Live-Love-Shiba-Inu

Physical & History

• Physical Characteristics

  The Shiba Inu is a short hardy breed with of a medium size (33-45 cm, 7-11 kg), compact, muscular, and lean with distinct angular physical features and differences between the males and females of the breed (males often more muscular or thick, females leaner more delicate and leaner). They have a short double coat that will likely shed twice a year depending on your climate, and often lends itself well to showing off their muscular structure. despite this they are not had to groom and often in cases of hotter climates owners might shave their dogs coats short to allow them better comfort in the heat, and can even be recommended for more traditionally northern bread like the Shiba Inu. the Shiba Inu coat can also come in a verity of different colourations and combination of markings, distinctly though Shiba Inus' will always posses similar white markings on the undersides of their body, heads., front chest and tail There face and head often resembles a fox in not only coloration but also shape with a round scull, short pointed shout, well spaced out triangular ears. They also have thicker necks and broader breast, common for hunting and sporting dogs, with strong, thickly padded rounder paws. Finally one of its most distinctive features for a Shiba Inu, its tail should curve back onto itself resting on its back in an almost corkscrew shape, the fur of its tail often longer and fanned. Though they are build for sport and can have a pray drive, they are not overly active dogs, but can easily keep up with an active life style.

• Breed History

  The Shiba Inu is an ancient breed that has existed for as long as recorded Japanese history (7 000 BC), with evidence suggesting these small canines have been with humans as early as the stone age. They are the smallest of the Japanese breads, though they average out in the medium size by international standards. Believed to be originally bread as bush and small game dogs, they were also recorded to be popular family and guard dogs, and even hunted bear and boar. Their names reflect this in several ways along with their common physical characteristics and actually have multiple translations that are often argued over by historians and breeders alike. This is mainly due to translation difficulties as a single character of the name could indicate multiple characteristics of the dog or words, leading to multiple translations as each character is translated differently and even re-arranged for better understanding for the receiver; such as "little red dog", "little brushwood dog", and "red brushwood dog" which are some of the most popular translations. The Shiba Inu ran into several breeding difficulties starting from the Tokugawa period (the 1600's) when western culture gained more influence and western breads became popular, leading to a serious fall in popularity of not only the Shiba Inu, but many other of Japans breads. The bread did not gain back its populous or popularity until the 50-60's, when the results of deliberate nationwide efforts began to bear fruit. It is argued weather the main drive for this was due more towards pre war efforts to keep the national treasure breed alive, or because the dropping of the atomic bombs resulted in the already struggling bread to become nearly extinct. The revival of the bread, was achieved through selective cross breading of the remaining sub breads of the Shiba Inu that still existed in the remote areas of Japan and were spared the western influence that the main bulk of the population and bread suffered. A global boom of awareness and popularity came about for the Shiba Inu with the circulation of a meme known as doge (pronounced doe-j) in the mid to 2000's that has since tapered off though still persists in internet culture. The meme featured a often photo shopped image of a Shiba Inu perched on a couch glaring at something off camera, creating a rather comical facial expression, often along with rainbow coloured text of sentences and statements of bad grammar. Though there is no definitive connection between the meme and any population increase, it has been credited to leading many to misconception about the bread and leaving it venerable to become another cash cow bread for irreparable breeders and puppy farms who thrived off its temporary fame. Today the Shiba Inu is considered japans most popular dog and one of its proudest national treasures, its population has since flourished though they are still by no means a 'common' breed