The Shiba Inu is a very beautiful dog. However, behind that foxy face, is a dominant, stubborn, intelligent, and extremely mischievous personality. This can make them a challenge to care for.
Indeed Shiba Inus are not for the faint-hearted, and they are not recommended for first-time dog owners.
Despite this warning, my heart was already set on a Shiba Inu puppy. I had a lot of free time then, so I thought I would be able to handle one little dog. After all, how difficult can a small puppy be?
Little did I know, a Shiba Inu can be a major pain in the ass!
Even dog veterans have problems with their first Shiba. In fact, many experienced trainers were unable to handle my Shiba Sephy.
Here are the Shiba Inu training secrets that helped me turn my devil dog into a model citizen. Well, maybe not a model citizen, but a fun citizen that I truly enjoy living with.
1. There are No Miracle Cures
When I first got Shiba Sephy, he was a big challenge.
Some of his favorite daily activities include biting my hands, running crazily around the house, biting on curtains, vicious leash biting, jumping on me and others, humping my leg, and much more.
I was desperate to get him under control, and did a lot of research online and off-line. I read a lot of online articles and bulletin boards. I called local dog trainers, watched all the dog training shows on television, and read a lot of dog training books.
During this time, I found something that looked like a miracle … a 10 minute Shiba online training program. According to this advertisement, there were some special “Shiba words” that will magically turn a Shiba into a Lassie. Yeah right!
Luckily, I did not succumb to my desperation, and did not buy this product.
The fact is, there are NO “miracle cures” for training a Shiba Inu.
The secret of Shiba training, is simply to exercise extreme patience, and find humor in our Shiba’s antics. Use reward obedience training, and always be firm but fair.
A Shiba will probably never be a Lassie, or perfect dog. However, if you are looking for a dog with a big personality, who will always make you laugh with his sneaky and roguish ways, then the Shiba Inu is for you.
2. Use Passive Resistance
The best way to deal with Shiba Inu misbehavior is through passive resistance.
Shibas get bored easily and do not like being ignored. They really enjoy their freedom, and also like being close to their human pack. We can control a Shiba best by controlling these most desired resources: our attention, and his freedom.
If we actively try to stop our Shiba either through physical punishment (e.g. alpha rolls, leash jerk) or active restraint, he will fight back. This encourages him to practice rough play, and biting on people.
If we back away, or become fearful of our Shiba, he will learn that he “wins” by showing dog aggression.
If we over-correct our Shiba by exerting too much physical force, or by correcting him too frequently, we will lose his trust, and it is difficult to regain a Shiba Inu’s trust.
What works best with a Shiba is NOT to engage in a physical competition, but rather to engage in a mental one.
There are certain resources that Sephy really enjoys including walks, treats, toys, and his freedom.
When I want to take him on his walk, I go to the door with his lead, and call him to me. Initially, he would dally and not really want to come, because he wants to go walking on his own schedule. I count to three. If he does not come, I leave and go about my own business.
After a short time, Sephy will amble over, and pester me to take him on his walk. This is done through begging, and whining. I ignore all this bad dog behavior. When I have a break in my schedule again, I repeat the above exercise.
A Shiba will quickly learn that to get the resources that he wants most (e.g. go on walks), he has to do it according to our rules, and our schedule. It is important to practice the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program with a Shiba.
Set a Shiba Inu up for success, so that we can reward him frequently, and keep him interested in doing what we want.
Another Shiba favorite is to steal something he is not supposed to, and then run away with it, thereby engaging a fun chase game.
A Shiba Inu is very agile, and it will be difficult for us to catch him. I always try to keep an eye out for my sneaky Shiba, and stop him before he steals an object. I also put a drag lead on him, so that I can easily catch him by stepping on the lead.
Note: Use a regular flat collar with the drag lead, and not an aversive collar. Aversive collars such as prong collars or choke chains, should only be used during supervised training sessions. Cut the loop on the drag-lead, so that it does not catch on anything in the house.
3. Rules, Rules, Rules
Shiba Inus are naturally dominant. If we do not provide them with rules, that we consistently enforce, they will take over the house.
It is best to enforce those rules as early as possible. This ensures that Shiba does not develop any bad habits later on, that will be more difficult to break.
Some of Shiba Sephy’s rules:
1. No Biting
The most important rule that I place on Sephy, is no biting on people. Shiba Inus are a very mouthy breed. Their instinct is to use their mouth in a wide variety of situations, including when they are excited, frustrated, and fearful.
