The other day I was walking with my Shiba Inu when I came across one of my neighbors. He is a very pleasant fella, so we got to talking about our animals (he is really big into cats).
Both my dogs (Shiba Inu and Siberian Husky) have pretty high prey drives, so I was explaining to him that when they see cats they would pretty much obsess on the kitty, and sometimes even quiver with anticipation. I know they would surely hunt the cat down if not restrained.
In response, my neighbor said, “Just slap him on the muzzle.“
At first I thought he was joking. But later, I realized that he was actually being serious.
Does the muzzle slap technique work well for training a dog?
If not a muzzle slap then what should we do when our dog behaves badly?
Read more about muzzle slaps, whether it is effective, and what are the alternatives …
Hey, I have a cat. But have been very interested in getting a Shibi. But I’ve heard from multiple sources that they don’t do well with smaller breeds. Is it possible to train a Shibi to at the very least tolerate a smaller animal. And not harm it?
I have a 6 yr old male Shiba and got two male pups 2 months old from a rescue. He has attacked both. I recommend that Shibas be the only breed in the house or at the very least of opposite sex. He went from so sweet to extremely aggressive without warning.
Hi I have a 5 month gorgeous Shiba and like a lot of the previous posts I have had a lot of the same issues. I have had many other dogs and she is sure the most difficult to train. I have been lucky with her potty training. BUT I also have 4 and 8 yr old daughters. She gets very rambunctious and nippy with them especially the 4 year old. She can be just sitting on the couch not paying attention to the dog and she will randomly walk up and start biting her hands or arms. I know puppies bite on hands until they are trained not to but it’s a lot more often with the 4 yr old than anyone else. One of my biggest fears is a dog snapping and really hurting my children. I’ve done the stern NO, I’ve tried tapping on her nose, I’ve put her in the crate and ignored her, I’ve replaced her attention to a toy or bone but none have seemed to work. Please help.
Slapping a dog on its muzzle might divert its attention from the cat but it might snap at you thinking you’re playing or worse become aggressive. I’d find another way to divert its attention, I usually tell my dog ‘no,’ in a firm voice if I think it’s going to lunge. It works with my Shibu Inu/Chow/Bloodhound mixed puppy as well as my Shepard/Lab mix who’s now 10. The Shepard/Lab is a great dog, the puppy is the most challenging I’ve ever had but he’s learning.
As with all training, human, dogs, cats, consistency and patience are key. You get out of it what you put into it, so if you use corporal punishment it’s very possible one day the dog/kid will use it in return. I’ve found refocusing their attention away from the unwanted behavior works much better and my blood pressure and mood also benefit – as does the cats’! I have 3 cats and one truly dislikes dogs so he’s quite appreciative of this method =)
I have a yellow lab/german shep mix, 5 mos old and a 10 yr old shih tzu….lab gets carried away when playing so i have started to use a spray bottle to get his attention and it works very well. Also the water bottle works great to train cats to stay off tables, counters etc….
Hello! I am a big admirer of the Shiba Inu and in the future hope to have one as my own companion, but until that day I have two lovely dog friends the two are a Chihuahua and a MInpin Terrier mix. They are middle aged males, neither are neutered. The Chihuahua was given to us by a family member who found him as a stray and the Minpin was given to us by another family member, it is his third (and final!!) home all of his other homes had other dogs and animals and there were no issues. We have had the Minpin for three years and the Chihuahua for 2 within this last year they have started peeing ALL OVER THE HOUSE. My grandfather is home all day long and lets them out all of the time and in both dog’s histories they have been very good with potty training and only going outside. these are only dominance pees. the only thing dramatic thing that has changed in these times is the MInpin bred with a female dog one time. but other then that we have a stable and loving home the dogs receive plenty and equal attention and are extremely well behaved in all other aspects (aside from barking at strangers while in the home) I am asking for help. there was a SMALL period where we tried small spankings but it wasn’t helping so we quit and don’t look to go back to physically harming our dogs. i have seen posts on the internet about following the dogs around for three days and every time they life their leg shake a water bottle full of rocks to discourage them or to put them in a “belly band” or a diaper so the urinate over themselves and become discouraged then but my grandfather isn’t the type to stay persistent with such discipline and since he is the only one home while we are at work… our options are shortened to just cleaning it up every time we see it. any advice?
