The Shiba Inu is a beautiful Spitz dog. You will get many compliments and turn many heads, while walking next to a Shiba.
A Shiba can get you a lot of attention, and open doors to many social encounters. Get used to hearing, “He looks just like a fox!”.
In fact, it is this foxy look that often gets Shibas into trouble.
Many people fall in love with the ‘Shiba look’, but are not equipped to handle his larger than life personality.
If you like the Spitz look, there are many other breeds that fall into this group, that may better suit your lifestyle.
The Good
1. A dog that is more like a cat
A Shiba Inu is independent and very clean.
My Shiba Sephy, spends a fair amount of time not just grooming himself, but also helping to groom my Siberian Husky.
Their inborn cleanliness make them generally easy to potty train.
Sephy only had potty mistakes on the first day that we brought him home (10 weeks old). After that, he has always let me know when he needs to go outside. In fact, he naturally dislikes soiling his living space, and even prefers not to go in our backyard.
Shiba Inus like having their humans around, in the general vicinity. However, they are aloof like cats, and do not need or want human affection, much of the time.
2. A good watch dog
A Shiba Inu is not a noisy dog. However, when there are strange people or strange noises around the house, Sephy will bark to alert me. Once I go and check things out, he stops barking.
Sephy also has a great memory, and will alert me if anything is out of place around the house, or in a familiar neighborhood. One day, he started barking at the fence, because somebody had put a piece of wood on top of it – amazing!
3. Graceful, agile, and high energy
A Shiba Inu is graceful and agile.
He can leap tall fences in a single bound, and can scale walls like Spiderman. If properly directed, his super powers can be used for good. However, when left on his own, the Shiba will likely turn towards the Dark Side.
Sephy is a great hiking buddy, and is always up for a new challenge. He can easily learn and conquer an agility course, but he will only do it, if I make it worth his while.
A Shiba running is a sight to behold, and a Shiba at play is poetry in motion.
4. A doggy Einstein
A Shiba Inu can learn many dog obedience commands, and he can learn them very quickly. He also thinks that he is much smarter than you, and will only obey you when it suits him.
Sephy can quickly solve complex interactive dog toys and puzzles. I am always trying out new ways to deploy his food in toys, because he figures things out so quickly.
A Shiba will challenge us and keep us sharp and on our toes!
5. A larger than life personality
No great genius has ever existed without some touch of madness.
~~[ Aristotle ]
A Shiba Inu may be small in body, but he has a ginormous personality. If a Shiba were a person, he would either be an extremely successful egomaniac or in prison!
Sephy always surprises me and makes me laugh; at least when he is not making me cry.
He has this one move, where he puts his head down on the ground, with his butt sticking up in the air – it is just too precious.
The Bad
1. Bold, strong willed, and stubborn
A Shiba Inu has a “Never give up, Never surrender” attitude.
He will not back down from a challenge, and will often fight back when he perceives a threat. Because of this, many Shiba owners face aggression issues with their dog, including food aggression, dog to dog aggression, and people aggression.
To successfully live with a Shiba, we must be extremely patient, and have a good sense of humor.
Turn a Shiba’s annoying habits against him.
For example, a Shiba gets bored easily. If we ignore him and give him nothing to react to, he will quickly lose interest, and move on to something else.
Sephy can also be very competitive. If he sees another dog getting praise and rewards, he will want to strut his stuff and show that he is better.
Work with a Shiba’s innate personality, and use it motivate him in the right direction. Passive resistance and reward obedience training, work best with my Shiba.
A Shiba will hand you many lemons, which is good if you like lemonade. Otherwise, just cut one up and squirt it on his muzzle.
~~[ just kidding! ShibaShake ]
2. A sly, rougish intelligence
A Shiba Inu is super intelligent. He will most often use his brain power to “push your buttons“, and get what he wants.
Sephy is always trying to figure out how he can outsmart me, and all the humans around him. A trainer once told me that Sephy was spending the weekends, “Devising new strategies to defeat her”.
In another life, my Shiba was probably a Catholic priest. He can guilt me into doing almost anything for him.
Beware the Shiba look – it is one of his most powerful weapons, and he will use it to great effect, if he senses any weakness in you. Before you know it, your Shiba will have gotten you trained to fetch, stay, and rub tummy.
