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 am fostering a 7 month old Shiba Inu. It is my first time housing this breed and while she is very affectionate and playful I have noticed that she likes to run in circles around me and my dogs. Is that obsessive behavior and should I be doing something specific to counter-act this behavior.
If your foster puppy is anything like my Shiba- this is what I call the Shiba 500 or Shiba 800. Sometimes Reggie just wants to run, but often he is trying to get me to play or chase him!
My shiba just turned 1 year old. I don’t think that is a breed thing but more of a puppy thing. Mine goes to the dog park daily weather permitting and the only tie I saw her do that is when she wanted to get attention but did grow out of it.
I have a Shiba Inu/Jack Russell mix. He is beyond adorable and looks like a little red Jack Russell, but his personality is ALL Shiba. He is the biggest drama queen brat, but I love this little dog beyond words. He keeps life interesting!
This is a lovely website! I am hoping to get a shiba inu!
My female Shiba Inu is so affectionate, loves going to the vet, and loves to be held, go for car rides, gives kisses, and opposite of everything mentioned above. I have had her since a puppy no accidents never created indoors. Do watch them off the leash. She is not big on socializing with other animals but when walking gets offended if a human ignores her.
I wouldn’t trade her for anything…….She trained herself so even though I have experience with dogs I didn’t need it.
This is one amazing breed.
This is just a fun dog to have. Be prepared to put the time in to relate properly with them. Do not consider one if you are not willing to walk them every day, or at least interact/play with them, but walks are essential, they love the wanderlust, so let them explore a bit when walked. No 2 are alike; my female is very receptive to all kids, will even allow petting by sev. kids at once! Always receptive to other dogs that show no aggression. BUT! Always keep them on leash when outside of a well contained yard, they will run, calling for them to return will be useless, trust me. And never trust them,they are sly, clever,and use their cuteness to that end. So keep your glasses, pens,ect. off of coffee table. Entry level dog obedience classes a must IMO.
They are a fast, tough, streamlined breed, they have hyper times as well as mellow. Mine will let you pick her up and even be cuddled like a baby if in the mood. 2 yrs. old, never has needed a bath due to the remarkable
water-shedding quality/thickness of their coat. I would never restrict her to a dog run, they need a yard to run about in. Be sure you have at least a 6′ secure fence, mine can jump from a standstill and tip of her nose gets within 6″ of the top. Just a joyful pet to have, IF you put some time into
getting to know the breed.
We have had 2 Shiba’s Milli and Rocky. They were awesome, albeit trying at times. They each lived to be 17 years old so I think we all got on pretty well together! Just before our Rocky boy passed we got a new puppy, a welsh corgi, Chewbacca (although he shaped more like an ewok). I will tell you what, we have discovered that we are Shiba people. Love Chewbacca but the guy is high maintenance and always mouthing (I think it’s a herder thing). We are considering adopting another Shiba in a few years when my youngest son is a bit older. I can’t wait to see Chewie try to herd a Shiba, we better stick with a puppy and save some drama.
Question, both Milli and Rocky had seizures. Rocky’s were pretty rare (like once a year) but Milli’s were fairly regular (about monthly). Is this pretty comment with Shiba’s?
Did your SHIBA INU have health issues mine gas been totally healthy except for her 2 hind legs, some days she can walk better t han others now she has a peeing issue pering on her self when she takes a nap and at Nite in her sleep. She also has DEMENTIA,are on pills for that though Neutricks Senior and on Dasuquin, and a catalyst soft chews,. I love my ROJEE she has given so much UNCONDITIONAL LOVE I LOVE HER SO MUCH , BUT I CAN SEE THE WRITING ON THE WALL, I WANT HER FOREVER I WILL MISS HER SO MUCH I AM CRYING WHILE I AM WRITING THIS. We gave her a Wonderful life SHE WAS MY PRINCESS. When I took her to this a Very Exclusive Shopping Area in TUCSON everyone stopped OH MY GOD SHE IS BEAUTIFUL, SONE INE OFFER ME FUVE THOUSAND TO BUY HER I WOULDN’T EVER SELL HER EVEN FIOR A MILLION DOLLARS,! She LOVED TO GO TO THE GROOMER, SHE WAS SO PROUD, HER COAT EVERYTHING FROM HER BIW TO HER COLOGNE, SHE SMELLED ALWAYS SOO GOOD, SHE NEVER EVER SMELLED LIKE A DOG! Whenever you come into our house there is no SMELLAT ALL I WILL NEVER RELACE ROJA! I KNIW IT WILL BE SOON JUST CANT LET HER GO, BUT I FEEL SHE WANTS TO GO WITH DIGNITY. LIKE I WOULD ! I WILL NEVER GET OVER THE LOSS. I HAVE AN OIL IN MY DEN OF HER! If you go on my timeline there us many pictures if BEAUTIFUL ROJA
Your site has helped us out for 2 1/2 years of Shiba-ness from our Shiba/Eskimo mix. When we first got Kuma I thought she hated me. She screamed at me, bit, stood in the corner and sulked, you name it. It took patience and about 3 months before she trusted us enough to be her family. Now she lays her head in my lap, screams at people for love and is even helpful with our chickens!
