Congratulations on your new family member! How are things going in the first few days?

1. Counter surfing
In terms of counter surfing, I usually just supervise Shiba Sephy and no-mark him (ack-ack). If he does not listen, then he loses his freedom in the house and has to go on a short timeout. Initially, I also make sure to counter-proof the house, i.e., I don’t put anything on the counter that Shiba wants. In this way, he never gets rewarded with anything even if he gets up there.

Here is more on counter surfing-
http://www.clickertraining.com/node/1034

Some people suggest using sonic/sound scat-mats, but that is an aversive technique, and has some risks associated with it, as outlined in the article above. The electric/shock scat-mats are especially risky, so I would personally stay away from those.

2. Crating
I let Sephy roam free in the house when I am not around. However, this is very much based on the dog and our current relationship with him.

In the beginning, I crated Sephy when he was home alone. But this was only for a very short duration (1 hour or so). Once he got older, and I noticed that he was more calm, I let him roam free. At first, I started with a very short alone duration, just as a test. Then, I slowly lengthened his alone time – similar to the beginnings of crate training. I also make sure to dog-proof the areas where he has access to, so that he doesn’t hurt himself.

3. Harness or Collar?

This also depends a lot on the dog. Shiba Sephy really hates wearing anything on his body. We had to slowly condition him to putting on a collar, and now he is ok with that. He never liked having a harness on, so we are currently using a collar during walks. Sephy is trained not to pull, so a collar works well at this point. When he was a puppy, we used a harness during leash training.

However, if Shiba does not mind a harness, then that is probably preferable. A Shiba Inu has a short trachea, and may choke more easily when pressure is applied to the neck. Here is more on harnesses and collars.

Big Kudos to you for adopting a Shiba in need!

Thanks!

For my own dogs, I keep the peace by doing the following-
1. Having very clear rules for resources and for interactions. No stealing is allowed and I hand out all resources. Each dog understands what belongs to whom.
2. When there are resource conflicts, I step in and resolve it by telling each of them what to do. In this way they do not need to resolve it themselves. Note – this is only possible if the dogs are not people aggressive in any way. I also step in early, *before* there is any aggression. Once a fight has begun, it is too late and the dog is too hyped up to understand what the punishment is for.
3. I reward them well for being calm together and for working cooperatively together for me. This teaches them that they get more stuff by working together rather than by competing with each other.

Here is more on what I do with my dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog

If the fights are bad or getting worse, it may be very helpful to get a professional trainer to observe the dogs, identify the aggression triggers, and come up with a good plan to desensitize them to those triggers.

I have 2 male Shiba Inus, one is 9 months and the other is nearly 3. They are both desexed and they have become very vicious towards each other. The younger one starts vicious fights which has drawn blood on a few occasions. It use to only be over food or treats now its just anytime during the day. The 3 year old is only here 5 days a week and the 9 month old is he all the time. When the fights happen we put the one that starts it in the laundry, its usually the 9 month old that growls first. We are thinking its a dominance thing but we just the fights to stop happening, but we don’t no what or how to do it. Is punishing it making it better or worse?

Going to puppy class can also be fun and helpful for socializing a Shiba puppy to other dogs. I took my Shiba to many classes when he was a puppy and he had a lot of fun. I had fun too and also learned some useful training tips.

Sometimes my dog will actually fall over (funny) when I try to put on her harness (& leash). I just pick her up & set back on her feet & walk toward the door. Once the inside door is opened, she will come running to me to go out for a walk (the reward).

Recently, I tried a sherpa/faux suede dog jacket on her (at home on the couch) & she just fell over & refused to move. (too funny)

My Shiba is 4 months old.

Thanks for sharing your Shiba experiences with us.

How I deal with his stopping will depend on why he has stopped, and how he is acting when we are stopped.

If Sephy stops just to look at people, then, when I want to go, I just go. Usually I start at a faster pace (jog) and he will usually come along. I only let him lie down when I am prepared to stop for a longer duration.

Playing the Find-It game also helps to motivate him to move along.

On the other hand, if Sephy is startled by something he sees, then I will let him take his time to observe the new object. I allow him to do this as long as he is relatively calm. Then when he is ready to move forward and examine the object, we will move forward.

When my Sibe puppy Lara was young, she would get really afraid of certain things and want to bolt (e.g. people on skateboards). In this situation, I try to move away from the trigger object at a measured pace. Once we get far enough away, I sometimes stop and let her observe from afar. I also started practicing desensitization exercises with her at home.

Another thing that may help to do regular fun obedience training commands with Shiba. Sephy sometimes enjoys doing Spins and standing Up on his hind legs. He is not as great with Recalls, but I do those with him as well. Doing regular obedience commands gets Shiba into the routine of working for his food, and following what we say. I follow the NILIF program with all of my dogs. Doing these fun commands during walks also makes the outing more interesting.

Does your wife spend more time with Shiba? Does she feed Shiba all of her meals? Usually, I try to get everyone into the habit of feeding the dogs some of their food. In this way, the dogs bond to everyone in the family.

Congratulations on your new Shiba and four paws up for helping a Shiba in need.