Shiba Inu Sephy
Land of the Happy Cows.
Education
- SIRIUS puppy class I and II.
- Basic Obedience II at the EastBay SPCA.
- C’mon Let’s Go at the EastBay SPCA.
Shiba Inu Sephy’s Resume.
Experience
- Terrorized first vet at 10 weeks old. Vet technician had to put on a muzzle. Later perfected the art of preventing forced muzzling.
- Defeated and embarrassed experienced dog walker/trainer with high-quality Shiba screaming and leash biting. About ten sessions were needed before total surrender.
- Defeated trainer with > 10 years of experience at daycare center 1. Only one session was needed.
- Terrorized trainer at daycare center 2. Results within the first 10 minutes.
- Achieved constant attention at daycare center 3 with sustained whining and cute looks. Only one session was needed.
Great at biting. Look at my teeth!
Skills
- Humping human legs, humping dogs (from any position, including a face hump).
- Leash biting.
- Expert thief. Can scale counters like Spiderman.
- Biting on hands, arms, and clothing.
- Very high-quality Shiba screams.
- Alligator rolls.
- Sustained whining.
- Effective begging positions.
Other
Extremely strong-willed and willing to face any challenge. Smaller challenges may be handled by understudy Siberian Shania. Special rates available.
Extremely strong-willed and willing to face any challenge. Smaller challenges may be handled by understudy Siberian Shania.
LOL! That is hilarious.
Congratulations on Mitsu’s acceptance into doggy day camp. For a Shiba, that is an amazing achievement 🙂
In terms of training, she will definitely get better with age. When my Shiba was young he had the attention span of a gnat, but now he is actually a lot better. He has stopped trying to put everything in his mouth, he no longer does crazy zoomies inside the house, and he will even listen to me most of the time 🙂
The backpack thing is so funny! That is very classic Shiba. When you think you finally have them under control, they will do something unexpected to throw you off 🙂 As you say – Gotta love Shibas!
My shiba, Mitsu, is now 1 1/2 yrs old. My wife and I did not fully appreciate the difficulty in raising this breed when we got her–only now are we falling into a routine that seems acceptable to our little red fox.
We have been extremely diligent about socializing Mitsu from 8 wks which has proven fairly successful. She now is tolerated and dare I say it, accepted at doggy day camp. Training though has nearly been impossible. Or maybe I should say training in the traditional sense. I have given up on getting her to sit for any period of time and asking her not to bolt out of the cracked, front door…impossible. But she has stopped chewing on things, is acting better around guests and does provide me some assurance of home protection when my wife is alone.
I took her on a 15 mile hike in the mountains with my brother this past Saturday. She led the way on the trail and was super excited to be out in the woods. I was really proud of how well she did and was thinking, wow, she is almost like a normal dog. I tied her to my 50 lb backback to go into the ranger station for a couple of minutes to get a soda. No longer than one minute went by before someone came inside to ask whose dog was running down the trail with a backpack in tow. Gotta love Shibas.
We adopted a 10 month old shiba puppy (Jake) from a rescue about a week ago. While I think he did a better job of training us the first few days than we did of training him, I think he is finally settling in his new home. He has quickly picked up his crate and potty training (possibly due to training from his previous owners). However, we have found that despite the fact that Jake is overly friendly with humans, he will work himself into an all out frenzy any time he even see’s another dog. He has also recenty taken to the idea that moving cars might be a fun thing to chase. I am concerned that not only can both of these behaviors can put him in risk of physical harm, but it also potentially exposes us to legal implications should he bite someone elses dog. We are planning on hiring a professional trainer to help us (since he would not be sucessful in a group class situation). However, do you have any suggestions in the meantime?
Hello Nicki,
My Shiba Sephy is also very reactive to other dogs. What has worked best for me is to just ignore the other dogs while walking him, and to just walk away at a brisk pace. I use a leather 6 foot leash while walking him so that I have better control. When I see other dogs, I usually shorten the leash and sometimes hold it close to his collar, and just move him away. Make sure to lead him away from the side rather than to pull from behind, as that may cause him to lunge forward. I don’t generally stop to greet because then he will start obsessing and work himself up. I only use a thick flat collar on him.
