#sapsali

lesser-known dog breeds

One of the Facebook groups I'm in features a breed every month, and August 2024 is sapasree month. I thought I would share my posts here so we can spread some awareness and education since information is very difficult to find (in English especially, but also still in Korean).

Day one is just basic information.

Sapsalgae 삽살개, affectionately called sapasree 삽사리/sapsali 삽살이 and occasionally shortened to sapsal 삽살, is an indigenous dog (토종개) from South Korea. The name originally derives from Hanja (Chinese characters in Korean language) 煞 (evil spirit) and 揷 (to stop), and in Hangeul, the name becomes 삽사 (chase evil spirits) where 개, gae, means dog. Thus, the sapsaree's literal name means to chase or ward off evil spirits, and as such, sapsarees are often seen as guardians or protectors that bring good luck and peace.

Sapsarees have lived in South Korea for thousands of years, but exactly how long is unknown. The history of sapsarees are largely known through oral stories, folktales, paintings, songs, and writings. Potential evidence suggests they have been around since at least the Silla Dynasty (57 BCE – 935 CE), and for some time, they were typically kept by royalty. They were largely kept as companions, but they were sometimes used as military dogs (specifics of both of these purposes are unknown but likely along the lines of a general purpose companion, watch dog, and hunter). It wasn't until the Koryo Dynasty (918–1392) that commoners started owning sapsarees. During Japan's occupation of Korea, Japan issued Ordinance No. 26 in 1940 to kill dogs for fur to use as military resources. Sapsarees were largely targeted for their long hair, and an estimated 1.5 million sapsarees were killed during this period. Sapsarees came dangerously close to extinction, and in 1969, professors from the Kyungpook National University began searching for sapsarees. Of the dogs believed to be pure by appearance and behavior, only about 30 were found by 1972 when research began.

The true dedication to preserve sapsarees began in 1989 when Professor Ji-hong Ha committed to getting sapsarees recognized as a national monument (designations to animals, plants, formations, etc. that highlight and represent Korea's heritage), and in 1992, the Korean Sapsaree Foundation was founded and sapsarees were designated as National monument #368. From the original ~30 dogs saved, only 8 remained, and from those, the breed was carefully bred for preservation and protection. In 1999, sapsarees became available to the general public, and more recently, have become available to international buyers. Today, the Korean Sapsaree Foundation permanently houses approximately 500 sapsarees for preservation, breeding, and research, and sapsarees now number in the several thousands.

As sapsarees have always been companions, their strength comes from their qualities and behavior with their family. They are most well known for their loyalty and loving nature, but they are also characteristically gentle, obedient, and sociable within their circle. They are said to love with their whole body with their people. They are not known to be a vocal breed, but they are very watchful and may alert bark at strangers. In doing so, they are characteristically fearless and loud. As current priority is toward health and genetic diversity, specific traits on individuals are less selected for or against. As such, traits like prey drive, energy level, food drive, toy drive, and social friendliness with other dogs may vary. Sapsarees are a smart breed, but they are not bred specifically for work or sport, and sometimes motivating them can take time. Uniquely without being selected for, sapsarees generally seem to enjoy water and are generally very clean dogs (ie, not crate dirty and may hold their bladder for long periods). Weak character and nervousness is a fault, and excessive aggressiveness is a disqualifying fault.

Do you see the resemblance…? Hehe.

I didn't make these stickers, but I'm grateful for anyone that's interested/willing to buy one! Saspsarees are a very small and disjointed community, and there's almost no art or anything of them outside of Korea (very little in Korea, too). But we exist!! And it means a lot to support anything with them in it to show that YES, it IS worth making things featuring sapsarees!

(But also if that doesn't convince you, the artist is both incredibly talented with a unique style, and they promote other rare purebreds, so definitely check out their stuff! I don't really collect stickers, but to my uneducated self, the quality of these seem really nice. They're not too thin and flimsy, and physically, they feel well made.)

Some Journey pictures! She's been here for almost 2 weeks, and she's doing well. Overall, a very good puppy verging on adolescence. She eats well, loves treats/toys, is generally calmer (not super jumpy or mouthy). Interested in the cats, sometimes too much, but I can tell it's very much just a puppy interest and not any instinctual prey drive. She's just starting to get used to the crate, and for the past two nights, she hasn't barked when going to bed (although, I do need to pick her up and put her in there), but we're still working on duration and comfort (to hopefully want to go in and rest). I've taken her to work off shift/when closed) a few times, and she plays really well with other dogs (that I hand picked for being good). She also loves water.

Our biggest challenge has been with strangers. Sapsarees tend to range between aloof to friendly. Right now, she's in a fear period, so she alarm barks at strangers approaching fast (unfortunately, including my family members). Her parents were both good with people, and the foundation said her littermates are going through the same, so hopefully she'll stop once she's out of her fear period (and had time to adjust and acclimate).

Happy New Year!

Brief Journey update, she's doing great! She turned 8 months old a few days ago (about as tall as my knees and 35lb), and for an adolescent, she's so easy! She's very low energy, generally non-destructive and listens well (as much as an adolescent can). She's strongly motivated by environmental smells, though, so those can be a struggle to redirect her from. She's great with other dogs (polite greets, plays well, very non-reactive), smart and picks things up fast, and while she can go speed demon when she wants, she generally likes to meander and smell (she isn't a big leash puller because of that). She also has a very polite, soft mouth when taking treats/food, but she can be pretty chompy when I have a toy. 😅 She also loves water! Her and Enzo get along very well also. Mostly they relax together, but they rarely do play together. We have yet to master walking on leash together, though.

Our main struggle right now is fear reactivity (via barking) to direct/intimidating interactions with people. She's okay walking pass people or watching them, but if someone stares directly at her for a period of time or approaches us or seemingly at us (like jogging our direction to go past), she'll start barking. At this point, given her breed (naturally wary of strangers) and what I've observed over the three months I've had her, she'll likely never enjoy attention from strangers, but there has been some improvement. I expect a dip/step back at some point just because adolescent age, fear phases, etc. but hopefully as she matures and has more exposure, she'll be more neutral.

Did I just make a new YT channel and video just for Journey? Yes, yes I have. I have become "that" pet owner. ☠️ Granted, not sure how long it'll last. I kind of just... completely forgot my camera can actually record video, so I haven't done it until the past week (please excuse my poor focusing lol she moves so fast). I can't imagine I'll be doing this THAT often, but... well, I guess it's just another social media to reach out on.

I digress, though. I just thought it would be fun to look back on when she's older. One of the common comments I see across different social media and in person is how happy she looks in photos I share, etc. That wasn't on purpose, but I hope that is shown here. :) She's mostly very chill, but she's very bouncy and lively when she gets in into it.

It's also fun to see how she and Enzo interact. They've started figuring each other out, and they get each other worked up. Despite him playing kind of rough, he's very tolerant, patient, and handicaps his play for her (a lot of which you can see here, too).