Comments for Shiba Shake

Comment on Dog Amputation – Siberian Husky Shania by Rose

Rose — Mon, 21 May 2012 20:38:38 +0000

I loved reading about Shania. We have a wonderful girl named Hannah. She’s the most wonderful animal that I’ve ever had the pleasure of being “owned” by. I didn’t really know much about the breed when we got her. But she has turned out to be a great addition to our family. I can’t imagine not having her around. Again, I loved reading about Shania.

Comment on Siberian Husky Facts by EdwardJacob

EdwardJacob — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:42:23 +0000

hi,
i have an 11 month old husky that i love to death and just yesterday he escaped our backyard and bit a little girl. it wasn’t severe and he left like a half inch scratch on her forehead. i was very upset he did this, any suggestions on how i should attend to this matter? I don’t believe he’s aggressive because he’s never hurt us but ever since he was little and i would take him to the dog park he just wouldn’t get along with other dogs and vise versa. he’s never gotten into any trouble and it upsets me that he may now be perceived as an aggressive dog.

any help would be greatly appreciated!

Comment on Dog Play – Fun Games to Play with Your Dog or Puppy by shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:18:19 +0000

Great ideas!

I have been thinking of doing the hoop thing with one of my Sibes. She loves jumping so much, I figured we could have a lot of fun doing hoop dances.

Lilly sounds absolutely wonderful and super clever! What breed(s) is she?

Comment on Woof, Woof – Stop Dog Barking by shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 21 May 2012 18:12:47 +0000

Hello Lindsey,

It could partially be a separation anxiety issue.
http://shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress

My Shiba is also a guard dog so he will alert and bark when he sees unexpected things happening or when people come to the door. I come to check things out when he does this, and thank him for the warning. Usually he stops barking when I come over. If he doesn’t, then I just give him the Quiet command (previously trained). Then I redirect him into doing something else with me – e.g. play a game with him, or get him working on chewing his favorite toy.

My Sibes will sometimes bark because of excitement. When I take them on shorter walks, they are more likely to get over-excited at home. What seems to be most helpful is to keep them busy with sanctioned activities – longer walks, work for all of their food, play sessions, etc.

Comment on Dog to Dog Aggression – Why and How to Stop It by Ines

Ines — Mon, 21 May 2012 08:28:31 +0000

Dear Shiba Shake,
Thank you for your for sharing your knowledge and experience! My name is Ines. I have adopted a dog two days ago, for the first time. The dog is a one year old neutered male who has spent most of his life in a cage within a kennel. They would let him out once a day only, for an hour, which he spent running around on a meadow without a leash. I just realized he is a troubled dog and having no prior experience I really need some good advice. When I take him on walks he freaks out when he sees large dogs such as dobermans (he is a mix breed 25 kg large dog himself)and starts growling, jumping, hiding behind me…its very difficult to control him since he is so large. Also, he pulls on his leash like mad, I won’t allow it but he persists, and I am afraid he might hurt is neck or something. Also, one vet told me that it is very difficult to train a one year old dog. He is such a sweet, calm and obedient dog when he is in my flat, but as soon as we go out his issues start. I’d really appreciate if you could counsel me on what to do regarding the fear/aggression and pulling on the leash issues and whether training a one year old is nearly impossible. Thank you, best wishes!

Comment on Stop Food Aggression, Stop Resource Guarding by Tara

Tara — Mon, 21 May 2012 03:30:16 +0000

Hi,
We have a six year old male Chesapeake Bay Retriever who has always shown food aggression and resource guarding. After reading many articles from your wonderful sight, I can’t pinpoint why he does it.
When we began training as a puppy, he did great with “drop it” and “leave it” and still does. We never had issues with needing to take things away from him. We had our first child (four children now) when he was about six months old. It was important to me to train him to leave baby toys alone and human food. He has never touched a baby toy and I’m proud to say our children can walk around with plates of food at eye level, leave plates on the floor and walk away, drop something in front of him or holding it in their hand and he won’t touch it unless he’s given the ok!
Until reading your article, we have mostly always left his food bowl out. We were in the habit of setting it up if he decided to show aggression/guarding. In our previous home it was left in our kitchen and when we moved we decided to keep it in the laundry room downstairs, away from everyone, because of the problem. Not always, but quite frequently, he jumps up to guard his food if we’re walking around. It seems to be more when we first put food in the bowl. Sometimes he’ll growl pretty fiercely the closer we get. Everyone in our family can put food in his bowl, touch his food and hand feed him with no problems. We only take food out of the bowl to hand feed him. He also typically only eats if we’re in the same room or just outside the room and he’ll carry a mouthful to wherever we are to eat it.
Any suggestions? Thank you so much!

