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.
Hi there, I live in New Zealand and my fiance and I have a beautiful 2 year old shiba girl. She absolutely lights up our lives. We had her in puppy classes as early as we could, and have been consistent with training. She is such a good girl in almost every way- she never destroys anything in our house, never has accidents inside, and is even pretty darn good (for a shiba) at coming back when called at the beach where we let her off leash regularly.
So her one major problem…. she is extremely anxious (verging on agressive if approached) with children. We don’t have children, but she’s been regularly exposed to my niece who was a baby when we first got her. She’s ok with my niece, but still not very tolerant. She is extremely (unusually for a shiba) affectionate and cuddly most of the time with my fiance and I. Sorry, I didn’t know where else to go, but I thought I might ask here and get advice from other shiba owners. I really want to help her become less anxious around children, especially since we might be having one of our own in the not too distant future.
Thank you in advance for any and all advice. So far we’ve tried giving her treats and having children give her treats… she seems to forget quickly. I’m getting so worried! We would never in a million years give her away, so we have to find a solution! Thank you!
With my Shiba, desensitization exercises helped him to be more calm around people. I start small, go very slowly, and make sure to always keep things positive and safe.
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#people
Here is an article from the ASPCA on dogs and children-
http://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/teaching-your-dog-how-behave-around-children
You may also want to post your question in the Shiba Inu Forum. There are many veteran Shiba Inu lovers there.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/
I also have a Shiba bitch who though fine with adults was terribly fearful of children but I worked on persistent and most importantly ‘regular’ desensitisation with children to good effect. My neighbour has three children aged four, seven and ten and having explained my situation enlisted their help. EVERY day after school they would come into the house and completely ignore Ila. After about fifteen minutes I’d put the dogs on leads and we’d go out around the block for a walk passing Ila’s lead to the eldest child as soon as she was relaxed. She didn’t even notice then we’d come home and the kids would all give a treat to Ila before leaving. After about three weeks, she would greet their arrival and though still wary of noisy children, she’s a million times better and now I deliberately sit opposite a school playground for over ten mins every day during playtime so she’s not so anxious about their noises. It’s the regularity that’s important. Hope this helps.
Great story Chrissy. I am also a big fan of desensitization, and you are absolutely right, regularity is key.
Great post! My sapiens are considering adding to the family. Do you think a Shiba can handle an Eskie like me!
I think it will depend a lot on you, your sapiens, and the temperament of your new Shiba sister.
Shibas can be very stubborn and strong willed, so you may have to be more tolerant and accommodating. 😉
What is your play style? What types of dogs do you currently like playing with? Are you ok with sharing your toys, treats, bed? What is the personality of your current favorite dog friends?
When we were thinking of adding to the family, here are some of the things that we considered-
http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog
At first, when I read your story before getting our pup, I was kind of nervous; we read a lot about shibas, we knew how stubborn they can be (even a guy on the street with his own shiba told me :”you know they’re really stubborn, right”?), difficult even, and I wasn’t quite sure of how I would handle his peculiar personality.
Then we met Mikko. When we left the breeder, who’s been breeding shibas for a long time, she told us that we had “a nice little dog”. Even the dog trainer said we had no major issues with the puppy, besides being uncomfortable around other dogs (in dog parks, when you are not quite aware of other dog’s behavior), whining for attention in the middle of the night, or bitting me all the time over its first 4 months. He then lost his teeth and the situation got a little better. He got clean very soon, never broke anything (yet, fingers crossed, but he chewed a step of our stairs, nothing that a children safety gate can’t handle), is really sociable with other people (in his first months, we were told that a puppy needed to see at least 100 people to be comfortable around them; we did so with Mikko, bringing him to my family gatherings with more than 70 people; everyone loved him and was very surprise by how little he would bark). He is now in his teenager phase and challenges a bit more our authority (he is not accepting our commands very often, but when calm and submissive, everything is a bit easier)
My point was, and the trainer told us, that yes there are a few characteristics that are mostly common with a specific breed, but never forget the personality of your own dog. In our case, knowing what shibas are known for, and their personality gave us additional tools on understanding our puppy, and eventually training him the right way. We don’t have a problematic dog, but we know that we should never loose our temper with him, and repeat everything until he understands that we are the ones in control, not him.
