Great article, @melemech - I'm the lucky owner of a Shikoku dog myself. I got her from the breeder i Tel Aviv almost four years ago.

She's the cutest little rogue.

She loves everybody, but mostly people she's seen before, like the FedEx guy, the owner of our house, and our son, of course.

She also loves cats.

Dogs, on the other hand, not so much. When she was a puppy, she liked other dogs, too, but she got bitten more than once, and one day she fought back.

We live in an apartment, by the way, but I walk her daily, and she plays with our cat (pet battles), so she's doing fine.

She must be one of the hunting dogs, according to your description. She's slender, and colored more to the sesam black side, but not as black as the one in your picture.

Here she is, looking for cats outside