Shiba as a breed

The Shiba is the eldest native Japanese dog. Around 7000 B.C. the ancestors of today's Shiba may have accompanied the earliest immigrants to Japan. Archaeological excavations of the shell-mounds left by the Jomonjin, or Rope-Pattern People (a name derived from the pattern found on their earthenware), show that they had small dogs in the 14 1/2 to 19 1/2 inch range.

In the third century B.C., a new group of immigrants brought their dogs to Japan. These dogs then interbred with the descendants of the Jomonjin dogs, and produced canines known to have pointed, erect ears and curly or sickle tails.

Originally there were three main varieties of Shiba, each named for its region of origin, namely the Shinshu Shiba from the Nagano region, the Mino Shiba from the Gifu region and the Sanin Shiba from the north-eastern region of the main land. Although similar, the Shibas from each area contributed to differences in breed type seen today.Despite efforts to preserve the breed, the Shiba nearly became extinct during World War II due to a combination of food shortage and a post-war distemper epidemic.All subsequent dogs were bred from the only three surviving bloodlines. These bloodlines were the Shinshu Shiba from Nagano Prefecture, the Mino Shiba from Gifu Prefecture, and the San'in Shiba from Tottori and Shimane Prefectures.The Shinshu Shibas possessed a solid undercoat, with dense layer of guard-hairs, and were small and red in color. The Mino Shibas tended to have thick, prick ears, and possessed a sickle tail, rather than the common curled tail found on most modern Shibas. The San'in Shibas were larger than most modern shibas, and tended to be black, without the common tan and white accents found on modern black-and-tan shibas. When the study of Japanese dogs was formalized in the early and mid-20th century, these three strains were combined into one overall breed, the Shiba Inu. From the original Japanese native dogs, six distinct "breeds," in three different sizes developed. They are: Large size: the Akita, medium size: the Kishu, Hokkaido, Shikoku, Kai and the small size: the Shiba.

The small size dog has been called the Shiba since ancient times, with several theories surrounding the development of that name. One popular explanation is that the word Shiba means "brushwood," and the dogs were named for the brushwood bushes where they hunted. Another theory is that the fiery red color of the Shiba is the same as the autumn color of the brushwood leaves. A third conjecture is related to an obsolete meaning of the word Shiba referring to its small size. These explanations are often combined and the Shiba is referred to as the "little brushwood dog." 

The first Japanese breed standard for the Shiba, the Nippo Standard, was published in 1934. In December 1936, the Shiba Inu was recognized as a Natural Monument of Japan through the Cultural Properties Act, largely due to the efforts of Nippo (Nihon Ken Hozonkai), the Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog.

(sources: http://www.saijoto.dk/english/diverse/history.htm and wikipedia) 

Dragon House Mr Jones ©Russell Sparkman

 The Japanese refer to the temperament of the Shiba as possessing three traits: 

          Kani-i (悍威 kan'i) - spirited boldness, coupled with 
          Ryosei (良性 ryōsei) - good nature, and finally, 
          Soboku (素朴 soboku) - alertness. 

National Geographic Magazine February 2012 issue wrote about  dog DNA and and categorizes their genetic traits into four different major classifications: wolf like, herders, hunters, and mastiff like  Each breed has a portion of each type in its DNA, but of the 85 breeds listed the shiba is the most wolf like. Of the wolf like category it states, "With roots in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East, these breeds are genetically closest to wolves, suggesting they are the oldest domesticated breeds." 

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2012/02/build-a-dog/ratliff-text 

What would that mean for  the breed today ? As far as I do understand the breed it still has something very ancient in its looks but also in its essence. That would not mean that they would be wild – in the contrary. You should never forget that Shiba as a breed also has a very long history together with the humans. How I understand the wolf likeness is that Shibas still communicate in a very native way and are in this way very wolf like.

On the other hand I tend to say that Shibas are Japans ambassadors outside their origin and as better you understand Japanese culture – its history and present – the better you may understand your Shiba. 

Some of these thoughts I wrote in a form of a story "Nine tails to the Inaridou" wich  I published together with Tamara Mounthaan http://www.amazon.com/Nine-tails-Inaridou-inspiration-life/dp/9529289561/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1372533188&sr=8-1&keywords=nine+tails+to+the+inaridou 

Nippo has created and published the first standard of the breed, but as we are a FCI  (The Fédération Cynologique Internationale is the World Canine Organisation) we follow the breed standard published by them

FCI-Standard N° 257/ 16. 06. 1999 / GB - SHIBA

ORIGIN : Japan.

DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THE ORIGINAL VALID STANDARD : 15.06.1992.

UTILIZATION : Hunting dog for birds and small animals.  Companion dog.

CLASSIFICATION F.C.I. : Group 5     Spitz and primitive type.

