Plate 079 · East Asia
Xiasi Dog
下司犬
“A white, wiry boar hunter of the Miao people of Guizhou.”
- Origin
- China
- Xiasi, near Kaili, Guizhou
- Region of origin
- The point marks the region the breed comes from, not an exact birthplace.
- Era
- Traditional regional type; age uncertain
- Today
- Heritage breed · Hunting · Show dog
Under editorial review — sources listed below.
Then → Now
Historical depiction not yet verified.
NowLauraKelsch · CC BY-SA · Wikimedia Commons
History
01 · Origin
Xiasi, near Kaili, Guizhou
Named after the village of Xiasi in Guizhou province, where it has long been raised by the Miao people.
02 · Historical role
What it was bred for
Bred as a resilient hunting dog for dense forest and mountain terrain — including wild boar — and as a watchdog.
03 · Breed development
How it changed
The population declined during the 20th century; a 1999 survey was reported to have found 271 purebred dogs (the original report could not be checked). Provincial conservation programmes have since worked to preserve the breed.
04 · Today
Heritage breed · Hunting · Show dog
A heritage breed, now accepted at many Chinese dog shows and valued locally as a bringer of good fortune.
Personality
- Courageous
- Fast
- Enduring
- Loyal
- Alert
General breed tendencies, not guarantees — individual dogs vary with genetics, training and environment. Ratings: this atlas’s editorial summary on a 1–5 scale, for rough comparison between breeds here — not a measurement or a standardised assessment.
- Size
- Medium
- Lifespan
- No reliable data
- Coat
- Thick, hard, wiry coat in white or cream; short, medium or long
Field note
According to local folklore, the breed was once called the "White Dragon dog" (白龙犬) and was renamed after impressing the Qianlong Emperor on a boar hunt — a story best read as legend.
Recognition & today
- AKC
- Not AKC-recognized
- Popular in
- No reliable data
Not recognised by the AKC or FCI; a regional Chinese breed.
No reliable current population figure; a 1999 survey was reported to have found 271 purebred dogs. Raised for generations by the Miao people of Guizhou.
- 中国本土 / 历史犬种 · China-native or historic
Native to Guizhou province.
Sources3 references
- Xiasi Dog (encyclopedia overview) — Wikipedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiasi_Dog
Encyclopedia · accessed 2026-10-06 · Secondary overview; cross-check claims against primary breed-club sources.
- Genomic selection analysis of morphological and adaptation traits in Chinese indigenous dog breeds — Frontiers in Veterinary Science (Li Y, Huang M, et al., 2023)
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2023.1237780/full
Academic · accessed 2026-10-07 · Genome-wide study that includes Guizhou Xiasi dogs (XSGZ) as the white-coated group; describes their double coat and hunting ability.
- 不可貌相的世界名犬——下司犬 — China Daily 中国日报网
https://cn.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202505/31/WS683a9e02a3102053770360b2.html
Other · accessed 2026-10-07 · News feature on the breed history in Xiasi, the Miao dog-keeping tradition, its use as a police dog and a 2024 puppy show promoting the breed. Superlative ranking claims in the article are not used.
Image credits
LauraKelsch · CC BY-SA · Wikimedia Commons
Text is written by World Breeds from the references above; it does not reproduce registry descriptions.
