Rela, do your best! The great work that will leave behind the next generation of bear dogs begins.

Rela's big job has finally begun...

Bear dogs (special conflict prevention dogs) do not only chase bears, but also have many opportunities to interact with people, so in order to become a breeding dog, the desired temperament is not only the courage to confront bears, but also the ability to interact with people. A willingness to work together with humans and a friendly personality are also great qualities for a bear dog to have.

During an initial aptitude test carried out when the current bear dog puppies were 2 months old, Rela was found to have all of the above qualities in abundance. She was thus assigned as a breeding dog and has since been waiting for her time to become a mother.

Now that she is 5 years old, she is of breeding age. On the other hand, her mother, Tama and her uncle, Nanuk, are almost 10 years old and have already entered their senior years (over 7 years old). To continue with the current system of chasing and educating bears using bear dogs, it is necessary to take on the challenge of breeding Rela and raising new bear dog puppies soon.
It was, therefore, decided to try breeding in time for Rela's estrus this past summer, and preparations were started in late December last year. Initially, we were aiming for natural breeding, but there were a few reasons why this was going to prove a challenge...

The main reason being Rela's unstable estrus cycle making it hard to predict when she would be receptive to a male dog. As a result, it was decided in February that artificial breeding using frozen sperm would be attempted instead. A male dog (pictured, Mowgli) from the Wind River Bear Institute (WBRI) in Montana, USA was chosen based off his previous success in breeding naturally and producing strong litters.
But this method required the cooperation of multiple parties both in the states and Japan from the veterinarians collecting Mowgli's sperm to the transport companies carefully delivering the goods to Karuizawa, to the operating veterinarian performing the all important surgery on Rela herself.

Everything was carefully planned out and organised but from this point on things got a little complicated.

While sperm was being collected from the sire over in the states, Rela was being adjusted to the veterinary hospital to which she would visit regularly for blood tests and then the surgery itself. She was expected to start her summer estrus cycle on the 9th of July but the day came and went with no sign of Rela entering heat. It wasn't until the 1st of August, 22 days later than expected, that she finally came into heat. 8 or so days later, Rela showed signs of ovulation and the blood tests began in order to track her progesterone levels and predict the best day for breeding.

Just as an estimated date for the procedure was decided, Rela contracted kennel cough and had to be quarantined while she recovered. Thankfully, antibiotics helped nip the infection in the bud and Rela was no longer coughing by the day of the surgery (although she was not feeling her best).

Despite repeated hardships, on August 20th, the artificial breeding surgery was successfully completed.

It is not a simple surgery and Rela was left with quite a large surgical wound and multiple sutures. Safe to say she was quite unlike herself over the next few weeks as she tried to maintain a level of dignity despite the thick dressings and head cone.

Poor Rela had been through a lot. And not only her, a lot of hard work and effort had been put in by many people.
Finally, a month later (21st of September), the day of the pregnancy test arrived.

It was disappointing news. She was not pregnant.
Rela's handler, Junpei Tanaka, was particularly crushed. After all his and Rela's hard work and with the hopes of so many on their backs, how could this be the outcome?
There had been so much support and lots of donations from various stakeholders, eventually totaling 519,000 yen. It was hard not to feel upset.

But we cannot give up here!

To preserve the next generation of bear dogs and respond to the warm-hearted wishes of those who have already given much support to Rela and this breeding project, we will try again!

Rela will soon turn 6 and go beyond her prime breeding age. The next time will therefore be her last chance to become a mother. Her next estrus cycle is scheduled for late January to early February and this time we want to try natural breeding!

However, in comparison to artificial breeding, natural breeding will require even greater cost. Mowgli will have to travel from the USA with a handler incurring various personnel and immigration costs.

So here we will commence an "All or Nothing" style of fundraising with ReadyFor, starting from the 1st of December until the end of next January. The support we have received thus far has been gratifying and we hope you will continue to support us on this journey and wish with us for a successful outcome this time around.

Let's give Rela our best as she and her handler aim to continue the Bear Dog legacy not only in Karuizawa but little by little throughout the rest of Japan - striving for coexistence with bears.

Thank you.