Kishu Ken color
I've been looking at all the pictures of colored Kishu Kens and am somewhat saddened by what I see. I know the colored dogs are just as wonderful personality-wise, but in my opinion, one of the greatest features that makes the Kishu Ken stand out from the crowd of other Japanese breeds is the white coat.
Looking at many of the pictures it was hard to tell if I was looking at a Shikoku, or a large Shiba or small Akita.....but seeing a white coat (not cream) lets me know I have found a Kishu Ken. I feel it is a mistake not to work toward promoting the preferred color of the original founders of the breed.
One of the greatest distinctions of the Kishu Ken breed is the pure white coat.
Carleen........Kishu Ken-nel
Looking at many of the pictures it was hard to tell if I was looking at a Shikoku, or a large Shiba or small Akita.....but seeing a white coat (not cream) lets me know I have found a Kishu Ken. I feel it is a mistake not to work toward promoting the preferred color of the original founders of the breed.
One of the greatest distinctions of the Kishu Ken breed is the pure white coat.
Carleen........Kishu Ken-nel
Comments
First, white is not the "preferred color." It is seen as unfortunate that white is the overwhelming majority for Kishu breed right now, and that the other colors have been all but lost completely.
And secondly, if you can't tell a Kishu apart from one of the other Nihon Ken based on its structure and type... you REALLY need to work on your eye for breed type. Seriously.
PS. What about Hokkaido? They're about the same size as a Kishu and are also commonly white. Can you tell a Kishu apart from a Hokka? XD
Do you know how awful it is that the biggest memory I have from meeting you is remembering that you pointed directly at Nami while we were side by side at Westminster and said "they USED TO come in other colors" like me and my dog weren't there, or I was preserving some dinosaur or my dog was insignificant?
There is no officially preferred color in the Kishu Ken. A Kishu can have poor type regardless of color. A Kishu can have good type regardless of color. A Kishu that is white can still be out of standard. And yes, the prevalence of white coats in the Kishu is generally seen as a cautionary tale, to the other breeds, especially when the quality of non-white coats suffer.
I am really getting tired of this with you. I do my best to be amiable and try to reach out to you and be involved with the way you want to run things for the Kishu here. I even refer people to you - and reading this has made me very sad that I do. What are you breeding for beside white coat if you cannot tell the difference between Kishu and Akita past the coat? I cannot stand this kind of misinformation in the breed--especially one where the numbers and community is so small, we should be encouraging people to work together, not shaming one another and dividing ourselves because of personal preferences.
If you don't like colored coats, don't breed for them. It is that simple.
If you cannot see type past coat color, you need to look at more Kishu. Maybe we can visit Japan together, one day, and visit some kennels and learn what they think?
A white Kishu with obvious faults and a Hokkaido with what looks like decent type to my untrained Hokkaido eye.
You think this Kishu has poor type because she has a sesame dam, and it has nothing to do with her white, hunting-line sire? Is that what you are saying? Because no non-white Kishu can have good type?
To say those whose efforts differ from yours are making a mistake is offensive.
I can still tell difference from a cream shiba and white hokkaido dog, differences between a kishu and hokkaido and so on.
I've also seen big shiba inu and they don't look like kishu pictures I've seen.
And aside for point ears and curly/sickle tail, each of the NK are distinct enough to tell apart to the educated eye even if they have the exact same coat color. None of the colored kishu I've serm look anything like the other NK, or even other spitz breeds. If anything, the white kishu are easier to confuse with other spitz breeds, can't tell you how many people confuse cream shibas with kishu.
And I have to say, it's quite disappointing to see someone who is supposed to be a responsible and well known breeder make such a low blow on a public forum. Responsible breeders are supposed to be supportive and helpful to others wanting to get involved with the breed, and not make such harmful accusations. It really shows the type a breeder you are, and one that I wouldn't buy a dog from.