                                             Asian Spitz and related breeds.

                                             Without working trial.

                                          

BRIEF HISTORICAL SUMMARY : The Shiba has been a native breed to Japan since the primitive ages.  The word « Shiba » originally refers to something « small », a « small dog ».  The Shiba’s habitat was in the mountainous area facing the Sea of Japan and was used as a hunting dog for small animals and birds.  There were slight differences in the breeds according to the areas where they were raised.  As dogs like English Setters and English Pointers were imported from England during the period of 1868-1912, hunting became a sport in Japan and crossbreeding of the Shiba with those English dogs became prevalent and a pure Shiba became rare so that by 1912-1926 pure Shibas confined to these areas became exceedingly scarce.  Hunters and other educated persons became concerned with the preservation of the pure Shibas from around 1928 and the preservation of the limited number of pure strains began seriously, and the breed standard was finally unified in 1934.   In 1937 the Shiba was designated as a « natural monument » after which the breed was bred and improved to become the superior breed known today.

GENERAL APPEARANCE : Small-sized dog, well balanced, well boned with well developed muscles.  Constitution strong.  Action quick, free and beautiful.

IMPORTANT PROPORTION : The ratio of height at withers to length of body is 10 : 11.

BEHAVIOUR / TEMPERAMENT : The temperament is faithful, with keenness in sense and high alertness.

Black and tan Shiba - Ura No Namihime Go Asahi Keisukesou©Marjo Puranen

HEAD

CRANIAL REGION :

Skull : Forehead broad.

Stop : Well defined with slight furrow.

FACIAL REGION :

Nose : Black colour desirable.  Nasal bridge straight.

Muzzle : Moderately thick and tapering.

Lips : Tight.

Jaws/Teeth : Teeth strong with scissor bite.

Cheeks : Well developed.

Eyes : Relatively small, triangular and dark brown in colour; the outer corners of the eyes are upturned.

Ears : Relatively small, triangular, slightly inclining forward and firmly pricked.

NECK : Thick, strong, and well balanced with the head and the body.

BODY :

Back : Straight and strong.

Loins : Broad and muscular.

Chest : Deep, ribs moderately sprung.

Belly : Well tucked up.

TAIL : Set on high, thick, carried vigorously curled or curved as a sickle, the tip nearly reaching hocks when let down.

LIMBS

FOREQUARTERS : Seen from the front, forelegs straight.

Shoulders : Shoulder blade moderately sloping.

Elbows : Tight.

HINDQUARTERS :

Upper thighs : Long.

Lower thighs : Short, but well developed.

Hocks : Thick and tough.

FEET : Digits tightly closed and well arched.  Pads hard and elastic.  Nails hard and dark in colour desirable.

GAIT/MOVEMENT : Light and brisk.

COAT

HAIR : Outer coat harsh and straight, undercoat soft and dense; hair on tail slightly long and standing off.

COLOUR : Red, black and tan, sesame, black sesame, red sesame.

Definition of the colour sesame

·      Sesame : Equal mixture of white and black hairs.

·      Black sesame : More black than white hairs.

·      Red sesame : Ground colour of hair red, mixture with black hairs.

All the above mentioned colours must have "Urajiro".

« Urajiro » : Whitish coat on the sides of the muzzle and on the cheeks, on the underside of the jaw and neck, on the chest and stomach and the underside of the tail, and on the inside of the legs.

SIZE AND WEIGHT  :

Height at withers : Dogs        40 cm.

                            Bitches     37 cm.

There is a tolerance of 1,5 cm smaller or taller.

FAULTS : Any departure from the foregoing points should be considered a fault and the seriousness with which the fault should be regarded should be in exact proportion to its degree and its effect upon the health and welfare of the dog.

·      Bitchy dogs, doggy bitches.

·      Malocclusion (overshot or undershot mouth).

·      Numerous teeth missing.

·      Shyness.

ELIMINATING FAULTS :

·         Aggresive or overly shy.

·         Ears not pricked.

·         Hanging or short tail.

Any dog clearly showing physical or behavioural abnormalities shall be disqualified.

N.B. : Male animals should have two apparently normal testicles fully descended into the scrotum.

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Suomen Shiba ry:n sivuille on koottu suomenkielellä hyvin paljon materiaalia johon kannattaa tutustua

http://www.suomenshiba.fi/wordpress/rotu-2/shibaa-harkitsevalle/

Ja vaikka ei jalostuksesta olisi kiinnostunut niin jalostuksesta ja PEVISA:sta kannattaa lukea sivulta  http://www.suomenshiba.fi/?page_id=66 ja tutustua rodun jalostuksentavoiteohjelmaan

https://jalostus.kennelliitto.fi/RotuPDF.ashx?R=257&T=2

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