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….

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.

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 =)

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 –

Urine marking. Testosterone makes a dog more interested in advertising his presence by urine marking. Neutering your dog will reduce his desire to excessively mark his surroundings with urine. This includes areas outside and around your yard, as well as inside your home.
~~[ASPCA]

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.

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.

Any tips about Shiba potty training?

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.