Dog breed
The Ryukyu dog (琉球犬; Ryūkyū-inu or Ryūkyū-ken) is an endangered, medium-sized, Japanese breed of dog indigenous to Okinawa and Ishigaki Island. There were as few as 400 Ryukyu as of 2015. Unlike dogs such as the Kai Ken, the Ryukyu dog is not protected by the Nihon Ken Hozonkai, but instead is protected by the Ryukyu Inu Hozonkai.
Temperament: The Ryukyu dog is described as a quiet dog that is capable of hunting in a group or on its own. They are agile, brave and not sensitive. They are natural hunters and have a high prey drive. Despite being a hunting dog, they are obedient, playful and good with children. They cannot be trusted around small animals, but are usually okay with cats if introduced to them early on. They can be escape artists and have amazing climbing abilities, especially those with working rear dewclaws, who can climb vertical trees. They are very smart and so require a lot of mental stimulation as well as physical stimulation.
Despite being bred, raised and used as a hunting dog for many years, they have been described by the Ryukyu dog Hozonkai as ideal for therapy dog work because of their calm, placid temperament when trained correctly; however, due to their high prey drive they are not suitable for disability assistance work.
Appearance: The Ryukyu dog is a medium-sized Okinawan dog breed. They are very similar to Kai Ken in appearance, but are genetically closer to the Hokkaido.
Health: The Ryukyu dog, like all Japanese dog breeds, have relatively few health issues. The health conditions for Ryukyu dog aren't well-documented due to the culture of breeding dogs in Japan and Okinawa. Western breeders of Ryukyu dog are urged to test for hip dysplasia, elbow dysplasia, patella luxation, glaucoma, Collie eye anomaly (CEA) and hypothyroidism.
History: The Ryukyu dog originated in Okinawa. The breed was originally used to track and bay Ryukyu wild boar in packs, and also rarely hunt birds. Much of the Ryukyu dog's history has been destroyed and misplaced, hence it is very sparse. The purebred Ryukyu dog was thought to be extinct after World War II due to food shortages and crossbreeding with Western dogs. In the early 1980s, Yoshio Aragaki, the founder of the Ryukyu dog Hozonkai, felt a strong urge to save the breed when he managed to find purebred Ryukyu dogs up in Yanbaru.
It is believed that years of living in the rainforest is why the Ryukyu dogs have a dewclaw on the back of the foot, allowing them to climb trees. It has been speculated that this would have been evolutionarily favourable to them because of the high incidence of tsunami in Okinawa; they could climb trees quickly to evade the floods. However, this is unlikely to be true as only a small percentage of Ryukyu dog actually have working rear dewclaws. The preservation society sees the dewclaws as a throwback from hundreds of years ago when the dogs were genetically closer to wolves, and that the claws are used more often to brake when running.
The Ryukyu dog was designated as a natural monument of Okinawa prefecture in 1995.
