Hokkaido-Inu Museum 北海道犬博物館

　日本人や日本犬の起源に関しては、これまで尾本恵市氏や田名部雄一氏のような日本の科学者が、血液中のタンパク質の遺伝子構成を調査してきました。

　以下は、最新の研究を用いて書かれています。

日本犬

　北海道犬、甲斐犬、紀州犬、琉球犬、柴犬、四国犬は、紛れもなく土着の日本犬です。なぜならば、「マタギ」と呼ばれる古い日本のハンターによって、オオカミのように飼育されてきたからです。これらの犬種は、日本の保存団体によって、今日までよく保存されてきました。

　さて、柴犬は山陰柴犬、信州柴犬、美濃柴犬の３タイプに分類されます。実は、私たちが普通、柴犬と言っているのは信州柴犬です。信州柴犬の遺伝子構成は、山陰柴犬や美濃柴犬とは異なっています。

　本来、秋田犬も土佐犬も土着の日本犬ですが、洋犬との混血です。厳密に言うならば、純粋の日本犬ではありません（特に土佐犬について）。

　日本人の間では、秋田犬、甲斐犬、紀州犬、柴犬、土佐犬はよく知られていますが、多くの日本人は北海道犬、琉球犬、四国犬を知りません。

　また、ジャパニーズ・チン（狆）、日本スピッツ、日本テリアは海外から入った犬です。それらは全く土着の日本犬ではありません。

　第２次世界大戦中の大混乱のため、日本犬の数は激減しました。しかし、大戦後、愛犬家と保存団体の努力によって、各犬種は以前にもまして保護されるようになりました。

　１９５０年代の北海道犬

天然記念物

　１９３０年代、秋田犬、北海道犬、甲斐犬、紀州犬、柴犬、四国犬が天然記念物に指定されました。琉球犬は１９９５年の指定です。

犬種名

　北海道犬はアイヌ犬（Ａｉｎｕ　ｄｏｇ）と呼ばれてきました。１８６９年、Ｔ．ブラキストン（英）がその犬をアイヌ犬と命名しました。日本人は彼をよく知っています。なぜならば、１８８０年、彼は鳥類分布の研究を通して、北海道の種が本州のものと異なっているという「ブラキストン線」を提唱したからです。

１９３７年に北海道犬は天然記念物に指定され、またその正式名が北海道犬（ほっかいどういぬ）に決定されました。
しかし、日本人の間ではいつも「ほっかいどうけん」と呼ばれています。
　「いぬ」も「けん」も共に犬を意味しますが、通常、「けん」は”ほっかいどうけん、かいけん、しこくけん”のように地方名と一緒に使われます。
柴犬（しばいぬ）のように、名詞の後ろに「いぬ」を付けて読む例もあり、こうした読みは慣用的なものと考えられます。

※　戦前の文部省は、それぞれの日本犬を『天然記念物』に指定する際、「地方名＋いぬ（犬）」の読み方を採用しました・・・北海道犬（ほっかいどういぬ）という読みの原点は、ここにあります。

歴史　

　北海道犬は日本犬の一種です。アイヌ犬（Ａｉｎｕ　ｄｏｇ）としても知られてきました。なぜならば、アイヌ民族（北海道の先住民）がクマ狩りやシカ狩りに使うためにその犬を繁殖したからです。

　この犬種がもつ体力や体格によって、この犬は北海道の厳しい寒さ、豪雪、深い森、ごつごつした地形によく耐えています。

　北海道犬の歴史はアイヌ民族の歴史にとても密接な関連があります。
当初、古いアイヌ民族は、犬を伴いながら日本全土に定住していました。
彼らは日本の先住民です。
いくつかの仮説によれば、彼らは今から数千年前に日本列島に入った南モンゴロイド移住者の子孫です・・・縄文時代（ＢＣ８０００～ＢＣ３００）の前。
しかしながら、弥生時代（ＢＣ３００～ＡＤ２５０）と古墳時代に北モンゴロイド移住者が犬を連れて本州に入り、そこで混血することになり、元祖アイヌ民族と元祖北海道犬が生まれました。
By the way, because they were so far away, the old ones who lived in the Okinawa Islands, the Tohoku district and the Hokkaido Island were not mixed and also their dogs.
Through research on the minute variations in skull structure, there is a hypothesis that the Okinawa people are related to the Honsyu people, but not the Ainu people.