- Remember that a Shiba will do whatever he wants, if he can get away with it.
- If he cannot get away with it, he will figure out another way to get what he wants.
- When he gets caught with his nose in the cookie jar, he will give you the innocent, “What did I do?” look, and then come over to lick your hand.
As soon as you turn away, he is back in the cookie jar!
3. Like the evil, black Spiderman
A Shiba Inu is capable of great feats of agility. However, if left untrained, he will use his powers to destroy and cause great havoc in the household.
If bored and lonely, he will escape by jumping over or burrowing under your fence. He can squeeze through small holes, bite through leashes, and achieve amazing great escapes, that will make Houdini proud.
If not properly supervised, Sephy will pull down items from counters, and shred them to pieces. He may even eat some of those pieces. Once, I left him unsupervised for about 10 minutes. In that time, he pulled down a phone headset, dismantled it into little pieces, and arranged them in a strategic pattern all over the floor. Luckily, he did not swallow anything.
A young Shiba Inu has a lot of energy.
It takes a lot to keep him occupied, and away from trouble. Supervised play sessions with friendly dogs can help. Another alternative is to put him in dog daycare, or to employ the services of a dog walker.
4. A Drama Queen
My Shiba will whine, mope, and act like it is the end of the world, when he is unhappy about something (e.g. wearing a harness).
Woe be to you if your Shiba gets hurt, or even just thinks that he is hurt.
Sephy acts like he is close to death’s door, even for small things like getting grass stuck between his teeth.
Woe be to you, woe be to your vet, and woe be to anyone who tries to help.
Shibas are extremely touchy when in this state, and may snap or bite at anyone who comes near them.
In addition, Sephy is extremely sensitive to the energy of the people and dogs around him. If I am scared or stressed-out, he picks up on that immediately, and gets that way too – except with a thousand times more gusto!
5. An accomplished singer
A Shiba Inu does not bark much, but he has a wide range of vocal stylings.
The most well known is the Shiba-scream, which is a high pitched, loud scream, that will make your blood curdle. Your neighbors will think you are torturing your poor little ball of fur.
A Shiba will quickly learn to use his Shiba-scream against you, if you let him.
Do not get embarrassed, and do not give him a reaction during a Shiba-scream. I just ignore Sephy and go about my business. He quickly learned that screaming is not very effective at getting him what he wants, and he stopped doing it. Remember that a Shiba can see your outward appearance, as well as sense your inner energy.
6. Dog royalty
A Shiba Inu does not like being touched or handled.
Cutting nails, bathing, or a vet examination, is never fun for any breed of dog. However, with a Shiba, it can be total hell.
After a lot of desensitization work and management, Sephy still protests to some of these activities. He sometimes throws a fit when I pick him up, and he only likes human contact when the mood suits him.
A Shiba is like dog royalty. He wants his subjects close enough to serve him, but not too close as to sully his royal person.
7. Pretends not to understand ‘Obedience’
Obedience? What’s that?
Shibas Inus think that you should be obedient to them and not the other way around. If you want a Shiba to do something for you, you had better make him a good offer. Sometimes, Sephy bargains with me. He will sit there and wait until I have the acceptable number of dog treats in my hand, before going into his crate.
A Shiba can be a good citizen at home, but he must be properly managed.
Shibas are strong willed, independent, and bred to hunt. Aversive training does not work well on them. Shiba owners need to be creative and flexible when interacting with their dog.
A Shiba is not to be trusted off-leash, unless in a fully enclosed area.
8. Nasty, wicked teeth
For a small dog, a Shiba Inu has very large teeth, and he is not afraid to use them.
Shibas can be very mouthy; more so than many other dog breeds. When I first got Sephy at 10 weeks old, his mouth was all over me. Now, it is in control, but his instinct is still to bite.
Shibas are a primitive breed, and they lose control more easily than other more domesticated dog breeds.
The Quirky
A grass connoisseur
Sephy likes grazing, but he is picky about what grass he will eat. Dogs may sometimes graze when their stomachs are upset, to clear their digestive systems. However, my Shiba just enjoys eating grass, provided it is the right kind of grass.
