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.
It seems your page “inspired” another blogger to make a Shiba temperament page. And it looks like they took your page and just slightly altered it so it’s not direct plagiarism.
bunkblog.net/dog-breeds/shiba-inu/shiba-inu-temperament
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no? 😛
Either way, your blog is wonderful and gives a first hand account of how a Shiba really can be, and how to handle them. I love it! Anyone interested in being owned by a Shiba should see this site in its entirety before bringing one home. Keep up the great work!
“inspired” – I like that. 😀
Yeah, unfortunately, this type of thing happens very frequently for most online content. Even copied content gets copied. Thanks for letting me know.
Scream help! We just adopted a 10 week old Shiba! He is kenneled during the day while we are at work. I have only got a small taste of what the shiba scream is all about (middle of the night, short scream) but after reading article I am nervous that he will be screaming all day and I live in an apartment. What things can I do to eliminate that?
I have him in a kennel with blankets and chew toys. I thought about putting him in the kitchen on tile flooring with his kennel but keeping the kennel open and letting him roam just the kitchen area? Any thoughts?
Putting your little Shiba in the kitchen all by himself wont work at first, trust me I tried it with our female Shiba. If you just got your puppy and he is still adjusting to his new home try to spend as much as your free time with him as possible, and even place his kennel in your bedroom when you are sleeping, it might be hard to sleep for a week or two with the screaming but eventually they will learn that it is bed time and go to sleep to. Our Shiba tended to do better when she had more room to roam so if your kitchen area is small it might not work so much. There isn’t really a way to eliminate a Shiba from screaming unless you get a no bark collar and puppies are too small for most of them. Make sure you close doors to rooms you don’t want your puppy to go into and pick up any wires that your puppy could chew on. Try leaving your puppy a few hours at a time and work up if at all possible, I realize that can be tough also, so if you have anyone that can watch your puppy while you work or even come check on him it might help (just make sure your puppy knows the person first otherwise there will be screaming). Our female now whines when we first leave or get back but seems to be fine while we are gone. She is now about 15 weeks. Since she does better now we have placed her in a second bedroom with pee pads, her kennels, toys, her food and water, and a gate when we are gone and also leave the radio on for her. She has mainly saved her screaming now for things like unknown people, new things to her, and occasionally other dogs; and in rare instances for my fiance and I if we wont wake up to let her out of her kennel. If you have to work long hours consider getting your Shiba a puppy playmate if you can. But remember not to leave them unsupervised together until you know how they will get along, sometimes harmless playing can turn too rough unintentionally with all puppies. Goodluck with your new little Shiba, just remember patience is a virtue when it comes to Shiba’s. Hope this helps. We went through the same worries when we got our Yuzuki since we work graveyard.
Yeah, my experience is similar to Brandi’s.
In the beginning, Sephy really needed to have people around – for company, structured activities, and training. I slept with Sephy the first few days. Then, I slowly crate-trained him, so that he would be relaxed and happy in his crate. Once he was good with being in his crate, I got one for the bedroom, and put it close to our bed so that he could smell and see me during sleep time.
With Sephy, he was Shiba screaming at night because he got stressed from being alone. After we moved his crate into our bedroom, he stopped the behavior. Because the behavior is a result of stress from being alone, it would *not* be effective to use aversive techniques such as bark collars. Pain or other aversive stimuli may cause a puppy to become even more stressed, worsen the anxiety symptoms, and cause other behavioral issues. In general, aversive conditioning is *not* appropriate for young puppies.
In addition to crate training, I also very slowly desensitized him to being alone. I start with a very short period of alone-time (few seconds), and slowly build it up over time. An important thing to training my puppy, I found, is to start small and take small steps. In this way, I set my puppy up for success, he builds confidence, and also learns to trust me.
As Sephy matured and gained confidence through training, socialization, and desensitization exercises, he learned to relax on his own, and to face new challenges with greater certainty.
