The Shiba
The Shiba Ken (or Shiba Inu) is the smallest and most popular of the six, native, Japanese breeds. It is the only Nihon Ken that was not named after a geographical area. The reason for this is that in contrast to the other Nihon Ken, the Shiba is from a very large geographical area in central Japan. Like all the Nihon Ken, the Shiba was a hunting dog first and foremost, used to hunt small game and birds.
There are differing theories as to how the breed received it's name. One is that they were named because their red coats were similar in color to dried brushwood (shiba). Another is because the archaic reading for the kanji 'shiba' means small. The last theory is that they were named so because they were adept at weaving through brushwood when hunting.
It is said that the Nihon Ken has been present in Japan since the Jomon period. Unearthed shell mounds from the period have uncovered canine bones with approximately the same bone structure and size as the modern day Shiba. The fact that many of these dogs are believed to have been buried with their masters shows the close relationship the people of the time had with these dogs. Today there is a type of Shiba called the Jomon Shiba, which has been back bred to resemble the bone structure and type present in the early native dogs.
An aka Shiba male. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Tompkins
The Nihon Ken Hozonkai (Japanese Dog Preservation Society, or Nippo) was established in 1928 to preserve the native dogs from extinction. Crossbreeding with western dogs was prevalent, and Nippo members scoured the country collecting dogs from remote areas for breeding programs. The Shiba was declared a Living Natural Monument by the government of Japan in 1936.
During the harsh economic period Japan experienced during and immediately after World War 2, owning dogs was seen as wasteful and unpatriotic. Most dogs were rounded up and killed, and the Shiba was no exception. The dog's coats were used to provide clothing for the military, and many were eaten. It was through the noble efforts of Nippo members that the Shiba survived. The breed's number were severely depleted, and many prime specimens of the breed were lost. It took many years and the efforts of many society members to bring the breed back from the brink of extinction.
Today the Shiba is the most popular of the Nihon Ken, accounting for approximately 80 percent of dogs registered with Nippo every year. The breed has also become popular overseas.
The Shiba is the only small sized Nihon Ken. It has prick ears, and a curl or sickle tail. Like all Nihon Ken the Shiba has a double coat made up of coarse outer guard hairs, and fine thick undercoat which it sheds twice a year. It has a somewhat shorter coat when compared with the other Japanese breeds. There are three recognized coat colors: red, black, and sesame. White (or cream) Shiba are also born on occasion, but are non-standard. All Shiba should have "urajiro" markings which are markings of a white or cream color presented on the ventral portions of the body and legs, as well as on the cheeks and brow of the head. Dogs range in size from 38-41cm, and bitches from 35-38cm (NIPPO, JKC), dogs 38.5-41.5cm, bitches 35.5-38.5cm (FCI).
The Shiba is intelligent, and like all Nihon Ken, is a very independent thinker. They are an alert and energetic breed. Yearly registrations in their home country number from 50,000-60,000 (all registries combined). At present there is no estimate available for the total population. The main breed registry is run by Nippo, but there are several smaller breed clubs, and a large number of Shiba are registered with the JKC. There are also 2 rarer 'types' of Shiba, the Jomon Shiba, and the Mino Shiba. The Jomon was back bred to traits found in the earliest dog bones discovered in Japan, and has less of a stop, and a thinner longer muzzle. The Mino Shiba is a deep mahogany red color and is found in Gifu Prefecture.
There are differing theories as to how the breed received it's name. One is that they were named because their red coats were similar in color to dried brushwood (shiba). Another is because the archaic reading for the kanji 'shiba' means small. The last theory is that they were named so because they were adept at weaving through brushwood when hunting.
It is said that the Nihon Ken has been present in Japan since the Jomon period. Unearthed shell mounds from the period have uncovered canine bones with approximately the same bone structure and size as the modern day Shiba. The fact that many of these dogs are believed to have been buried with their masters shows the close relationship the people of the time had with these dogs. Today there is a type of Shiba called the Jomon Shiba, which has been back bred to resemble the bone structure and type present in the early native dogs.
