First let me say both Ahi and Loa are beautiful. And thank you for the link, Osy, and the pictures, Brada.
Ok so I went "in search of" and now I'm more confused than ever. I have obviously heard of akitas and I have heard of Shibas but the other four are new to me.( I have also heard of Kai Ken, but not much) I just did a quick web search and they all seem to be so similar. Other than The Kishu being generally white and the Hokkaido haveing a blue/black tongue most of the time there isn't much difference that a novice can see. How do people know they are actually seeing what they are told they are seeing? Maybe I just need to keep looking at all the pictures of the 4 breeds and pick up on the differences. I'm kind of relieved I didn't know about these guys before I filled my dog quota. I never would have been able to choose one of the four. Although I really like the way the Kishu Ken looks. Like a little polar bear as a puppy. Actually they are all so cute I'd never be able to choose. And to make matters worse, I just found the japanese spitz! I'll keep reading and trying to educate myself. Thanks for the help.
I dunno. after studying them for a while, they look rather different to me. xD
Kai has very distinct brindling ( brindling can happen in some of the other breeds, but is rare ), Akita is the largest, Shiba is the smallest, Shikoku have a specific head shape and generally the colour is different from all other Nihon Ken, Kishu have a narrower muzzle + a flagging tail ( Kai also have a flagging sort of tail ), Hokkaido have a boxier head and are slightly larger than the Shiba, but not by much.
Here are some more photos of a Shikoku. He has a similar, yet slightly different head shape than Loa or Ahi. They have less stop (the ridge between their eyes) than the other nihonken and also have a narrower skull shape in general. The others have a broader forehead.
As a year old
As a 6 month old (see the shorter muzzle)
Kuma is 20 inches tall and about 35 lbs (just turned a year old on 9/9/08
Osy, thank you for posting those pictures with the key characteristics. Having them all together like that is helping me to see the differences. I think the Kai and Shikoku have differences that once you study them are noticable. I'm having a problem with them all being in the same height/ weight range and if you had a Hokkaido, Kishu, and a Shikoku all in the same color, say red sesame, would you then be able to tell them apart. Or a Hokkaido and a Kishu both in white. I think it would be very hard to tell them apart. But, like I said, I've never even heard of these breeds so it's all new to me. They all look like great dogs, though. I'm having a great time learning about these awesome breeds.
And Edgewood, Kuma is beautiful. The things you pointed out are not things I would easily notice, I don't think. Maybe after seeing them more I will but as someone just learning, it's difficult. I would so love to see the three I mentioned above all in the same color so that then the differnces would be more noticable?
Off to look at more pics of these babies. Thanks again
DLW - study their heads closely and that is where you will begin to notice the differnces. Shikoku have more of a wedge shape head when looking from the front (the nose the point, the ears the sides), Hokkaido, Akita, etc, have more "cheeks" in that as their nose transitions into their head, it flares out much more (and hence they have more "cheeks" and a broader forehead). Same with the side profile (ie, Shikoku have less stop, which is the vertical rise between the eyes).
I hope that helps. I am trying to explain it in text, which is difficult.
I agree that the skull shape is more long and narrow than other Nihon Ken. My Rakka doesn't have much of a stop and her face is kind of long. Her ears point forward slightly and are stiffer than other dogs with erect ears (in my opinion). Her eyes are slanted, narrow, and have thick, dark rims. She has a thick neck, with thick, rough fur on it. She weighs 35 lbs. Her body is quite lean, but her legs, hind-quarters, and shoulder are all very beefy and muscular. She has a deep chest, too. I think all these things combine to make her a powerful runner and jumper.
I am going to try to get a video of her running full tilt one of these days. We have a little cliff/gravel pit on our property and she can run right up the face of it and jump straight up onto the edge. It's hard to describe, but it's impressive when you see it.
nice pics everyone! brada, i love ahi's color! thats the type of color im hoping for in my future shikoku. btw do u happen to have a pic of ahi and loa together? id like to get a better idea of the size difference between them. edgewood, i love the shorter muzzle on kuma, he looks real good!
cool! its hard to tell the size difference in those pics though. is it very noticeable? it would be cool if mine turned out a little bigger hehe who were ahi's parents? do u happen to have some newborn puppy pics? id like to get an idea of how to choose colors when the litter is born. they always seem so similar in color when they are really young (under 8 weeks)
Rakka is in the Ahi photo as well. I'm about 80% sure she's the one to the right of Ahi (I didn't have her as a puppy, so it's hard for me to know for sure).
