MameShiba Information

~Published by KC Japan in 2008~

Excerpts from page 2 of the booklet "Mame-Shiba Official Commemorative Issue"

The Mame-Shiba was first bred around 1950 by Shiba Inu lovers in Kyoto, Japan,

who started breeding smaller than standard Shiba Inu under the name of Mame-Shiba.

The name Mame-Shiba became widely known around 1991, when the breed was covered by newspapers, magazines, television and other media and became a boom.

However, the high price of the Mame-Shiba has led to problems such as unscrupulous breeders crossbreeding with other breeds, malnutrition due to limited feeding in the puppy's early years, and improper breeding that results in large adult dogs, as well as difficult-to-understand labeling and explanations at the time of sale. The Fair Trade Commission also published a report on the actual situation in June 2008.

As for pedigree certificates, Nihonken Hozonkai (Japan Dog Preservation Society) has stated that it would never officially recognize a Mame-Shiba that is outside the size standard of the Japanese Dog Standard.

The Japan Kennel Club, the organization that publishes pedigrees of all breeds, also does not recognize the Mame-Shiba.

However, since there is no organization that officially recognizes the Mame-Shiba, pedigree certificates are issued as "Shiba Inu" by each organization, including our association, while the Mame-Shiba is sold as "Mame-Shiba" according to individual breeders' standards, which has caused a contradiction and confusion.

Since the Mame-Shiba is a Shiba Inu in the pedigree, it is also crossbred with the Shiba Inu, and it is feared that this will lead to the dwarfing of the Shiba Inu as well.

The Association has decided that official recognition of the Mame-Shiba is also a requirement of the times, due to changes in the breeding environment (the desire to keep dogs indoors, the aging of breeders, the boom in small pet dogs, and the change in awareness from pets to companion animals), and the degree to which the Mame-Shiba name has become well established.

Five years ago, we obtained affiliation with the Sesshu Hozanso Mame-Shiba kennel of Masanobu Nishiyama (currently a director of our association), which has continued lineage breeding for roughly 30 years using dogs from the Taruiso lineage as foundation dogs, and have been investigating breeding management and purification fixation.

As a result, it was confirmed that the Mame-Shiba can be produced in a stable manner with a high degree of perfection, so the breed standard was officially announced and the Mame-Shiba was officially recognized.

We intend to promote the purification and fixation of the Mame-Shiba breed by thoroughly controlling breeding through a "certification system" in which all dogs are screened as adults, and to curb the miniaturization of the Shiba breed by restricting crossbreeding by breed classification.

We hope that after you receive your puppy, you will support the intentions of this club and join us.

*Transfers from other organizations will also be accepted.

It has been 10 years in 2018 since the world's first Mame-Shiba pedigree was issued by KC Japan.

We have issued pedigrees of Mame-Shiba and the number of Mame-Shiba has been increasing steadily as the number of Mame-Shiba has been increasing.

However, during the past 10 years, KC Japan's standards for the Mame-Shiba have been gradually being loosened, so that a Shiba can easily become a Mame-Shiba from a Shiba, something that it took our kennel several decades to accomplish, and so the number of unfixed Mame-Shibas has increased.

The breeders who want a pedigree Mame-Shiba as soon as possible started to restrict the diet, and now many Mame-Shibas are being reduced in size due to dietary restrictions.

Such a thing is not even a real Mame-Shiba, and I told the association over and over again, ""No certification for a second-generation ancestor!"

However, they say, ""It was decided by the board of directors,"" and only measures to increase the number of members are implemented, and advice comes to nothing. Shiba breeders are joining more and more as long as they can get a pedigree of Mame-Shiba.

The small Shiba, which have not been fixed, and the Mame-Shiba, which have been fixed and have gone through a lot of hard work, are mixing with each other, which is something that should not happen, and if this situation continues, the Mame-Shiba are on the verge of being eliminated.

With such concerns, a new organization was established mainly by breeders who have genuinely been fixing Mame-Shibas for 20 or 40 years.

Nihon Mame-Shiba-ken Association (the Japan Mame-Shiba Association)

From that time forward, I will be active in the Japan Mame-Shiba Inu Association, and will continue to manage the well-fixed lineage that I have established through the pedigrees of the association.

Mame-Shiba of Sesshu-Hozanso

Sesshu Hozanso's Mame-Shiba has a history of over 60 years.

For all these years I have produced only pedigree fixed Mame-Shibas.

Our Mame-Shiba is not a breed created by inbreeding or other forced breeding.

Do you think a puppy who is small due to dietary restrictions can be considered a Mame-Shiba?

If you are looking for a real Mame-Shiba, please contact us.