KENAI
Japanese Terrier

The breeds · terrier

AKC Foundation Stock Service · UKC Terrier · FCI standard 259

Japanese Terrier.

FCI 259: utilization Toy Dog (Group 3 Terriers, Section 2 small-sized Terriers, without working trial); kept mainly as lapdogs in the ports of Kobe and Yokohama, a lively and cheerful, swift and lively character. UKC: kept mainly as a lap dog; lively and cheerful. Wikipedia: originally bred to hunt small game such as rats and mice and to provide companionship..

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.

0INHeightall null. An ideal from the standard, not a range.
5–12LBWeight, all linesbreed 5 to 12 lb.

The body

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

Height at the shoulder

8 to 13 in

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 259, 2016

Standards print one range for both sexes. Low spans the Wikipedia figure (8 in), the lowest cited; the registries sit at 10 to 13 in.

Weight

5 to 12 lb

Breed clubAKC

Low and high span the AKC page and Wikipedia, which disagree; neither is a standard.

Coat

FCI 259: short, smooth, dense, glossy, about 2 mm; tricolour with black, tan and white head, white body with black spots or black or tan markings. UKC: short, smooth, dense, glossy; tricolor, white with black spots, or white with black or tan markings; long hair disqualifies (FCI also disqualifies long hair). AKC page: shedding 3 of 5.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 259, 2016

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

5 of 5 · FCI 259: coat very short, about 2 mm; short, smooth, dense and glossy. UKC: short, smooth, dense and glossy.

DerivedFCI-Standard N° 259, 2016

Derived from the standard's coat (very short, single, smooth = 5). No measured data.

The dog at home

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

Exercise need

AKC breed page bands: energy level 3 of 5, mental stimulation needs 3 of 5, playfulness 3 of 5. Wikipedia: known for high energy and intelligence, needing plenty of exercise and mental stimulation. No minutes are printed.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands and one editorial line; not mapped to minutes. No Royal Kennel Club page exists for this breed.

Energy

3 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming load

2 of 5

Breed clubAKC

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

Grooming

AKC breed page bands: coat grooming frequency 2 of 5, shedding 3 of 5. UKC: coat short, smooth, dense and glossy. FCI 259: short, smooth, dense and glossy, about 2 mm long.

Breed clubAKC

AKC bands, not mapped to the grooming_load scale.

The work

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

Role

FCI 259: utilization Toy Dog (Group 3 Terriers, Section 2 small-sized Terriers, without working trial); kept mainly as lapdogs in the ports of Kobe and Yokohama, a lively and cheerful, swift and lively character. UKC: kept mainly as a lap dog; lively and cheerful. Wikipedia: originally bred to hunt small game such as rats and mice and to provide companionship.

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 259, 2016

The registries call the dog a lapdog; the hunting line rests on Wikipedia alone, both stand.

Primary game

Wikipedia: originally bred to hunt small game, such as rats and mice. The FCI and UKC histories name no quarry: FCI 259 traces the breed to smooth Fox Terriers crossed with small pointers or native dogs and kept as lapdogs; UKC says the breed is kept mainly as a lap dog.

EditorialWikipedia

One editorial source; no registry text names quarry.

Field trial standard

FCI 259: Group 3 Terriers, Section 2, without working trial. UKC recognised the breed in 2006 and names no working test. AKC Foundation Stock Service listing since Oct 13 2020 per Wikipedia (the AKC page for the breed carries no body text).

Breed clubFCI-Standard N° 259, 2016

No earthdog or other test page was read for this breed.

More

akc bands

AKC breed page trait scores (1-5): Energy Level 3; Mental Stimulation Needs 3; Trainability Level 1; Barking Level 1; Watchdog/Protective Nature 5; Good With Young Children 3; Openness To Strangers 3; Good With Other Dogs 3; Shedding Level 3; Coat Grooming Frequency 2; 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. 3 sources on this page. Found something wrong? Tell us and the correction is logged with its date.

Also called
Nihon Teria, Kobe Terrier

Every breed, read the same way.

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

All published breeds

Your japanese terrier, on the record.

Log the days, the miles and the birds, and the KENAI app keeps the dog’s story beside the breed’s. Free to start.

Get the app