Shikoku & Kai are about the same in the height category, with Kai being more "beefier," methinks. [ notice how Kona has a thicker neck & a broader chest ]
haha i think the only puppy pics i saw before were of reds so thats why i thought it was hard to distinguish when young. thanks for clearing that up! now i know what to expect when the time comes.
Ahi puppy pic - Aibo (male) has to be the one yawning on the right then.
I'm pretty sure that Kei-kun was around 30 lbs at 4 1/2 months. So he's gotta be in the 40's now. Does Petsmart have a weighing scale? My vet is about 43 miles or so from where I live so I can't conviently go to check his current weight. Lynx weighs in at about 45-47 lbs and Kei is just as big as she is but not as bulky, he is more slender. Last I checked his height, it was around 21 inches.
Comments
This is Ahi, she is a 2 year old over-sized Black Sesame female Shikoku Ken...
*Ahi is to large to be within the standard, but her color is perfect, imo, for a Black Sesame Shikoku Ken.
This is Loa, she is a 1 year old Red Sesame female Shikoku Ken. Loa is the right size for the standard...
Hope that helps
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Ok so I went "in search of" and now I'm more confused than ever. I have obviously heard of akitas and I have heard of Shibas but the other four are new to me.( I have also heard of Kai Ken, but not much) I just did a quick web search and they all seem to be so similar. Other than The Kishu being generally white and the Hokkaido haveing a blue/black tongue most of the time there isn't much difference that a novice can see. How do people know they are actually seeing what they are told they are seeing? Maybe I just need to keep looking at all the pictures of the 4 breeds and pick up on the differences. I'm kind of relieved I didn't know about these guys before I filled my dog quota. I never would have been able to choose one of the four. Although I really like the way the Kishu Ken looks. Like a little polar bear as a puppy. Actually they are all so cute I'd never be able to choose. And to make matters worse, I just found the japanese spitz! I'll keep reading and trying to educate myself. Thanks for the help.
Brad - I really love the 2nd picture of Ahi & the 1st one of Loa
Kai has very distinct brindling ( brindling can happen in some of the other breeds, but is rare ), Akita is the largest, Shiba is the smallest, Shikoku have a specific head shape and generally the colour is different from all other Nihon Ken, Kishu have a narrower muzzle + a flagging tail ( Kai also have a flagging sort of tail ), Hokkaido have a boxier head and are slightly larger than the Shiba, but not by much.
Nice breed pics, and great website Osy.
As a year old
As a 6 month old (see the shorter muzzle)
Kuma is 20 inches tall and about 35 lbs (just turned a year old on 9/9/08
And Edgewood, Kuma is beautiful. The things you pointed out are not things I would easily notice, I don't think. Maybe after seeing them more I will but as someone just learning, it's difficult. I would so love to see the three I mentioned above all in the same color so that then the differnces would be more noticable?
Off to look at more pics of these babies. Thanks again
I hope that helps. I am trying to explain it in text, which is difficult.
I am going to try to get a video of her running full tilt one of these days. We have a little cliff/gravel pit on our property and she can run right up the face of it and jump straight up onto the edge. It's hard to describe, but it's impressive when you see it.
Here's a photo of her:
edgewood, i love the shorter muzzle on kuma, he looks real good!
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it would be cool if mine turned out a little bigger hehe
who were ahi's parents?
do u happen to have some newborn puppy pics? id like to get an idea of how to choose colors when the litter is born. they always seem so similar in color when they are really young (under 8 weeks)
Ahi:
*She is the dark one that is not yawning.
Loa:
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This will give you an idea of the size difference:
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The Ahi Monster is an exception
thanks for clearing that up! now i know what to expect when the time comes.
I'm pretty sure that Kei-kun was around 30 lbs at 4 1/2 months. So he's gotta be in the 40's now. Does Petsmart have a weighing scale? My vet is about 43 miles or so from where I live so I can't conviently go to check his current weight. Lynx weighs in at about 45-47 lbs and Kei is just as big as she is but not as bulky, he is more slender. Last I checked his height, it was around 21 inches.