I recently found an article suggesting that there might be something to this grass connoisseur business after all.
“We at Green Foods believe that dogs and many other carnivores, including cats and bears, eat cereal grasses because cereal grasses contain nutrients not found in meat that are essential for the animals’ good health.”
~~[ Green Foods web site ]
Thanks to all the posters at Shibatalk and ShibaInuInfo for their many humorous Shiba stories that inspired this article.
This was a good article:) I thought that they were lapdogs beforehand haha. Good thing I looked that up before getting too seriously in love with the breed, because though they are cute, this isn’t something I want in the personality:/ How sad, they’re so cute
Hahaha, yeah they are cute and small, but very fierce! 😀
Every bit of this article is spot on! 🙂
Hi, I loved your article! I have been wanting a shiba inu for some time now and I am wondering whats a typical week with him. I have never had a dog before but I have a very old cat. Can you help me on finding out a typical week then?:)
Hello Chloe,
That is a great question! 😀
The typical week with Sephy when he was a puppy is very different from a typical week with him now. He was a lot of work during puppy-hood. He would probably wake up and start getting into trouble right away – biting and tearing at books, stealing remote controllers and running around with it, leash biting, humping, and showing me the Shiba butt if I try to give him any affection. 😀
http://shibashake.com/dog/my-shiba-inu-story
Sephy is now about 5 years old and he is a lot better.
On a typical day, he would wake up at around 5:30 am. He would have an early play session with the Sibes and then he is happy to just rest and relax. Later in the morning, he would have breakfast and then we would go out for a walk of about 1.5 hours. Once we get back, there would be another play session with the Sibes, after which he is happy to catch some Zzzz’s until evening time. If people come nearby the house though, he would usually wake up and alert me. He stops barking when I go check out the situation and reward him for being such a good guard dog.
When he wakes up in the afternoon we would usually go to the backyard for a play-session, if it is not raining. Sephy is not a fan of rain except during walks. Then in the evening, we do teeth brushing, and dinner. Before sleep there is usually another Sibe play session, then he goes into his crate for the night with his Greenie and a chicken Kong Jack. We also groom his nails on a weekly basis.
Sometimes he would get into a black-mood and not want to do teeth brushing. But that is ok. I usually just ignore him and try at a later time when he is more hungry. He will also dig at the carpets sometimes, which seems to me like a denning instinct. He stops when I tell him to. Sometimes he will still try to steal from the other dogs, so I always keep an eye on him during meal times. 😀
Sephy is not perfect, but he is a lot better than before and actually pretty low maintenance. However, he is still not a very affectionate dog relative to other dogs (breed trait). In addition, vet visits are still pretty awful.
I don’t have a cat though, so I don’t have first-hand experience with that. Shibas are hunting dogs, so they do have pretty high prey drive. They will have to be trained not to bother the cats in the house. Definitely check out the Shiba Inu Forum for more cat experiences.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/8146/shibas-cats/p1
I disagree with the affectionate part. my sheba Kani LOVES to cuddle. she will sleep touching me and crawls into my lap often to lay on me or just give me kisses (in fact she is a bit of an obsessive kisser at times), every morning as soon as I wake up she come up close against me and rolls on her back for a cuddle and a belly rub and if i decide to go back to sleep instead of getting up she curls up against me to sleep too. I will say that while she has always been like this, she is even more so since she was hurt (i think her being in so much pain and needing me to help her do everything bonded us even more than before), one of her favorite (and cutest) things she has always done is she will come up and butt her head against me and leave it there, just her forehead laid against my chest. I adore my pretty little “fox”!!
Yay! It is awesome to have a cuddly Shiba. Here is an interesting discussion on the Shiba Inu Forum on the aloofness of Shibas –
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/7173/how-to-prevent-a-shiba-from-becoming-aloof-or-too-arrogant/p1
Hello 🙂
I absolutely loved your article, it was very informing!
Now, i have some questions if you don’t mind answering 🙂
The first is that my mother had a allergy for our old Chihuini (Dachshund-Chihuahua mix, acted like a bitchy mini-Sheba) so i was wondering if a Shiba might make her allergy return considering the fact that they do shed a lot at certain times? We have a dog now who she isn’t allergic to, and have had several others before the Chihuini were there has been nothing.
