Hokkaido Dog

History

Originating in Japan thousands of years ago, the Hokkaido Dog breed is a Spitz type breed that became by pure accident. Due to the breed not being planned, no one is able to know what exact breeds made up this Spitz type breed. What we do know for a fact, is that the Hokkaido Dog was used for protection and as a guardian for all communities within Japan. This breed is very popular today.

Appearance

The Hokkaido Dog is a large breed dog with males and females measuring 18-22 inches in height and weighing 45-60 pounds in weight. This breed has a very broad, wedge shaped head, that is rounded at the edges where their two small, triangular ears stand tall. Their eyes are almond shape and round, generally a dark brown to black in color. This breed has a lean, muscular and active body appearance. This breed is known for their unique tongue that can be spotted black, or black in color. Typical in Spitz type breeds, their tail is medium in size, covered in hair and curled up and over their back. Their double layer coat is short, thick in appearance and rough in texture, available in white, red, brown, gray, sesame and brindle.

Temperament

A natural guardian by nature, the Hokkaido Dog is very protective of his or her surroundings and humans. Loyal, confident, aware, brave and obedient are all characteristics that describe this breed. This breed is known for being able to travel out of the way and recall how to return to their home. This breed requires a firm and confident owner who is able to show leadership and give direction with positive reinforcement. This breed is good with other canines and non canine pets he or she is raised along side of; this also applies to children.

Grooming

This breed does shed. Daily brushing and bathing when needed.

Special Notes

Please fully educate yourself about the Hokkaido Dog prior to adding one to your family to ensure you are able to provide a life long physical and finanical commitment to your new family member. We recommend a properly installed fence or properly fitting harness and leash for your new dog while outdoors at all times for their safety. All dogs originate from wolves (Canis Lupus). Each breed of dog was originally created by mixing different breeds together in an effort to bring forth certain characteristics. Once a breeder has created acceptable “breed characteristics” within their bloodline and these “breed characteristics” have shown to be reliably reproduced in the offspring for three (3) generations, the bloodline may be upgraded from the category of “foundation stock” to “pure-bred”. The same “pure-bred” breed standards vary from different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders. Dog DNA testing companies can have accurate results for a specific bloodline of a small colony of dogs. However, there are tens of thousands of different bloodlines in the world which have not yet been tested for marker baseline results by Dog DNA testing companies as of 2017. For this reason Dog DNA testing companies do not guarantee the 100% accuracy of their breed lineage results and will also show different marker results for the same pure-bred breed in different continents, countries, territories, regions, breed clubs, and canine pure-breed registries depending on the goals of their breeders.