at her back, when Buffy is trying to catch JaJa – Kiba starts to grab her tail.  

And when I’m observing our Siberian husky, I see that most fun she gets from chasing opponents, grabbing their necks and throwing to the ground.

And shiba… hm my sweet Amandil likes to running around but when it comes to any dog to dog contact he starts to growls, barks, and all fun stops.

Hokkaido inu is very devoted to his / her human family, but usually chooses only one person to be his only one true master, they are trying always to be near humans, from my observation and from opinions of other Hokkaido inu owners (which could compare this breed with other Japanese breeds usually shiba or akita) – Hokkaido inu are more submissive toward his owner  than shiba or akita, also because Hokkaido inu was  breeded for hundreds of years as a working, hunting breed it is going quite well with other dogs from his household, he has very good pack instinct  and could live with other dogs of the same sex. Also our Hokkaidos are accepting their cats, sometimes sleeping with them.

This is one side of Hokkaido inu. The bright one.

Hokkaido inu is tireless and brave hunter, you need good fences to prevent any problems with your neighbors.  Also because his predatory instincts are very strong you could forget about going with Hokkaido off-leash, he could be easily distracted by interesting smell or sound.

Hokkaido inu is a very self confident and brave dog, he could be dog aggressive and he will never turn away from possible fight, so visits in dog parks could be a little hard to us.

Also maybe his human family is love of his life, other humans are not.  A lovely Hokkaido in one minute could turns into growling monster, when strange to him person is trying to touch his head. This is a guarding dog and is supposed to not accept touching by strangers.

Hokkaido breeders and owners have their separate organization - DOKENHO. They are more interested in preserving Hokkaido as a working dog. Shows are quite big (even with 200 participants)



So one of the most important part of show is a character tests. They bring live bear or boar to the show, several rings on earth are painted. Then owner and his dog are closing to the wild animal (since few years this animal is always in cage). Judges are measuring time in which each of the painted rings is crossed, they watching style of hunting etc.  There is no contact between dog and animal.



Hokkaido as far as I know was never used in animal or dog fighting, but he has fierce character indeed.



Some pictures from character test:

and some form the hunts:

And finally some pictures of my dogs:)

Little JaJa (tomboy in Japaneese)

JaJa with Kiba

Kiba the fearless bear hunter :)

Kiba with Buffy

And here picture "We are big bad wolves"

Duel in the snow

 Beggining with the newest ones:

Hokkaido puppies playing in snowy hokkaido:

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Well, after a sleepless night, four hours on the road(there and back), one hour in US customs, Kangai is finally home and has joined the pack!

Everything went pretty good for the most part. We got at the cargo pick up at about 2:00 and she was already there waiting, but we couldnt see her until we went to the US customs office at the airport with her papers to be signed, so we drove over there with the papers, waited an hour for someone to actually help us out, greeted by EXTREMLY RUDE customs officer pretty much saying that the US has too many dogs to have one imported for that much money (he was a very big A$$hole ) Then we finally went and got our little girl!

When we saw her she was very excited, not distraught at all after being on the long plane ride. She makes some pretty interesting noises too! She is already howling, it is so cute. We stoped at a few places on the way home so she could go potty and she went right away. She is very good at knowing to go potty outside for the most part (eventhough I gave her TONS of water today and shes had a few accidents in the house, but shes excited so I forgive her )

Then we got home and introduced her to Kenji and Keira and the kitties and they love her! They have been playing ever since we got home! Im hoping she will finally poop out and take a nap, because after getting none lastnight, im exhaused!!

Also her ear isnt as bad as I thought it was going to be, and the spot in between her nose seems like its going to heal soon and it will grow hair back. I just need to make sure the other two dont try to bite her ear and make it sore, but they have been pretty good with her and just playing and not over agressive play.

I took a couple of pictures, but shes a very energetic little girl and doesnt really want to sit still at the moment (which I dont blame her for the long trip here) so I will update with more pictures tommorow!

 Edit:

Yes the doggies are on the table...lol. Kenji started it a while back (I think because its his nature in the breed where he needs to feel like he can watch everyone and everything and be on guard so thats his stop on the table, he even sleeps on top of the table sometimes....I shouldnt allow it but thats his nature to do so...lol) and Kangai and Keira were running on the couch and Kangai got stuck...hence why shes on the side table...they are a handful alright but are so cute!

Ewa and I talked on the phone today and told her everything was going good. However, I found out she can text me on my phone but I guess I cant text her, and for the last few days I have been texting her thinking she has been receiving them.  Anyways I sent her one today saying I had gotten Kangai and she was alright and healthy, but around an hour after I got home she texted me wondering why I hadnt contacted her and wondering if she was okay, so she must have been freaking out! So I guess I must be able to receive them from internationally, just not send them, so I called her and let her know she was safe and sound!

Thanks for all the warm wishes guys! I promise to spam much more later!