They also have large teeth, and can accidentally hurt children and seniors. If Sephy starts biting on me or on others, I no-mark the behavior (Ack, ack). If he continues, I put him on a time-out.
It is also important to teach a Shiba bite inhibition. In this way, when he loses control of himself and does bite, he will not cause much harm.
2. No Food Aggression or Resource Guarding
Prevent our Shiba Inu from guarding resources. Shibas have a don’t back down, don’t surrender attitude. Therefore, the best way to teach them not to guard resources, is to use reward training techniques.
Show them that people and other dogs coming near them, while they are eating or playing with their toys, is a good thing. Prevent stealing, and practice exchanging objects. This teaches them that giving up something, does not mean it is gone forever.
If we use physical force to grab a toy away from our Shiba, he will likely become more possessive over his objects. He will also lose trust in us, and may use aggression to protect himself, and his belongings.
3. No Rough Play
I do not play rough with Sephy. He gets to wrestle with my other dogs, but no wrestling is allowed with humans.
I also do not play any dominance games with him, for example, no Tug-of-War. The few times that I did play Tug with Shiba Sephy, he followed very strict rules during the game. However, when I took him out for walks, he would start playing tug with the leash (leash biting).
4. Socialize Our Shiba Inu
Shiba Inus can get aggressive to unfamiliar things including objects, dogs, people, and environments.
They are also naturally stubborn, and may become aggressive when forced to do things that they do not like.
Socialize our young Shiba to many sights, sounds, and smells, and he will be ready to handle new things as a confident, and well-balanced adult. Make sure that new experiences are always positive, and at worst, neutral.
Some things to consider while socializing our Shiba Inu:
1. Shiba Inus have an extreme play style, that many dogs may not like.
When he was young, I used to take Sephy to enclosed dog parks. During this time, his favorite play partners were larger dogs, and young Pit Bulls. Shibas like doing wrestling and rough play, which can easily overwhelm other small dogs.
Choose our Shiba’s play-mates carefully, so that a fun time can be had by all.
2. Shiba Inus dislike handling.
Socialize a Shiba to touching and grooming, as early as possible. Pair the touch and groom sessions with very good treats, so that he will associate handling with positive experiences.
Do not use physical force to do any grooming. This will make it into an unpleasant experience, and our Shiba will fight us every step of the way.
Instead, groom gently, and make it short, fun, and rewarding.
3. Shiba Inus do not generally like people petting them from above.
Petting from above can be seen as a dominance move by dogs, and Shibas may see this as a threat.
We can slowly desensitize our Shiba to this move, by pairing head petting with good food rewards. At the same time, instruct people to approach from under our dog’s head, and scratch his chest.
5. Control Our Own Energy
An important thing to remember while interacting with our Shiba, is to control our own energy.
Shiba Inus are especially sensitive to the energy of their owners, and the people around them.
When I first got puppy Sephy, he was extremely mouthy. In particular, he would resort to biting when I stopped him from doing something unacceptable.
This made me become afraid of him.
The more afraid I became, the worse Sephy behaved. As soon as I got fearful, he would start to hump my leg, grab my clothes, jump on me, or bite my hands, arms, and legs.
Anger and frustration will also elicit extreme Shiba behaviors.
In the early days, I had a dog walker take Sephy out for group walks at the park. When the walker tried to stop Sephy from doing something disruptive, he would object, and try out one of his Shiba moves, including alligator rolls, leash biting, hand biting, and of course the Shiba scream.
The dog walker naturally got embarrassed when Sephy screamed like he was about to die. There were other people around, and some of them thought that she was mistreating the poor dog. Sephy easily sensed her embarrassment and frustration. From then on, the Shiba scream was his favorite weapon to use against her.
With a Shiba Inu, it is important to stay calm at all times.
If we lose our cool, Shiba will sense it and continue to use this weakness against us.
The best way to handle a misbehaving Shiba, is to stay calm, and remove him to a quiet, lower stimulus area, as soon as possible. If he continues with his bad behavior, he gets his freedoms revoked with a time-out. Remember that fear, anger, frustration, and other extreme emotions will only make the problem worse.
Once I was able to control my fear and remain calm, things improved significantly with my Shiba.
Sephy will never be a model-citizen, but nowadays, he is actually very fun to be with. He is goofy, he is funny, and he usually stays out of serious trouble.
Shibas can be a big challenge to live with, but they are well worth the effort. They have a great personality, and they are always up to something that will make us laugh.
I love my Shiba Inu.
He is one of my best buddies, and whenever I see him, I just have to smile.
