# Brad Anderson: The World's Most Eclectic Dog Man

> A deep dive into Brad Anderson's preservation efforts for rare Japanese and Landrace breeds, covering his import history, kennel management philosophy, and specific experience with fighting and hunting dogs in New Mexico.

### Breed Philosophy & Preservation
My interest shifted early on from general dog ownership to **landrace breeds** and **rare breeds**. I am a published member of **PADS** (Primitive and Aboriginal Dogs Breeds Society). My goal isn't just ownership; it is preservation. We specifically chose our property—20 acres in **Carson, New Mexico**—for its seclusion to manage these breeds safely [00:00:41].

I have a fascination with **fighting dogs** and **gameness**, specifically the "hype" surrounding them. However, this is counter-intuitive because I actually hate dog aggression. I don't like dog fighting, but I am drawn to the history and the capability of the dogs [00:07:08].

### Japanese Breeds (Nihon Ken)
Our core focus is the **Kai Ken**. We established **Yamabushi Kennel**, which is registered with the **Kai Ken Aigokai** [00:05:23].

* **Kai Ken**: I am the first non-Japanese member of the **Kai Ken Aigokai** (the preservation society in Japan) who does not reside in Japan [00:04:18]. My specific goal was to reintegrate the North American population with the Japanese population. Before my work, there were only ~11 dogs imported in the 90s.
* **Kishu Ken**: I was drawn to them as a serious hunting breed. I operate **Hakuzan Kennel** for my **Nippo** (Nihon Ken Hozonkai) registered breeds [00:05:29]. I believe I was the first to import the **Yushoku** (colored) Kishu Ken to America [00:04:33]. While most Kishu are white, the colored variants are acceptable within the Nippo standard—they are just less popular.
* **Tosa Inu**: My interest was purely curiosity; I wanted the "real" Tosa from a fighting kennel in Japan. I imported **Sakura**, a female who became a great example of the breed [00:05:10]. Contrary to their reputation, my impression of the Tosa is that they are "big goofy dogs." A large Tosa in Japan is typically 100–150 lbs [00:07:45].
* **Other Japanese Dogs**: I own a **Shikoku** named **Lola**, and my oldest dog is a 15-year-old **Shiba Inu** named **Kaia** [00:05:45].

### Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs) & Landraces
I moved into LGDs due to predator problems (eagles, hawks, coyotes) at our first property in Taos. I prefer the **landrace breeds** over standardized ones.

* **Evolution of Breeds**: I started with the **Caucasian Ovcharka** because they fit the mold. As we added livestock, I expanded to **Kangals**, **Central Asian Shepherds (CAS)**, **Gampr** (Armenian), and **Sarabi** (Iranian Mastiff) [00:06:40].
* **Preferences**: The **Central Asian Shepherd** is my specific preference among the landrace LGDs [00:07:05]. I have owned CAS from fighting lines, as they are considered a fighting breed to some extent in their native regions.
* **Mastiffs**: I previously owned **Cane Corso** but moved out of that breed. I currently own a **Boerboel** [00:06:55].

### Hunting Dogs & Working Selection
My entry into "true" hunting breeds was the **West Siberian Laika** [00:08:24].
* **Application**: I use the Laika for hunting lion.
* **Backup Dogs**: I use **Dogo Argentino** as backup dogs for the Laika when hunting [00:08:45].
* **Future Focus**: I plan to narrow my focus to smaller dogs that can fill hunting roles so I can retire larger dogs. I am specifically looking at the **Karelian Bear Dog** [00:10:45].

### Management Logistics & Environment
* **Location**: We operate on 20 acres in Carson, NM. The remoteness is a necessity for owning aggressive dogs, which are a massive liability [00:00:41].
* **The Retirement Model**: We are in a "perpetual state of reducing our dog count" [00:03:06]. We retire females and males early and rehome them. *Why?* Because when you own many dogs, you cannot give them the individual care and love they deserve. We place them in pet homes so they don't live a life of neglect, ensuring we don't "throw the baby out with the bathwater" regarding our breeding program [00:10:00].
* **Safety**: We are extremely regimented with our daughter around the dogs. While no dog has been dangerous towards her, we recognize that "dogs make mistakes just like people make mistakes" [00:02:42].

## Details

- **Category:** Interviews and media
- **Tags:** kai-ken, kishu-ken, tosa-inu, shiba-inu, shikoku, west-siberian-laika, central-asian-shepherd, caucasian-ovcharka, kangal, gampr, sarabi, cane-corso, boerboel, dogo-argentino, karelian-bear-dog, preservation, hunting, lgd, breeding, genetics, management, import, gameness, landrace, nippo, aigokai, yamabushi, hakuzan, japan, russia
- **Date:** 2018-06-10
- **Originally published at:** [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYOiGZuZU0w](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYOiGZuZU0w)

**Also read:** [All writing](https://bradanderson.org/writing?format=md) · [About Brad](https://bradanderson.org/about?format=md)

---

**Navigate:** [Home](https://bradanderson.org/?format=md) · [About](https://bradanderson.org/about?format=md) · [Work](https://bradanderson.org/work?format=md) · [Projects](https://bradanderson.org/projects?format=md) · [Breeds](https://bradanderson.org/breeds?format=md) · [Writing](https://bradanderson.org/writing?format=md) · [LLM guide](https://bradanderson.org/llms.txt)

_Ask BradBot directly: POST https://bradanderson.org/api/agent/ask with {"question": "..."} (details in https://bradanderson.org/llms.txt)._