Honestly...these threads are starting to drive me nuts as well.
As someone mentioned before, the absolute INABILITY for one side to see ANY legitimacy to the other makes such a debate nearly pointless.
I get a kick out of the people saying that Sizzle "still doesn't know if her dogs are appropriate guardians until they are actually attacked." HUH? How on Earth do you suppose she should test her animals in the way you suggest? Stand on a corner in the red light district with her dogs and wait? And don't suggest Schutzhund. Yes, it's intense protection-dog training, but at the end of the day it is STILL a SPORT and I guarantee you the dogs recognize this. There is a HUGE difference in going after a human being wearing a massive sleeve (who I'm guessing isn't going to be screaming in agony...), and going after real flesh and blood. Furthermore, often in these tests the dogs KNOW the person they're "attacking." Now, dogs in the police force actually get to "test" their training...but it goes without saying, some dogs DO fail out when it comes to a real life situation. Sizzle's dogs were IN a real life situation and performed admirably.
And I'm tired of hearing the same old adage- "show breeders ruin all breeds." (Or it's well-known counterpart...AKC ruins all breeds...which it can't do, because AKC is a registry, NOT a breeder). You know, it's just NOT that simple, although it would be a lot easier to lay the blame if it was. In the case of my own breed (which didn't gain any kind of foothold in the US until the very late 80s), show breeders really had nothing to do with them until long AFTER they had changed course.
So what changed them?
Progress. Development.
The fact that in modern Japan you are very hard-pressed to find wild boar and bear (although there are still *some.*)
Point is, how do you continue to breed a working dog for a job that doesn't functionally exist? Do you just stop?
These dogs were versatile, wonderful companions nevertheless. The same characterstics that made them wonderful hunters (aloof, independent, bright), also made them fantastic pets.
You can't possibly blame breeders for not breeding "working dogs" when functionally, their job does NOT exist in a present context. (And yes, I understand how this is different from breeding dogs like Border Collies- which DO have a job that not only exists, but isn't quite as dangerous as hunting bear). Just the same...I challenge anyone to MEET my dogs and tell me that they've denigrated into fluffy, toy-like, cotton-brained, a$$-kissers, simply because I choose to show them. HA...good LUCK training my VERY independent, Nordic dogs. All I can say is, the Japanese would be d@mn proud of Kimi, who proves the Shiba adage "they don't call them b!tches for nothing." She is ALL typical Shiba.
There are still a few breeders in Japan that have the wealth and resources to be able to use their dogs to hunt boar in their home country- and you can BET that the breeders I obtain my dogs from are CONSTANTLY importing dogs from those lines.
My dogs are successful dispatchers of all manner of vermin in my backyard.
But honestly- it's all well and easy for some "working only" types to look down their noses at show breeders, without really realizing that the logistics of breeding a working animal that can perform its ORIGINAL job might be a little harder for others than for you.
If I had the money and time to go off to hunt wild boar and bear in Japan with my dogs...well that would be fantastic. But it's a bit more expensive than finding the nearest sheep herding facility. Or hell...perhaps somewhere in Alaska someone will decided to hold hunt tests for Shibas and Akitas and we'll go track Grizzlies. I guess we'll know who wins by who comes back alive, right? I'd LOOOOOVE to be able to find some volunteer judges for THAT test.
So, I have to make do with what I have. What is accessible to me. What is SAFE for both my dogs and myself. My dog's job is more of a historical note than anything, but that doesn't mean I want Shibas to turn into toys. So instead I run my dogs in agility. (Shibas NEED to be agile and quick to dodge wild boar or bear paws). And I'm beginning to train them in tracking (this is a breed that hunts by both scent and sound). I run them daily for miles. I study movement. And yeah...I show. But that's at most 5-6 minutes per day during the weekend. Don't think for a moment that I expect that my dog's TRUE worth as a breeding prospect can be ADEQUATELY measured in a few minutes of trotting in a small ring. At the end of the day, conformation is just one other fun (yes, it's fun) thing I can do with my dogs, that simultaneously proves that I care about this breed. Any breeder's program is a sum of ALL of its parts.
There ARE breeds out there that can perform in the conformation ring AND are still admirable working dogs. Wirehaired Pointing Griffons come to mind. German Shortairs. And yeah...Shibas (There are indeed NIPPO national winners that are ALSO successful boar hunters).
When my breeding program begins in earnest you can BET that I'll only be breeding animals with titles on both ends.