Dekisugi



Dekisugi is a Japanese term that roughly means 'too good to be true'. We use this in describing pups that are too balanced at too young an age. Often pups like this end up being too small, or losing proper balance in their face as their skeleton matures.

This is not a hard fast rule, but is something to be aware of when picking pups. I've used as an example a pup from my last Shikoku litter. We'll see how she turns out, but she does worry me just a bit since at 2 months she already looks 'finished'. A pup should have room to grow into, something we describe as 'nobi' (length).

Anyway, that was just a random thought I had as I looked at these pictures of Kaori. The good news is she's close by so we'll all get to see how this experiment works out.

Comments

  1. aykJanuary 8, 2016 at 12:05 AM

    I'll be interested in reading what you find out.

    Pat Hastings, of Puppy Puzzle fame, believes there is a small window at 8 weeks of age, where the puppy reflects the final structure. Assess too early and the puppy is too mushy. Assess too late and the puppy has already started growing unevenly.

    Some people think that breeds are better assessed at 7 weeks though.

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    1. KatoJanuary 8, 2016 at 1:12 PM

      I think it is probably different for each breed based on growth speed too. But yes, we generally evaluate at around 50 days.

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  2. ClaireDecember 6, 2016 at 7:07 AM

    So it's been 11 months since this post... how did this pup turn out?

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    1. KatoDecember 17, 2016 at 11:13 AM

      As expected I think. However she did just have a litter so am waiting till she gets back in shape before making judgement (and going over to take some pictures).
      She threw a couple nice pups...

      Delete

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