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 have a 7 month old shiba inu and she is scratching a lot and i checked for fleas but she had none and i give her a bath once a month. She is loosing hair around her eyes and she is scratching around her eyes and ears to the point she makes them bleed. I clean it up with wet paper towel and put small amount vegetable oil in her food. It kind of made her stop scratching but is it normal for her to lose hair around her eyes?
I would take her to the vet ASAP to check for mites. Mites are too small to be seen by the naked eye, but the vet can take a skin scraping and view it under a microscope.
Once I am very sure that my dog’s itching is not mites or fleas, then I can look at other causes.
Common reasons for dog itching.
Thank you so much for answering me. Im very worried about her. She also wont stop biting and we keep telling her not to bite or we smack her nose to stop but she keeps coming back for her and bites harder. How can we make her stop biting and ripping up the carpet because she likes to dig. She never use to dig when we lived at the old place since we moved into new place she been digging up the carpet and living holes. How can we make her stop digging?
I deal with puppy biting by doing three things-
1. Bite inhibition training.
2. No-bite conditioning.
3. Structure and puppy self-control.
More on how I deal with puppy biting.
More on structure and teaching self-control.
Physically based aversive techniques did not work well with my Shiba, and significantly worsened his behavior.
http://shibashake.com/dog/shiba-inu-training-secrets
Finally, moving to a new place can be very stressful for a dog because it creates a lot of uncertainty. Stress and anxiety can further lead to displacement behaviors such as digging.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-anxiety-problems
What is your Shiba’s daily routine like? Does she only dig when she is alone or all the time? Are there certain things that cause her to start digging? Are there other changes in behavior after the move? What are her house rules? Is the new environment noisier or smaller than the old environment? How are the environments different? Is she crate trained?
She is fine when we are home, she doesn’t dig and all she does is lay around or plays with her toys. We play with her but after she starts to get ruff we stop playing to let her calm down. When we leave she doesn’t like being alone so she find something to do like digging or chewing on stuff that isn’t hers. Where we lived before the place was small so she didn’t have much room to run around and she didn’t sleep on the bed with us since we moved she became more out going and now she sleeps on the bed with us. The house is big so she has a lot of room to run around. She doesn’t like the smell of a new carpet that we have so she digs at it. Where we lived before she only dig outside and it was dirt. When we moved down here she thought carpet is dirt since its brown and maybe that’s why she digs at it. She is going potty outside but when we are not home we leave her out and she goes on puppy pads. The place is quiet and its big house for her to run around.
If the digging only occurs when she is alone, then it could be from separation anxiety-
https://www.aspca.org/pet-care/virtual-pet-behaviorist/dog-behavior/separation-anxiety
Big changes in a dog’s environment and routine can cause stress, and this can also lead to separation anxiety.
Shibas are not by any standard, an off-leash dog. It takes work to get the darn dog to walk beside you might as well off-leash in the city. I am a proud parent of one of those “well-behaved” Shibas. As charming as Clyde is, he is not well behaved because he was born with the well behaved genes. As well as off leash behaviour this applies to toilet training (they learn fast, but you have to help them learn) . I see a lot of definitions of Shibas as being good for “beginner dog owners”. This is true because they are intelligent and can be trained. But YOU have to train. People who are thinking of getting a Shiba need to realize that likely most of us with the “good” Shibas put in work, got to know our dogs, exercise our dogs regularly and exhibit patience. What exactly an individuals definition of “work” is will be relative to their dog experience, every day outlook on what work is, lifestyle, time commitments etc. I have a friend who complains about her border collie’s behaviour and anxiety. Then I find out she walks her dog once a day. A moderate and high energy dog cannot be entertained for merely 30 minutes a day. (Shibas are moderate to high). You will earn your rightful punishment. Working with dogs requires reflection and insight. You have to be willing to look at yourself for blame, before you point at your dog. If you can not commit time and energy for the basics, do not get a Shiba, and really you should be reconsidering any dog. A dog owes you no loyalty or respect until, in their eyes, you have earned it. And this can be harder to get with some breeds (a Shiba is one of those breeds). Respect and loyalty comes from boundaries, stimulation (basic training counts for this), dedication and love. Once all of these have been established then you