50 Fun Facts About Shiba Inu

How many original native Japanese dog breeds are there, of which the Shiba is the smallest?

The others are the Akita, Hokkaido, Kai Ken, Kishu and Shikoku.

What does the breed's name literally mean in Japanese?

The name refers to the brush the dogs were used to flush game from.

For what purpose was the breed originally developed?

Small game such as birds and rabbits were the usual quarry.

Which of these is NOT a standard coat colour for the breed?

Cream exists too, but the big kennel clubs in Japan and the US treat it as a major fault.

What is the Japanese term for the cream-to-white markings on the underside?

It literally means 'underside white' and is required on the muzzle, cheeks, chest and belly.

A cream coat is a 'major fault' in Japan and the US but accepted by which body's standard?

Judges dislike cream because the required white markings cannot be made out against it.

Which Japanese breed term translates as 'spirited boldness'?

Ryōsei means good nature and soboku means artlessness; all three are debated endlessly by breeders.

What nickname is given to the breed's dramatic vocalisation when anxious or handled?

Under-exercised dogs are the most likely to produce it.

A survey of experts rated the breed high in aggression and reactivity and what in trainability?

One theory is that the breed is genetically closer to the wolf than most Western dogs.

Dogs resembling the breed appear in dogū figurines from which prehistoric Japanese period?

The breed is classed as basal, predating the modern breeds of the 19th century.

The breed traditionally lived in the mountains of which Japanese region?

The region sits in central Honshu and includes Nagano, the home of the Shinshu line.

During which era were Western breeds imported and crossed with native Japanese dogs?

The fashion for crosses nearly wiped out the pure Shiba by the 1920s.

What was true of the breed between 1912 and 1926?

Hunters and intellectuals only began protecting the survivors from around 1928.

All modern Shibas descend from how many surviving bloodlines?

War, distemper and a fire in Tottori had wiped out the rest.

Which founding bloodline came from Nagano Prefecture?

Shinshu dogs were small and red with a dense undercoat.

Which bloodline tended to have a sickle tail rather than the usual curl?

It came from the old Mino Province in what is now southern Gifu.

In which year was the first Japanese breed standard, the Nippo Standard, published?

Natural Monument status followed two years later.

In which year was the breed declared a Natural Monument of Japan?

The Akita had received the same status in 1931.

The group known as Nippo, which won the breed its monument status, is formally called what?

It keeps the registries for all six native Japanese breeds.

Who founded Nippo in 1928 and served as its first president?

Saito was also instrumental in making the loyal Akita Hachikō famous.

Who brought the first Shiba to the United States in 1954?

The first recorded American litter did not arrive for another 25 years.

In which year did the American Kennel Club recognise the breed?

It joined the Non-Sporting Group the following year.

To which American Kennel Club group does the breed belong?

It was placed there in 1993, a year after recognition.

According to the American Kennel Club, what is the breed's status in Japan?

Abroad it is less common, ranking 42nd in US registrations for 2024.

To which skin condition is the breed predisposed?

The breed also carries three genes linked to glaucoma.

What life expectancy did Japanese cemetery data give the breed, the highest of any?

A 2024 UK study put it at 14.6 years against a purebred average of 12.7.

Outbreaks of which disease in the 1950s and 60s threatened the breed's survival?

Wartime food shortages had already brought the breed close to extinction.

Which disaster discouraged preservation efforts for the breed?

Tottori Prefecture was home to the San'in bloodline.

Who began preservation breeding of local Tottori dogs in the early Shōwa period?

His family carried on protecting the dogs after the war.

In which year did the Doge meme become popular?

Know Your Meme named it the top meme of that year.

Which dog is pictured in the original Doge meme?

Her owner's 2010 blog post supplied the photo; she died in 2024 aged 18.

In which font is the Doge meme's text written?

Google once rendered YouTube's interface in the font when you searched 'doge meme'.

Who owned the dog in the original Doge photo?

A kindergarten teacher, she said nobody around her knew about the meme.

The Doge dog was named after what?

A shelter volunteer chose it, and the owner kept it because the dog's face looked round like the fruit.

In which city were a bench monument and a manhole cover honouring the Doge dog installed?

She died there in May 2024.

For how much did a non-fungible token of the Doge meme sell in 2021?

The buyer was the collective PleasrDAO.

Dogecoin was created by Billy Markus and which other software engineer?

Palmer left the crypto community in 2015 and later called Elon Musk a grifter.

When was Dogecoin officially launched?

Within 30 days more than a million people had visited its website.

Dogecoin's community raised funds to send which athletes to the Sochi Winter Olympics?

They later funded Indian luger Shiva Keshavan too.

Which NASCAR driver's car carried a Dogecoin paint scheme at Talladega in 2014?

The No. 98 'Moonrocket' also appeared as downloadable content in NASCAR '14.

The SHIB token was created in August 2020 by a person or group using what pseudonym?

It was marketed as a potential competitor to Dogecoin.

Vitalik Buterin donated more than 50 trillion SHIB tokens to what cause in May 2021?

The gift was worth over $1 billion at the time.

What speech quirk defines the meme character Cheems?

His name comes from his taste for 'cheemsburgers'.

What was the real name of the Shiba behind the Cheems meme?

His owners called him Ball Ball; he died in Hong Kong in 2023 aged 12.

The Shiba Inu Puppy Cam of 2008 streamed on which platform?

Three million viewers had watched 1.2 million hours within a week.

In which city was the Shiba Inu Puppy Cam set up?

The owners set it up to watch their puppies while at work, and have stayed anonymous.

What was the name of the mother of the first Puppy Cam litter?

Her six pups became known as the Shiba Six or the A-Team.

Long-haired Shibas result from what?

The standard coat is a stiff topcoat over a soft, plush undercoat.

Kantaro Inagaki began documenting walks across Japan in 2024 with a Shiba called what?

The breed has had a notable online presence since at least 2010.

Which 2020 meme contrasted a muscular past with a feeble present using two Shiba characters?

The swole version stood for things that were better in the past.