Ryukyu Inu

Jbm0024

Hey guys, I was just browsing the web about Nihon-Ken and stumbled across a dog from Okinawa called the "Ryukyu inu"? They're rather beautiful and have an interesting red coat with stripes. Has anyone ever met one of these in person? I'd like to hear more about them if anyone has any information.

Here is the website I found with some nice photos of some Ryukyu inu. http://blog.mikesryukyugallery.com/2011/05/ryukyu-inu-photos-okinawas-pedigree-dog.html

dlroberts

Interesting looking dogs. They do have some gorgeous brindle.

Sangmort

Very interesting! The ears look a little shepherd-y to me [ particularly on the young pup ] ~

curlytails

I'd love to know more about Ryukyu ken too. Are they not considered "Nihon ken" proper? They are quite similar to some indigenous Taiwan dogs, which makes a lot of sense, geographically speaking.





Taiwan dogs come in a wider variety of coat colors though. And obviously, the further north you go, the furrier the dogs get.

Losech

Those are neat looking dogs.

ttddinh

nice dog, thanks for posting

TheWalrus

I remembered posting something about the Ryukyuu (Ryukyu) a while back on the forum, and after a bit of digging, I found it, and edited it a bit.


The Ryukyu is found in the southernmost islands of Japan, in Okinawa Prefecture. They vary slightly in type from island to island. There were around 1500 10 years ago, but only around 6-700 at present. The Ryukyu Inu Preservation Society was set up in 1990, and they've set up breed standards and the like. The breed has been declared a natural monument by Okinawa Prefecture. They are extremely rare outside Okinawa, and are not recognized as a breed by any clubs other than the one breed specific registry.

Ryukyus are known for being milder in temperament than other Nihonken, and friendlier. Their coats are shorter than other Nihonken, and come in many different colors. 'Toola' means tiger pattern in Okinawan (in mainland Japanese it's pronounced 'tora'), and the recognized colors are 'kuro-toola' (black-tiger), 'aka-toola' (red-tiger), 'shiro-toola' (white-tiger), and 'akain' (a solid red-brown). Different mixes of the colors can result in solid whites, blacks, sesames, and ivorys (all these colors not recognized at present). Around 60 percent of Ryukyus have the tiger stripe pattern.

Ryukyus have a shorter 'stop' than other Nihonken, are medium sized (roughly the same as Kais), and I would assume are classified as a spitz type. Tails come in two types, point and curl, with most having pointed tails.

Here's links to the different colorations. This is a blog run by a Ryukyu Inu Preservation Society member.

Black-tiger http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13448415.html
Red-tiger http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13382179.html
White-tiger http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13419219.html
Red (w/black mask) http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13499279.html
Red (golden eye) http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13539484.html
Black http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13701492.html
White/Ivory http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13648658.html
Sesame http://okinawa-dog.seesaa.net/article/13752736.html

ayk

Very cool. Interesting to see that the Ryukyus carry brown/chocolate as seen in the Red (golden eye) dog.

shishiinu

I have heard they are still used as hunting dogs in Okinawa.

WrylyBrindle

these guys would fit right at home in my pack...
that pup curlytails posted reminds me of my Reilly as a pup so bad.:)

Jbm0024

Thanks for the links!

ttddinh

thanks!

MikoChan

Being that my mother in law is from Okinawa I only find it right to add one to the pack.

cezieg

Woah this is a really old post. Awesome looking dogs though. I really like the brindles! Especially the "white" brindle and the very dark red brindles with black muzzles and distinct black facial stripes.

hanakuso

Sorry for bumping a very old post but I have a very high interest in the Ryukyu Inu and hopefully in the near future I can add one to the family.

The Ryukyu is found in the southernmost islands of Japan, in Okinawa Prefecture. They vary slightly in type from island to island. There were around 1500 10 years ago, but only around 6-700 at present. The Ryukyu Inu Preservation Society was set up in 1990, and they've set up breed standards and the like. The breed has been declared a natural monument by Okinawa Prefecture. They are extremely rare outside Okinawa, and are not recognized as a breed by any clubs other than the one breed specific registry.

I believe I contacted this same Preservation Society you've mentioned and it seems they have become inactive. I was told at present, now it's down to around 300. In general, information regarding the Ryukyu Inu is so hard to come by.