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.
I loved reading this as it made me laugh and rang soooo many bells! I live with two beautiful Shiba’s. Ila; a beautiful, sensitive, gentle little girl of four who doesn’t have a bad bone in her body but is a consummate thief of anything that is mine and Arthur, whose official title is “Arthur of Arrogant”(also four). He’s incredibly handsome and though soft as butter with me and loves people, he’s a little monster with other dogs, vets, groomers or anybody who thinks they can impose anything on him he hasn’t asked for! An open door is a personal invitation and getting his own way is in the contract. I’ve worked with rescue dogs all my life, mostly German Shepherds and Leonbergers so ‘know’ dogs but Arthur has been by far my most challenging housemate ever, not least because I have never met a dog as intelligent as him. He has an enormous vocabulary, which means he understands general conversation and can ‘read’ people/situations with ease, always one step ahead of everybody e.g. if I’m looking for my glasses, he runs and fetches them without my ever having said a word :0) Once he screamed the whole park down because he stepped in another dogs poo and he wouldn’t take another step until I’d cleaned his foot for him!
I love both my Shiba’s to death but they certainly aren’t for the fainthearted or inexperienced dog owners. A woman once said of Arthur; “Good job he’s attached to you or I’d take him home” to which I replied, “That’s Ok, tomorrow you’d be looking for me to give him back!!” lol
LOL! Gotta love Shibas! Sephy did the same thing when he stubbed his toe on a small hole in the park grounds. They have such a unique and special personality.
Hahaha, we say the same thing about Sephy. In truth tho, most Shibas *demand* love and devotion from their owners, and they get it! 😀
Big hugs to your furry pair.
We have three Shiba’s two male one female. Best companions we have ever had. They do have there moments and are unbelievably smart.
Great article about a wonderful breed.
Thank you so much this website and how much time it must have taken to do! We adopted our shiba at 6 months old after the original owner (who had purchased her from a breeder) decided she couldn’t handle the biting and the struggles that came with a shiba puppy. It’s been a LOT of work taking a puppy that bit with extreme aggression if she didn’t like you adjusting her leash or being touched at all, let alone handled. But with many hours with our trainer, and with the help of your site, I can say that now, six months later, she is a very good dog, and we enjoy having her very much. 🙂 For any future owners- you get back what you put into it! Thank you!
We have an 18 month old female and an 11 week old male. Most of this article is right on the money with my female. She is a princess. BUT, such a joy and a doll! She is not a cuddling dog, but since we got the new puppy, she has become more of a cuddling dog. They are easy to potty train. We went one step further and we have bell trained our dogs. They ring a bell hanging from our door handle when they need to go potty. Easier to hear and better than listening to them yap. They were also immediate best friends! She loves the little guy. He is really does exhibit food aggression at times, and he is getting better. Best dogs I have ever owned. We walk them A LOT! I dont believe in a fenced in yard and just letting them out. They will find a way to escape. And Sachi (female) is extremely smart and she knows it! She brings a lot of joy to our household and I am sure Niko (puppy) will do the same.
so these guys aren’t really cuddling dogs then 🙁
Mine isn’t really, no. But this article is completely true that he is like dog royalty. In a good way. When he IS in a cuddling mood I feel like the gods are smiling down upon me. It is such a magical moment. They don’t love ANYONE like they love their owners. Not one person. They are the most wonderful dogs if you are extremely serious about training(i.e. consistent – don’t tell them the same command 50 times and then reward them otherwise that is how many times they will need to be told before they do what they’re told.) Otherwise, they will run your household into the ground. They have very smooshy fur on their heads, and mine doesn’t seem to mine too much when I hold his face and smoosh his fur for a bit before we go outside in the mornings 🙂
You know, my shiba is very cuddly. At this second she is literally cuddled in my lap and very content. She started as a biter. You touched her and she would bite- so I believe it depends on an individual dogs temperament, and the training you put into them. My cousin has a shiba as well, and though he’s an extremely good dog, very calm and sweet- he is not a cuddler. So I believe it’s a combination of genetics and training.
They can be cuddly but really only with their own families. As a breed they tend to be quite aloof but are incredibly loyal and protective.
Wow, such informative
thanks for this. I ran across your page by accident and it is delightful. you have truly captured the “shiba” essence. and oh, that deadly stare.
Hi,
Back again, with more questions. We have been looking at Shiba adoption sites as well as breeders. My question is this: With two 6+ Poms, male and female would it be better to introduce a puppy, rather than an older Bhiba?
