Your doing everything you can, thats admirable,forget that rude person, I also have a really tricky dog we’ve done everything we can and its frustrating and tiring but we love him so much so I understand keep it up you’ll get thereand its not your fault you’re much better than a owner that would put the dog in a shelter and give up

I am so sorry that you had to go through that. I think rude people like that are usually not very happy people, so they strike out and spread their misery around. I had a neighbor like that who would always honk and shout at me every time he saw me walking my dog. He does that to other people with dogs as well, shouting at them about picking up after their dog, even though none of us were walking close to his property. In fact, I always avoid his house.

He would also shout at people who didn’t drive fast enough for him, or I imagine, just came close to his proximity. He was a very angry person. Luckily, the whole family moved away. That was a good day for everyone in the neighborhood.

The thing though, is that the majority of people that I meet are usually quite nice, but unfortunately, these bad experiences usually affect us the most. I try my best to focus on my dog and the positive people around me, and avoid the nasty people whenever I can. Writing stuff down can also help. 😀

http://chataboutyou.com/nasty-people
http://chataboutyou.com/negative-people-dealing-with-online-negativity

Big hugs!

Last night, I got really upset because I took G. out and we ended up getting turned around and coming out at a high-traffic intersection. He is quite reactive to cars, and although he is getting better, there seems to be a threshold where he simply cannot stop himself from lunging. We were working up the street at a snail’s pace. I would have him sit and treat him while two or three cars went by. But the minute I let him out of the sit, he would lunge at the next car that came along. As we were getting further away from the intersection, a girl shouted something rude at me from her car. I came home in tears. I put so much effort into everything in my life, including my dog, and I just couldn’t understand how someone could see me struggling and want to make me feel WORSE about what was going on.

But then I came here and I realized — of course I have a reactive dog. I am a reactive person. He really is just mirroring my own insecurities and embarrassments and if I (somehow) put them aside, I bet he will too. Easier said than done. Still, thank you.

Thanks for the link Andrea. Looks like a really nice place, and their Shibas look good. Hope they will have more pictures when they update their site. 😀

Instead, he sat patiently on the counter. He looked at them funny when they took his temperature, but didn’t protest. He took the two shots and the worm medicine (we don’t know if he had them or not, but he’d had some bowel issues and the vet said it couldn’t hurt) and barely even acted as though he noticed since the vet gave him a treat which he was busy eating.

No protest as she checked all of his “parts”. I was expecting an hour of agony and it was 15 minutes of nothing.

Of course, last night, he nipped both of the kids pretty hard (not aggressive, playing, but they’re freaked out). *sigh* We’re doing hand feeding (them feeding him) and obedience commands from them to him, so not sure what else to do to establish them as above him in the pack. I’m going to put a drag lead on him so I can prevent chasing (we haven’t needed one previously because he will normally stop when I tell him to and is getting decent at the “drop” command when he gets into things).

On a “good” note – he’s not leash biting or humping and is approaching the 4 month mark so I am cautiously optimistic. He’s also not demonstrated any aggression to people (though we introduce him to SOO many new people I think he’s just accepted it) and just kind of looks at the other dogs he’s met.

If we could get the kid nipping to stop, I’d think he was the perfect Shiba. 🙂

Our breeder’s name is Paul Lee of Bamboo Shibas. His website is kind of minimal, but he runs a bamboo farm with koi ponds and shibas. 🙂 His breeding dogs are gorgeous and sweet across the board. He does leash and collar work with the puppies and has his grand children in to play with them regularly to expose them to kids. (And, of course, they have lots of dog exposure with all the adult Shibas).

http://www.bambooandshibas.com/index.html

The Vet also thinks he’s a great dog… he has no problems with shots and exams…

Wow that is amazing! Maybe I can get some of Kiba’s DNA and get that into Sephy. 😀

I’m worried my Shiba is going to start a Shiba buying craze which will end badly.

LOL – well make sure they get their pups from Kiba’s breeder.

Then, we get home. Gone is the sleepy, mellow, adorable puppy.

Yeah, dogs are supposed to be most energetic at dawn and dusk. However, my silly Sibe puppy seems to be active most of the day. Those Sibes – I must be crazy to get another one. 😀

Kiba sounds like a really awesome Shiba. Which breeder did you get him from?

Hello Jennifer,
How old is your Sibe?

I just got a new Sibe puppy and she is a lot more mouthy than Shania. I guess I really lucked out with Shania.

What has worked very well with Sibe puppy is a combination of bite inhibition training (together with food) and withholding attention or time-outs. Sibes tend to be very food focused, so I hand feed puppy all of her food. If she bites too hard or is not careful with her mouth I yelp loudly and stop feeding her for a given duration. Sometimes, I walk away from her as well.

She quickly learned that to get the most amount of food in the shortest amount of time she has to be polite about taking things from my hand.

Sometimes, especially when she gets excited, she will start biting on my hands or shoe laces. I make sure to non-mark her (ack-ack), and redirect her onto a toy. If she redirects, I praise her and reward her with food. If she does not redirect, I withdraw all my attention from her and walk away. In this way she learns that there are some acceptable things that she can bite on, but hands and shoe laces are off limits. If she bites on acceptable things she gets rewarded with food. If she bites on shoe laces, she loses my attention. This is especially effective with puppies because they really want your attention.

Puppy also did face jumps in the beginning, especially when she is on my lap. That is how she plays with her litter-mates so she thinks she is playing with me. Whenever she does that, I non-mark her, eject her from my lap, stand up, and totally ignore her. It has worked well with puppy. Now she has learned that licking is ok but biting is not.

Here are a couple of articles I wrote on puppy biting –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting

Good luck!

Picture this – we have cleaners who come in every two weeks. If I leave Kiba home and crated (he’s still not quite old enough at 14 weeks to go to our local doggy day care), he flips out, and whines and barks the whole time which makes the cleaners feel AWFUL. So, instead, I haul him to work with me.

At work, Kiba sleeps under my chair. The WHOLE DAY. He only wakes up long enough to munch some kibble, go for a couple of walks/potty breaks, and occassionaly to accept the worship sent his way by everyone who thinks he is so “cute and mellow.”

Then, we get home. Gone is the sleepy, mellow, adorable puppy. We now have a crazy wild animal lose in the house who barks, screams, attacks bits of dust on the floor, runs in circles, chases the cats, and tries to eat the cabinets. And this is AFTER play time in the back yard to work off excess energy.

I keep telling my co-workers that Kiba, much like my toddler, is only good _away_ from home, but they aren’t buying it. (The Vet also thinks he’s a great dog… he has no problems with shots and exams…)