The Hokkaido
The Hokkaido Ken is one of the six, native, Japanese spitz type dogs. A medium sized breed that originated on the northernmost island of Japan, Hokkaido, they are often referred to as Ainu Ken after the original indigenous people of Japan. The Ainu called their dogs 'seta' or 'shita' and used them to hunt bear and deer. The Hokkaido Ken is thought to have crossed over to Hokkaido with the Ainu as they were pushed north by the arrival of the Yayoi from the Korean peninsula.
An aka Hokkaido male
The Hokkaido are thought to carry more of the genes from the older type of dogs that arrived in Japan with the Jomon. Although they did interbreed with the dogs brought over by the Yayoi, due to their exodus across the sea to Hokkaido they were geographically isolated. Studies have shown they share DNA with the Ryukyu Ken of Okinawa which are also believed to carry more genes from the original Jomon dogs.
The Ainu passed on stories by word of mouth, and several legends featured dogs. In the legend of the birth of the Ainu people, a princess was washed ashore on a desolate beach. As she was crying over her plight a white dog appeared and brought her food. From that day on the dog lived with her, and one day a child was born between them. The child grew to be strong and powerful, and the forefather of the Ainu.
A shiro Hokkaido male
The Hokkaido was declared a Living Natural Monument in 1937. There are two main breed registries, the Hokkaido Ken Hozonkai (Hokkaido Dog Preservation Society) and the Hokkaido Ken Kyokai (Hokkaido Dog Association). Almost no Hokkaido are registered outside of these two clubs.
The breed was originally made up of several bloodlines named after the areas they originated, with the most famous lines being the Chitose, Biratori, Atsuma (Azuma), and Yuwamizawa. Today the Chitose line is most prevalent due to the quality of the line in the breed's early days. White, smaller sized dogs with small ears and wide foreheads were common in this line. In comparison the Atsuma line had a large number of brindle dogs, with more tapered muzzles.
The Hokkaido is renowned for it's bravery. While very few are still used to hunt bear today, at breed shows hunting tests are conducted where the dogs are shown a live bear and scored on their movement, reaction, and hunting drive.
The Hokkaido Ken is a medium sized, strongly built dog. They have longer thicker coats than the other Japanese breeds, and also have wider chests, and smaller ears. Like all the Nihon Ken, they have a double coat made up of protective coarse outer guard hairs, and a fine thick undercoat that is shed seasonally. The breed comes in several colors: white, red, black, brindle, sesame, and wolf grey (HKH). Many Hokkaido also have spotting on their tongues. The breed has prick ears, and curl or sickle type tails. Dogs are between 48.5-51.5cm, and bitches 45.5-48.5cm (JKC,FCI,HKH), dogs 49-55cm, bitches 46-52cm (NIPPO).
The Hokkaido is a brave, energetic breed, capable of withstanding the cold temperatures of the Hokkaido winter. They have a life expectancy of around 15 years. The breed is extremely rare outside its native country. In Japan there is an estimated population of around 10,000-12,000, and yearly registrations of between 900-1000 (all registries). The breed has recently seen a rise in popularity in Japan due to a long running series of commercials featuring a white Hokkaido Ken called 'Otousan' (father).
An aka Hokkaido male
The Hokkaido are thought to carry more of the genes from the older type of dogs that arrived in Japan with the Jomon. Although they did interbreed with the dogs brought over by the Yayoi, due to their exodus across the sea to Hokkaido they were geographically isolated. Studies have shown they share DNA with the Ryukyu Ken of Okinawa which are also believed to carry more genes from the original Jomon dogs.
The Ainu passed on stories by word of mouth, and several legends featured dogs. In the legend of the birth of the Ainu people, a princess was washed ashore on a desolate beach. As she was crying over her plight a white dog appeared and brought her food. From that day on the dog lived with her, and one day a child was born between them. The child grew to be strong and powerful, and the forefather of the Ainu.
A shiro Hokkaido male
The Hokkaido was declared a Living Natural Monument in 1937. There are two main breed registries, the Hokkaido Ken Hozonkai (Hokkaido Dog Preservation Society) and the Hokkaido Ken Kyokai (Hokkaido Dog Association). Almost no Hokkaido are registered outside of these two clubs.
The breed was originally made up of several bloodlines named after the areas they originated, with the most famous lines being the Chitose, Biratori, Atsuma (Azuma), and Yuwamizawa. Today the Chitose line is most prevalent due to the quality of the line in the breed's early days. White, smaller sized dogs with small ears and wide foreheads were common in this line. In comparison the Atsuma line had a large number of brindle dogs, with more tapered muzzles.
The Hokkaido is renowned for it's bravery. While very few are still used to hunt bear today, at breed shows hunting tests are conducted where the dogs are shown a live bear and scored on their movement, reaction, and hunting drive.
The Hokkaido Ken is a medium sized, strongly built dog. They have longer thicker coats than the other Japanese breeds, and also have wider chests, and smaller ears. Like all the Nihon Ken, they have a double coat made up of protective coarse outer guard hairs, and a fine thick undercoat that is shed seasonally. The breed comes in several colors: white, red, black, brindle, sesame, and wolf grey (HKH). Many Hokkaido also have spotting on their tongues. The breed has prick ears, and curl or sickle type tails. Dogs are between 48.5-51.5cm, and bitches 45.5-48.5cm (JKC,FCI,HKH), dogs 49-55cm, bitches 46-52cm (NIPPO).