I also make sure to exercise Sephy well before leaving him alone for any period of time. In the beginning I played structured games with him, socialized him to other puppies in puppy class, and organized play sessions with friendly, healthy, and vaccinated neighborhood dogs that are around his size. After Sephy got fully vaccinated, I also started leash training him, and walking him multiple times daily. Exercise gives him a positive outlet for his stressful and excited puppy energy. Once he drains some energy, he is more able to focus on training, as well as relax and sleep during rest time.
You forgot to mention that they are notorious to running away, given the chance
Yes indeed they are!
Hi there, love your website.
I have a question. Do you know what the flat, mid-length ribbon-like leads are called that some people use with Shibas, and where I could get one? I’d like to work on my 5 year old Shiba’s recall in a safe way, and she just stops with a training or normal lead on, because of the weight.
Thanks,
Titania
Hello Titania,
Nylon leashes are usually more lightweight. However, the collar fastenings for these leashes may not be the most secure, so I would look out for that.
I sometimes use a nylon leash as a drag-lead for my dog, because they are light. I got a bunch from Amazon. However, they can come-off, especially during heavy activity.
Hey ShibaShake, I had a few shiba questions, love all the articals you have on them, by the way.
I used to have a basenji pitbull cross (buddy), he was an epic dog about the size of the shiba you have. Buddy was not a lap dog by any means, he’d follow me around, but was more then content to lay on the floor and watch me or play with toys. i have a horse and do quite a bit of trail riding, buddy would faithfully run with my horse and go on a lot of 8-15 mile rides with us.
I know Shibas were originally bred for hunting and some folks hike with them, but in your opinion, would they make a good horse dog? I’ve been without buddy for about six months and I think it’s time I started looking for another dog. I like the aloof temperament of Shibas are said to have, I have friends with overly friendly dogs like Australian shepards and I really can’t stand all the licking.
Thanks!
Hello Dot,
I am afraid I don’t have any experience in this area, since I have never done any horse training. I love horses, but unfortunately, have not had the opportunity to live with one.
I would try reposting your question on the Shiba Inu forum.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/7816/12lb-shiba-vs-1400lb-horse/p1
Hey ShibaShake,
I’m 18 and i’ve had my shiba inu, Kenji for a little over 3 years. I love him to death and I try to do my best to keep as him happy and healthy as possible. I’ve always had dogs ever since I was a baby and I still do to this day but Kenji was the first dog I got that was actually mine and not just the families. I take care of him myself as best I can and my family has been there to help me along the way, but as I said before i’m 18 and have been home schooled since my second year of middle school, and now i’m trying to think about my future. You know collage, a job, my own place to live etc. But I don’t know how to fit Kenji into all my plans. I try to entertain him and play with him when ever I can but there are times when he wants my attention and I just can’t give it to him because I have other things to do. It’s not like he doesn’t have enough things to entertain himself, he has plenty of toys and we have 2 other dogs and a family who are more than happy to play with him but sometimes it seems all he wants is me. I hate ignoring him and it’s not like I have a full schedule but there are times when I just want to sit down and read or study and he just won’t let me. Maybe i’m just being lazy or over exaggerating the whole thing but if you have any tips or such you can give me i’d really appreciate it. – guardianlue
What helps with my dogs is to make sure they have several caretakers whom they trust and have a strong bond with. In this way, if I am sick or have to travel, there will be people around who can take over Sephy’s care temporarily.
Shibas especially are very loyal dogs, but they do not trust easily. I make sure to properly socialize Sephy, and have others around the house that feed, interact, and play with him on a daily basis so that he learns to trust them as well. Building trust takes time, so I make sure I am there to help with the process, and we go slowly. For example, I feed him one meal, and others feed him his other meals, we share who takes him out for walks, he gets play time with others, etc.