Also, right now my family has a 6 year old Yorkshire Terrier but I’ve been wanting a Shiba Inu for quite a while but was wondering if a Shiba would be able to ”share” his/hers new castle with my other dog without there being fights involved – especially at feeding times! Although my other dog is not aggressive or really that active he gets VERY hyper and territorial when we meet dogs on our walks, although i have started working on that.
Hello Stephanie,
Glad you enjoyed the article.
1. Shedding – Yeah Shibas have a thick undercoat and they will shed a lot during coat blowing season. Their coat only blows about twice a year, but with my Shiba, I find that there is some hair around all of the time. Probably not a good idea for someone who is allergic to dog dander.
2. Sharing castle – Shibas can be taught to share, but training and supervision are key. Shiba Sephy tends to be aloof with new dogs. He did not want to have anything to do with my new Sibe puppy at first. We supervised them very closely, did a lot of group training exercises, and rewarded them well for being calm around each other. After about 10 days, Sephy warmed up to puppy.
The key, I found, is to make sure that they have many positive experiences and little or no negative ones. A lot of supervision is needed, especially in the beginning. Here are some of the things I did while introducing my Sibe puppy –
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Most Shibas tend to be more dominant by nature, and do not generally get along well with other dominant or territorial dogs. Both my Sibes are more submissive by nature.
From observing Sephy, he is not the type to start a fight, but if another dog starts one, he will not give up and will not surrender no matter how big or how fierce the other dog is. I make sure to carefully screen all of the dogs that he meets and plays with.
I have a 1 year old shiba and he eats all my socks and underwear, no matter if they are dirty or not. I learned to keep them out of his reach but he learned to open my drawers while I am sleeping! He chews on all the baseboards and stair railings; I buy him bones and toys and take him for 45 minute walk/runs daily. I don’t know what to do to keep him from eating and chewing. Another big problem I have is that shiba scream, I know I just need to ignore it so I do but then he paws at me with his sharp nails and bites my arms and legs. I am at a loss on how to control him. PLEASE HELP!
Hello Brittany,
Yeah I know what you mean. When Sephy was younger he wanted to eat everything, and given his stubbornness, he would be really resistant about dropping things once they went in his mouth. What has helped most with Sephy is a lot of management and to stop him before he actually steals/eats something that he should not.
When Sephy was young, he had a lot of house rules and a very fixed routine. I also put him on a long drag lead (only with a thick flat collar and *not* an aversive collar). When he steals something and runs away, I can easily step on the drag lead and catch him.
When I was too busy to supervise Sephy, I would either put him in a fenced in area in the kitchen or he would go into his crate to sleep.
At that time, I was walking him about 4-5 times a day because he had so much energy. Later on, I found that off-leash play with other dogs are really great at helping Sephy drain energy. With Sephy, enclosed dog parks were not a good option, but small and very well supervised pllay-groups worked out very well. Here are some other activity ideas –
http://shibashake.com/dog/hyperactive-dogs-how-to-calm-a-hyper-dog-or-hyper-puppy
Finally, if Sephy paws at me, humps me, or bites at me, then that is a timeout offense. When he does this, I calmly non-mark him (No or Ack-ack) and I give him an alternate command (e.g. Sit). If he ignores me and continues with his bad behavior then I say “Timeout” and take him to a timeout area using his drag lead. Sephy really likes his freedom so timeouts are very effective for stopping bad behaviors. However, I only use it for serious offenses.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
I love this website! We are fostering our son’s 20 month old Shiba, Bo. He is super sweet, super smart, and leaves a toy outside our bedroom door for us to find in the morning. Our only issue with him is in regard to potty time (he has been neutered for a whopping 3 weeks now). We cannot just let him outside for him to do his business. He has to be walked, and he will simply ignore anything he has already marked. He refuses to go in our yard, which some may say is great, however winter is coming soon and it will not be great then. It’s sort of a pain in the tuckus actually. We purchased a pee-post, but it didn’t appear to be to his liking. Any ideas on how we can get this little foxy boy to just go out into the yard and go potty? Thanks much!