Don’t get discouraged: shibas may be a handful, but nothing that time, patience (A LOT OF PATIENCE) and attention can’t cure! Make sure to ALWAYS keep your pup in check in his first months, letting him know what he can and cannot chew on, and setting strict boundaries. And before getting a shiba, know that he will never be as easygoing and soft as, let say, a Golden Retriever or a Labrador, and be ok with it. If not, shibas may not be the right dogs for you.
This is my first Shiba Puppy and he is amazing….Totally the most amazing animal ever!
Hello Shiba Inu lovers, could you please help me find a home for this beautiful Shina Ibu/Wesh Corgi Cagney. He is very beautiful, playful in this video when the shelter first took him in. Now a month later, he is unhappy, not well treated, andhe is at defense. The shelter did not pass him on his temp test,saying he is aggressive. Please see this video, and this portrait when he first arrived, so beuautiful and happy, and then the most recent is the very sad eyes… they reach into your soul,.so nigh after night, I am looking for a good home for him…a forever home, where he will need to be kept in a separated area, for a while, until he was comfortable…in his enviorment.https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=710602592284914&set=a.705235432821630&type=1&theater¬if_t=photo_reply You can see his previous link here: https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=710602592284914&set=a.705235432821630&type=1&theater
HIS VIDEO, IS HERE..PLEASE WATCH:https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=710602592284914&set=a.705235432821630&type=1&theatery
He only has until next Monday, or he will be put to sleep. I am networking him on facebook, follow that link w his sad eyes, click on the photo, and you can see we raised $200.00 in pledges for this handsome boy…if you can adopt him, we will be looking for a rescue or if you know a rescue, a 105c rescue, they can pull from this shelter, if you are not in this area, this boy CAGNEY can fly across the country to find his forever family, person or persons..if you love animals and understand the countless hours, networking,,then you wont let him die…please pass the word, and network..lets not let him be killed.
They will put him to sleep at the shelter, if he can not be rescued.
Hello and thank you for the very informative site and continued upkeep. I have grown up w/ dogs my entire life (probably had 7 different total from early childhood to high school graduation). For some reason also, animals seem naturally drawn to me and always seem to interact w/ me very well. Even my girlfriend’s dog hated every single male she was around and sometimes for weeks. When we first met, the dog wouldn’t come near me and barked nonstop until I left. The second time, about 5 minutes of barking, a couple treats, and I was teaching her how to give high fives. I have rarely seen a shiba but we both decided we wanted one. We have no animals except a fish which is easy to relocate ( : ) ) and we are a normal, work for a living couple. As a result, we will not be home many hours of the day during the week. I have thought about getting a 4×4 ft pen or maybe even bigger to keep the dog in when not home. How do they generally handle those?? I feel I could train this animal well as I’ve always had pretty good luck in doing this.
I don’t feel like there’s much else I could ask as I’ve read a lot of these comments and they’ve pretty much answered all questions. Basically, what I can see is, when you get this dog, expect it to have the personality of a spoiled teenage girl and handle it accordingly LOL. Would that be accurate? These dogs just intrigued me. Probably b/c I enjoy challenges and this seems like it may be one. I see things about all dogs being this way or that way but I feel that training is absolutely crucial throughout a dog’s life, especially younger. If you train it well, then it shouldn’t be as much of a problem.
Sorry for my rambling LOL. Any additional comments, info, etc would be appreciated.
We used to crate our shiba when she was a puppy. one day, my wife came home and found the puppy roaming around the living room. apparently she had climbed to the top of the crate, pushed the top open and climbed out. we still crated her after than but eventually we let her roam the house when we are at work and for the most part, she just sleeps and waits for us to get home before she starts up her antics. one long walk and some play time usually takes care of a her energy.
just an fyi:
did not have a dog growing up, my wife did, but i really love having our shiba around (eventho the dog probably views my wife as alpha, then herself as beta, then me as omega)
Hello Jerry,
Yeah, Shibas can be really wonderful dogs and they are very loyal.
