Japanese Chin

Affectionate and alert, often likened to a cat.
A Japanese Chin
Photo: Joliot
Adult weight
1.8–3.2 kg
4–7 lb
Lifespan
12.5 yrs
Handler demand
Suits a first-time owner
Class · Lap dog
also Companion

What it's like

In temperament the Chin is affectionate, dignified and alert, attached to its own people and usually reserved with strangers. It is often likened to a cat: many are said to wash their faces with their paws and enjoy perching on high furniture.

Day to day
Activity
Happy with modest walks
Intelligence
Learns readily, likes games
Handler demand
Suits a first-time owner
With people
Affection
A lap or leaning dog
Loyalty
Bonded to its family
Independence
Cooperative, with its own ideas
Around the home
Sensitivity
Average
Voice
Quiet
Prey drive
Usually fine with small pets
Breed explains only about 9% of how individual dogs differ in behaviour1. Meet the dog. A good breeder breeds for temperament as well as health, and matches each puppy's personality to the right home2,3.
Is a Japanese Chin right for you?
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Living with one

It has a long coat. It sheds through the year rather than in big seasonal moults. Plan on daily brushing. It needs a modest amount of exercise compared with other breeds.

Size and growth

A Japanese Chin is a toy dog, heavier than a Chihuahua and lighter than a Yorkshire Terrier.

The Chin is a small, square, light-boned dog with a broad, rounded head, a short muzzle and large dark eyes set wide apart, often showing a little white at the inner corners, which lends a look of mild surprise. The ears are small, V-shaped and feathered, and the plumed tail curls over the back. The coat is long, straight and silky, and is white with patches of black or of red, a term that covers shades from lemon to deep sable. Black-and-white dogs may also have tan points.

Puppy growth

Reference curve · community data appears as owners log
Japanese Chins reach half their adult weight at about 4 months. They grow fastest between 3 and 4 months old.
Fully grown
10 mo
Both sexes, at 99% of adult weight8
Male
Female
Shaded: expected range
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012342m3m4m6m9m12m18m
Age
Male
Female
2 months
0.6–1.0 kg 1.3–2.2 lb
0.6–1.1 kg 1.3–2.4 lb
3 months
0.7–1.3 kg 1.5–2.9 lb
0.8–1.4 kg 1.8–3.1 lb
4 months
1.0–1.7 kg 2.2–3.7 lb
1.0–1.8 kg 2.2–4.0 lb
5 months
1.1–2.0 kg 2.4–4.4 lb
1.1–2.0 kg 2.4–4.4 lb
6 months
1.3–2.3 kg 2.9–5.1 lb
1.3–2.3 kg 2.9–5.1 lb
7 months
1.4–2.5 kg 3.1–5.5 lb
1.4–2.4 kg 3.1–5.3 lb
8 months
1.5–2.6 kg 3.3–5.7 lb
1.4–2.5 kg 3.1–5.5 lb
9 months
1.5–2.7 kg 3.3–6.0 lb
1.5–2.6 kg 3.3–5.7 lb
10 months
1.6–2.8 kg 3.5–6.2 lb
1.5–2.7 kg 3.3–6.0 lb
11 months
1.6–2.9 kg 3.5–6.4 lb
1.6–2.8 kg 3.5–6.2 lb
12 months
1.6–2.9 kg 3.5–6.4 lb
1.6–2.9 kg 3.5–6.4 lb
15 months
1.7–3.0 kg 3.7–6.6 lb
1.7–3.0 kg 3.7–6.6 lb
18 months
1.8–3.2 kg 4–7 lb
1.8–3.1 kg 4.0–6.8 lb

Health and lifespan

Flat face and breathing

The Japanese Chin is one of the flat-faced breeds. In UK vet records, flat-faced dogs were more likely to have breathing and airway problems than dogs with a medium-length muzzle, and lived shorter lives on average. Noisy breathing at rest is worth raising with a vet.

Lifespan

In UK vet records, the typical Japanese Chin lived to about 12 and a half years, shorter than the typical toy breed.

Where it comes from

The Japanese Chin's origins are disputed: the FCI, from old records, assumes its ancestors came to the Japanese court as a gift from Korea's rulers in 732, while the Kennel Club looks to China. Under the shogun Tsunayoshi Tokugawa it was kept as a house dog at Edo Castle, and two of the dogs Commodore Perry brought back from Japan went to Queen Victoria4,11.

The Japanese Chin reached the West in numbers only after Japan opened its ports in the mid-nineteenth century, when sailors and traders brought dogs home to Britain and America. The little dogs became fashionable in Victorian and Edwardian society, and for many years they were known in English as the Japanese Spaniel. In Japan they had long been prized as companions among the nobility, and they remain companion dogs today.

Breed standard

The Japanese Chin is judged against standard no. 206, in group 9, Companion and Toy Dogs4.

Questions people ask

General guidance for dogs rather than a measured Japanese Chin figure: most females have a first season somewhere between six and fifteen months, and cycles then settle to roughly every 180 days. Smaller breeds tend to start earlier and larger ones later, so a toy breed is most likely at the early end.

Compare with related

Pekingese
Companion & toy · Toy
Tibetan Spaniel
Companion & toy · Small
Chihuahua
Companion & toy · Toy
Poodle (Toy)
Companion & toy · Toy
Or compare the Japanese Chin with any breed you choose
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Sources

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Parts of this page were written by AI ·