As far as I can tell, no major registry (NIPPO, UKC, FCI) penalizes a colored coat. A personal breeding preference should not be presented as the breed standard even if you did found the breed club in the US.
Konomi Go Hakusanyamashima
Japanese Hokkaido in white:
MARUTO HOKKAI KOMATSU
:
Japanese Kishu in cream:
I have tried my best to enlighten you on Kishu facts but you have always told me standard this and standard that. At one point you even told me that the "Japanese" frowned upon the yushoku kishu. Honestly a lot of how you feel about the yushoku Kishu is laughable but again you are entitled to how you feel. I feel bad for the people who have been suckered into this thought process.
I for one will do my part to promote Kishu facts. I will have love for both white Kishu and TRADITIONAL yushoku Kishu. If I hear anyone talk about this kind of missinformation, I will make sure to educate them with historical facts.
The white coated kishus became popular after bloodlines from three famous white kishus were predominantly used for producing boar hunting lines which later spread to show lines with the start of Nippo. Another reason the yushoku Kishu numbers began to fall at this time was the introduction of dog breeds not indigionous to Japan. But almost all of the Japanese breeds suffered with the new imports.
With the beginning of Nippo, it was a blessing and a curse. It was a blessing as it helped with the preservation of the Japanese breeds but it also was a curse as dogs like the Akita matagi dog and Yushoku kishus were neglected with the Akita matagi dog pretty much pushed to extinction. Fortunately many of the Yushoku kishus living in remote areas of the Kii peninsula were still needed to hunt and continued to thrive in low numbers.
I could go on for several days but this is a quick gist of some historical information.
I'm not even really sure of the purpose of the original post, except to spread misinformation. And in breed preservation, I don't believe there is room for letting a color preference (one of the least important issues) cloud good breeding practices.
The simple answer is: diversity.
As always, my focus is to help our small inbred population of Nihon Ken grow in diversity, which reduces inbreeding (COI / COR) and promotes a healthier population. I do this via introgression with the breed's founding population in Japan.
The Kishu Ken is a very inbred breed in it's Country of Origin (COO), and is even more inbred in America because the dogs being produced in America up until Gen ( @shishiinu ) produced his first litter of Kishu were solely the work of @Carleen breeding off her original foundation dogs.
Without adding new imports to the mix (as Gen did), there was only one direction the population could go and that direction would result in extremely high COIs and CORs.
High COIs and CORs (inbreeding) results in an increased rate of tandem repeat, in some cases this results in the pairing of traits that are preferred to the breeder (like color or type), and in other cases it results in the paring of other traits that are detrimental to the health of the breed (due to an elevated expression of recessive genetic diseases, as well cognitive deficiencies, and lower fertility rates).
When I looked at how I could help our small population of Kishu Ken in the most effective way, given the relatively high inbreeding occurring in Japan (their COO) in the breed, I came to the conclusion that the fastest way to get diversity via introgression was to import Yushoku Kishu Ken since they are the closest connection we have to the pre-WWII Kishu Ken (without crossing with a different Nihon Ken breed).
So, I imported Nami, then Shizuka, and now we have Maro. My hope is that they will help diversify our population of Kishu Ken. We've also imported a few Shiro Kishu Ken too, and I hope the same for them.
I agree that there's been a lot of Yushoku Kishu Ken produced from our efforts thus far. That wasn't really my intention, but it just so happened that Shizuka produces only Yushoku Kishu Ken. She's an amazing female Kishu, with excellent breed type, so I feel her offspring are very useful to our population even if they are not the 'preferred' color for some of us.
I would prefer to produce more white Kishu Ken than colored Kishu Ken, however I always want to be producing a few Yushoku Kishu Ken too, as I do not want to lose diversity. Right now it may feel like there's a disportionate number of colored Kishu being produced, but that will quickly change once Shizuka is retired (she has two more litters to have before then) and, when that happens, we'll all be wishing we were producing more colored Kishu. So, I'd caution against knee-jerk reactions to the current puppies being produced simply because you prefer one color of the other.