Hello Debbie,
Shiba Sephy is exactly the same way! 😀
I haven’t found anything that really worked. He will just hold his load until we go outside. Usually he is willing to go in the front-yard or across the street.
I think he feels that he is wasting his precious liquids by going in the backyard because there aren’t any external scents that he has to cover. I know there are potty training aid sprays and I have wondered if they would work if I spray it on the grass or pee stick, but I haven’t seen any that get good reviews.
Definitely let me know if you find something that works for Bo.
Please if any one has any information. My dog Sammy I knows has allergies but this I have no idea. He bit off all his stomach hair and contact scratching at his ear. (We gave him drops). His mouth is dry and chap and his eyes too. Does any one have ideas what this can be and what I can possible put on his stomach and mouth area?
Hello Jan,
It is best to go to the vet. My Sibe had an issue with hair-loss and scratching a couple of years ago and it turned out to be mites. The vet took a skin scraping and was able to identify the exact type of mite and give us topical medicine to treat it.
http://shibashake.com/dog/itchy-dog
Hi Jan,
Our Shiba inu had allergies and at first we didn’t know what was wrong. She was licking her paws and they became red and irritated. She developed irritated areas on her stomach as well. We took her to the vet who said she may have an infection but most likely allergies. She ordered her some antibiotics and suggested we change her food. We changed her food to California Natural Herring and Sweet Potato Formula food and she has been fine ever since. Unfortunately she can not have treats or different food but she seems to be doing fine. We also have 3 cats, we keep their food away from her also. This was a couple of years ago now and “Shiba” is healthy and happy. Good Luck!
Have you tried to change brands of dog food. Sounds like an allergic reaction to food………. check with your vet or others who are more experienced.
I have just adopted a Shiba Inu mix “Sunny” she is around 2 and has lived with me now for going on three weeks. This site SO helpful with things I did not know about her. The using of the dog yard, she has no interest and will wait for quite a while to use our walks.
I have two cats, so far, they are not happy that I brought Sunny home. She has been OK because I have been supervising their time together. I hope and think they will be fine eventually. Both cats loved my dog (lost my black lab mix in March) with whom they lived with for over 10 years. So “Sunny” and i have work to do.
Just wanted to put an FYI out there. Took my dog to the vet for an eye infection. A week later turns out she has glacoma. Today, just came back from the ophthalmologist, good news her pressure went from 55 to 32. Still need to bring that down but we will. Turns out my 5 year old Bella is now blind in her right eye. I was told by the ophthalmologist that this common in Shiba Inu’s.Once they get it in the one eye, Bella is predisposed to getting it in they other eye. We r doing preventitive measures now. But GET YOUR SHIBA’S EYE PRESSURE TESTED. I haven;t stopped crying since I got home. My biggest fear, what do I do if she goes blind in the other eye? Get your doggies tested!!!!!
Hello Dakota,
Thanks for bringing up this really important topic. I have also made it into a post –
http://shibashake.com/dog/dogs-and-glaucoma
Big hugs to Bella. When you have some time, please let us know how Bella is doing with the preventative treatment.
My husband and I recently rescued a 1 year old Shib/Canaan mix (but is totally a Shiba). I was recently laid off, so I have the time at home to walk him 3-4 times a day, especially as he’s on meds and getting used to his new home. However, when I go back to work, we both work 10-12 hour days. I don’t know if a walker is okay (since it’s once a day only) or if he needs a daycare. Any advice?
Also, I am sentimental and emotional and I’m having a difficult time when Pluto has to be in his cage while I’m home. I know he needs to be there b/c he cannot be trusted (hehehe), but it tugs at my heartstrings and I’m worried about doggie depression and or resentment. What are some of ypour thoughts and suggestions?
Pluto is amazing and came to us knowing to potty outside during walks, to play fetch, and tp ignore us when we call him – so common with Shibas. We’re working on the “who’s in charge” bit and my amount of wanting to cuddle and pet him, as he adores it but I’ve read that it makes me the follower of the pack, rather than the leader. He generally ignores orders after cuddle time. We’ll get there. Pluto was worth the wait (we waited for nine years / four and a half being married before taking the jump into Netherland). 😀
Hello Shannon,
I think that would depend on Pluto’s temperament. My Shiba, Sephy, did not really enjoy daycare because he did not get to play in his usual rough and tumble play style. He also could not settle down when there were so many other dogs around – so there was a lot of Shiba screaming. How does Pluto do with other dogs? What kind of play style does he have?
