I lean towards a husky or a husky mix.

Same here.

You know, I actually pulled out my "Mini-Atlas of Dog Breeds" a while ago and tried to figure this out -- and came to the conclusion that Hayate is a lovable mutt.

He looks quite a bit like a Shiba Inu, but he's a too large. He also looks like a Kai Ken (Kai Inu, Kai dog), but they don't have much (or any) white in their coats. Then there is the Shikoku Iuno ("Dog form Shikoku") and the Kishu Inu ("Dog from Kyushu" -- the Japanese need to work on their dog-breed-naming skills.)

These breeds are all closely related and quite similar in appearance, with difference being mainly in areas like size and coat color.

Check out http://www.bulldoginformation.com/japanese-dog-breeds.html for a good run-down on native Japanese breeds.

Hmm... yeah, mutt does sound about right. I mean it's not like Hayate's a show dog, Fuery finding him on the streets and all.

Mhmm, I'd say a husky too. In fact:

http://www.dogbreedinfo.com/images8/HuskyStar1.jpg
http://www.irishdogs.ie/Breeds/general%20breed%20images/siberian-husky.jpg

Good pictures of a Siberian husky, and I looked at them(as well as others) a bit along with the Black Hayate pictures, and I'd say that's pretty close. Most likely a husky, yes.

...Ok I looked through pictures and posted when there were still only two comments...looking at the others now, though, I agree that he's probably a mutt of some sort...I was trying to figure out a reason why he'd be so small. So yes, he's probably one of the breeds in the site maytree posted.

I cheated and followed some of the links ^^; Going from that, though, I'd have to go with a mutt as well, with the primary (most prominent) breed being a Shiba Inu. Based on this discription: The Shiba Inu (柴犬) is the smallest of the six original Japanese breeds of dog. With their typical face, square bodies, wedge-shaped heads, small upright ears and their tail curled up over the back, Shibas ressemble a small Akita. My brother once had an Akita mix-breed (mutt, but mostly Akita), and, while it did have a similar look to Hayate, it was freakin' huge (standing on all fours, it came up to my hip) ^^; Also, the picture of the Shiba Inu on the same page resembles Black Hayate a lot, if you ignore the coloring - which can be explained by the fact that he isn't a "pure blood" Shiba. Then again, that's just my guesses from following the links given ^^; Oh - and a Husky/Lab mix is also huge. I'm 5'5 (ish), and my neighbor's lab/retriver mix reaches about mid-thigh on me, and another neighbor's husky reaches just above my knees. From what I can gather of Hayate, he's smaller than that.

wow...ok, the spacing on that post got REALLY thrown outta wack...sorry about that. It's kinda hard to read now.

Maybe he's a Klee Kai... but those are prety rare, so I dunno. ._.; They come in standard, mini, and toy sizes and look like mini huskies. ^^

http://www.puppydogweb.com/caninebreeds/alaskleekai.htm

OMG! The utter cuteness! *is blinded by the cute*

I really don't think Hayate is an alaskan dog though. Still the cute!

i searched the 'net far and wide and ended up using this plush for my riza cosplay:

here

i think the small size is great. :3

Hmm... that does look close to him. Thanks for the link. I might just cave in a use it. XD

He's a Shiba Inu. =/ I'd place all my bets on that. I highly doubt he's a Husky.

That seems to be where most are leaning. (The piccie I found says that there's at least one dog that looks like Hayate.)

I like to think of him as a Husky, particularly because they are my favorite dog ^_^ I collect husky/wolf stuffed animals. He DOES look like A Shiba Inu though.

The problem is, very few stuffed animals of those breeds come in black and white. The only one I had in that color was a life sized one that would have been impractical at the cons.

I actually ended up using a puppy border collie plushie with my Riza cosplay. Hayate is definitely NOT a Border Collie, but with the exception of a reversed coloring around the eyes, the puppy plush I found looked cute and similar to him. I'll probably post pictures at some point.

*pictures Riza toting around a life size dog around while trying to fight Scar* XD

My relatives have a shiba inu and a husky. The shiba is a small, portable size while the husky sometimes resembles a beached whale. So, yeah, I'm voting for more shiba-esque than husky-esque.

Heh. Both of them shed like mad. I wonder if Riza has to follow Hayate around with a dust buster.

Knowing the amount of training Riza has put into Hayate, he probably brushs himself regularly in order to prevent himself from leaving hair anywhere.

I say it's just a mutt. XD

I'll have to go with mutt too. Definetly some huskey, then another smaller breed (hence his size) and short pointed ears