I have a 3 yer old fixed male Shiba and a 5 year old fixed rescued female Shiba. It took me about a year to get “Cricket” to come in. She had been left in a crate for 3 years and didn’t get a lot of personel attention. She still doesn’t like to come in. I don’t want her to sleep outside in the winter as we live here it gets cold and ‘Suke” sleeps in the house. Any hints on getting her to “come” and “stay” – I can’t get her to do this. I need help. She’s been in 1 public class and one private class.
Hello Dot,
It is difficult to say without knowing more about Cricket. What does she do when she is outside? When she comes inside, does she get a lot of attention? … perhaps too much for her? What does she do when she is inside? What does Suke do?
My two Sibes also like being outside. They love digging, they like the cooler temperature, and they also like smelling the air. They also really love food though, so they will definitely come in when they smell dinner! 😀 I make them work for all of their food, so they end up spending a fair amount of time inside doing that. They also like playing with other inside the house because Shiba Sephy does not usually go outside.
I also make sure that puppy Lara does not pester the other dogs when they just want to be left alone.
Here are some things I did when introducing Lara her housemates.
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
We have a rescue dog, a Shiba. She’s has separation anxiety. Will go nuts trying to get out of the house to find us. What can we do, besides kenneling her all the time?
Hello Kathy,
Desensitization exercises may help.
http://shibashake.com/dog/separation-anxiety-dog-why-how-reduce-dog-stress#desensitize
Your website has helped me so much! I have a 3 month old Shiba named Hoshi. He’s actually a very calm little fellow and we haven’t had too many problems with him. He did like to bit a lot, and he’s still pretty bitey but he’s gotten so much better. Thank you for all of the useful information! Your dogs are beautiful.
Hello Nevena,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy! A calm Shiba is a very good Shiba. 😀
Thank you very much for your kind words and BIG HUGS to Hoshi! Take lots of pictures and share some with us.
I own a little puppy Shiba Inu who is 10 weeks old. She loves to bite on everything, eats the bitter stuff to stop her from chewing, and when you try to stop her from biting your hand she tries to bite your face.
I don’t know how to get her to stop thinking people are chew toys. Is there any tips you can give me so she will stop this?
Hello Emily,
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy!
This is what I did with my Shiba when he was young and prone to biting-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting#timeout
Here are some other things that helped me with Shiba Sephy when he was a puppy-
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
When Sephy was young, he was very energetic and easily excitable. Giving him a lot of exercise also helped to drain some of his crazy hyper energy.
Hello! I really enjoyed reading your article. I have adopted a Shiba from the animal shelter. She’s very sweet, a little aloof and independent, but that’s the thing I love about her. I’ll be able to take her home in the next week so I’m reading up on how to train her. I’ve always wanted a Shiba, but was always turned off by the warnings, “They are extremely hard to train.” I’ve had a few dogs in the past, but they were always given away (My parents really aren’t animal people and really don’t understand that dogs need patience in order to train them. They are not born trained). So, I guess I’m not a first-time dog owner. But reading this article makes me feel like I’m getting a heads up. That I’m definitely not going into this thing blind. So, for the next couple of days, I will be reading your website for all the info I need. Thanks again!
Hello Natalie,
Congratulations on your new Shiba! 4 paws up for adopting a dog in need. 😀
Share some pictures with us when you get her, and let us know how it goes.
Hi there. Your site is great! I have a beautiful 15mos old Shiba girl named Penny. She is headstrong but the strides we’ve made due to consistency and hardwork with a trainer have been extra rewarding because we’re doing it together.
My question has to do with her aggression inside my home. She loves all dogs at the park, on walks and at her shiba meetup. However, I didn’t socialize her at home. I thought that since she was fine with sharing bones and playing outside, she’d be fine inside her castle. 🙂 I was wrong. if there are NO toys, bones, food/water bowls down, she is okay. However, she will fight if there is anything out. How can we work on this? At some point, I’d love to foster and maybe even adopt another Shiba. This is not possible now.
thanks for your help!
Hello Marnie,
When I got a new puppy (Lara) last year, Sephy was pretty stand-offish with her and would guard certain toys, especially toys that he is working on. In the beginning, I put a drag-lead on puppy and made sure that she does not bug Sephy when he is chewing on his toys.
I also supervised puppy closely to make sure she does not steal from my other dogs. If any dog steals, it is a timeout offense and they also get what they stole confiscated. On the other hand, the victim gets whatever is stolen back, plus additional treats and good stuff. I am the one that steps in to resolve conflicts over resources, so the dogs learn to let me handle it.