Comment on Dog to Dog Aggression – Why and How to Stop It by shibashake

shibashake — Sun, 20 May 2012 18:05:54 +0000

Hello Mariah,

He has always been a great pet to have in our house up until recently.

Did anything happen recently that could trigger the change? Have there been changes in your routine or your family’s routine? Changes to the dog’s routine? Did anything different happen recently? How is his physical health?

Before this, did he get along with your Shih Tzu? What was his daily routine like before the change and after the change?

Based on what you describe, it will probably be very helpful to get advice from a professional trainer. I worked with several of them when I first got my Shiba Inu, and the good ones were able to identify his aggression/reactivity triggers and help me desensitize him to those triggers.

Comment on Second Dog – Introducing a Second Dog into the Home by shibashake

shibashake — Sun, 20 May 2012 17:57:31 +0000

Hello Cory,

From observing my dogs, it seems there are two key areas for potential conflicts-
1. Conflict over resources.
Food is the most common resource that a dog may guard. However, dogs may also have conflicts over attention from certain family members, access to certain family members, space, and much more. My Shiba Inu for example, is a guard dog so he is sensitive over his own personal space. He does not like new dogs invading his space and sniffing his butt. However, dogs that he trusts and plays with, he does not mind letting into his personal space and he will also share toys with them.

When I got puppy Lara last year, my Shiba did not want to have anything to do with her in the beginning. After working with them for about 10 days, he accepted puppy into his circle of trust and was a lot more tolerant once that happened. I try to clearly define rules of interaction for all my dogs, and do a lot of supervision when introducing a new dog. If they understand what the rules of interaction are, e.g. what belongs to whom at what time, then there will be fewer disagreements.

2. Over-excitement.
Play time can also sometimes escalate into something more. Sometimes one of my dogs get over-excited and plays too rough or keeps on going when the other party is no longer interested in playing. I always supervise play time and have many obedience breaks so that they do not get too over-excited. I also do not allow any kind of bullying during play.

From what you describe, it sounds like the dogs may be having some conflict over personal space and access to family members. Still, it is difficult to say without being there and observing the dogs. A good professional trainer can be helpful to these situations because he/she can observe things in real-time, read the dogs’ body language and understand the surrounding context.

Comment on Off-Leash Neighborhood Dogs by Jo

Jo — Sun, 20 May 2012 07:28:27 +0000

Try walking three little dogs, a 6 lb, 8 lb, and 11 lb dog on one single leash, and have a loose pitbull in a campground aggressively approach you, with bent legs, tail pointing, and hair raised. The owners laughing as you yell out three times, RESTRAIN YOUR DOG, PLEASE RESTRAIN YOUR DOG! YOU ARE BREAKING THE BYLAWS OF THE CAMPGROUND ALLOWING YOUR DOG TO BE LOOSE! You calm down and 3 hours later opt to venture our of your camper again but go in the opposite direction. You get 5 lots away from your site and 2 more LOOSE dogs aggressively charge at you. By now you totally lose it. Your family is upset, and camping ends for the year because of IGNORANT PEOPLE! I’m sure that’s where the saying goes “RULES WERE MEANT TO BE BROKEN”. If my husband walks with me and a baseball bat in his arms, it’s amazing how people with LOOSE dogs suddenly grab their dogs and hold onto them. A WOMAN WALKING A LITTLE DOG ALONE IS MERELY A TEST FOR THEIR AGGRESSIVE DOGS TRAINING!

Comment on Dog Play – Fun Games to Play with Your Dog or Puppy by Chinchillasaur

Chinchillasaur — Sat, 19 May 2012 16:31:09 +0000

These games sound like a lot of fun for the pet and the owner! I think I’ll try them out, except for the water hose game. My dog hates to get wet unfortunately, but my Aunts dog loves that game. She’ll never get tired of chasing the water around the yard! When I’m playing with my dog and she comes back to me without her toy I will tell her “Go get you’re toy Lilly!” And she”ll start running around the house trying to find her toy. Once she finally does she”ll bring it back to me and we”ll continue the game. I also taught her to jump through a hoop which is an activity we both enjoy. Thanks so much for the game tips! I appreciate them!