Royal Shikoku?

JessicaRabbit

Is it just me or does it appear that Crown Prince Naruhito and his wife, Crown Princess Masako (of Japan) have a Shikoku?

CrimsonO2

Wow...I have to agree with you...I can't think of it being anything else unless it's a sesame Shiba. But even then Yuri just looks too long. Look at Yuri as a puppy 3/4 of the way down the following page.

http://www.forumforfree.com/forums/a/prince-naruhito-amp-princess-masako_post20-210-theroyals.html?mforum=theroyals

And saw the dog from another angle...Definitely leaning towards Shika...too skinny to be a Shiba.

the_november_rain

Looks like it just blew its coat. There are more pictures on Google search

sukoshi_mom

I also recall seeing some pictures of them w/ a Shiba a couple of years ago.

shibamistress

I was going to say that I know they did have a Shiba--saw some pics awhile ago, but come to think of it, once I saw a pic of them walking with two dogs, and I thought one was just a kind of funny looking sesame Shiba! (*lol* sorry, I didn't know much about the other NKs in those days!)

BradA1878

Does look a little like a Shikoku - tho that Shikoku has HUGE ears.

Maybe it's a West Siberian Laika?

----

Heidi

Yeah, it looks like a Shikoku, but a little different from the Shikokus I've seen. So, either just a little different-looking Shikoku or maybe a "generic" Japanese dog.

TheWalrus

Looks like a mutt to me.

JessicaRabbit

I think I like the idea of a royal family having a mutt even more.

ShikokuSpirit

My guess would have been a Shikoku mix at best.

shibamistress

More and more puzzling. I went looking for the Shiba pics I saw. Here is one that looks like them with an old (and giant?) Shiba:

http://royalandco.wordpress.com/2009/02/02/this-month-in-pictures-february-2009/

Here is Yuri as a pup:

http://gpdhome.typepad.com/royalblognl_news_summary/2009/05/japans-royal-enjoying-weekend-away.html

And finally found the pic of what I thought were Shibas, but now that I have a more educated eye, they don't really look like Shibas, unless they are GIANT Shibas:

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/asia/japan/2008/12/10/186990/Depression-stress.htm

(sorry these are links not pics...I don't know how to get the pic in there instead of the link)

violet_in_seville

Hmmm...for all those who said too long and skinny to be a shiba, that's actually how Violet is built. It is possible that it is an outlier shiba (much like mine is, and she is the only one in her family built like this). On the other hand the face looks a bit different than a shiba to me.

http://gallery.me.com/bfigura#100157/IMG_3381&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/bfigura#100157/IMG_3384&bgcolor=black
My apologies to Phil, at whose house the above photos and many more on that site, were taken,

Here's another photo of the royal family pup.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/world/asia/12princess.html

TheWalrus

Just looked it up. A stray mixed breed dog wandered into the Imperial Palace grounds and had a litter of pups in the forest. While the rest of the pups were adopted by workers, 2 were taken in by the Crown Prince and his family. 2 years ago one of the dogs died, and so they adopted a 2 month old mixed breed from an animal hospital.

I think it speaks volumes about the royal family in Japan.

Losech

That's awesome, reading about an important family who adopted mixed breeds instead of purebreds or designer dogs.

JessicaRabbit

That is awesome. Officially my favorite royals.

sunyata

I agree with Jessica... Definitely my favourite royals by far!

Loni

Whatever mix she is, she's adorable.

qiksilver

That's an awesome story.

kbbd83

@violet - That's how my shiba is built too. I tell him he's just aerodynamic! lol.

Kevin

@brad I thought WSL too, with a name like Yuri. But he doesn't have the typical WSL features.

Araks

That really is awesome. They all went up in my book.

shibamistress

That's really cool. Definitely some NK in the mix somewhere!