Popularity of a Breed

Sangmort

I've been thinking [ bad sign ] about the correlation between the popularity of a breed, and the breed's overall "health." [ health, in this situation, meaning not only health problems related specifically to the individual dogs, but the breed's situation in society: ie; Rescues, Back-Yard Breeders, Puppy Mills, Pet Stores, etc. ]

We have seen in the past what a surge in popularity can do to a specific breed. For example, the Dalmation. When the 101 Dalmations movie hit, it seems like there was a manifestation of problems within the breed. A Dalmatian breeder told me at a show, the breed still hasn't completely recovered.

I know this topic was touched on in the AKC thread started a few months back, but, I think it deserves a topic all of it's own.

So the question I suppose is, how popular do we want our Nihon Ken to become?


Too much popularity can result in BYB's, dogs ending up in Shelters, puppies showing up in petsores, & puppymills. [ as is the case with the Shiba, which, up until Nintendogs came out, barely anyone knew what it was. Indeed, til now, many people don't know what a shiba is, & yet, they are "popular" enough to end up in petstores ]

But...so little popularity also puts the breed in a difficult situation. See the Kishu or Hokkaido. There are so few breeders in Japan, & only one kishu breeder in the States [ no Hokka breeders here ] which makes the breed increasingly rare. The Hokka breed is already "dead" in the States, & if the only breeder of Kishu decides to stop breeding, the kishu breed will also die off in the states.


So...is too much popularity bad for a breed? Is too little bad for a breed? What would be a good "medium?"

You never know...Japan might release another video game or movie, involving Shika, or Kai, or one of the other nihon ken that can increase the breed's popularity here. Or, if these breeds are accepted into AKC that might also increase their popularity.

So if a surge does happen...what can we, as breed enthusiasts, do to "protect" the breeds we love so much? ~

Reno&Rico

Well, the most recent "hype" was the Akita movie Hachiko. Maybe akita breeders or owners can add their information if they have experienced any more questions about the breed, questions for puppies and such. This might give some interesting insides in how fast such thing may develop.
There are pretty many huskies in shelters. Was this due to movies like Eight Below or just the fact that it's a very beautyful dog (try to not like a husky puppy) but requires special owners who are very active. And even more, people who own more dogs, since one husky will never, ever get enough physical activity from the owner (unless they live in Alaska or other snowy area). One husky will almost always end up in trouble. Two or more is so much better since the breed always lives in packs. But lack of information given by the petstore/breeder and lack of research from the owner leads to serious trouble for the dog.

white_bear

Oh my, it was terrible with the JA these past years. Last year there were massive transports of akita pups from Hungary towards Italy (no papers, no health test, no nothing). Apparently some transports couldn't go through and there were so many pups being sold for practically nothing (of course, since most of them were ill, they became a liability) ... Worst of all, there are some serious temperament issues with these akita coming from backyard breeders (if they survive their first weeks) and worst of all some 'breeders' allowed their dogs to mate with such akita without papers and without screening.

I don't even want to think about what's gonna happen with all these pups when the owners realise they bit more than they can chew just because it looked pretty on tv.

I think the best thing for all nihon ken is to stay as unpopular as possible. Something on the lines of beauceron or malinois. Those who want to learn about them are free to do it. But too much popularity is truly detrimental to the wellbeing of a breed IMHO

Calia

"There are pretty many huskies in shelters. Was this due to movies like Eight Below or just the fact that it's a very beautyful dog (try to not like a husky puppy) but requires special owners who are very active. And even more, people who own more dogs, since one husky will never, ever get enough physical activity from the owner (unless they live in Alaska or other snowy area). One husky will almost always end up in trouble. Two or more is so much better since the breed always lives in packs. But lack of information given by the petstore/breeder and lack of research from the owner leads to serious trouble for the dog."

LoL, I very much agree with this. Tikaani is such a terror when left to his own devices, especially if Tetsu doesn't want to play. Since Tikaani is the only dog in the house that weighs more than 30lbs, none of the other dogs can handle him, so we were very happy when the neighbors got their standard poodle.

And you have no idea how often we are asked if we got Tikaani to guard the house, which apparently is the reason why most uninformed people get a husky around here, and that he must make a really good guard dog. And we usually respond with "if by guard you mean that he helps the thief carry our precious items to their car, then yeah he probably would make a good guard dog."

Calia

It sucks though, shibas aren't even super popular but they are cute enough to have so much trouble come to them. It'd be great to keep the breeds popularity down, but eventually the wrong person will see the breed and think about how their cuteness will get them tons of cash. The pet store around the block from me sells shiba pups for $1000, and they store owner boast that they are so cute they practically sell themselves. People will walk by the pet store, get curious about what a shiba inu is being that they've never heard of the breed before, see how cute the puppy is and how pretty the adult is (the shop owner has their own shiba to help advertise the puppies), not bother doing any research beyond hearing the store owner say that the breed is perfect for everyone, and end it off with buying the puppy.

Personally though, either way the breed is screwed.

The breed can get popular and it can go through bad breeding and health issues like the shiba inu, german shepherd, etc. Or it can become popular like how the pit bull is "popular" with a bad rep, used in dog fights, and restrictions in ownership. I can see dog fight enthusiasts catching wind of the shikoku being one of the breeds used to make the Tosa inu, and thinking of using it to "better" their own fighting stock.

With lack of popularity there's the risk of the breed going extinct, but also people hearing of the breed and selling/buying it because it is "rare" and "unique". And even if we rely on the breeders to screen potential buyers, there may still be a buyer that wasn't what they seemed to be that plans to use the pup in a fashion other than what is agreed upon.

Heidi

I think irresponsible dog owners happens, no matter how popular a dog is. It happens more to the popular ones because there are more of them out there, and therefore more chances for someone to screw things up.