can work towards off leash experiences. With every new environment, test/train your Shiba to ensure they will heel, sit, and come when called. And remember every Shiba lives in a different environment and every Shiba will have it’s own personality. People who live rurally are more apt to let their animals off leash, and an off leash animal will likely have more exercise (without having to depend on the person). A tired dog is often a very happy dog! Since I live in a suburb, I let my Shiba off leash on rural hiking trails (not city trails), dog parks, at the baseball diamonds, his own yard and the beach. It was around the 1.5 year mark that we started with trails and the beach. This was after we had confidence instilled in us that he would “come” with the distractions of a dog park. Even the dog park was work, as he would often ignore us and we would be the “stupid” people chasing him around the park. So, We worked on the “come” command at home in the yard, then in areas with one or two distractions etc. Different environments bring new excitement! I recall our first camping trip with Clyde and going for a walk and meeting a dog. The next morning my husband made the mistake of letting him off leash right out of the tent. Clyde couldn’t care a less about the word “come” or “stay”–he just heard play! Clyde sprinted through the camp sites all the way to the dogs home and barked for the dog to come out at 6am. By the time my husband got there the owner was outside. No one was happy. Luckily it was all in good play, but if cars were zipping in and out it could have been bad. Although Shibas are classified as “non-sporting”–Shibas by nature are bush hunters, they like a territory, so with out a fenced yard they will explore. They can have a prey-drive with small animals. They find a leaf blowing in the wind to be more entertaining then the 10$ toy you bought and will follow the leaf until they bite it. They are extremely focused once they zone in, but are always on the look-out for something better (e.g. bathroom behaviour can require quite the decision making : “there has to be softer grass to poop on down the road,” or “the wind is not blowing quite in the right direction on this street for my pee”. They remember everything. I cannot walk my dog easily within a block of our vet! He tries to get as far away as possible, and pulls on the leash, unfortunately the vet is across the street. So every walk starts with mad dash to make a left turn. Take advantage of their preferences, but do not reward their bad behaviour. For example Clyde prefers to run with me then smell another dog, so if I notice he seems easily distracted on a walk we run most of it. I find his preferences charming, because I feel I have the time to walk him until he gets the right texture of grass. If I was rushed this would be painful! Get a good feel for who you are before picking a dog; talk to people who have good experience with the breed. Know your dog before going against the general standards of the breed. Once you choose a Shiba and put time in your efforts will be well rewarded with licks, belly rubs and likely, a quiet, constant companion. Always within 30 feet, but doing their own thing!
What a good write about Shibas. Especially on the pee and poo place. Have to be the right length of grass, right colour and the wind has to be at the right direction. LOL Yes once you have gained their trust, their loyalty is no doubt. Quiet companion but always nearby.
Two days into having our baby boy Kuma, and what a personality he has!! We are in love with this little one, and have started training and discipline immediately–he’s done great! I see that he will be a handful bur we were prepared and willing to put in the work to make him into the best dog he can be!
Congratulations and big hugs to Kuma! Remember to take lots of puppy pictures! 😀
Funny, my shiba is named Kuma too! She’s a great dog and loves humans!
I had been studying dog breeds behaviour for quite a while before deciding to get a Shiba. I had read that these guys were very difficult to train. I thought I was up for the challenge and got a 2 month old female Shiba, named Margot.
Well, she’s been with us for 3 days and a just found out your blog.
YOUR TEXTS AND THE READERS COMMENTS MADE ME REALLY DESPERATE! Did we make a mistake getting this breed?
Really. I can’t sleep tonight with all the thing i’ve read tonight.
God have mercy on my soul! LOL!
I got my Shiba, currently 7, when I was 11, and raised him entirely on my own. The first year will be an adventure – definitely baby-proof your house. Mine ate through 3 vacuum cleaners.
But everything after that first year was perfect. I couldn’t ask for a better dog and will get a Shiba again in the future. He is friendly towards me and my close friends, distrustful of bad people, but generally a very good dog. And he’s very quirky!
HOWEVER – if you have kids, small kids in particular, they should not under ANY circumstances mess with the dog. Mine had bitten a few kids before – warning bites, at a young age – but if they slip up and pull your dog’s tail or make him anxious, he will bite.
Remember that any dog can be trained. You just have to be patient.
Good luck, keep us posted if you can!
lol!