A walker suited Sephy’s temperament more because then he got to explore new areas for a fixed amount of time and then he got to come home to his castle. Still, it can be difficult to find a walker that knows how to handle Shiba stubbornness without resorting to aversive techniques.
Yeah, I know what you mean. When Sephy was young I put a baby gate up in our kitchen entrance and kept him in there with me while I was busy with kitchen chores. Since there is nothing he can really destroy, he had some amount of freedom but could not get into any trouble.
I also put Sephy’s crate in the area where I spend most of my time.
Another thing that helps is to make my dogs work for all of their food. Some of the food goes into training, some into grooming, and whatever is left over goes into a variety of interactive food toys. This helps to keep them occupied while in the house and mostly out of trouble. 😀
LOL! Yeah, Sephy is also very good at selective hearing.
One thing that really helped with Sephy is following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program. This just means that Sephy has to do something for me first before I give him anything in return, even affection. For example, when he wants to go into the backyard, I ask him for a Sit. Once he sits, I give him a bit of affection (which is mostly for me) and then open the door for him.
In this way, Sephy learns that the best way to get what he wants is to do what I want first. 😀
Big hugs to Pluto. The Canaan breed also looks very interesting. Would love to see some pictures of Pluto – he must be a looker!
Hi
I have a year old female shiba. She is a beautiful cream color. Her name is Isabella, AKA Izzy. She has lots of the traits you have described, and thank you for your very informational info. She is so sweet yet naughty too. I can’t stay mad at her, but my goal since she was a pup was to let roam free in our home, but she gets into everything and rips everything to shreds, including my husbands bottom dentures! So we have gated her off in the kitchen, which she hates, because she wants to be with us. I give her plenty of chew items, but it doesnt matter. I also have a 10year old chihauwa, that Isabelle absolutely loves, but unfortunatley doesnt love her. I have a 12yr old cat, that she loves too, but the cat contiunally tries to scratch her eyes out, but Isabelle is relentless, and never gives up trying to play. To say the least its like a zoo at my house. My husband is disabled and is very slow moving, so when she is outside with him, which she usually is, the minute he heads for the gate, she is right behind him, and escapes almost everytime. I bought a tie out so he can connect her to, while I’m at work, in our fenced yard. We live on a very busy street, so it scares me to think she might be injured or hit by a car. She usually heads around the block to visit other animals and people, which is her favorite thing to do. You can usually hear the high pitched squeal of delight if you listen close. She nips, bites,humps, chews on things she shouldnt, and squeals at such a high pitch, you can’t hear. So do you have any advice to curb some of these behaviors?? Thanks
Pam
Hello Pam,
Heh yeah Shibas are crazy stubborn and very mouthy. I had a lot of problems with my Shiba when he was young. He is such a rebel and such a rogue.
In terms of humping and biting two things really helped with my Shiba –
1. Putting him on a drag lead (only on a regular flat collar and not an aversive collar).
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training#draglead
With a drag lead I can more easily control my Shiba and get him to stop bad behaviors . Otherwise, Shiba Sephy will run away and try to start a game of chase.
2. Timeouts.
When he starts humping, I non-mark him (Ack-Ack) and if he continues, I say timeout and calmly remove him to timeout using his drag lead.
I use the laundry room for timeouts. The laundry room is dark, boring, and there is nothing in there that he can chew or destroy. Shiba Sephy really likes his freedom so he really hates going to timeout.
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
With biting, I usually try to get him to redirect onto something else. Sometimes I will give him an alternate command (e.g. Sit) which I can then reward him for. If he ignores me, and continues with biting, then he goes to timeout.
Some other things that helped with my Shiba –
1. Following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program. This means that Shiba *always* has to do something for me first before he gets anything in return – including food, toys, going into the backyard, and my affection.
2. Having a very fixed routine and giving him a lot of structure and rules inside and outside the house.
3. Bite inhibition training.
Here is another article I wrote on my experiences with biting –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-tips-solutions