Living with Ainu Inu (Hokkaido inu)
At first. Please understand that english is not my native laguage, sometimes I have problems to change my thoughts into english writing 
There is plenty info about race standard but always there is little info about bright and sad sides of Hokkaido Inu:)
Hokka (we have shortened the breed name) is a very energetic dog, always in motion “when he walks, he runs” 
, after long walk or run Hokka will return to home, and will be ready to the next trip or a hard work in a few minutes. Our Siberian Husky is very lazy comparing to our hokka <!--[if !vml]-->
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As a hunting breed for large game hokkaido is supposed to be loud traditionaly japanese matagi (hunter) were hunting with two dogs, their main task was so called Hoe-dome "Holding by barking" and the second role was Kami-dome "Holding by bitting" usually only one dog was trained as "bitting one" and also usually it was a female.
And second role as a guarding dog for japanese home is making them double loud:)
So Kiba (our Ainu) is a very loud and "talking" dog, he have several barks and howls:) for different occasions - sometimes he sits before us and starts to talk <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->
We know who is coming to us, long before a real person shows at our doors, <!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->there is separate howl for "it is postman", or "daddy's is coming home" or "I don't have idea who he/she is".
Kiba is vary cautions dog, he always look for a higher place from he could easily observe surroundings, he is always ready for action - we are joking that he sleeps with one eye open.
One very important thing, Hokkaido inu is a rather small / medium dog, but he is a extremely strong dog, recently during a veterinary visit (we have checked his eyes) we needed three persons to hold him in one place
He is very good regarding agility, sometimes when they are bored they start their own agility run, choosing the most dangerous route, jumping over obstacles, sliding under bushes, they have different style of play than Siberian husky or shiba inu.
First part of play it is almost always the phase of approaching, Hokkaido hides in grass and is slowly advancing toward his opponent, then it is attack phase – he jumps towards his target with loudly barking and howling, and the last phase I’am calling it the dance phase – hokkaidos are running and jumping around his target, they are making many false moves, without touching opponent. Funny thing… they seems to know how to cooperate, when Kiba and JaJa are playing with Buffy, when Kiba is barking at Buffy, JaJa always jumps at her back, when Buffy is trying to catch JaJa – Kiba starts to grab her tail.
And when I’m observing our Siberian husky, I see that most fun she gets from chasing opponents, grabbing their necks and throwing to the ground.
And shiba… hm my sweet Amandil likes to running around but when it comes to any dog to dog contact he starts to growls, barks, and all fun stops.
Hokkaido inu is very devoted to his / her human family, but usually chooses only one person to be his only one true master, they are trying always to be near humans, from my observation and from opinions of other Hokkaido inu owners (which could compare this breed with other Japanese breeds usually shiba or akita) – Hokkaido inu are more submissive toward his owner than shiba or akita, also because Hokkaido inu was breeded for hundreds of years as a working, hunting breed it is going quite well with other dogs from his household, he has very good pack instinct and could live with other dogs of the same sex. Also our Hokkaidos are accepting their cats, sometimes sleeping with them.
This is one side of Hokkaido inu. The bright one.
Hokkaido inu is tireless and brave hunter, you need good fences to prevent any problems with your neighbors. Also because his predatory instincts are very strong you could forget about going with Hokkaido off-leash, he could be easily distracted by interesting smell or sound.
Hokkaido inu is a very self confident and brave dog, he could be dog aggressive and he will never turn away from possible fight, so visits in dog parks could be a little hard to us.
Also maybe his human family is love of his life, other humans are not. A lovely Hokkaido in one minute could turns into growling monster, when strange to him person is trying to touch his head. This is a guarding dog and is supposed to not accept touching by strangers.
Hokkaido breeders and owners have their separate organization - DOKENHO. They are more interested in preserving Hokkaido as a working dog. Shows are quite big (even with 200 participants)
So one of the most important part of show is a character tests. They bring live bear or boar to the show, several rings on earth are painted. Then owner and his dog are closing to the wild animal (since few years this animal is always in cage). Judges are measuring time in which each of the painted rings is crossed, they watching style of hunting etc. There is no contact between dog and animal.
