meet the... Tosa Inu

Head

• General Appearance: Somewhat broad mesaticephalic to moderately brachycephalic skull-type, moderate in size, blocky in appearance, and in proportion with the rest of the body. The head is fairly clean-cut without excess skin or wrinkles. A light wrinkle is often visible from the outer eye corner to the corner of the lip, and some light wrinkling of the forehead may be visible when the ears are brought to alert. The skull is broad, approximately 10-20% broader (measured across the top in front of the ears) than long (from stop to occiput), and well-padded with muscle. It is slightly arched when viewed from any direction, with a moderately well-developed median furrow running from the stop and disappearing toward the occiput. The zygomatic arches are broad but well-padded with powerful muscles. The supraorbital arches are somewhat defined.
• Expression: Solemn, dignified, watchful, self-confident, imposing, and self-composed.
• Stop: The stop is somewhat abrupt.
• Skull: The ideal muzzle-to-skull ratio is 4:5, with the topskull being just longer than the muzzle.
  The ideal muzzle-to-skull axis is parallel.
• Muzzle: The muzzle is full, deep, and broad. The plane, or bridge of the muzzle, is straight and level. It is broad and squared throughout, with very little taper from the base to the nose. The upper and lower jaws are well developed, approximately equal in length, have good bone substance, and never appear snipey or weak.
• Lips or Flews: The lips are well-pigmented, fairly tight, and clean but loosen toward the rear corner just slightly. The lips should never appear loose, pendulous, or extend below the lower plane of the bottom jawline.
• Nose: The nose is well-pigmented, black, or self-colored, according to the coat in nonstandard color varieties. The nostrils are well opened. The nose is flush with the vertical line of the end of the muzzle or may protrude just slightly beyond, never appearing pointed.
• Cheeks: The cheeks are well developed and powerfully muscled, never appearing chiseled or flat.
• Dentition and Bite: Forty-two strong, clean, and white teeth. The bite may be level, scissor, or reverse-scissor. Contact must be made between the top and bottom incisors. Missing or broken teeth due to routine work is not to be penalized. The roof of the mouth is darkly pigmented.
• Eyes: Somewhat small to medium in size, ranging from somewhat round to opened oval, almond, or lemon-shaped. They may be medium to dark brown in color. Nonstandard dogs may have eyes ranging from amber or hazel to dark brown. The eye rims are well-fitted and well-pigmented. The eyes are never bulging. There should be sufficient bone in the surrounding orbital sockets to protect the eyes. Any signs of entropion or ectropion are incorrect for this breed.
• Ears: Fairly small to medium in size and set fairly high on the skull. The eyes are set on level with the plane of the skull and fairly well apart on the outer edge of the topskull. They are V-shaped with rounded tips and drop-shaped in type, always natural, and never surgically cropped. The ear tips and inner edges fall close to the head. The ears are never long, overly large, broken, or fully erect. When extended forward, the tips should never reach beyond the inner corners of the eyes.

Body and Tail

• General Description: Solid, broad, deep, and of good substance. The body is never racy or refined, nor is it clumsy and cloddy. The width at the forequarters is approximately equal to the width at the hindquarters.
• Neck: Moderate in length, yet sufficient to allow for good head carriage and movement. Powerfully muscled with a good arch. The neck tapers just slightly from the deeper and broader body toward the head. The neck is clean-cut, with a slight amount of loose skin at the throat area, but without excess skin, throatiness, or pendulous dewlap.
• Chest: Deep and broad but never wider than deep. The brisket extends to the point of the elbows. The forechest is well-developed without being excessively pronounced.
• Topline: Straight and level, or just slightly sloped from slightly prominent withers to croup. The back is of a good length, broad, strongly muscled, and straight, yet supple. The loin is broad, taut, flat, and level, or slightly arched, yet supportive. The back is never elongated, swayed, or roached.
• Croup: Gently sloped.
• Underline: A slight to moderate tuck-up is present. The underline is taut and firm, without any indication of sagging or excess weight.
• Ribs: Long, well-sprung, well-laid-back, and oval-shaped, never barrel-chested or slab-sided.
• Tail: Set neither high nor low on the croup but as a natural extension of the topline. It is thick at the base and tapering toward the tip. The tail is carried in accordance with the dog’s mood and energy level, usually in a relaxed, neutral position, but never tucked or carried up over the back. Tails are to be left natural and never docked short. The tail is of a fairly long length, with the tip of the last vertebrae extending to the hock joints when held down. The tail may be straight, gently curved, or pump-handled.