An aka Shiba male. Photo courtesy of Lindsay Tompkins
The Nihon Ken Hozonkai (Japanese Dog Preservation Society, or Nippo) was established in 1928 to preserve the native dogs from extinction. Crossbreeding with western dogs was prevalent, and Nippo members scoured the country collecting dogs from remote areas for breeding programs. The Shiba was declared a Living Natural Monument by the government of Japan in 1936.
During the harsh economic period Japan experienced during and immediately after World War 2, owning dogs was seen as wasteful and unpatriotic. Most dogs were rounded up and killed, and the Shiba was no exception. The dog's coats were used to provide clothing for the military, and many were eaten. It was through the noble efforts of Nippo members that the Shiba survived. The breed's number were severely depleted, and many prime specimens of the breed were lost. It took many years and the efforts of many society members to bring the breed back from the brink of extinction.
Today the Shiba is the most popular of the Nihon Ken, accounting for approximately 80 percent of dogs registered with Nippo every year. The breed has also become popular overseas.
The Shiba is the only small sized Nihon Ken. It has prick ears, and a curl or sickle tail. Like all Nihon Ken the Shiba has a double coat made up of coarse outer guard hairs, and fine thick undercoat which it sheds twice a year. It has a somewhat shorter coat when compared with the other Japanese breeds. There are three recognized coat colors: red, black, and sesame. White (or cream) Shiba are also born on occasion, but are non-standard. All Shiba should have "urajiro" markings which are markings of a white or cream color presented on the ventral portions of the body and legs, as well as on the cheeks and brow of the head. Dogs range in size from 38-41cm, and bitches from 35-38cm (NIPPO, JKC), dogs 38.5-41.5cm, bitches 35.5-38.5cm (FCI).
The Shiba is intelligent, and like all Nihon Ken, is a very independent thinker. They are an alert and energetic breed. Yearly registrations in their home country number from 50,000-60,000 (all registries combined). At present there is no estimate available for the total population. The main breed registry is run by Nippo, but there are several smaller breed clubs, and a large number of Shiba are registered with the JKC. There are also 2 rarer 'types' of Shiba, the Jomon Shiba, and the Mino Shiba. The Jomon was back bred to traits found in the earliest dog bones discovered in Japan, and has less of a stop, and a thinner longer muzzle. The Mino Shiba is a deep mahogany red color and is found in Gifu Prefecture.
Comments
The Shiba is intelligent, and like all Nihon Ken, is a very indepent thinker.
You may want to add something like:
Unfortunately, due to the increasing popularity and knowledge about Shibas in the United States and other countries, they have become a "favorite" of puppy mill and back yard breeders. The result is that Shibas are showing up in shelters with greater frequency.
Honestly there's plenty of info about Shiba out there so I wasn't going to post a write up, but since I'd made one for my website I figured I'd put it up.
I wouldn't mind getting some boar skin and seeing what Saya thanks of it.. lol
It appears the Shibas are alarm barking which the hogs don't seem to be concerned with too much. In this situation I don't think the Shibas have been taught what to do fully, or really know how to deal with such large beasts (hogs look a bit feral). The Shibas at least have the innate concept and enough sense to know when they are at a disadvantage though. Notice how they move to the opposing side of the human, furthest away from the hogs, as the person separates the two spaces. Smart dogs in terms of self preservation. I also like the fact they work as a pair in some respect to distract the chasing hog.
IMHO the Shibas really appear not so good for that type of game. Seems kind of strange....I would love to know what this person was thinking purpose wise when the footage was shot and reasoning behind the activity. I could be wrong but it makes better sense not to gamble with potential injury on a breed that is not quite physically the best equipped to deal with larger sized hogs.
If it had been four rabbits instead or a ground hog, you betcha the Shibas would most likely be circling in from two directions to meet it at the center. Good for them for thinking about playing it safe in the case of the hogs though.
Snf
I agree that those shibas probably were not too confident in getting any closer but I actually prefer a medium to a smaller sized dog then a large size dog for hog hunting. The smaller framed dogs have much more endurance, faster runners through thick brush, and less likely to be stuck in a area where it cant get out and end up being hurt.
Looking at the video, I think those Shibas probably will have some potential in hunting hogs. I just wish there were more Shibas out in the field and more intrest in working line Shibas.
This really puts things in a different mindset when looking at the breed as a whole in working and developing motivation in training. (As far as being pain in the arse to the boar until you get there, yep many would be good at that (LOL)....At least a more "drivy' dog.)