We call her the Sheriff. She likes to think she’s in charge and will even boss our old Husky around if she feels she isn’t following the rules. She’s even become very patient and kind with our young kids-putting up with silly games because she’s learned to trust them too. I think that’s the key with Shibas. You have to give them lots of time to trust you and earn that trust with strong leadership and love. But WHEW those first few months were not for the faint of heart.
lol, the Sheriff! That is perfect.
Thank you so much for sharing Kuma’s wonderful story with us. It always cheers me up to read about happy dogs and their great family. Big hugs to Kuma and a tummy rub when she wants it. 😀
Agreed. We were okay when we just had our female, Milli. But when we brought Rocky (a 2 yr old male at the time) into the picture… whew… did we learn a lot. Once we all settled down, after A LOT of leash time we all came to an accord… Milli was in charge of everything under 2 feet and Rocky the escape artist turned out to be a pretty mellow dog.
My shiba is 5 and has many of these traits. The best thing that happened to her was the introduction of her pal the Aussie-Labrador Brody. Because she is so competitive, she didn’t appreciate all the attention he got for coming when called. Thank heaven he is consistent so she developed a strong sense of pack mentality and the expectations of it. I am able to let her off leash at times where she can run. I had to do intensive dog training with her but soon realized I had to modify it to suit her quirkiness. Lucky for me she was intensely socialized from birth so she is wonderful around other dogs, cats, people, and the vet. She is the demonstration dog for our local humane society and often visits school to show children how to approach a dog.
Wow that was most helpful which totally describes my Shibanu. I was most concerned about her shaking so much, she just started really doing that recently. We’ve had her for about 5 years now and strangely enough she gets along and plays with our cats. We recently had to put our older dog down due to age and cancer and there was a time of sadness for her. She seems to be coming around but I have notice a slight change in her personality. Shes our little girl and I love this breed. Shes about 7 yrs. Old and would purchase another in a second. Love to all the Shibas out there.
I have owned two Shibas. One a former show prospect which I purchased and still own (he’s 12 and 1/2 now) and a rescue who recently passed away at approximately age 14. BOTH of my Shibas have been wonderful pets, each in their own ways. My male is a typical Shiba, except for the biting, which I would never tolerate in any dog, large or small. He knows absolutely that biting will not be tolerated. The female was not well socialized at age 7 when I got her, and had to be taught acceptable behavior, and she blossomed into a wonderful, uncomplicated, funny, sweet and non-aggressive girl. If you are to own a Shiba, you need to be a good, strong, reliable pack leader. These dogs are not for people with young children, nor people who are not willing to make them behave themselves.
Question please how often do i have to my shiba innu a bath she is 18 wreaks old thank you
Good luck!
Mine screamed full pitch and took 2 of us to bath him or a trip to a very,very patient Shiba aware groomer.
I did find climbing in with him and holding him alower me to get him thoroughly wet and then putting him between my ankles while I stood over him, calmed him down and allowed a quick scrub
I bathe my 2 xs a year you don’t want to strip their oils. Give them Salmon they love it and coat looks great.
only once for mine, and that’s only because she rolled in deer droppings once when on a walk @ 4-5 months. And none since then, and you can smell her coat, doesn’t even smell like a dog’s coat! They have a double coat like a husky, and very repellant. I wouldn’t worry about it. But if you had to, get a gentle vet-recommended type, and don’t bathe your sheeba with a standard market shampoo for tick control, nor use a tick collar. IMO the monthly heartworm/tick n flea control pill works great, via your vet.
When crushed up well and mixed with a tsp. of peanut butter, works like a charm for me.