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.
HA HA. The thing about grazing is a riot. My Shiba, Rileigh, knows exactly where her favorite grasses grow and she remembers from season to season and will go for the same places every time. The most annoying habit that she has is calling me when she needs something, when she wants me to come into the room where she’s hanging out, and at her bedtime. She’ll make annoying noises and keep coming up to me signaling with her head that it’s time to hit the hay and to get my arse in the bedroom. There’s no such thing as watching a movie at night without her interrupting and calling me to bed. She never gives up, not ever, but I love her dearly.
We have always had Schipperkes, but when we lost our beloved Jackson to cancer, we thought maybe it was time to get a different breed. We are now the confused owners of a determined, furball Shiba Inu called Boone. We read about them and figured if we could handle Schipperkes, certainly we could handle a Shiba. So far it hasn’t been too bad. The main problem is we love him so much, but we’re not sure he loves us. Even when he was a young puppy (8 weeks old) he didn’t like to be held or handled. Now he’s a year old and he still doesn’t like snuggling, sitting on our laps or sleeping on our bed. He very deliberately will get up and move if we sit near him. Every night he crawls under the sideboard and lays there until bed time. If we have to crate him, he doesn’t even care when we come to let him out. He just lays there, yawns and eventually decides to come out. The only time he’s lovey is when we have food or are playing. I know they can be cat like, but we’ve had cats more affectionate then Boone. Is this normal?We’re thinking about adding another dog to our family that can fill this void. Boone loves other dogs, so I think it would be ok.
I never leave comments under online articles, but this was so thorough and FUNNY that I had to give my props! I was litterally laughing out loud in the office :’D
Your description of the Shiba sounds exactly like a dog version of myself, which made me want a Shiba even more. Loved it!
Thank you!
I’ve had a Spanish mastiff, two foxterriers, a german mastiff (great Dane), two German Shepherds, and a Shiba but none is as headstrong as my current Shar pei
Hello, great article!
We are a family of 4 “2 kids, 4 and 2 years old” and i am thinking of getting a Shiba-inu! I just loved this breed! Amazing dog but challenging characteristics! Do you think it is the right choice of dog for my family?
Thank you
Hi there ! I recently brought a shiba home (a little over a week ago) and she’s already showing all the characteristics you spoke about! She’s only 2 months and I want to make sure we don’t baby her to the extent that she turns into a spoiled brat lol. I would like to know what is definitely a no no with a Shiba? Also as for training, potty training has been a real hassle lately. We constantly take her out and even have trainings pads for her but she just doesn’t seem to get the hang of it and found out the basement is the perfect place for her to go. Any suggestions or tips? And sorry just one more question, since she’s only two months old is she ready for training? If not WHEN would be the best time to start training her? Thank you and sorry for all the questions!
Great post! Spot on too! I have a Shiba Inu that identifies exactly to what the article says. They are great dogs that require work and a responsible owner. Shiba’s aren’t like most dogs and what you stated in the beginning is important, “The Fox Look.” Listen people, don’t buy a Shiba Inu because they are cute! They can be a lot of work, need exercise and good homes, like all dogs!
Hi
I have a very strong willed shiba that likes to bully me a lot. After attending some dog training class they have recommended me to use a slip lead. He has become much better behaved, but Im worried about the security of it as he likes to escape a lot. I was wondering if I can use a slip lead for walks but add a harness aswell just to give me that assurance that if he gets loose I can catch him easier.
Thank you
Hello!
I’m looking for some advice as a hopeful future shiba adopter. I work at night, generally six or seven in the evening to early morning hours, and I was wondering if that would affect my pupper’s schedule or if it would be exactly as if I worked during the day?
I have a 6 month old spayed Shiba, Suki. For all intents, she is pretty well behaved and is getting through obedience training. However, I have had 3 or 4 incidences where she suddenly and without warning act like “Cujo”. She attacks my feet in a rapid, biting motion and will not back off. I’ve been working with her since 8 weeks to not be toy or food aggressive and is really good with this. But this last incident she was playing with a food puzzle in the kitchen and quite unexpectedly attacked my feet and wouldn’t stop. I finally managed to kennel her to help her settle down. Any ideas on this behaviour?