Registration Number Reaches a New Low
The number of registered Shikokus dropped from 357 in year 2009 to 233 in year 2011.
Shikoku Registrations in 2011
Struggling to Keep Head Above Water
Shikoku Registrations in 2011
Struggling to Keep Head Above Water
Comments
I'm sure this has come up in other threads, but what would it take to get registries open to the idea of allowing controlled crossbreeding with similar types (other NK, laiki, whatever) to open the lines a bit and aid preservation?
How much of the low registration number for 2011 is based on inability to breed/conceive versus low demand?
At a certain point, it seems like even the bureaucratic system of registering dogs would recognize that sometimes things need to be done. At least until quite recently (not sure about it anymore--the last dog that I know of specifically that this applied to was born in 1994 if I remember correctly), dogs found in Lapland could be registered and bred as Finnish Lapphunds if they met the basics of the Finnish standard in the view of several judges. Canaan Dogs still have dogs being brought in from the desert... Sure, those are different in that it can be assumed that Lapphund-like dogs in the Finnish Lapland belong to the same breed, even if unrecorded, as registered Lapphunds, and that pariah dogs found in the Israeli desert are the same stock that went into Canaan Dogs... but all purebred dogs have outside blood somewhere.
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/index.php?p=/discussion/6932/shikoku-how-long-till-the-inevitable/
It sounds like the most difficult obstacle to over come is the cost of exporting Shikoku to other parts of the world.
a long with a few other things I think. ~
That's one of the things @souggy was pointing out in his blog post, the irony of the situation. In Japan, the Shikoku is on the decline due to a number of factors including the fact that breeders find it hard to place puppies in homes - forcing them to be given away at times. While in the US and in Europe the interest in the breed has been growing steadily for years and pups sell for $2000 - $5000. It's like an alternate universe where things are reversed.
Then, you have breeders in Europe and the US who are ultra-selective in what Shikoku they import from Japan, typically sticking to one (small) population (line) and doing their best to prevent other breeders from importing. While in Japan the breed is hyper-selected for "type" by NIPPO (which shrinks the breed's population even faster).
So, do the math, what will happen if a very small and closed population (outside Japan) grows rapidly, while the source of the population (in Japan) shrinks and shrinks? It paints a grim picture, for sure.
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Does it take the help of a regular flyer that travels back and forth from US to Japan, carrying some pups as baggage? Perhaps a business man or an international college student?
We're making some headway with NASC right now in fundraising efforts for this very situation. It would be hard (but not impossible) to find a person to fly back and forth between Japan and Los Angeles that would be willing to go through the import paperwork and process.
I think it's very crucial for fans, fanciers, owners, and affecionados to come together and identify themselves as interested people willing to help the breed NOW (maybe via www.shikokuclub.org), so that it will still be around when they want to get one LATER.
$2000-$3000 is tough for any one person to fork out in today's economy, but it's feasible for me to believe that $20-$30 from 100 people is very attainable. That's equivalent to a grande Starbucks every morning for a week...(wow...that's a sobering thought). Through, the help of this forum, I believe we've identified at least 30 people willing to help donate time, effort, and or money to the cause. We are always open to other people's ideas to raise money and/or awareness of the breed to increase the interested user base in the mission to preserve Shikoku.
Jesse
Just brain-storming.
Purebred dogs in pet shops are sold for quite a bit here, with the more popular breeds going for @200,000 (miniature poodles etc). The rarer breeds are sold for over 300,000 yen quite regularly. Even Shiba's in pet shops are sold for @150,000 yen.
NK kennels price their pups according to a number of factors. Kennels that have high demand for their pups, or have a stable route to sell them, tend to price them higher. Kennels that do not have a route to sell them and often experience trouble placing pups will let them go for lower prices. Pups are usually sold for around 50,000-150,000 (though of course they are sometimes cheaper, and sometimes much more expensive).
As far as shipping costs go, it does drastically reduce overall costs to ship pups with people who are already flying over. More and more people have agreed to help take pups over, but most of my friends and acquaintances fly in and out of LAX or Houston, which means the East Coast and Canada is still a bit tough to work out shipping (and Europe as well of course).
@Trzcina since the stated goal of the NK registries is preservation (preserving as they were/are), I'm pretty sure hell would freeze over before they open up the stud books to allow non-NK breeds or cross breeds in.
@ayk while there are some kennels that had issues with breedings last year, it doesn't seem to be a major factor in the low number of registrations. We had the earthquake/tsunami last year which definitely affected things, shows were cancelled, people refrained from many activities that were seen as 'fun', so this most likely had an effect on the numbers. While I foresee that numbers will bounce back a bit this year, it doesn't change the fact that numbers have been dropping for a while due to the decrease in NIPPO members, aging of the population, and the Shikoku's lack of popularity and rareness in Japan.
The Japanese breeds are a victim of a cultural shift in Japan. The vast majority of the population in Japan lives in crowded metropolitan areas, in very small apartments. Most of the population is not into regular exercise, or regular outdoor activity, and I believe most everyone is aware of the stereotypical long Japanese work day/week, so the prospects of keeping a breed that needs a fair bit of attention and exercise is not that attractive. Plus they have a bad rap in Japan for being aggressive, dangerous, hunting dogs.
The current trend is smaller dogs, Western dogs that are somewhat of a fashion item, breeds that are more biddable etc. The Shiba is till doing well in Japan due primarily to its smaller size and the fact that it's well known.
@TheWalrus, thanks so much for the explanation! I know very little about Japanese culture, so things make much more sense with some explanation.