And if one can't tell the difference between a Yushoku Kishu Ken and a Shikoku Ken, one might need to familiarize themselves with the various Nihon Ken standards. Take some time to study pictures of the various breeds. Education should be an ongoing activity for a breeder.
Now to speak frankly about what is really happening here...
As mentioned before, up until relatively recently @Carleen has been the only Kishu breeder in America. She had a pretty comfortable situation going for a long time, where she had complete control over the American Kishu population. With the new Kishu breeders entering the equation and adding to the population, that control is shifting from her to the majority, and I'm sure that doesn't feel good.
Thanks to the internet (globalization) new puppy buyers are more informed than ever before. Most buyers have done plenty of research on the breeds before they even contact a breeder - this is especially true for a rare breed like the Kishu Ken.
The reality of the situation is that time is on the side of the new breeder, and the shift in power is inevitable. The days of influence for the "show breeder" and the politically driven breed clubs are limited. Even the AKC is on a negative path due to the increase of information (link). Gone are the days of buyers' "shopping" breeds and breeders by going to a dog show, and gone are the days of the show breeder having the most control over the breed and the buyer's decision.
Those are the results of an educated consumer who no longer blindly value papers and titles over breeder integrity, transparency, and community.
I know this because I've seen it play out in so many other breeds already - and I've already gone through this with the Kai Ken and Shikoku Ken.
Old-hat "show breeders" can continue to create their siloed "breed clubs" in an effort to control the breed and slow the inevitable (at the expense of the breed), or they can join those of us who are truly working to help the breeds we love.
Really well written post Brad! I think you summed up a lot of the politics of breeding and the current state of the dog world really well.
It is laughable that anyone would suggest I possibly cannot recognize the Japanese breeds by sight. I have been a professional dog trainer and handler (full time) in obedience, conformation, agility, tracking, personal protection and more, for over 50 years.......longer than most of you have been alive.
I must assume that my comments went completely over your heads! I was momentarily speaking from the standpoint of the average dog fancier with regard to color being a "recognition factor".
CJ's little female Fiona is a beautiful Kishu, but when she was in my Kishu Ken-nel booth at AKC "Meet the Breed" in New York, I heard more than one person comment upon seeing her, "Look, there's a Shiba!" because of her color.
That is what I am talking about. A Kishu Ken should stand out and be recognized immediately as a Kishu Ken, first (not only), because of its color. Look at the Kai Ken......it's brindle, period......with only three acceptable shades. Color is a large part of any breed's "recognition factor".
Histories of the Kishu Ken translated from the Japanese state that the hunters of old did favor the whites for ease of visibility and superior hunting prowess. The not-so-mythical
white lines began for those reasons. White Kishu Kens are not just the occasional white puppy that pops out. And a white Kishu Ken with "apricot" highlights or points is not a "cream".
My Kishu Kens are certainly not "inbred". Yes, I started with a single pair of white line Kishu Kens from the best Kishu kennel in Japan......they were a gift to me from Japanese friends. But in the last 20 years I have obtained additional dogs from Japan and elsewhere, although they did not come through anyone on this forum. All are whites, from Japanese breeders, from MANY generations of white bloodlines.
I am quite aware that there are white Akitas, Hokkaidos, etc........ but there are no specifically white lines for those breeds......so those whites are just a wonderful gift to the breeders!
On breed type, how can you actually sit there and say this:
Has more breed type than this?
It's actually insulting. Fionna is a nice girl, but she's nice because she has a good temperament and a diverse background. She isn't nice because she meets breed standard. Toutarou, also pictured, came from a great breeder with nice dogs - a show judge who competes with his own Kishu and keeps sesame as well as white.