Also genetic sutudies propose the hypothesis that the ancient Ainu people are the descendants of another Northern Mongoloid migrants, who had not adapted themselves to the cold.

From the Ainu Museum

Since the rulers of Yamato Japan (Yamato Period: 300 AD to 710 AD) had started to expand their territory eastward, the Tohoku Ainu were constantly being displaced to the Hokkaido Island with their dogs. In Hokkaido, the Tohoku Ainu were mixed with the Hokkaido Ainu and also their dogs.
Thus the Hokkaido-Inu came into existence in Hokkaido -- also the Ryukyu-Inu did so in Okinawa. Both the Hokkaido and the Ryukyu probably were southern dogs originally.

As the dogs mixed, the Kai-Inu, the Kisyu-Inu, the Shiba-Inu and the Shikoku-Inu were bred in the other islands of Honsyu, Kyusyu, and Shikoku.

AINU PEOPLE

The Ainu people's history has been an unhappy and sad one; however, they have had a noble heart and an unique culture without having a written language for themselves. The pure Ainu Culture continued from about 1400 to the early 1700s.

"Ainu" means "human." They had "kamuy" (gods) and performed various ceremonies for the gods. These gods include ; diverse gods, such as fire, water, wind, thunder, bears, foxes, aconite, mushroom, boats, pots, houses, mountains, and lakes.

In the mid-1400s, the Japanese people extended their influence over southern Hokkaido. Later, they came to further oppress the Ainu people. To resist the oppression and exploitation by the Japanese people, the Ainu people waged some battles, but they fell completely under the control of the Japanese people.

Since the late 1800s, the Ainu people were forced to obey Japanese daily customs. In 1899, the Hokkaido Aborigine Protection Act was passed. However, the act designated the Ainu people as "former aborigines" and clarified the distinction between the Japanese people and the Ainu people.

In 1961, the Hokkaido Utari Association was established. "Utari" means "fellow countryman." The association has actively tackled the various problems regarding the Ainu people. Soon the association demanded that the Japanese Government should enact the New Ainu Law, and finally the law was enacted in 1997.

It is a significant law for the Ainu people, because it widely accepts the Ainu people as an ethnic minority. As they had been mixed with the Japanese people, now there are so few pure-blooded Ainu people and they usually live as a Japanese person. Don't be under an illusion that an Ainu person who is wearing Ainu folk costumes is going to be with an Ainu dog (Hokkaido dog). There is no school for the children of the Ainu people.

These days, under the people who have a connection to the Ainu people, various activities are being vigorously promoted to preserve and maintain the Ainu Culture, such as the Ainu language, the traditional dancing, and the various ceremonies.

CHARACTERISTIC

The dog appears simple, wild, and powerful as is its nature.
It is impulsive and fast and has a light gait.
The stop (a long, narrow hollow in the middle of forehead) is shallow but defined, therefore the dog has a gentle look.
The dog howls like a wolf when he is happy to see his owner.
He sometimes ignores "come" if he has more important things to do.
It usually obeys the owner with gentle responsiveness and likes a lot of affection, however, it is very brave and shows manly features. It is fearless and a determined hunter and has been known to attack a 650 pound brown bear.

They are a very well-behaved breed.

Most of the dogs have spots of black on a tongue.

It is desirable that a completely white dog has its nose leather black not beige.

Some dogs may bite humans. Some veterinarians are afraid of the dogs. But now we have lots of dogs that do not bite.

FAULTS

If your dog has the following faults, he would get many points off in competition.

(1) He doesn't have a good bite (occlusion).
(2) He doesn't have any teeth to come through.
(3) As his coat color is not white, all of cheek, chin, chest and stomach are completely white.

HUNTING

By Nobuyuki Abe

By studying deer hunting in the mountains, Nobuyuki Abe (living in Hokkaido), a member of the Hokkaido-Inu Association, has examined the hunting capacity of the Hokkaido.

According to his report, when the dogs get game, they never eat it. If the big game can't run away there, the dogs have no great attachment to that. In short, the Hokkaido hunts game to be helpful to its owner.
Abe's studies confirm that his dogs throw down and kill the deer by destroying the nerve system at the shoulder joint of its front leg.

