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.
So true!
My current Shiba, Scout is 8. I call him my Shiba Devil. He thinks nail trims are evil torture, a close second to all forms of water including rain. Although he adores playing in snow, rather attacking it as he’s convinced there’s something hidden underneath.
He prefers to potty out front or away from the house but if he must will go out back. Unless it’s raining and then he refuses to move, but will vocalize his upset frequently.
He screams out the window every time we reenter our neighborhood after a car ride… he knows. He refuses to sleep in his bed for days after it’s been washed. His favorite place to sleep is alone in an office that’s rarely used (except by him). I’ve taken the hint and moved his bed in there.
He is extremely dog aggressive. His prey drive for anything non human is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. We’ve spent years training but nothing has changed at all. It started with my female Shiba that was 8, he was 2 (yes, neutered) and seems to happen out of nowhere. Ultimately she ended up going to live with a trusted friend who still gets to love her. It was so hard. Our cat was later diagnosed with an illness but I’m sure it could have become a problem also. He’s killed opossums, raccoons, rabbits, & rodent. Now he no longer gets let out by anyone unsupervised (the kids are adults). He’s a mess.
All that said. I adore him to pieces. Except for when he thinks I’ve ignored him and decides the best punishment is to poop or pee on my side of the closet. Just once it’d be great if he’d punish my husband.
My Shiba Inu was easy to house break.
She cuddles my legs at night, but growls when she is pet by me if she did not approach me first.
She loves walks, car rides, and to play ball/fetch.
She does not like to be “contained”, kenneled, or held for more than a minute.
She is aggressive with my other dog and attacks him if he is around people who are eating.
She is very possessive of anything & everything.
She is beautiful & loyal & easy to groom & never smells.
She is agile & funny.
She is NOT an escape artist at all.
She is stubborn & strong willed.
She gets spooked occasionally by strangers.
She is very sensitive.
Hi, we are owners of a now 6 month old Shiba girl and I just wanted to thank you for all the helpful info. She is my first “difficult” dog breed but honestly, it’s so rewarding to see her grow up confident, playful and smart. With this website I knew what we were getting into and thank heavens for that, because she did almost drive me mad at some point. I’d like to point out that the part with “challenging behavior” is very on point, she had phases where she consistently misbehaved – just to get a rise out of us … Luckily, she’s the best thing that happened to me in the last year 🙂
Hugs, thank you, and congratulations on your new Shiba girl. She sounds absolutely wonderful. 😀
As a Shiba owner and lover, many times over.
I can tell you from experience, they are all very different from one another. That’s regardless of their breed ‘standards’ or ‘inherent behavior’, for lack of a better term. It’s all in their upbringing and training that they learn very early, how to adapt to our world. Otherwise, you will be living in theirs! Trust me. The ‘Shiba’
behavior is inherently in their DNA, so they are unlike other domesticated breeds. It’s ancient, and it’s stubborn. Not necessarily ‘aggressive’, as I have had Shibas that are stubborn, be exceedingly sweet natured. I’ve raised them from puppies, and adopted as adult rescues, young ones and seniors with ‘life challenges’.
The rescues were the ones that were happiest,
just to be in a loving home. I wouldn’t trade one day for any of them. They have enriched my life beyond all measure.
The Good, The Bad, and Every Moment In-between! But, Seriously. Life with a Shiba is All Good! As Any True Shiba Owner Will Tell You.
☮️💖Shiba🦊
I brought a male 2.5 year old Shiba named Tuna into my home with a 2 year old Akika male.
Tuna was living a very undisiplined life with undisiplined Pomeranians. He has learned to sit stay since 2 weeks with me. Very stubborn.
Any advice I will take.
Congratulations on your new Shiba! My Shiba was standoffish with new dogs at first, but he warms up to them after a few weeks. Here are some of my experiences with helping my Shiba form healthy bonds with my other dogs – https://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog/
Big hugs to Tuna and his Akita brother.
It was Shibashake, 11 years ago, that made us realise we had a Shiba cross! Rescue Centre said she was Chow x Staffie, mainly because she has a blue tongue. But continued research definitely matched Shibas!! Very, very cat-like! Never, never off lead – after some early uneducated encounters! Definitely not a cat lover as some others have said! Killed lots of rabbits, while on extender lead on walks :O Impossible to remove dead rabbit from Shiba’s mouth while trying not to let the lead go! Not a barker, but a few little woofs just after we’ve gone to bed, to say she’s lonely and bring one of us back down for company! Not a lover of noises either – you sneeze I go outside!! Now she’s 11. Has recently had Cruciate Ligament surgery, and has suspected arthritis (‘crackling’) in both hind joints. Getting to be an old retired lady. Sleeps in the sun-shade-sun-shade-sun-shade all day, until her internal clock says, walk time. Love her lots. She had / has just the right temperament for us; doesn’t jump up at visitors, rather runs away; needed one telling off for being on the furniture and never again 🙂 Todays’ walks are slower, shorter and include a good roll in the grass – although I often wonder if she’s trying to ‘rub’ her collar off! Thank you for all the info, it was always helpful.
Big hugs. Dogs really make life wonderful.
So so sorry for your loss… This is lovely info I will be sending my clients here for the info.l am a very small-focused Shiba Inu breeder as well as been an Expert Dog Speaker. I did the Ultimate Dog Summit in 2019. Love Shibas they are my passion and all are my family. I don’t believe in Kennels.
Your pups are adorable! Love all the pictures.
Bingo-go >_<
Awwww….. Sephy seems so cute! I also have an Shiba Inu, and her name is Bingo. Most of what you listed matches with what Bingo is like, but Bingo is very quiet and nice at the vet. But yeah, she whines when she is hungry, when she is lonely, and when she needs to go out.
Bingo is right months old, but she is very obedient and good- tempered. When we tell her to go back into her " house" , as we call it, she goes in without complaint. My whole family loves Shiba Inus, so when my mom's friends Shiba Inus had 4 puppies, we asked for one. My friend has a poodle, and he is already 2 years old. She told me to treasure the time when Bingo is still a pup, because you will miss it. I do miss Bingo when she was still small, but she is still extremely cute now.
Interesting fun fact: Bingo is already 20 pounds! (Okay, not so fun or interesting fact, but still.)
Bingo sounds perfect! Congratulations!
Our Shiiba had his own personality. All of the items that you describe in your article describes ours to a T. With him, if you wanted him to do anything he would negotiate. He wanted to know what was in it for him. If he was not going to get any treat’s then he was not going to do what you want. When my wife would take him for a walk, everyone wanted to know what kind of dog he was and if they could pet him. We would always tell people that petting was not allowed. His name was Kane, my two boys named him when he was pup. When he grew to adult, our family members would not visit us. Kane past this year 01/16/2022. Our home is empty without him.
Thank you for your stories.
I am so sorry for your loss. Our Shiba, Sephy, passed away last year. We miss him so very much.