KENAI
Japanese Spitz

The breeds · northern

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Northern Breed · FCI standard 262

Japanese Spitz.

FCI 262 utilization: companion dog. UKC: an elegant, spirited and dignified breed; intelligent, cheerful and keen, and not to be noisy. Royal Kennel Club: a popular Japanese breed with a pure white coat. Wikipedia: first and foremost a companion dog that thrives on human contact; most make good watch dogs and bark to warn of arriving strangers..

Breed sets the odds. The parents set the dog. Every number here shows its source, its spread and how sure we are. Nothing on this page is a prediction about one dog.

13YRMedian lifespan12.3 to 13.7, measured on real dogs.
0INHeightdogs null, bitches null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
10–25LBWeight, all linesbreed 10 to 25 lb.
1HRSExercise, every dayRoyal Kennel Club: exercise up to 1 hour per day.. The constraint most homes get wrong.

The body

What the breed is built like. Registry standards give an ideal, not a range.

Height at the shoulder

dogs 11.8 to 15 in · bitches 11.8 to 15 in

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 1999

No center: ranges only. FCI prints no female figure. The AKC page range is breed-wide and counts in both sex rows.

Weight

10 to 25 lb

Breed clubAKC

Single source: the AKC page header only; no standard prints a weight.

Coat

FCI 262: pure white; straight standing-off outer coat over a short, soft, dense undercoat; short hair on the foreface, ears, front of the forearms and below the hocks; abundant long coat especially from neck to shoulders and forechest (frill) and long profuse feathering on the tail. UKC: double coat, pure white. Royal Kennel Club: coat length medium; sheds; white, or white with black points. Wikipedia: dirt and mud fall or brush out easily; the coat is described as non-stick.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 1999

Shedding

Shedding 3 of 5 (AKC breed page trait score)

Breed clubAKC

AKC breed page trait score, 1 to 5: a breed-club tendency, never a measurement.

Heat tolerance

2 of 5 · Profuse pure white double coat with a standing-off outer coat, dense undercoat, frill and feathered tail (FCI 262, UKC)

DerivedFederation Cynologique Internationale, 1999

Derived from the coat description (heavy double or long = 2). No measured data.

How long they live, and what they cost

Measured on real dogs, with the sample and the spread. Never a guess.

Median lifespan

13 years (12.3 to 13.7)

MeasuredMcMillan KM, 2024

UK sample, n 336 with 117 deceased: the interval is for dogs that had died by the study date.

The dog at home

What the breed asks of a day. The first thing most homes get wrong.

Exercise need

Royal Kennel Club: exercise up to 1 hour per day.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'up to 1 hour' recorded as 60 minutes.

Exercise need

Royal Kennel Club: up to 1 hour per day; small house, small to medium garden; town or country. AKC page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3. Wikipedia: can live in apartments but needs some time running off leash in a safe place; tolerates cold but prefers living indoors with the family.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

Band words as the RKC prints them; AKC bands are not measured.

Energy

AKC breed page: Energy Level 3 of 5, Mental Stimulation Needs 3, Trainability 5, Barking Level 3, Good With Other Dogs 5, Openness To Strangers 5, Watchdog/Protective Nature 3. FCI 262: intelligent, cheerful, keen in sense; noisiness not permitted. UKC: intelligent, cheerful and keen; should not be noisy. Wikipedia: active, loyal and bright, known for courage and affection.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands, not measured.

Grooming load

4 of 5 · Royal Kennel Club: grooming every day; coat length medium; sheds. AKC page: Coat Grooming Frequency 3 of 5, Shedding Level 3. Wikipedia: groomed about twice a week with a pin brush that reaches the undercoat.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

RKC band 'every day' = 4. AKC page rates 3 of 5 and Wikipedia says twice a week; all shown.

Grooming

Royal Kennel Club: every day, medium coat, sheds. AKC page: Coat Grooming Frequency 3 of 5, Shedding Level 3, Drooling Level 1. Wikipedia: regular brushing is essential given the thick coat, though dirt falls off easily.

Breed clubThe Royal Kennel Club

AKC bands.

The work

What it was built to do in the field, and what a test or trial asks of it.

Role

FCI 262 utilization: companion dog. UKC: an elegant, spirited and dignified breed; intelligent, cheerful and keen, and not to be noisy. Royal Kennel Club: a popular Japanese breed with a pure white coat. Wikipedia: first and foremost a companion dog that thrives on human contact; most make good watch dogs and bark to warn of arriving strangers.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 1999

Companion dog by history in every source.

Field trial standard

FCI 262: without working trial (FCI group 5, section 5 Asian Spitz and related breeds). No hunting test standard was read.

Breed clubFederation Cynologique Internationale, 1999

How common the problems are

Evaluated dogs skew toward breeding stock; the numbers are still the best there are.

Most common disorders

Wikipedia: the main health concern is patellar luxation; the breed can also be prone to runny eyes, usually from small tear ducts, allergy or stress and rarely a serious eye defect; progressive retinal atrophy of the rcd4 type, a late-onset inherited eye disease, has also been identified.

EditorialWikipedia

Wikipedia only, citing breed-information pages and a DNA test lab; no VetCompass paper or breed club survey was read.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 5; Barking Level 3; Watchdog/Protective Nature 3; Good With Young Children 5; Openness To Strangers 5; Good With Other Dogs 5; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 3; Drooling Level 1; Affectionate With Family 3; Playfulness Level 3; Adaptability Level 5.

Breed clubAKC

Fourteen AKC bands in one row; the selector reads each by name. Breed-club ratings: a tendency, never a measurement.

How to read this page

Every value carries a label. Measured means peer-reviewed data on many dogs. Studied means peer-reviewed, smaller or indirect. Breed club means a club or registry states it. Editorial means expert opinion with no measurement behind it. Where two good sources disagree, both are shown and neither is averaged.

Published when the entry rests on the best information available from no fewer than three independent sources, checked by a second pass that did not write it. 5 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Nihon Supittsu

Every breed, read the same way.

The breed index grows as entries clear the standard. Gun dogs first.

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