Hokkaido as far as I know was never used in animal or dog fighting, but he has fierce character indeed.
Some pictures from character test:
and some form the hunts:
And finally some pictures of my dogs:)
Little JaJa (tomboy in Japaneese)
JaJa with Kiba
Kiba the fearless bear hunter
Kiba with Buffy
And here picture "We are big bad wolves"
Duel in the snow
Comments
Thank you so much. Hokkaido are almost regarded as mythological here because there is so little information about them. You have actually provided more information in this one post than I have been able to find over a period of months.
Your dogs are beautiful. And your english is in fact very good. It is certainly much better than my polish (I don't speak a word
Neat! Those are some really cool photos. Thanks for sharing. All your dogs are beautiful! Your Siberian brought tears to my eyes as he looks so much like the Siberian I lost 2 years ago (which I had owned for 14 1/2 years).
Robert--
Are Hokka about the same size as a Husky? My Kai Ken is a little over 6 months and is 32 pounds but they say they can get up to 50 pounds, so in comparison how big do they get?
We have about 16 (registered in FCI) Hokkaido inu in Poland, but 14 of them are progeny of one pair of dogs, only two are new imports not related to other dogs.
Generally allmost whole hokkaido inu population in Europe is progeny of five dogs imported in 90's only recently we have began to import new blood, there are three new dogs in Austria and one in Poland (our JaJa). Probably we have about 60-80 hokkaido inu in Europe.
Hokkaido is much smaller than siberian husky, some pictures for comparision:
Forest ride
Please let us in (shiba on this pictures is only 6-7months old)
A fight
And with my girlfriend
Damn!!! It's raining again!
Also you could see some our films on youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=ktreborz
Regarding weight. Crap! I must convert into metric system, sorry
Robert
Do you show any of your dogs or do agility at all?
Yes we are doing both, but agility only as a hobby. We are not a part any organisation or team.
Regarding shows we are registered member of FCI, some pictures from shows:
During World Dog Show - Poznan 2006
Specialized japanese dog show in Warszawa - March 2007
Up until I emailed Rob, I didnt believe that Hokkaidos exsisted, I thought they were a make believe.
I wish they had breeders here in the US, but I guess if there was then everyone would want one just like how Shibas are starting to pop up everywhere without people doing research on them including pet stores....tisk tisk.
You are so right! I put the word out to anyone that asks about my Shiba and is thinking of getting one because they are 'cute' that they are NOT for everyone.
Niko licked a hole in our hardwood floor...we thought it was a bone forever until the damage was done.
I agree about the mythological idea of the hokkaido....but very interested....
I have talked so many people out of getting shibas. I can't speak for other japanese breeds, but there is a level of commitment that a shiba requires that the casual dog lover is not likely to provide.
They almost should come with a disclaimer like cigarettes.
I think that we always need
to sacrifice something when start living with dogs, of course some breeds are
more demanding like fila brasileiro or tosa inu - lack of social life,
ostracized by neighbors
For many people shiba is
cute foxlike dog, with great smile . They forget (or simply they don't know)
that this is primitive breed, with many deep-rooted instincts and strong
character.
Hokkaido is very demanding
breed, yes it could live in a city, in apartment, but it will be very difficult
to us and for him. Hokkaido is a guarding dog, when he could not see the source
of strange sound or smell he will start to barks and growls. It is very
disturbing to neighbors.
Their style of play looks
very aggressive to owners of labs, poodles, ... - excited hokkaido is very
loudly, most fun he gets from training brawls, with jumping and false biting.
Kiba and JaJa have opinion of aggressive dogs, because when they see a new dog,
they start to crawling toward him, and then jumping at him. Many dogs (and
dog owners) do not understand that kind of behavior. How many times I have
heard in doggy park – please take this dogs, from my… (write the name). Only
when they let them play a little longer they see that is not a bloody fight,
only Hokkaido style J Of course now when Kiba is adult
even in doggy park we are going on leash, there always could come a strange dog
and fight is ready – Kiba plays only with females, puppies and adult males
which he knows from his puppyhood.
