Kishu Inu Dog Breed Info And Characteristics

The Kishu Inu or Kishu Ken (Kishu Dog) is a Spitz type hunting dog that originated in the ancient Kii province (today Mie and Wakayama Prefectures), Honshu Island, Japan. The breed descended from ancient middle-sized dogs more than 3.000 years ago. According to one Japanese legend, the Kishu is actually the descendant of wolves. Namely, the hunter saved an injured she-wolf, which later promised to give him one of her pups. She kept her promise and gave him a puppy, which supposedly was the progenitor of the Kishu strain. Anyhow, thanks to the mountainous isolation of the Kii province, the breed basically kept its genetic purity to this very day since there was almost no crossbreeding with other dogs. The Kishu have been previously known as the Kumano Ken and Taichi Ken, the names given after the areas they originated from. However, when the breed was officially recognized and standardized in 1934, these dogs have become known under a single name – the Kishu Ken. The same year this dog breed was designated a Living Natural Monument in Japan and since then, it has been protected by law. The FCI accepted Kishu Inu breed on a definitive basis in 1982 and today it is included in the group 5: Asian Spitz and Related Breeds in the class of primitive dogs. Continue Reading →