Sapsari Dog of Gyeongsan

Sapsari is a native Korean dog breed that once lived widely across the south-east of the Korean peninsula. Males stand 51 cm tall and females 49 cm, and the whole body is covered in long fur. The eyes are hidden by the fur, the ears lie flat, and the muzzle is relatively blunt rather than pointed like that of the Jindo Dog. The tail curls upward, and the large head gives the dog a lion-like appearance. Its temperament is bold and courageous, and it is loyal to its owner. Meaning "a dog that wards off ghosts and misfortune", the name Sapsari is itself pure Korean, and the dog often appears in songs, folk tales and paintings. In the Silla period it was kept mainly by the aristocracy, but is said to have come to be kept by the common people once Unified Silla fell. Once common in every village, Sapsari numbers fell sharply after 1940, during the Japanese colonial period, when Japan slaughtered large numbers of dogs to supply hides for the war effort, bringing the breed to the brink of extinction. From the late 1960s, however, professors at Gyeongbuk National University began collecting and preserving some thirty Sapsari dogs, and the population has since grown to around five hundred. The Sapsari of Gyeongsan is a dog breed unique to Korea, carrying the joys and sorrows of the Korean people, and it is designated and protected as a natural monument to preserve its pure bloodline.

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Where it is

Region

Gyeongsan, Gyeongbuk

Designation

Natural Monument · 천연기념물