Bill
Hey Bill,
I’d say you would be safe with an older shiba that is well domesticated. Shibas are very smart and learn quickly, they can become tolerant of other dogs or animals fairly easily. Puppies are always a lot of work, and can easily cause stress to older dogs. Especially of the smaller variety. My mom has a 5 year old pom chi who gets easily annoyed with my 5 month old Shiba. I know there are a lot of adoption and rescue agencies with avaliable adoptees! However, whichever way you chose to go, a shiba is a great addition to your family. Best wishes.
Hello,
We are looking at getting a Shiba Inu. We have done quite a bit of research on them. Seems like they have much the same behaviour at an Akita, as far as being independent and strong willed. We have had several dogs. An Akita, two Shetland Sheepdogs, a Finnish Spitz and now two Pomeranians. Of al the dogs, the Akita is the one that gave us the most trouble. Could not net him off his lead, or he would be gone, coming back only when he was ready.
I’m not too concerned with most of what I read here, not to sound over-confident. My concern is this While our male is fairly reserved, our female thinks she runs the house. She is pushy and when she wants something will not let up until she gets it. For instance, if she wants outside, she will start by licking. If that doesn’t work, she will lay on the floor and start kicking and growling. That is followed by jumping and bouncing on either me or my wife until one of us gets up and lets her out.
So, we have a little dog with a big personality. Would it be a bad idea to introduce a Shiba into the mix? It was suggested by a breeder we contacted that it might be better to get a female.
One other thing. I’ve read that the Shibas do well in colder temperature. I live in the Yukon. It sometimes get very cold here. Our Poms can’t stay out for more than a few minutes, but they don’t need to get that much exercise. How would a Shiba fare when it gets too cold to take them out?
So, thanks for giving me a place to ask these things.
Bill
My Shiba (Sephy) has medium energy. He really needs his daily walks because he prefers to do his business outside (not in the backyard). He will try to hold all his pee in until walk time. I have talked to other Shiba owners who have observed similar behaviors in their dog.
He was very energetic during puppyhood, but he calmed down some after over 1 year, and then some more after 3 years. Now he is 7 years old, and he really only needs 1 walk per day of about 1 hour in length. He also has a pretty intense play session with my Sibes in the mornings and sometimes again in the evenings. The rest of the time he is pretty Zen and happy to sun himself. He does like to wrestle and play pretty rough though, so small dogs don’t really like playing with him.
Sephy also doesn’t like the cold very much – especially walking on cold surfaces.
Of my three dogs, Sephy (male) is the most dominant, stubborn, and picky. Therefore, when getting a third dog, I picked a more submissive female. My other Husky (female) is also pretty submissive, so the two girls are pretty laid back and get along well.
In terms of puppy vs. older Shiba, I think it would depend a lot on the older Shiba. A puppy is very energetic and needs a lot of management and training. An adult dog will have a more established personality, and will likely need less exercise compared to a puppy. However, an adult dog may have behavioral issues carried over from their past.
Good luck in your Shiba search and Happy Holidays! 😀
I would think in all honesty that it would be a bad idea. For a start they often bully smaller dogs and have such a rough play system that other dogs, even big ones, misread the signals and get upset with them so that it kicks off. Also the Shiba is more like the Akita than any of your other dogs, though with a great deal more intelligence and personality so take the worst aspects and multiply by a hundred! Also they are a complete nightmare off a lead, disappearing for literally hours and only ever doing what they want to do. Brilliant in the house but outside is a different matter!
My 20 year old son brought home an abandoned Shiba from a job site. He couldnt bare to see it go to a shelter. I am a widow and do my best to get by but didnt want a dog due to financial restraints. Once I saw my son with this dog I didnt have the heart to say no. Things went well for some time but now she has developed a skin irritation that she bites at and she has lost a lot of the hair on her backside and tail. I have put her on a grain free diet and add flea treatment to her food and add Vitamin C for immune system. Dont really have the money for vet visit but Im ready to skip Christmas if this means helping this sweet dog. Thoughts? Suggestions?
Hmmm, it could be fleas, which usually causes hair loss at the base of the tail. Fleas are usually visible to the eye, so I would check the area carefully and see if there is anything there.
If I can’t identify the source, I usually take my dog to the vet to check for mites. There are many possible causes for skin irritation, so identifying the source can sometimes be a challenge.
With fleas and mites, management of the environment may also be necessary, or the dog will keep getting reinfected. Here is more on my experiences with dog itchy skin.
Could be dry skin or a food allergy. Try switching the protein source. Fish instead of chicken or turkey.
Try eliminating any beef or beef flavored products. Shibas are known for specific food allergys. We are on our third. Shiba and we feed only grain free high protein dog food. Our second shiba had the same problem you described and my wife eliminated the beef and he healed quickly and became a bundle of energy & lovable self.
Very possible that your dog has yeast infection on its skin, Try diluting vinegar with water and dab on skin if this doesnt work a trip to vet maybe needed
Could be mange easily treatable at vet.