With my dogs, when there are sudden changes in behavior, it is usually triggered by something. Have the dogs been peeing more? Are they eating and drinking normally? Do they only pee in particular areas? Have family members seen them doing this behavior? Do they always stand and lift their leg? Do they ever pee lying down?Were there changes in routine for the people or the dogs in the house? Was the spanking in response to the peeing or something else? Did that happen before, after, or around the time the peeing started? Sometimes, a small event to us may be dramatic for a dog. For example, my Shiba can get stressed even with relatively small changes in his routine.
If we are sure it is marking behavior, then here is something from an ASPCA article –
My Shiba Inu is neutered. The only time he marked inside the house was when we got a second dog (that was the trigger event). I had to supervise him carefully during that period so that I could catch him in the act, no-mark the behavior, interrupt it, and take him outside right away. He only did that twice – both times on soft bedding that Shania (our new puppy at the time) had used. Once things calmed down and became routine, he stopped the behavior and hasn’t done it since.
To change Shiba Sephy’s behavior, it helped to understand where it was coming from, and then I can came up with an appropriate plan to stop it before it becomes a habit. Sudden peeing in the house can also be due to physical issues, submissive or excitement urination, stress, or something else.
Hi, my name is Ethan and I just got a Shiba Inu, I’ve read everywhere that they’re easy to potty train, but my Shiba Inu, Kida is very difficult. We let him out of the kennel and take him downstairs to go to his pee, and he’ll come back over the stairs, jump up on the bed, lay down and relax with us for a while, before not even a few minutes later, getting down on the floor. And opening the floodgates. We make sure he pees when he’s outside, but he simply will not stop peeing on the floor.
Any tips about Shiba potty training?
Here are some of my potty training experiences with my Husky pups.
I think part of how difficult a puppy is to potty train also depends on the puppy’s environment before coming to us.
Hi,
I am looking for some advise please! I have a very energic 8 month old American bulldog cross Staffordshire bull terrier, he is by nature quite a dominant dog! But one of his most annoying and dangerous habits is biting on arms. He will run wildly in a circle and jump up to bite and hang on my forearms. He has done this since he was very small, it has got less frequent with age but occasionally still happens. The main problem being, once this behaviour is in full swing it is very hard to catch him to make him stop! I am always conscious that by attempting to catch him and missing before he does harm I am rewarding the behaviour as it becomes a fun game! Please help!!
When Sephy was young I would put a drag-lead on him (only with a flat collar and only under supervision). If he tries to start a chase game, I can just step on the drag lead and catch him.
As for biting, I start with a no-mark to let Sephy know that it is an undesirable behavior. Then, I follow-up by giving him an alternate command, e.g. Sit. If he sits, then I reward him by playing a game (game is structured and also has rules). This teaches Sephy what not to do, and it also teaches him what *to do* instead.
If he does not listen, then I withdraw my attention by standing up, folding my arms, and turning away. If he calms down, then I mark the behavior (Yes) and reward him with attention.
If he escalates his behavior and starts jumping on me and biting, then I calmly say timeout and remove him to a timeout area.
Hello there. I have come across your blog many times while looking up information on our Shiba Inu puppy. I would love to contact you to ask your advice on a specific issue I am having with ours. Do you have a way for me to contact you?
Thanks in advance, Tina Sweeney
Hello Tina,
Congratulations on your Shiba puppy!
If you have a question, please post it on any of the articles here. In this way, if I don’t have the answer, perhaps someone else does. 😀
Also, it may help others who are going through the same issue.
Hugs to your Shiba!