The more neutral encounters he goes through, the more he will realize that meeting other dogs is a neutral thing and he does not need to get all Shiba over it.
My Shiba also really dislikes strange dogs smelling his butt. Once he gets to know them, and starts to trust and play with them, then he is a lot better; but when he first meets a dog, butt sniffing seems to be a no-no with him.
I have tried a variety of desensitization exercises on him wrt. other dogs but it is slow going. Make sure to find a trainer who has many calm dogs of her own that she can then use to help with the training. I also highly recommend getting a positive reinforcement trainer.
I have more of my experiences of Sephy and other dogs written up here:
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression
Let me know if you have further questions. I would also love to hear about your progress, as this is a problem that I have been dealing with for a while with Shiba Sephy.
Hi Nicole,
Shibas are very independent, confident dogs, and as such, they have a high tendency towards dominance. They really need structure and routine in their lives, or they will really take over the house and may become destructive or even aggressive. It is important to train your Shiba to have bite inhibition, and ultimately teach him that biting on people is unacceptable.
Here are some things to try:
http://www.shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
Some of the things that made a big difference with my Shiba:
1. Following the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program. This simply means that your dog should do something for you (could be as simple as looking at you, or doing a sit) before he gets anything in return. Sit training can be done at an early age with the use of food.
2. Doing short obedience sessions every day.
3. Making him work for all his food with obedience, grooming, or through interactive toys.
4. Attending a puppy class (when he is old enough).
In general it is best to leave puppies with their mother until they are at least 8 weeks old so that they learn important social skills, including how to control their bite. Since your puppy is very young, it is important to step in and teach him some of these important social lessons, especially bite inhibition.
The message boards on Yahoo Groups and nihonken.org are also very helpful for Shiba information and Shiba questions.
http://www.nihonken.org/forum/?CategoryID=16
My dog was biting me, he’s a Shiba Inu, and only a little bit over 1 month old. He’s 4 kg. When he bit me, it really hurt. And he humps my leg. I think its annoying. >:(
Wow A+?! Want to exchange Shibas? 🙂 I don’t think Sephy ever got an A+ on anything, although he won a dog ball in class once for doggie olympics.
“Nothing pushes buttons like a Shiba.” — So true! Sephy still tries to push buttons even today (over 2 years old). They are a really fun breed once you learn to laugh at their Shiba kung-fu moves. I think every Shiba thinks he/she is the coolest thing on earth. There is this great line from “Kung Fu Panda” that I think really fits a Shiba: “There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness.”
After one of his naughty Shiba moves, Sephy always gives me a look, as if to say “There is no charge for awesomeness or attractiveness.” 🙂
Ha ha… Nothing pushes buttons like a Shiba. They certainly like to continue to pick at you even when they’ve already gotten to you. It’s amazing how they can sense your mood and adjust accordingly.
I second the playing with larger dogs. Mossi actually makes a Huskey look docile when playing. We laugh when we take him to doggie day care for socialization that he comes back with an A+ on his report card. The economy must be really bad for them to lie to us like that.
I’m crossing my fingers that Mossi doesn’t start humping. So far so good. Mossi is a sock thief. He can find them in places we didn’t know existed. Sometimes it is actually helpful.
Hi Sherry. “Terrorizing a larger dog” 😀 – that certainly sounds like a Shiba. Sephy can’t really play with smaller dogs because he really freaks them out. He does best with larger, active, dogs; which he also can’t bully.
Very glad to hear that the stories are useful. The thing that really made a big change with Sephy was when I stopped being afraid of him, and was able to stay calm when he threw his various Shiba challenges at me. Before that he really was a terror on four paws. Nowadays he is “almost good” 🙂
We got a Shiba Inu rescue dog about 4 weeks ago and I have been reading your blog like a bible — for advice, hints, and insights for this breed.
Our dog is still adjusting to us but he is showing his more assertive side — including terrorizing a much larger golden doodle, barking at a welcome house guest, chasing down our cat.
So reading your stories about Sephy gives me hope that our Kanji will learn how to behave given time and love.
Thanks!