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 History of the Shiba Inu |
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The Shiba Inu has been called the big dog in a little dog's body.
It is the smallest of Japan's native breeds and one of the oldest.
It is thought that the ancestors of today's Shiba Inu may have
accompanied that country's earliest immigrants around 7,000
B.C. The Shiba as we know it today can be traced back to three different bloodlines: the San In Shiba, the Shinshu Shiba and the Mino Shiba. The San In Shibas were large boned and rough looking. They lived in the mountains of the San In region where they were used as hunting dogs. The most popular of the three Shibas has always been the Shin Shu. Many stories abound on how the Shiba got its name. One story theorizes that the natural agility of the dog allowed it to navigate the native brushwood bushes with ease. Hence the name Little Brushwood Dog. Another story suggests the Shiba is so named because the meaning of the Japanese word "Shiba" means small and "Inu" is translated to mean dog therefore providing a description of the breed. However this little dog came by its name we know it has been called Shiba since the 1920s. The Shiba Inu gained entrance to the United States in 1954 when it accompanied an American armed serviceman and his family returning home from Japan after World War ll. In the late 1970s, Americans started to import the Shiba Inu from Japan for breeding purposes. The first Shiba Inu litter was born in the United States in 1979. The American Kennel Club was formed in 1983 by a group of Shiba lovers. In June of 1992 the Shiba Inu breed was allowed into the Miscellaneous class and then into the Non-Sporting Group in June of 1993. The Shiba Inu has come from near extinction during World War ll to over 80,000 strong in Japan today and 2,478 dogs registered in the United States during the year 2000. |
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Unless otherwise indicated, all text and images were created by Laura Paquette.
© 2003 Laura Paquette. Web hosting and consultation provided by ZONE804.