Hokkaido

The Hokkaido is a Japanese dog native to the prefecture of the same name. It is also called the Ainu dog, Ainu-ken or Seta, and in Japan the name is sometimes shortened to Dō-ken.

History

All of Japan’s native dogs, the Hokkaido among them, are believed to descend from dogs brought to the islands in the Jomon period. The Hokkaido itself is thought to come from medium-sized dogs that arrived with migrants from the main island of Honshu in the 1140s.

The English zoologist Thomas W. Blakiston gave the breed the name “Hokkaido” in 1869. In 1902 the dogs were used in the search for survivors of an Imperial Japanese Army regiment caught in heavy snow while crossing the Hakkōda Mountains in Aomori Prefecture.

In 1937 Japan’s Ministry of Education declared the Ainu dog a living natural monument and a rare species protected by law, and settled on Hokkaido-Inu as its official name. Most Japanese people call it Hokkaido-Ken all the same. Outside Japan the breed is extremely rare.

Appearance

The Hokkaido is a medium-sized dog with small, triangular, upright ears and small dark eyes with a triangular outline. It has a double coat: long, stiff outer fur over a shorter layer of soft fur. Colors include red, white, black, brindle, sesame, black and tan, and wolf-gray.

Males typically stand about 50 cm (20 in) at the withers, with females slightly shorter, and weight is in the region of 20 kg (44 lb). Dogs bred outside Japan may be smaller.

Care and health

The breed has a very high rate of Collie eye anomaly. About a third of Hokkaidos are affected by the condition, and two thirds are carriers.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.