Yamabushi no Shakko (aka "Risu")

Shakko is the first true akatora we've produced. He's from the Nio x Haru litter. I think he deserves his own thread too...

(ordered by age)

Shakko - 8 Weeks Old

Shakko

Shakko

Shakko - 10 Weeks old

Shakko

Shakko Walking

Shakko

Shakko

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Comments

  • He reminds me of Nio in the second to last pic. :-)
  • OMG! He's gotten sooooo handsome!!! ~
  • I'm a big fan of the Akatora Kai - they're very striking. I really like his face, too, in the last and second to last pictures.
  • He is maturing nicely. You don't notice the ear as much now.
  • beautiful. maybe it's the pictures but he looks HUGE.
  • edited April 2012
    Thanks all! :o)

    @ayk - He reminds me a lot of Nio too. He has Nio's build and head.

    @Yandharr - That's the funny thing, he is tiny... Like very small. It's a bit troubling - hopefully he's just a late grower.

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  • @brada1878 - hmm I guess it was just a small batch huh? lol I'm curious, how much does he weigh? Sister just hit 16 lbs. and about 15"
  • edited April 2012
    @Yandharr - I'll have to weigh him and measure him. Mishi, their brother (litter mate), is a more normal size... So, I dunno, I guess we just got the runts. ;o) ... Nio is not a big Kai, keep that in mind. He's our smallest male.
  • Well, Shakko might be our smallest male now...
  • he's very handsome! Definitely looks a lot like Nio
  • He is gorgeous!
  • I really like his coat and build.
  • His coat is amazing!
  • What a handsome little guy, his coat coloration is stunning! He does look pretty huge in his photos haha, it must be a NK thing because everyone who runs into Tsune and has never seen a Shiba in person think they're twice the size from the photos they've seen.
    If that last photo was a poster I would definitely put it on my wall, great shot :)
  • Shakko is so gorgeous.
  • He is absolutely GORGEOUS. (Doesn't hurt that you take amazing pictures, either...)
  • Okay, not gonna lie. He is super cute. And I love his coloring.
  • Shakko FTW!
  • are his eyes really that light? I can almost never see Juno's pupils.

    After seeing pics of Okabe-san's dog, Mao(?), I thought I knew at last what akatora looks like- I mean that dog's black IS brown- his nose is not black. and I see clearly that Juno (for example) is NOT akatora, but a chutora with a nice red-gold coat and black stripes. Can you discuss the finer distinction of 'true akatora' for us? Shakko is beautiful, and light in color, but he doesnt look like Mao, so now I am not sure I understand akatora anymore...
  • His eyes are light colored, not as light as Nio's tho.

    Akatora has nothing to do with skin pigmentation. Mao has a liverish colored pigment. Akatora is specific to the color of the brindle only, and should have little-to-no black in it.

    Juno is probably more akatora now than chutora, but she is registered chutora. Shakko is registered akatora.

    There is no clear distinction between a very red chutora and an akatora, it is up to the individual judge/breeder to choose the definition of "akatora". I tend to save "akatora" for only examples who show the extreme, like Musashi, Shakko, Mao... But, one could argue that Haru, Juno, and maybe Ayu are akatora too.

    To me, it's when the pups are first born that tells their true color. Take for example Juno vs Shakko...

    Juno
    Haru_Winter-2011-Litter_Day3_Puppy1-Female_a

    Shakko
    Haru-WinterLitter2012-Pup1-Male-Day5a

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  • I think there was something on facebook that mentioned the nose pigment on akatoras and so that's blurring the definition for us.
  • Shakko is much redder at birth! In fact, the whole photo is redder. Its amazing (again) to see how much a dark pup can color up over time (Juno).

    Is the skin pigment unrelated to the black hair pigment, genetically? (I'm thinking of how you never see a chocolate lab with a black nose, nor a black lab with a liver nose. or in springers or pointers, liver spots: liver nose, eye rims + black spots: black nose eye rims.) In the end, is it all just a matter of degree? a spectrum, rather than an on/off thing. Must there be a liver gene in Mao, or other akatoras- or is any black a degree of overall red?
  • That sounds like a question for Ann @ayk :o)
  • It's interesting. I really like his color. The now abandoned Shiba health database was looking at skin pigment and color due to fading issues in the breed. Is liver pigment not desirable?
  • aykayk
    edited April 2012
    In chocolate labs, the gene that changes a black coat to brown will also change black skin pigment to brown. It'll also change the eye color. In a pup, the eye color looks blue/grey but as an adult the eye color looks yellow.

    The color term is called chocolate- or liver-dilute in some breeds and denoted by "b." On the DNA level, there's actually several different "b" genes that cause this color.

    I don't know if akatoras are caused by one of the obscure "b" genes or just "an unknown reddening factor". A buccal sample to a coat color DNA lab might be revealing. I think Shigeru still has access to Mao. If not Mao, then his son Kibou can probably be tested in the US. If Mao is really "bb", then Kibou has to be carrying one copy of his "b" gene.


  • I can go see Mao and get a sample if anyone is serious about doing a test.
  • Wouldn't we need a akatora sample from a dog w/o liver colored nose too for comparison?
  • The dog at the top of this thread does not have a liver nose. I'm sure if people are interested they can do the genetic tests, but I think its barking up the wrong tree. I think the only difference between the "types" of brindle is a gene or set of genes that control the ratio of eumelanin to pheomelanin (causing more or less black stripes on the red field, potentially even "drowning out" the red field entirely).

    I have seen, in brindle Akitas, offspring which have significantly different red/black pigment ratios from their parents. As an example, @jellyfart's boy Toki and his littermates have a traditional amount of red/black for an akatora Akita. His father, however, has a very unusually high amount of red with large spans (some areas wider than my hand) without any black stripes. This is just one example of many that leads me to believe that this "stripe dispersion" is a polygenic trait, which thus causes it appear "random" because so many different components come from both parents and mix together differently.
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