History of Guardian & Working Breeds

27/11/2025

Collection Jules Beau. Photographie sportive: 1905

27/11/2025

Saint Bernard

27/11/2025

1923

26/11/2025

25/11/2025

The Ryukyu is found in the southernmost islands of Japan, in Okinawa Prefecture. They vary slightly in type from island to island. There were around 1500 10 years ago, but only around 6-700 at present. The Ryukyu Inu Preservation Society was set up in 1990, and they've set up breed standards and the like. The breed has been declared a natural monument by Okinawa Prefecture. They are extremely rare outside Okinawa, and are not recognized as a breed by any clubs other than the one breed specific registry.

Ryukyus are known for being milder in temperament than other Nihonken, and friendlier. Their coats are shorter than other Nihonken, and come in many different colors. 'Toola' means tiger pattern in Okinawan (in mainland Japanese it's pronounced 'tora'), and the recognized colors are 'kuro-toola' (black-tiger), 'aka-toola' (red-tiger), 'shiro-toola' (white-tiger), and 'akain' (a solid red-brown). Different mixes of the colors can result in solid whites, blacks, sesames, and ivorys (all these colors not recognized at present). Around 60 percent of Ryukyus have the tiger stripe pattern.

25/11/2025

The Hokkaido dog originated from medium-sized hunting dogs that migrated with the Ainu people from Japan's main island of Honshu to Hokkaido, possibly as early as the 1140s. These dogs, originally called Ainu Ken, were adapted by the Ainu for hunting large game like bears and deer in the harsh, cold climate of northern Japan.
In 1937, the breed was designated a natural monument in Japan and was officially named the Hokkaido, though it is still widely called Hokkaido-Ken or Ainu-ken.
The ancestors of the Hokkaido are believed to be medium-sized hunting dogs from the Jōmon period (10,000 BC – 300 BC). The dogs are thought to have crossed to the island of Hokkaido with the Ainu people around the 1140s. The dogs adapted to the frigid climate and were bred for hunting large game, particularly bears and deer.
The breed was officially recognized in Japan in 1937 and named a "Living natural Monument". The name "Hokkaido" was officially adopted, though the names Ainu-ken and Hokkaido-ken are still commonly used.

25/11/2025

This was sent to me by Pierpaolo Venturi from Italy. His video on History of War Dogs. Mainly music with Italian writing, not that you need to understand it. Very well put together. A few pictures from the video which is in the comments. Thank you. Much appreciation .

25/11/2025

Male Chutora Kai Ken - Photo provided by Shigeru Kato
PADS Journal. V23

25/11/2025

A lot easier and quicker way to answer this question.

These are three breeds with long histories and heavily corded or flocked coats.  Breeds with shared ancestry make for sensible comparison as do those who have the same jobs or similar overall appearances.  In this case our comparison is of three breeds, barely related, who share an external appear...

24/11/2025

Caravan Hound, also known as Karavan Hound or Karwanis is a medium sized, hound breed dog from India. It is considered to be the fastest running dog of India, which is a slender and sturdy dog. Many people also believe that it was developed from the Arabian Saluki dogs brought in the Mughal period. Reaching speeds up to 42 mph when running whereas a leopard can reach up to 50 mph.
Caravan Hounds are tall dogs, which have long, hare-like feet and have a cat-like balance. Adept at chasing and catching their prey, even in adverse geographical conditions, they can leap up to 21 feet horizontally, whereas leopards leap over 25 feet horizontally.
Caravan Hounds are medium to large sized, skinny and slender dogs that can be tall around 24 to 30 inches at the withers. They are true hunters, were developed for catching hares and are even capable of bringing down Blackbuck. Caravan Hounds are capable of providing an excellent performance in the field on a consistent basis under gruelling conditions that would decimate most other dogs.

24/11/2025

Purported remains of Paleolithic dogs have been reported from several European archaeological sites dating to over 30,000 years ago. Their status as domesticated is highly controversial, with some authors suggesting them to be the ancestors of the domestic dog or an extinct, morphologically and genetically divergent wolf population.
Photo. Polychrome tracing made by the archaeologist Henri Breuil from the cave painting of a wolf-like canid discovered in the Font-de-Gaume cave, Dordogne, France dated to 17,000 years ago.

24/11/2025

Random collection of many! I have…. Should keep you going for a very long time…..