I had a lot of trouble with my Shiba, because I did very little research before getting him. As a result, his more aloof nature and strong will were not expected, and gave me a lot of problems. At the time, I also didn’t know much about dog training or dog behavior, so I made a lot of mistakes with him at the start. On the other hand, I learned a lot from Sephy in a very short amount of time, and he gave me lots of stories to tell. 😀
I think Shibas are totally fine for people who have done their research into the breed, and who have more experience with dog training. Here is a super Shiba-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaQheaYSr8Y
Big hugs to your pup! How are things going?
First, do NOT regret getting a shiba. They are wonderful dogs, but take a bit of effort at first.
Second, get your shiba puppy into a training class ASAP. Our gorgeous 7 year old shiba Sierra was very willful, but with “puppy class” at ten weeks she had early socialization and learned obedience commands. Her strong intellect kept her interested in learning, and her natural leadership and dignity meant she did not want to be the only puppy sitting there and not participating. (OK, sometimes she was bored. “You want me to walk around this room for that treat?”) We kept her in classes once per week at our local Petsmart for her first year, and she is amazing! She does not nip at anyone, and will allow petting from strangers (kids I closely supervise so they don’t poke her eyes, and her tail is strictly off limits). She obeys commands, although “stay” is still a work in progress.
Third, it’s very important that your shiba knows YOU are the “pack leader”. It’s in their nature to be dominant, and you have to show no fear and lovingly assert that you are the boss. Yes, this took time and patience, but I wouldn’t trade my shiba for any lap dog or less bright yapper!
Fourth, let your shiba have privacy and independence when needed. Sierra has a special spots under a desk or a bed, which means she doesn’t want to be disturbed then. She still spends virtually all her time with us when we’re home, and she loves being talked to, played with, going on walks and being part of our family.
Last, enjoy your beautiful shiba! This breed is sooo smart, so athletic, so alert. Talk to you shiba often, keep teaching them new things and words for objects. Take them for neighborhood walks or to a park to maintain socialization. Sierra brings joy to my husband, kids and neighbors. We’re busy people with jobs and kids, but we always find time for Sierra.
You will have many years of joy with your shiba!
I have a beautiful 14 yo shiba named Jade. She is the greatest dog i have had the pleasure to care for. she has been a challenge but i am up for it. Socializing her from the start is key, the more people and other pet they meet,brings out their loving nature. the only real problem i have is her skin condition. it can get very bad very fast. she gets high quality food and supplements but still gets rashes and red spots. is this common with the breed?
It could be a skin allergy. One of my Huskies is allergic to certain types of fish, and there are dogs who are allergic to beef or poultry, so quality of food doesn’t necessarily preclude a food allergy issue. However, skin allergies can also be caused by other factors.
http://shibashake.com/dog/itchy-dog
I would have a vet look at it first and see what they say.
Hi! I just found this site and it is very informative and amusing!. I did not grow up with dogs but my son wanted one so we got a puppy from a rescue shelter which is a mix of corgi (face & big ears) and shiba (from the neck back!) Pebbles is now 5 and still has enormous energy, which is great. She is not the cuddly dog, I think my son longed for and she has bonded more with my older son. She hates the cat so we make time for both but they live on separate levels of the house. She is a hunter and I think she feels the cat is fair game. She is extremely territorial about food and the kitchen in general and pretty much “her house”. My younger son who originally wanted the dog would love a new one, but I don’t think Pebs would react well. She has a couple of “friends” but she is not the social one you take to a dog park. Happy playing fetch in the backyard. Any thoughts or ideas anyone can share are appreciated for family harmony! Thanks.
Thank you Sandy. 😀
Are you thinking of getting a second dog? Or are you trying to help Pebs bond better to your younger son? What kind of dogs does Pebs enjoy playing with? Who feeds, trains, and walks Pebs? How old are your sons?
Here are some of my experiences with getting a second dog-
http://shibashake.com/dog/getting-a-second-dog
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
I have owned dogs all of my life, and we ended up with a 4 month old Shiba Inu due to a lapse of reasoning during a visit to the vet for medicine for our other dog.
Charlie is now 12 years old and while he certainly exhibits traits such as the shake, and talking, he was trained just like any other dog we’ve had, and responded the same way.
He walks off the lead, heels as required, sits and waits as told and is completely under control 99% of the time. When we got him he was afraid of loud noises, bangs, thunder etc and never got over it, so 1 % of the time he can be a handful, but we manage that.
I sometimes think that the “difficulty” of training a Shiba Inu is a myth spread by the owners to make their dogs appear special.