http://shibashake.com/dog/it-takes-a-family-to-raise-a-dog
I believe anyone who ever owns a Shiba Inu will not regret it, they are very high energy, but extremely smart, and jealous. My Shadow was a Shiba Inu and German Shepherd. Unfortunately about 10 days ago I had to put her down, she was having multiple seizures, which is part of the german shepherd health issues. She was given to me as a gift when she was about 8 wks old, she put the fear of god into me over a rawhide chew. Once she learned that I was the lead dog so to speak, the boundary was set. It took firmness with her in voice commands. She trained relatively easy, and she trained me as well. She taught me every day everything was hers, and every day meant play until the last few months and she still tried. She rarely barked, but would howl at a passing train, and later would howl at the telephone if I was upstairs and it was ringing. She learned to trade objects, rocks for goose eggs. She proved to me an old dog can learn new tricks, we brought African goslings, Shadow thought they were for her to eat, and maimed one to where I had to kill it. It resulted in finally catching her, putting her on a chain, left with food and water and shelter, the only thing she was lacking was me touching her and talking to her, after 2 weeks
I would like to honor our Shiba Inu, Simba. We got him when he was 8 months old and that was almost 15 years ago. No one could ask for a better dog, he slept through the night, we were able to train him (somewhat), never got sick and was always there for me. He would rarely bark, only when our doorbell rang or if he wanted to go outside. Most of the time, he would come up to me and just stare at me and that was his way of telling me it was time to go outside. He would chase his tail, lay on his back to scratch it and then get this look on his face as if to say ‘yes, can I help you?’ He was definitely cat like in the sense that he would come by me when he wanted to get petted. He would eat grass, get into the trash and take things down from the counter. He also got away a few times and I had to go after him. Once he got tired enough, he would just give up and then I’d have to carry him home. As he got older, he slept a lot, but was still fairly active. I’m sorry to say that last night we had to say goodbye to him and had him put to sleep. It turns out that he had a tumor in his brain that caused him to lose all motor function. He couldn’t even stand up, was dizzy and wasn’t eating or drinking. That by far was the hardest thing I had to do and I didn’t want him to go that way. But I look at it this way, at least he’s not suffering anymore. I loved that dog more than anything and I know that he loved me too. Rest in peace Simba, you made my life so much better and I will never forget you.
Beautiful tribute to your dear Simba. My shiba is seven, and I try to
push aside the thoughts of giving him up someday. Do they know
how hard it us for us humans to say good-bye. I can imagine you
have already seen this link, but it is comforting.
best wishes,
Wayne
http://www.petloss.com/rainbowbridge.htm
My shiba is now 10 years old and is the greatest dog ever. He gets along with everyone and is particularly good with young kids. He was very hyper up until around age 6 or 7. He is very quiet, and we have never bathed him. He smells very good and is amazing considering hes never bathed. I love my shiba and advise anyone looking for a dog to get one. You just have to very strict with them at a young age.
I have a 7 year old Shiba Inu/Lab mix named Chloe. She’s a tough cookie! haha. She’s in-between the size of a lab and shiba inu, and she has the coloring of a shiba, but the tail and coat of a lab. Her ears are half-up and half-down so they’re a little floppy and perky. Even though she has a lab tail, she holds her tail up high as if it should be curled. She and her siblings were found as puppies, in a field, living in a cave with their lab mommy.
My parents assumed she was half Jack Russel, but at the time my little sister had the Nintendogs game, and she had a Shiba and I thought Chloe looked too similar. I’m absolutely certain she is. She acts just like one! She’s sweet and loyal and caring like a lab, but she’s very picky with her food (she’ll stare at me like I’m stupid as if she’s saying “do you really think I want to eat THIS? Please!”), she growls at me when I move my feet too close to her and she’ll move away lol (she despises feet), her bark sounds similar to a Shiba Scream but not as high-pitched, she gives me hilarious nasty looks (as if she’s thinking “Was that supposed to be funny?”), she potty-trained herself and NEVER goes inside the house, she is always clean and she lovessss to lick her paws. She’s also very territorial with people/animals she does not know who come to our house. She’s bark away at them and get in their faces, she never bites though, but she’s very protective of her family and does NOT like outsiders. She also tends to fight with our Golden sometimes if he touches her food or a toy of hers. She’s EXTREMELY intelligent. She taught herself to open doors, open crates, she knows the difference between left and right, and she absolutely knows what you’re talking about, especially when you’re talking about her. She’s also pretty independent. I love my Clu-Clu!! 🙂