Sapsaree
My family never had much experience
with respect to Sapsarees and so I first saw and heard of the Sapsarees
in Hyungwon Kang's Jindo
page. He mentioned that a General Kim Yoo Shin of the Shilla
Kingdom was reknowned for taking his Sapsarees into battle with him.
As I have the same Korean name as the general (and was teased many times
by it :-), I was became intrigued by this non-spitz breed. I still
don't have much info with regards to the Sapsaree, but here's what I have
so far.
Restoration vs. Recreation
The existence of Sapsaree is fairly well documented and there exists Tibetian and Mongolian dogs that have some resemblance to the Sapsaree.
Tibetian KyiApso Changtang, owned by Judy Steffel |
Most if not all Koreans believe that the Sapsaree existed in the past. However, after the Japanese made deliberate efforts to exterminate anything distinctly Korean during the W.W.II occupation, it is controversial whether the current dogs in Korea are in fact a restoration or a recreation.
People who support the restoration theory believe that a few Sapsarees did indeed escape the Japanese extermination program and these few have prospered into the stable numbers now. The Korean Sapsaree Association has an excellent page introducing the Sapsaree in Korean and English and I recommend that you go there to get the restoration point of view. Due to their efforts especially in the area of DNA fingerprinting, the Sapsaree was recognized as National Treasure #368 in 1992.
Other people believe that the Sapsaree is a recreation and the national treasure designation should be stripped from them. The author of one of my Jindo books, Yoon Shin Keun (a veterinarian), was one of them. A friend of mine in Korea points out the reticence of the Sapsaree founders to debate their case on television and the secrecy of the Sapsarees in the beginnings of the restoration. He says the Sapsarees televised from the official breeding farm are timid and far from the guardian dogs of old (but wouldn't undersocialized dogs react the same?). Some people call the Sapsaree the "Korean Poodle" as who knows what other breeds were utilized in creating the look of the Sapsaree.
After several years of restricting breedings to "pure" Sapsarees, the gene pool was officially expanded to grandfather in Sapsaree-like dogs.
Links
Korean Sapsaree Association - The most comprehensive site regarding SapsareesA Sapsaree and Poongsan breeding farm. (Link broken?)
A "Sapsalee" page (In Korean)
Hyungwon
Kang Site - Has a Sapsaree picture (from a video?) and the comment
about Gen. Kim Yoo Shin and his Sapsarees
Publications-books
A book with Jindos and Sapsarees.
last updated 1/20/07