Forequarters and Hindquarters

• Forequarters: The forequarters are always balanced with the hindquarters and moderately angulated with moderately laid-back shoulder blades. The shoulder blades are long and approximately equal in length to the upper arm and forearm.
• Elbows: Elbows are close to the body. The point of the elbows is approximately half the dog’s height at the withers.
• Forelegs: Frontal View: Straight, of good muscle, of sturdy bone, and parallel to one another.
  Side View: The forelimbs appear straight with strong pasterns.
• Pasterns: Never weak or broken.
• Hindquarters: The upper and lower thighs are long and equal in length, strong, sturdy bone, and well-muscled.
  Rear View: When viewed from the rear, the rear pasterns are parallel to one another.
  Side View: Good angulation will allow the rear toes to align with the point of the rump or within one to two paw-lengths behind the point of the rump, with the rear pasterns remaining perpendicular to the ground and parallel to one another.
• Stifle Joint: Well-angulated with a good bend to well-let-down rear pasterns.
• Stifle Joint: The angulation of the hindquarters is always in balance with the angulation of the forequarters.
• Feet: Oval to round, compact, with well-arched toes and tough pads. Toes may be oriented just slightly outward.

Coat

• Skin: Well-fitted, yet supple. The skin should never obstruct the outline of the dog. The skin is loosest around the throat and neck area, a feature that serves as an advantage in the fighting pits.
• Coat Type: The coat is short, smooth, dense, and close to the body throughout. The texture is harsh and glossy, with or without undercoat. If an undercoat is present, the coat will be slightly longer on the neck, forming a light ruff, and on the tail.
• Coat Color or Pattern: CKC recognizes two color varieties of the Tosa Inu breed: the standard and nonstandard.
  
  Standard coat color variety: Any shade of apricot or fawn (tan with melanistic mask) from light tan to dark red, clear, tipped, or shaded sables (tan to red with varying degrees of overlay), sand, tan, gold, red, red-brown, or black, brindle of a black base, all with or without a small amount of white on the toes and chest.
  
  Nonstandard coat color variety:
  Solid liver, gray, or blue. Liver, gray, blue, or black with tan points or saddle, liver, blue, or gray-based fawns or sables. Any standard or nonstandard colors with white markings, piebald, or white with standard or nonstandard color markings.

Movement

Well-coordinated, powerful, and smooth-flowing gait with graceful movements, the movement should denote energy and efficiency, and appear effortless, never appearing lumbering and heavy. The characteristics of a healthy structure are evident. When moving away, the forelegs and rear pasterns should remain parallel to one another. When viewing movement from the front, the forelegs should remain parallel, with elbows and paws moving neither in nor out. From the rear, the back pads should be visible when the rear legs are extended. As speed increases, the forelimbs and hindlimbs will converge to the centerline of gravity. From the side, the topline should remain firm and level. Good reach of movement in the front allows the forepaw to extend out in line with the nose. When extended, the width between the forefeet should be approximately equal to the width between the hindfeet when extended, indicating balance, good reach, and good drive. Dogs that exhibit any sign of breathing or locomotive difficulty shall be disqualified from the show ring.

Temperament

The Tosa Inu breed is a self-composed and self-confident dog of great strength and size. They are known for their enduring patience and courage. They are naturally wary or aloof with strangers, at best, and will not tolerate other dogs and pets well, especially dogs of the same sex. Although they are known for their loyalty and patience with their family, the Tosa Inus are not an ideal pick for most companion settings. Their history includes a long line of dog fighting, an unfortunate activity that the breed is still heavily bred and utilized for in his home country of Japan to this day. For this, only the largest and most aggressive dogs are kept and selected.

Their natural intolerance of other dogs and animals, coupled with their immense strength and head-strong temperament, can make for a dangerous combination for the novice dog owner. For this reason, ownership of the breed has been banned in several countries. However, some lines have been long removed from the fighting pits, and breeders have made efforts to breed out some of the intraspecific aggression in the breed. They have found that the dogs respond wonderfully to reward-based training and early socialization during puppyhood, both of which are absolute requirements for anyone who is considering adding a Tosa Inu to the family. Although they are bred to be aggressive toward other dogs in the fighting ring, dogs that show any aggression towards people are often culled. Therefore, any unprovoked aggressive or fearful behavior toward people is incorrect for this breed.

Faults

All dogs should be in proper healthy condition, free from disease or defect. Any departure from this description is considered a fault. Unless altered, all male dogs should have two fully descended testicles.