I never thought of Shibas as baying in the traditional sense like beagles or hounds though. They certainly can be persistent when they want, that's for sure.... the perceived negatives such as looking for an opening, duck and dodge, not being touched, or being out of a hairs reach behavior does have its benefits. Again in context it makes complete sense.
Too bad the catch me if you can "tag" occurs around dining room tables across America rather than a good program to use the skill set an animal is born with.
I will be rethinking training a bit with these insights placed in the forefront. It seems so obvious and yet sometimes we look at what we like in dog only to completely missing the finer points that are historically significant .....particularly how we can work with the perceived negatives to benefit aspects of training. Certainly trainer thinking can become clouded if one attempts to work around or disregard fixed patterns that can so heavily influence training outcomes. In hindsight it seems many of us are missing a lot about the Shibas true mentality that gets pushed off to the side.
It also really reaffirms, changing purpose over time may allow breed character to slip over the long haul as well.
Grounding moments are good...Thanks for the response...
Snf
In addition, if Shibas were used as "guard dogs" in the sense of alerting their owners to potential intruders, wouldn't certain behaviors also become part of the breed legacy? For example, either loudly alerting your owner to an intruder or watching quietly, with a follow on rapid attack -- either solo or as part of a pack?
Sukoshi is my puppy mill female. She is not a hunting dog per se, but I can count on her to let me know via body language if there is a wild animal in our immediate vicinity. She has let me know about skunks, coyotes, and deer. Typically she will stand or sit and really get focused in some direction. She's absolutely quiet, but really intense. When she gets this way, I double check to make sure that we don't have a problem.
My name is Hetty and I'm from the Netherlands
I train my Shiba Ikaiji for blood tracking since one year now.
Ikaiji doing very well and he has a very good nose for it, here I send a movie from where you can see him working on tracking the wildboar.
Ikaiji on training.
He needs to find the trail of the wounded animal who is shot wrong or wounded by a car.
This trail was 24 hours old before he is tracking this trail.
He is also trained on tracking deer.
This article is about hunting with Shibas. I do not know if it has ever been put on this forum.
Perhaps the most know well Nobuo Atsumi, I corresponds with hem for a long time, I talk with him over the hunting scills of Shibas, and that Mr. Atsumi is afraid that the hunting instinct is lost in the modern Shiba's.
http://yokohamaatsumi.the-ninja.jp/page005.html
Dogster sucks when it comes with url links if it doesn't work look to see if there is a space in the link and remove the space.
http://www.dogster.com/forums/shiba_inu/thread/663684
http://www.shiba-dog.de/ShibaDog-en.htm
Another interesting article.
There are pictures to come later on. Re-reading what Gen has written, I was again struck by the tactics of the dogs on these large sheep. The size comment is interesting. I tend to agree that the smaller dog (Farrah) is faster, keener and more manuverable when confronting a sheep. The male Koji hung back a bit more and actually demonstrated more circling and gathering from farther away, which is what is good for herding.
It actually got a little hairy today. In addition to the traditional large white sheep, we got a flightly Barbados Blackbelly sheep who looked like a deer and he really sent their hunting instinct into overdrive. Farrah outright targerted it and actively seperated him from the flock, matching his speed and agility precisely move for move without tiring. She chased and grabbed on it's back and flank with her teeth. She bayed also. She is not really supposed to do bite in herding as it is dangerous to the sheep and the dog, and it is something we will work on tempering with the lessons.
This lesson today gave me a much better feel for how this breed may have hunted, and the lessons overall have given me an excellent idea about what type of dog would do well on larger animals. Of course this is much different than the dogs tracking a deer out in the mountains, but this is probably as close as my Shibas will ever get to hunting, unless someday I locate a facility who will let me try the dogs with pheasant or quail in a field somewhere.
Anyways, I have a better idea about what type of dogs I want in my program. The behaviors I like, since I am wanting Shibas who have drive and desire to work, are as SnF mentioned, those that many trainers and their clients may see as troublesome. That is definately something for me to keep in mind as time goes by.
You guys know something about this? I might been reading something old.
http://www.shiba-dog.de/shiba-klub/Zecken/jomon-en.htm