Hunting instinct, oh my –
any fast moving object in their vicinity gets their attention, every strange
animal will be target of hunt. We have build a strong fences around our farm,
to prevent escaping, but it does not prevent from coming to us. One neighbor cat
we have rescued, second is buried under apple tree L
A month ago both Kiba and
JaJa have escaped from our garden to hunt for two cows, which were passing by
our home.
Oh my, what a mess - two dogs chasing cows and we chasing our dogs
running around frightened cows (howling and barking) and Kiba was attacking -
for a few moments he has grabbed cows tail and was flying in the air
and time for some new pictures:
A ultimate guard
I even sleep on that
And there with Amandil
Here standard hokkaido inu style - shiba dsn't understand that
Winter time
World War III
Little Itsu in Japan
Howling Itsu
Itsu with Amandil
JaJa on her first dog show
My shiba actually plays similarly with other dogs. He too does the "crouch and pounce" approach which some owners mistake for an attack. Luckily he is so small that most owners just assume that Moto will get beat up. They clearly do not understand the fortitude of the japanese dogs.
I love all your pictures,
Your pictures are so awesome! I should get out my camera more often! I love the ones of the dogs playing. Does your Siberian also perch on the tree stump? Mine used to do that as well (and yours looks SO much like my boy did!).
Did your Hokkaido pull well in harness with your Siberian? Do they have any tendency to understand how to pull in harness? Siberians seem to.
Also, your farm is lovely!
Thanks for all that information! I now understand Hokkaido a bit better, they are amazing dogs. And I enjoyed all the photos, thanks!
My Shikoku pup plays a bit like a Hokkaido, lol. He snarls and roars loudly - like a bear. And always, always with the mouthing (no, actually he bites!)! <--- which may only get worse as he will be teething VERY soon! He jumps into the air and flings himself on me, lol. He only does this with me or people he is knows. Everyone else he is SUPER friendly, maybe not so Hokkaido like. Indeed though, his style of play is a bit different then my Malinois. I am curious to see how his play style will progress with age and maturity.
Edgewood
Sometimes yes, she likes also to bo on higher ground, we were laughing that we bought a "broken" siberian husky - she has guarding instincts, she barks for the people, she dsn't like to pull
Regarding hokkaido as a sled dog, Ainus were using them for sleding, but hokkaido is a lot slower then siberian husky. And siberian husky is supposed to have pulling in his blood, with hokkaido we put many efforts for proper training but without many good effects. During forest rides Kiba was easily distracted by things, smells.
And more pictures
Ktrebor
How funny about your Siberian! I had one who didn't like to pull, but my others (total of 4) all did. None had any guard dog instincts, so maybe your Hokkaido rubbed off on her. It is interesting to hear the differences, as when I first posted on the forum, I had asked if anyone had Siberians before and how a Shikoku compared (in general) in its behaviors. No one had Siberian experience...until now (besides the 2 Shikoku breeders in the US and Canada who both owned Siberians before). So it is quite interesting to hear the comparisons.
Love, love, love the photos again. The pictures of them with their heads in the snow is just precious! And the running and playing! Great job!
I have added new movies into my tou tube account, I have finally recorded hokkaido inu howling
These were taken yesterday during our trip to city park (as you can see - thw winter in Poland has probably ended, there is no snow only mud and water)
Here is Katie with JaJa, Kiba and Amandil
It's me
And again me in the dark forest, (crap I must change my digital camera
And finallly HOWLING JAJA
In the background you can hear our cat - Spike.
That's great! I'm just loving all the "Hokkaido chat".
I enjoy the photos are well - visuals are the best. Moving visuals and sound, even better!
Thanks.
I have new info from our pack
Second - Japanese organisation DOKENHO have wrote an article about us in their magazine
But I don't have idea what it means?
And time for new pictures: