Guessing Ki's Breed Make-Up
Yes, I know the breed of a rescued pup doesn't mean everything, but it is really useful to find information on temperment and common medical issues (and I'm horribly curious lol).
I got Ki from a Shiba rescue in California when he was about 1.5 years old. The woman who ran the rescue believed him to be a Korean Jindo/Shiba Inu mix based on previous experience with a Jindo (and, of course, her experience with Shibas).
He's about 45 pounds. He is definitely double-coated and I pull a chinchilla out of his coat a couple times per year. His top coat is much coarser than his downy undercoat with a distinctive stripe of coarse guard hair running down his spine to his tair. These guard hairs are very wirey compared to the rest of his rather soft top coat. His ears are pretty big and very mobile lol...they are usually erect but he likes to rotate them to listen to something and can fold them back when relaxed. His tail doesn't curl up on itself but he can carry it over his back (kinda like a question mark), stick it out straight with a curve up at the end, or tuck it down by his legs (always with the little curve out at the end). I don't have him with me right now to measure but I'm including pictures to give you an idea of his height/build (I'm almost 6ft tall so keep that in mind when you see him next to me in pictures hehe) as well as general looks.
I figured a forum full of people who know dogs and know asian spitz dogs in particular might be able to give me some more ideas about what his mix might be. All too often, people can only offer knowledge based on what the AKC considers valid. Thanks for any help, insight, ideas and apologies for the spamity calamity of pictures here!
A good look at his head in profile:
The ears and coat:
With ears down:
The tail (sorry I don't have a lot of tail pics):
Ki sitting with me (although not up straight):
Ki next to one of those chair pillow things (on a futon sofa) with a ~12" (that's a guess?) rawhide:
I got Ki from a Shiba rescue in California when he was about 1.5 years old. The woman who ran the rescue believed him to be a Korean Jindo/Shiba Inu mix based on previous experience with a Jindo (and, of course, her experience with Shibas).
He's about 45 pounds. He is definitely double-coated and I pull a chinchilla out of his coat a couple times per year. His top coat is much coarser than his downy undercoat with a distinctive stripe of coarse guard hair running down his spine to his tair. These guard hairs are very wirey compared to the rest of his rather soft top coat. His ears are pretty big and very mobile lol...they are usually erect but he likes to rotate them to listen to something and can fold them back when relaxed. His tail doesn't curl up on itself but he can carry it over his back (kinda like a question mark), stick it out straight with a curve up at the end, or tuck it down by his legs (always with the little curve out at the end). I don't have him with me right now to measure but I'm including pictures to give you an idea of his height/build (I'm almost 6ft tall so keep that in mind when you see him next to me in pictures hehe) as well as general looks.
I figured a forum full of people who know dogs and know asian spitz dogs in particular might be able to give me some more ideas about what his mix might be. All too often, people can only offer knowledge based on what the AKC considers valid. Thanks for any help, insight, ideas and apologies for the spamity calamity of pictures here!
A good look at his head in profile:
The ears and coat:
With ears down:
The tail (sorry I don't have a lot of tail pics):
Ki sitting with me (although not up straight):
Ki next to one of those chair pillow things (on a futon sofa) with a ~12" (that's a guess?) rawhide:
Comments
I've never actually considered those herding breeds before though! Great recommendations for research.
What ever Ki may be he is handsome and you guys are lucky to have each other.
Of the Nihonken, if I were to choose one, I would say Kai Ken - Kai Ken x Shiba Inu. He got his head, feet, and color from a Shiba and his Ear-set, tail, and build from a Kai Ken.
BUT, Kai are pretty rare, so it's not as likely as a cattle dog or even an Icelandic Sheepdog. He could also be Finnish Spitz and not Shiba Inu for the color and type.
I don't see any spots on his tongue, is that correct? If so that would rule out 50% of the Kai and make him even more unlikely to be a Kai Ken mix, also rules out Chow and rarer Nihonken (like Hokkaido).
I bet you could get a dog similar to Ki if you mixed a Klee Kai and a Shiba.
His build is what throws me off, he is stocky - not many stocky spitz breeds. That is why I leaned toward the Kai.
He's really cute.
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Jesse
If you want a 100% answer, I would go with DNA testing.
I like the guessing games though! I liked the Shiba/ACD guess!