When Sephy was a puppy, he had some separation anxiety. He had two siblings, and lived with his mother and uncle, so being alone in a new home, was somewhat stressful for him. In the beginning, what seemed to work best for Sephy was to *very slowly* get him used to alone time.
I would start with very short periods of alone time (seconds) and practice that many times throughout the day. Then, I would slowly build up from there. Otherwise, there would be Shiba screaming and the neighbors would not be very happy. 😀
I also slowly desensitized him to his crate and pen, so he would learn to view them as positive places where he could relax and rest.
I have found that a new puppy needs *a lot* of attention, supervision, and training. My partner took time off work to help with puppy Sephy, and we also got help from trainers and a dog walker (after Sephy was fully vaccinated). As Sephy got older, he became more independent and together with training, is now ok with longer periods of alone time. However, he still likes having a very fixed routine and a consistent set of rules. Daily exercise and structured activity are also very important for him.
Some Shiba breeders will also place adult dogs who are done with showing in homes. That sometimes can work out very well, and the puppy stage is already taken care of.
Hope this helps and good luck with your upcoming puppy!
As mentioned previously, shibas are cat-like. They like people, but they don’t want to be told what to do directly. To get a shiba to behave, its all about setting the routine and norm – and not challenging them directly all the time. Same thing with physical contact – it has to be mutually agreed to, you can’t just pick up a shibe & cuddle. Avoid the direct challenge.
That said, my shibas love people – they watch people more than other dogs. Shibas like to hang out with their owners & do thing outdoors ( hiking is their ultimate dream activity). They are often dog aggresive – i think.more often than people aggressive.
That said, they are dogs and not cats, so obedience training works. Find a trainer that likes primitive breeds. My shibas are much more responsive to verbal requests than the cats ever were.
One quality that hasn’t been mentioned is that a shiba may have incredible prey drive. One of my two shibas has caught three small animals while on a six foot leash.- shrew, grey sqirrel, and a rat This dog is extremely fast going after a target.
If you want a strictly obedient dog, a shiba is not the dog for you. If you want a baby, again not a shiba. But if you want a dog that fits into your routine, and your routine includes some walks and outdoor time, a shiba can be superb!
If you google the words trendy shiba inu and click on images – that’s my boy!! The handsome little chap in a bow tie on my garden table is Arthur!!! :0)
Haha – I love the bow-tie! Arthur looks very classy, proud, and distinguished! I really want to add in a monocle and a hat. 😀
Love your insights, we got Kage at 17 months from a breeder that was hoping to show him. He could not as Kage had one ball fall to drop and can not be shown or bred. We had Kage fixed 5 weeks ago. We have seen marked improvement in his tendency to try and dominate everything and he will now accept being around other dogs although not too close. Kage loves people, all people, little people big people just kisses everyone. Just a happy little guy that has lots of energy. We are retired so we are home a lot but we do leave him every day for up to 2 to 4 hours, he has the run of the house and has never been bad. We have cameras watching him and he either plays with his toys or lays on the sofa waiting for us to come home. He was fully housebroken when we got him and he sleeps in the living room all night and never makes a sound. The only quirky thing we have seen is everyday about 4pm he starts with a fast pace around the house and starts to cry, we ignore him and he stops after about 2 to 5 minutes…… There is one other thing we see, we call it the berserk mode, a couple of times a week he will just start to run really fast up and down the hallway for about 5 minutes, then he just lays down and goes to sleep… He is a joy to have, much like our Akitas of past but different in some ways. He is every bit a BIG dog in a small package.
Have you heard of the ‘Yellow Ribbon’ scheme for space dogs in the UK ie my dog needs a bit of space from your dog?
It’s just about to go National and is a great idea. All you do is tie a yellow ribbon to your dogs collar and that tells other dog owners to control their dogs and give your dog a bit of space. See:
http://www.yellowdoguk.co.uk
That is interesting and a good idea. Over in my neighborhood though, it would be a great improvement if people would just keep unsupervised dogs and dogs with no-recall, on-leash or properly secured. There are leash laws, but some people feel that they are above such things.
Today, we got charged by a Pit Bull. He was a very friendly dog, and luckily, a couple of people were out and came over to help and secure the dog. The owner, however, was nowhere in sight.