Quick Facts
Origin: China
Height: 8”-11”
Weight: 7-11 lbs
Color: Black & white, black, tan & white, lemon & white, red & white, sable & white, white & black. Any of these may come with red markings
Lifespan: 10-12 years
Temperament: Impish, regal, charismatic, affectionate
Overview
The Japanese Chin’s most striking feature is their wide set eyes. Combined their regal nature and beautiful flowing locks and you have quite the remarkable pup. Originally from China, the breed really came into its own under Japanese aristocracy.
They are wonderful lapdogs, require little in the way of grooming and exercise. They have even been described as “feline” and have been known to do their best to groom themselves. Having been originally bred to amuse and accompany their elite owners, these pups maintain their amusing, impish, and loving manners.
Celebrity Owners
Ozzy Osbourne, Joan Rivers
Fun Facts
- Japanese Chin love to spin, so much so that it is known as the “Chin spin”.
Health
Japanese are generally a very healthy breed. Some concerns you may encounter include:
- Patellar luxation: Luxating simply means out of place or dislocated. Patella is a kneecap. A Luxating patella is a kneecap that chronically moves out of its normal position.
- Brachycephalic syndrome: This syndrome describes anatomic abnormalities in certain breeds where the upper airways disfunction and/or are obstructed.
- Cataracts: A dog develops a cataract when the lens in its eye clouds. The clouding is caused by changes in the water balance or proteins in the lens.
- Legg-Calve-Perthes disease: This disease occurs at the head of the femur (the ball and socket joint in your dog’s hips. Here, the femur degenerates which can cause the hip to collapse and can cause arthritis.
- Heart murmur: With a murmur, one can hear the irregular blood flow through the heart, be that from exercise or some kind of irregularity or valve in the heart.
- Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca: Also referred to as dry eyes, this refers to the dryness of conjunctiva that lines the eye under the eyelid.
- Entropion: In this condition, an eyelid, typically the lower one inverts which cause the eyelashes to rub against the eye. This causes irritation on the eye.
- Epilepsy: The most common neurological disease in dogs, seizures affect about 1% of dogs.
- Heat strokes: This occurs when the body can no longer regulate its temperature.
- GM2 Gandliosidosis: In this genetic condition, the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are destroyed over time.
Keeping your dog’s mouth clean and problem free goes a long way to your pup’s overall health. Dental hygiene can be the cause or can be the byproduct of other serious health issues.
Visual inspections can be performed to keep track of the signs of potentially waning oral health. These signs can be anything from bad breath to abnormal chewing to loss of appetite.
Keeping ahead of these warning signs can pay dividends. A preventative approach can delay and stop many of the common dental problems from arising.
Oral health can be tackled in five basic steps:
- Brushing your dog’s teeth to prevent an undesirable buildup of plaque
- Feed your dog a diet where the high quality dog food has dental benefits
- Regularly give your dog dental toys and treats
- Use mouthwash, to help where brushing misses
- At the sign of any abnormalities, consult a vet. You can even do it virtually, from the convenience of your home.
Dogs are just like humans in that they can experience anxiety. The degree to which they are susceptible to anxiety and how they deal with anxiety is breed specific. Left unchecked, initial signs of anxiety could give way to an anxiety disorder. The symptoms of anxiety disorders can lead to a myriad of behavior issues.
Knowing the signs and symptoms will best equip you to keep ahead of it and to nip it in the bud at the earliest signs. There are options available to help with anxiety.
Grooming
Japanese Chin need surprisingly little in the way of grooming. Brushing their coat weekly with a pin brush and bathing them once a month, will help keep your pup looking top notch. Between washes you can use a dry shampoo to help your pup looking salon fresh.
Keep your pup’s nails cut short. Make sure their eyes and ears are clean and clear of debris. Brush their teeth several times per week.
Exercise
Japanese Chin require around 30 minutes of exercise per day. Splitting it up into two, leisurely for you and brisk for pup, walks will suffice. When taking your pup out make sure to use a harness, not a collar, as the later can cause a collapsed windpipe.
Japanese pups are nut cut out for hiking or jogging. In fact, this breed has a susceptibility to heat strokes. Always be mindful in hot weather.
Nutrition
On average, Japanese Chin will eat 1 cup of food per day. The exact amount for your pup will depend on age and activity level. They are prone to obesity so feeding your pup from the table should be completely avoided. Also monitor the number of treats that are given each day, as a little bit goes a very long way towards the waistline of the Japanese Chin.
We’ve taken a look at some premium dog foods, high in nutrition here.
Training
Japanese Chin will respond positive training. Like many small breeds they will shut down and not respond to harsh methods. You will find the most success if your pup feels like the training is its own idea.
If you wait too long, housetraining will become more difficult. The best window to train in is 8-12 weeks of age.
Proper training is essential to ensuring the safety of your dog and those around you. Having your dog come when they should, and in general having them listen is something you want to address early in your pup’s life, as it will pay dividends down the line. There are many tried and true training programs to accomplish this training – faster and better than you might think!
Unless you’re living on a farm, or have the space, a yipping dog, or one that barks all day when you are gone could be an issue with the neighbors and/or landlord. Historically, dogs would bark to communicate with the rest of the pack when hunting and bark as a warning shot to predators eyeing up their flock. Barking is deep rooted in dogs and manifests itself in many ways and for a variety of reasons.
Just like any habit or instinct, there are effective ways you can train this issue away.
Supplements
A solid Glucosamine Supplement for hips and joints will go a long way to helping your furry friend. Other helpful supplements include full-spectrum hemp oil or CBD oil. Fish oil skin and coat supplement.
Ensuring a comprehensive preventative vitamin and mineral plan is essential to keeping your dog healthy. Truth is, there are vitamins and minerals that your dog needs, but doesn’t produce naturally. While many of these vitamins and minerals can be found in your dog’s current diet and dog food, the question becomes, are there enough vitamins to ensure they aren’t deficient.
Poor nutrition can lead to some of the most common health issues, such as weak joints, compromised immunity, increased allergies, and low energy.
Vitamins play a vital role in your pet’s health and overall life expectancy. Here are some multivitamin and joint relief options.
As regulations around marijuana have eased, the emergence of CBD oils for humans and dogs have sprung up.
Just to begin to dispel the negative stigma, CBD extract comes from Hemp, marijuana’s cousin. Unlike its cousin, there are no psychoactive qualities in CBD oil. An emerging number of clinical and institutional studies have shown the wide variety of healing qualities in CBD, including pain management, and the containment of seizures and epileptic episodes.
Explore this remedy further to see all the health benefits that have transformed the lives of so many dogs to date.
The Good
Wonderful companions
Low tendency to bark
Low maintenance grooming
The "Ruff"
Gets bored or stubborn with training
Prone to overheating