Furthermore, I have had more people mistake Fionna for a Jindo or a Shiba than Nami. Nami actually looks like she belongs to a breed. Fionna is unrefined. None of that has anything to do with the color of their coat.
Also, there ARE lines in Hokkaido, at VERY LEAST that are known for their white color-- the white Hokkaido I posted is one such dog from one such line! So again, you are spouting incorrect information. Whether that information is incorrect based on your ignorance or willful attempts to avoid uncomfortable information to stick to the story you've spun is up in the air. I guess only you know that.
How you can sit here and say that Kishu Ken can only come in white or white is the officially preferred color is a mystery to me.
The FCI standard permits red, white, and sesame. Clear as day. No color faults.
This should be the standard the AKC-FSS dogs follow.
http://www.fci.be/Nomenclature/Standards/318g05-en.pdf
The UKC standard permits red, white, and sesame. Clear as day. No color faults.
http://www.ukcdogs.com/Web.nsf/Breeds/NorthernBreed/Kishu
The NIPPO standard permits red, white, sesame, black and tan, and brindle. Also on their website. I confirmed with @TheWalrus that NIPPO still permits black & tan as well as brindle for the Kishu Ken - the colors are just so uncommon, you'd be hard pressed to find one. It even goes into detail on what the markings/colors should LOOK LIKE.
http://www.nihonken-hozonkai.or.jp/standard/
http://www.kishu-ken.org/uploads/3/8/9/2/38928623/nihon_ken_hozonkai_standard.pdf
The JKC standard - the AKC-recognized club in Japan - also recognizes red, white, and sesame. No color faults.
http://www.jkc.or.jp/modules/worlddogs/entry.php?entryID=95&categoryID=5
I think I feel particularly spiky about this because it seems like SUCH a waste of time to argue about this when it's so black-and-white in the standards, except the one you edited for your website.
Instead, we should be spending energy on investigating the genetic health of our breed. We should be spending energy putting out information that will help others. We should be spending energy getting the club active and showing people what our dogs are and what they do and what makes a Kishu a "Kishu" and why people should want to welcome them into their homes and care about them. Hint: it isn't a white coat.
If you really care about the breed and want to show us you are right, why don't you make an account on the Kishu Pedigree database (http://www.kishupedigree.com/ for those wondering) and show us that we're wrong about the breed being more related than not.
Maybe you could reach out to/follow up with Dr. Knox, too, to accept those 2 free genetic tests I got you, in good faith. Show us the superiority of your white dogs, please, and help the community information pool. She would LOVE to hear from you, since you didn't want me sending them to you.
For the good of our breed. This has got to end.
The comments didn't go over anybody's heads. We understood exactly what you wrote. And your original post was a direct jab from left field.. which, in my opinion, is extremely unprofessional.
Last thing, Fiona is a white Kishu, which is what you said makes a Kishu stand out as a distinguishing feature of the breed.. so what was the issue with her color and people mistaking her for a shiba? Now I'm just confused.. What is it you're hoping to achieve here?
People think my kai is a shiba all the time-- they don't know what a kai is! how can you blame them ? The same how they think the NK look fox-like. The general population of dog owners know diddly squat about dogs. My mom saw a dutch shepherd the other day and thought it was a kai ken. The average person doesn't know anything beyond labs / pit bulls / goldens / german shepherds. Heck, I remember when I went to a shiba inu meet up with Tavi and someone called her a 'marbled' shiba inu!
People probably wouldn't have been as confused if that hadn't been going around...
And when you favor one trait (like the color white) over other traits, you further the inbred state of the breed.
Take a read: http://www.instituteofcaninebiology.org/whats-in-the-gene-pool.html
It's OK to have a preferred color. As long as those preferences don't have an effect on your breeding practices by causing you to potentially pass up a better dog because of color, then that's fine. It's not OK to passively snub other breeders who are working hard to preserve the same breed you love, especially when they're following the standards. These breeds are too rare for breeders to not be able to work together.