Shikoku dog

Still sometimes called the Kochi-ken, the Shikoku comes from the mountains of Shikoku island, where hunters used it to hold deer and boar at bay, preferably by barking rather than biting. The modern dog descends mainly from the Hongawa and Hata lines and wears the most wolfish coat of the six: sesame, red sesame or black sesame, with pale undersides. It was the fifth of the six to be declared a natural monument, in 1937. Expect a nimble, spirited dog that is devoted to its owner and wants far more exercise and mental work than a walk round the block. Epilepsy is the main inherited concern to raise with any breeder, and dogs outside Japan are few.