Breeds / Medium
Hokkaido puppies
The Hokkaido is an ancient Japanese spitz bred to hunt in deep snow, loyal and brave with its own family and reserved with strangers. It is independent, athletic and needs both a job and secure fencing.
The facts
- Size class Medium
- Country of origin Japan
- Adult weight 20 to 29.9 kg
- Adult weight in pounds 44 to 66 lb
- Adult height 46 to 51 cm
- Energy level High
- Grooming Low
- Coat type Medium double
- Typical lifespan 12 to 15 years
- Good with children Fine with supervision
- Good with other dogs Fine with supervision
Where these come from:
About the Hokkaido
The Hokkaido is one of Japan's ancient native spitz breeds, kept by the Ainu people on the northern island for hunting bear and deer in deep snow. It is a medium sized, squarely built dog of 20 to 29.9 kg with small prick ears, a curled tail and a harsh double coat over a dense undercoat that handles brutal weather. Character is primitive in the useful sense: brave, intensely loyal to its own household, watchful with strangers and quite capable of making decisions without consulting anyone.
It needs a genuinely active home, ideally one that hikes, runs or trains for sport, plus a job to keep the mind busy. The garden fence should be six foot, because Hokkaido jump well, and a properly fitted martingale or harness is sensible for walks. Grooming is easy apart from twice yearly undercoat blows, which need daily work. Prey drive is high and socialisation matters from the start. The specific mistake to avoid is leaving chewable objects around, as the breed swallows things it should not.
What to expect at eight weeks
At eight weeks a Hokkaido puppy is sleeping around 18 to 20 hours a day, is not house trained, and cannot hold on for more than an hour or two at a stretch. A medium breed puppy at eight weeks is a manageable armful that will not stay that way. Most of the growth happens between now and six months, so buy for the adult dog where you can. This is a high energy breed. At eight weeks that shows up as intensity rather than stamina, and it will need a job to do long before it needs long walks. Grooming is straightforward, but start handling the coat, feet and ears in week one anyway so it is never a fight later. The socialisation window is open and closing: everything it meets calmly now, from vacuum cleaners to men in hats, is easier for the rest of its life.
Health worth knowing about
Conditions this breed is reported to be predisposed to. Predisposed does not mean inevitable, it means ask about it.
- Collie eye anomaly, detectable by DNA test on both parents
- Hip dysplasia, screened by hip evaluation of breeding stock
- Patellar luxation, a slipping kneecap, found on a patella evaluation
- Heart murmurs, picked up when a vet listens to the chest and confirmed by ultrasound
- Idiopathic seizures, diagnosed by ruling out other causes
- Pica, the swallowing of non food items, which shows up as vomiting or blockage and often needs surgery
From Hokkaido breed information at https://www.akc.org/dog-breeds/hokkaido/. Discuss any of these with your own vet.
Your Hokkaido puppy's first six months
- Vaccination schedule, dated for your country.
- Worming and parasite schedule.
- Feeding calculator. Set expected adult size to Medium for a Hokkaido.
- Adult size predictor, to check growth against the 20 to 29.9 kg adult range.
- Puppy names and the first week checklist.
Other medium breeds
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Not veterinary advice. Breed information is general. Your own dog, and your own vet, always win.