The Hokkaido is a brave, energetic breed, capable of withstanding the cold temperatures of the Hokkaido winter. They have a life expectancy of around 15 years. The breed is extremely rare outside its native country. In Japan there is an estimated population of around 10,000-12,000, and yearly registrations of between 900-1000 (all registries). The breed has recently seen a rise in popularity in Japan due to a long running series of commercials featuring a white Hokkaido Ken called 'Otousan' (father).
Comments
Thanks for this write up. You make it easy for me to be an armchair expert with all this information regarding the other NK breeds :-)
I'm curious, what do you think it the cause for Kishu remaining somewhat popular with hunters, but the Hokka being less popular? Does it come down to the preservation effort? Is it a micro-culture thing related to the geographic region of their popularity?
All that being said, I have heard of a few hunters that hunt with them.
As far as the majority of NK hunting dogs being Kishu, I'd chalk that up to the fact that the breed is a specialized hunter. They have always been boar/deer hunters, and they're damn good at it. Also this is totally my personal opinion, but having a white hunting dog is great. They are much more visible in the mountains, and a lot of people I hunt with comment on it. At present, there are just more Kishu hunting kennels left, so that just adds up to better odds of getting a good hunting dog when selecting a pup.
I'll ask around and see if in the future I end up with some actual solid info as opposed to personal observations and conjecture.
Taken from it's WikiPedia article, the beautiful Hokkaido looks like a Shiba Inu on steroids.
Here's a link that tells more about this breed and the Ainu people: http://ainu-dog.info/information.html.
@dlroberts I've noticed that Hokkiado is often referred to a somewhat backward place. In a couple of the Akita articles, they make some reference about it. Others chalk it up to the somewhat isolationist nature of the people there. If true, I bet it would play a part in the lack of information about the dog.
"He can't become a police dog, because he is so independent.
You shouldn't let the dog loose out of doors, because he don't come back at hand.
He sometimes ignores "come" if he has more important things to do.
He bites humans or other animals.
Even if you send your Ainu adult dog to training school, the dog would return home without becoming good like the other native Japanese breeds.
And he bites a trainer.
...
If your puppy urinates on the floor, tell him off hard and place his muzzle in the pee.
If you drop a scrap of paper on the floor on purpose before your puppy, he jumps at the paper at once. At that moment, tell him off hard, and he will become a good dog.
Naturally, tell the puppy off hard then and there, when he damages something in the room.
If you can't tell off the Hokkaido-Inu bravely, don't keep it.
The dog is wild dog!!! It has been bred like a wolf for hunting. But it has always hoped to be with humans."
I love the hyperbole (in engrish no less) but seriously, that site is very informative and has some good pictures to show geography as it relates to the history of the breed.
Anyway, for those interested in Hokkaido-Inu the website is http://ainu-dog.info/eng-index.html
Thanks again to Shigeru for posting this information in the first place.
Hokkaido seem pretty energetic from the video I seen.
And I have a question for anyone with any Hokkaido experience. I recently obtained a copy of Japanese Dogs by Michiko Chiba, and there is a section written by Masao Kimura about hunting with the Hokkaido Ken. In one part he makes the following comment, "And I've noticed that a lot of them [Hokkaido Ken] seem to pass the peak of their physical strength quite early. I don't know whether this is just my Ainu inu, or whether this is a weak point that's shared by all Ainu inu, but they shomehow give the impression of aging faster than other Japanese breeds. It's as if they age three times as fast--losing their agility quickly and becoming less able to recover completely from the aftereffects of their wounds" (Chiba 80-81).
I was wondering if anyone familiar with Hokkaido had any comment on this? Have any Hokka owners noticed anything similar to what is noted by Masao Kimura?
(On a side note, I hope it's OK I posted an actual quote from the book. If not, I'll remove it.)
Basically, I was wondering how it is a Hokkaido expresses its drive and if when you say it's "drivey" if you're saying it is more drivey than other nihon ken (or any other more common dog that's driven)? I mean, I get how my border collie shows her drive (she can be a very intense creature), but since I have never met a Hokkaido or really known any nihon ken of any breed my brain defaults to what a border collie drive is like and I doubt that's giving me a very accurate impression of a Hokkaido.
Now I'm all jumpy because I made an idiot of myself on the forum with a dumb question lol
@TheWalrus Thank you for taking my request into consideration. I look forward to any future Hokkaido owner accounts that you may be able to provide the forum.
@shishiinu lol about your Kishu being on redbull 24/7. My border collie was like that growing up, though she usually settles pretty well in the house (granted, that's with decent exercise), but she's less intense now in her old age (aka. now she's slowed down a bit, but she is still going...kind of like the energizer bunny, I guess). So a Hokkaido is even more energetic than a Kishu, huh? Hmn, do you think they are more energetic than a border collie (maybe it's not fair to compare such different breeds)? I ask this just so I can try and get an idea if a Hokkaido's energy level is similar to what I am used to since, as I have mentioned before, I really have no nihon ken experience for NK-only breed comparisons to give a completely accurate picture for me.
Even at a old age they never lose the hunting drive and energy. My oldest kishu riki still has quite a bit of hunting drive and he's now 16 yo.