Other Japanese breeds?

edited May 2014 in Other Breeds
Hi, I dunno if this was answered before, but I noticed that this forum strictly focuses on Spitz breeds in Japan. There is no mention of Tosa or Japanese Chin. There is also another Japanese breed that looks like a smooth Russell terrier (not sure of it's name?) - Anyways, I was just wondering why that was. I mean, I know that both Tosa and Chin have 'foreign' origins, etc. But they are distinctive now?
Apologies if this was mentioned before.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tosa_(dog) (Tosa)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Chin (Chin)

My Czech friend's family had a Tosa that sadly died at age 4 (it was from un-reputable breeders)

ETA: Quick Google Search: Japanese Spitz and Japanese Terrier are the other breeds: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Terrier (Japanese Terrier)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakhalin_Husky (Skahalin Husky, a breed I didn't even know about)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_Spitz (Japanese Spitz)

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Also, Has anyone seen the Greenland Dog? I thought it was an Akita: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenland_Dog

Comments

  • Actually there is at least one thread on the Tosa, including some good history, if you look for it.
    Same with the Sakhalin husky and the Ryukyu dog.

    But per the intro on the forum:
    Welcome to The Nihon Ken Forum Group (NihonKen.org) - a forum dedicated to the preservation and education of the Nihon Ken (The Japanese Dog) breeds and standards. This site is owned and operated by fellow enthusiasts. Our hope is that this site will act as a 'launch pad' for enthusiasts and owners to connect with other enthusiasts and owners.

    The Nihon Ken Forum Group is a forum comprised of several categories and sections that focuses on the six native Japanese breeds: Akita Inu, Hokkaido Inu, Kai Ken, Kishu Ken, Shiba Inu and Shikoku Ken. We invite you to join our community and share your knowledge, interest and experiences with these amazing breeds.
    In addition, there is the Nihon Ken Hozonkai and the Nihon Ken forum roughly matches it in focus.
  • The Nihon Ken Forum was established to discuss the 6 Nihon Ken (actually I think it began as a shikoku forum for new owners and expanded to include the 6, then spun the shibas off into their own forum, so really we just focus on 5, plus some amount of American Akita) We also discuss other breeds from time to time, usually other primitive breeds and hunting spitzes in 'Other breeds' such as Laika, buhund, jindo... dogs who share function, temperaments and care. I am sure if you want to talk about Tosas, @brada1878 will be happy to contribute his experience to a Tosa thread in Other Breeds since he has two of them now.
  • The key word is "native Japanese breeds". The other breeds are heavily mix with other western breeds.
  • The short answer is this: The NKF focuses on the NIPPO breeds. All the other Japanese breeds are not members of NIPPO and so they don't have their own category on the forum.

    But, we added the "other breeds" category so any breed could be discussed, including the other Japanese breeds.

    I have a thread somewhere about my female Tosa, Sakura....

    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/8477/my-non-nihon-ken-nihonken-hakuzan-no-kurozakura-go#Item_22
  • @poltergeist Here's blog post that talks some on the Japanese terrier. I never met one before so not sure on that breed.

    This is one of my favorite blogs has a lot of good info.
    http://nihonken.blogspot.com/2014/01/the-japanese-terrier.html

    This thread has some neat tosa pics.
    http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/7186/tosa#Item_1
  • Thanks guys!

    Are there any threads about how similar Laika/Spitz breeds and Japanese spitz breeds are? I think it's quite fascinating to see striking similarities with these breeds, even though they are now "so different". I.e. that Greenland dog (first time I saw it was this year's Crufts, and honestly thought it was an AA).
  • Well, Laikas and NK are spitz breeds, so they are bound to have similarities like curled tail, pointy ears and muzzles. If you ever meet a Laika in person they don't really look like NKs. Aside from the characterizes shared by all spitz breeds, I think the NK have a pretty distinctive look to them. The AA is mixed with other dogs, so it looks quite different from the JA (which looks more like the other NK).
  • @poltergeist - We have a Laika forum too :)

    http://www.laikaforum.org/forum/

    I own most of the NK breed as well as WSLs... They're not very similar to the NK breeds in temperament or even in hunting style. Which was surprising to me since they were traditionally hunting in a very similar manner.

    I guess the reason for this is that the Laiki breeds, at their core, are small game hunters. They have a strong predator aggression, so that allows you to use them for hunting large game, but they were not "made" to hunt large game like most of the NK breeds were.
  • Personally, I posted the Tosa history because I did research in this breed. Just to give people the right info. That's all. This is a board for the original Japanese breeds. But the Tosa has more history as 4 of the original Japanese breeds. This is more a board for Akita and Shiba, more people own those breeds. Everyone likes his own breed the best.

    @ WrylyBrindle And I don't see, why someone who owns a few Tosa's, or whatever breed, is called a breed expert. I call it a dog owner. I respect people that achieve working titles with the breed, and look what the breed is capable of, besides the fighting history that has absolutely no value in the West. Walking a Tosa or having one or two in your yard has nothing to do with being a Tosa expert.
    But this is really no place for a Tosa.





  • Uh....no one said anyone was an expert...at least not that I see in the thread.

    And I suspect we have more Kai Ken people here now than anything else. Certainly not Shiba, because we have the whole Shiba forum for Shiba.
  • @BradA1878 ! Wow! Hahaha, I will have to bookmark this forum and have a look around.

    You think with my own personal background I would know more on the Laika breeds, but not really (besides the Samoyed, Husky, and maybe Karelian Bear Dog?) - It's true, I first wanted to get a Samoyed as my first dog (my hubby said no to big dogs) and their personalities are so different than Japanese spitz dogs (i.e. they act more like close to dogs than cat-like/aloof). I've realized I'm more of a cat person anyways...gimme a cat-like dog any day of the week :D

    I recently purchased this book: http://www.amazon.com/The-Dog-Encyclopedia-DK-Publishing/dp/1465408444
    And scanning through the variety of dog breeds listed (including ones I never even heard about; sadly no Estonian Hound!) - Anyways, I was kinda surprised at the colours that different Asian dogs come in (For example I had always assumed that the Jindo was just white). I will have more of a look through to see the Laika dogs and learn a bit more about them...
  • @kimputai I didnt say anyone was an Expert, and I am sure Brad himself would say he is still learning. He is the only Forum person I could think of who has Tosas right now, though.
  • edited May 2014
    @kimputai Wow... How did you get "Brad is a Tosa expert" from:
    I am sure if you want to talk about Tosas, @brada1878 will be happy to contribute his experience to a Tosa thread in Other Breeds since he has two of them now.
  • It's true, I am not a Tosa expert. Thanks for pointing that out @kimputai

    I don't see how anyone can say the Tosa has more history than the native NK breeds, especially considering the Tosa was created from the native NK breeds.
  • @wrylybrindle.....I have two Tosa dogs. My male was the first of the breed in the world.with à work title. My female has even more werking titles. The pictures I posted on this board have never been on the internet, same goes for the history story. It has taken à long time to get the right info and gather old historical pictures, that were only to be seen in old books. The breed is promoted nowadays as à working dog,sport dog, weightpulling, tracking, rescue, etc. In all my years in this breed I have never seen à single tosa perform in all that. Except my own dogs, and even I don t call myself an experienced tosa owner.
  • I love our Shiba Inu forum, the mods have done a spectacular job informing the public and welcoming new members. I am officially a Shiba Inu forum addict. Thank you to the quiet contributors that make it all possible!
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