Our Charlie is certainly special but he’s no more disobedient than we allowed him to be.
I think that when provided with the right structure, training, and exercise, Shibas do quite well. However, in my experience, my Shiba is also a lot more stubborn and a lot more strong willed than my two Huskies. As a result, I have to supervise him more, and had to spend more time providing the right kind of structure, training, and socialization for him when he was young.
I think their stubbornness and natural strong-will does make them harder to train, and also requires more supervision and management. Their more aloof nature and sensitivity to handling can also be difficult, especially for new owners who do not expect this type of behavior.
I certainly had a lot more trouble training and managing my Shiba compared to my two Huskies, so I think the difficult personality traits of a Shiba are real. New owners should be made aware of these traits so that they do not end up with a dog that does not fit with their lifestyle and personality.
All my dogs are special to me because they make me laugh, they teach me many things, and being with them is the most wonderful thing.
Thank you all for posting their stories. I have a question related to a family decision as to whether or not to adopt a Shiba pup. We don’t have much information on her except that she was from a pet store and was returned by her initial owner due to Ventricle Septal Disorder. Now she is sitting at a vet’s office until they figure out what to do with her.
Does anyone know anything about how having such a congenital disease would impact with her temperament? For example, would she be naturally more withdrawn and protective of herself? Would she have a heightened or aggressive survival instinct? Would she be less disposed to physical exertion? If so, would she channel that energy to more destructive endeavours?
Any thoughts would be helpful!
Hello Henry,
I would re-post your question in the Shiba Inu Forum. I do not have any experience with Ventricle Septal Disorder, but there are probably people in the forum who do.
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/comment/144700#Comment_144700
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/comment/100182#Comment_100182
I am very glad that you and your family are thinking of adopting this little pup. If you get additional information on this, could you please post us an update? It may help someone later on, who find themselves in a similar situation.
My daughter started wanting a Shiba Inu years ago as she Japan interested. Recently, without having ever owned dogs in my own life, not only the Shiba, but another dog a Chow Chow, was introduced into the house. The Chow also a pup, was introduced first and is a bit bigger. The chow behaves as directed but is learning from the shiba.
Yumi has now been with us for a few months, and is driving me absolutely mad. It has been resistant to any form of training; urinates where it is, destroys huge amounts of property (apple devices especially – but leather lounge, vacuum cleaner, laptop chargers, large amounts of clothes especially Victoria secret underwear for my daughters … etc etc etc), bites all the time, licks incessantly almost feverishly, jumps up on everything and everyone, has had the gall to take food off my plate right in front of me, has a personality that you can tell it knows exactly what it is doing. Every single other undesirable trait you mention on your blog, this dog has. its becoming costly, and I’m becoming at loggerheads with it. I’m an animal lover – and the dog knows I care for it, but am starting to dislike its traits so much I’d rather see things change for it. Pretty soon it will be forced to be an outside dog, in an enclosed area. I’m not stupid and can see what you have done to resolve issues with your dog, but my daughter doesn’t seem to have the time, money or will to train it as you have.
Catch 22 imho.
If you don’t want her. I’ll take her. I love my Shiba.
That’s me up there. Where are you located?
My best advice for you is to enroll your dog in an obedience class. This is the best route for any breed of dog to gain more control and obedience from your dog and to build better communication. Also most dogs with exception to a few breeds benefit from daily walks to release energy. If you place your dog in an enclosed area outside it will not relieve the problem because the dog will still not have any obedience and will not have any energy released. If you truly do not have time for your dog I would suggest you consider re-homing it and take the decision to adopt a dog more seriously in the future. It is a very big commitment and a dog requires nurturing just like any other living creature. Good luck with your furry family member.
David, if your daughter won’t train her shiba, please find the time yourself to enroll this dog in puppy class ASAP. A lot of puppy breeds chew on leather and electronic items, snatch food, rummage through laundry, test the boundaries, etc. This shiba does know what it’s doing. It’s waiting for an owner to train it, teach it, love it. My previous dog was a sheltie collie, the super gentle, hyper intelligent, most obedient dog breed, so I needed help at first with my shiba. But the investment was so worth it! To put a shiba outside in an enclosed area is not fair to the dog. Please consider proper training, with patience and love, or give the dog to another home. Best of luck with this remarkable, rewarding, intelligent, athletic breed! I think you’ll be rewarded beyond belief if you give the puppy training and time.