By Nobuyuki Abe

Sometimes our web site's dogs hunt various animals, such as cicadas, mice, birds, snakes, and cats in their back yard. It looks like the dog toys with them, and also he never eat them!

HOW TO KEEP

(1) Nutrition

The Hokkaido-Inu usually follows a plain diet.

The puppy is given a total of 200-500 grams of dry-dog-food per day, divided into 2-4 feedings a day. Then we give the dog some beef, too.

The adult dog has one meal of 200-400 grams dry-dog-food every day.

Since the dog drinks water quite often, set a bucket of fresh one.

(2) In your back yard

The Hokkaido-Inu dislikes having something on its body.

Since the dog needs hard exercise, let the dog run loose in your back yard with high fence. Don't keep on tying the dog to a stake.

Use a soft and strong collar, if you want to use a collar in the back yard. We usually don't use a collar there. Both indoors and outdoors, you can use a soft, strong, simple and choked-type collar.

Don't hang a name tag on the collar, because the dog will try to bite it off.

(3) Outdoors

It is best to leave the Hokkaido-Inu in your car, if you want to have it waiting.

Keep on a strong chain, if you want to tie the dog to a tree for a while. If the leash is not strong, the dog tears it to run after you.

Because he is bold and active and has a tendency to go his way, look out for traffic and put down his behavior.

(4) Indoors

It's all right to keep him indoors for a short time or to let him sleep indoors at night, but not all day long. Since he is bold but depends on the good will of its owner, sometimes you would rather keep him indoors than outdoors.

If your puppy urinates on the floor, tell him off hard and place his muzzle in the pee.

If you drop a scrap of paper on the floor on purpose before your puppy, he jumps at the paper at once. At that moment, tell him off hard, and he will become a good dog.
Naturally, tell the puppy off hard then and there, when he damages something in the room.

(5) Health

Provide good shade during the summer, as he originated in a cold district, Hokkaido. If he has a poor appetite because of the heat in the daytime, let him go into the room that the air conditioner is working. In warm weather, don't make him jog in the glaring sunlight but instead have light exercise at night or early morning.

Take the medicine for protection against filariasis, if he lives in a warm area.

(6) Care

Brush his hair, when he is losing a lot of hair or when his body is covered with mud.

(7) Dog show

If you train for a dog show, have your dog run by bicycle or motorcycle, and also have him walk and jog on a short leash.

(8) Training

If you can't tell off the Hokkaido-Inu bravely, don't keep it.

The dog is wild dog!!! It has been bred like a wolf for hunting. But it has always hoped to be with humans.

The native Japanese breeds differ from the European and American breeds that have been improved to be easy to handle. Only a few Japanese people can keep those breeds well, but the Shiba is easy to handle. Even if you send your bad adult dog to training school, the dog would return home without becoming good like the other native Japanese breeds.

PRESERVATION SOCIETY

In Japan, we have three major preservation societies of the Hokkaido-Inu.
Our web site inquired about each of the names in the English language.
All of the societies are located in the City of Sapporo, Hokkaido.

1. Nippon Kennel Club (Hokkaido-Ken Natural Association)

phone : 011.592.3911
fax : 011.592.3911

2. The Corporate Society for the Conservation of the Hokkaido Dog, Natural Monument

phone : 011.261.9910
fax : 011.261.9910

3. Hokkaido-Inu Association

phone : 011.741.1576
fax : 011.741.3778
URL : http://doukenkyou.com/
E-mail : info@doukenkyou.com

BREEDER

Even at Japanese pet shops, you can't find the Hokkaido-Inu. The members of the preservation societies have the dogs.

Only Juro Maki is a full-time breeder, who also deals in the other breeds. As a matter of fact, the other breeders such as Toshio Kudo (living in Hokkaido), Kenzo Sakusabe (living in Gunma) and Masao Takekata (living in Hokkaido) have a regular job and they are the dog fanciers and excellent handlers. They are the officers of the societies.

I'm sorry to say, but both these breeders and the preservation societies don't deal in the dog for overseas export.
If you have a wish to get the dog no matter what, please contact our web site.