If any of them shows aggression with each other, then nobody gets the resource. I will take it away. If they continue showing aggression afterward, the one that continues goes to timeout.
In general, I have found that what works best is to set everyone up for success. It is better to prevent stealing, than deal with the results of a theft. After some time, Sephy learned that puppy is not going to steal his stuff so he learned to relax more.
I also did a lot of group obedience exercises with puppy and Sephy. This teaches him that when he works together with puppy, everyone gets rewarded. In this way, he sees puppy as part of his family rather than as a competitor. I made sure that puppy follows the same rules, and does not get any preferential treatment. Sephy got to see that puppy goes to timeout just like he does when puppy acts-out and does not listen.
After about 1 week, Sephy accepted puppy into his circle of trust.
Sephy views new dogs differently from dogs that are in his family. I am sure that if a new dog comes to the house, he would be more protective of his belongings, and he would also be protective of his family (Shania and Lara). I would likely have to retrain him and supervise him for each new dog I bring in.
Here is more on my experiences with introducing puppy to my other dogs-
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Hope this helps. What does your trainer say about this?
Big hugs to Penny!
Hi I wanted to thank you for the information on this website as it has helped me greatly with my Shiba. I have a 9 month old, strong 23 pound female Shiba who loves to be outside. She is also a great hunter, as she managed to kill two birds before she was 5 months old, and since then has nabbed another bird and two voles. It took forever for her to drop them too because she was so proud and happy of her kill, I love seeing that little curly tail wag. But my question is that it’s starting to get cold here in PA and since I take my Shiba Jada for a walk almost everyday and since she spends a majority of the day outside, as she’ll just sit on the step watching birds and planes (she has incredible eyesight)I was just wandering how cold it can be outside before they need to wear a coat or something.
I know they have thick fur and she doesn’t seem to mind the cold so I was just curious if they even needed one.
That is impressive. I think Sephy would just run away with the stuff and try to start a chasing game.:D
It doesn’t get really cold here, so I haven’t gone through any truly freezing temperatures with Sephy. Also Sephy really dislikes wearing anything on his body. I did consider getting some shoes for him because he does not like getting his feet wet, especially cold and wet. However, shoes would only help for supervised walks and not for more rigorous activity as they would quickly fall off.
How is Jada in terms of wearing things?
Here is an interesting thread on the Shiba Inu forum about whether Shibas need jackets-
http://www.shibainuforum.org/forum/discussion/8890/coats-or-jackets/p1
Well I really haven’t tried putting on shoes or a jacket so I really don’t know yet. She does wear a harness for walks because she does like to pull and it’s much easier to correct her mistakes with a harness and I don’t have to worry about choking her. So she doesn’t seem to mind the harness at all. I should check into getting her shoes cause when it did snow here she loved it and wanted to stay outside all day.
So my guess is she probably wouldn’t mind wearing a jacket but it doesn’t really get too cold here but when it’s in the low 30’s and she’s been out there for two hours is what raises concern especially when its really windy.
I’ll look into the forum for some more info. and thanks for your input.
Hi there!
Thanks a bunch for writing this great article!
I’m getting my Shiba Inu puppy early Februari. I’ve really read into the breed before deciding to get one, and now I’m focusing on how to train and raise my dog, so she’ll be a great companion. You article has a lot of really helpful tips and information. I especially love the concrete advices you give on how to cope with the Shiba’s personality.
It looks to me as if patiënce, perseverance and positivity are some of the key words here.
Being a cat owner myself, I am used to animals having a will of their own, and I’m used to the fact that it can take a LOT of time to get my cats to ‘listen’.
Anyway, I’ve added this article to my favourites, and I’m sure I’ll be reading it again of my oh-so-cute puppy is giving me a hard time.
Thanks again for taking the time to write this!
Kind regards,
Ruud
The Netherlands
I have a bit of a problem with my sheba girl doing her best sheba scream when she is caged. i typically put her cage in another room and once she doesn’t hear or see me she will stop after a bit, but for the next two months I’m staying with my parents as I just moved to their state and am finishing college here. my sheba’s grating scream will really upset my parents and I’m desperate to figure out how to get her to accept her cage more and not view it as a punishment. any suggestions? (ps. I already found she does better with my daughter’s little pup that my sheba mothers in with her)
With Shiba Sephy, I went very slowly with his crate training. Initially, I just taught him the “Crate” command and I wouldn’t even close the door. I would say “crate”, throw a treat in, and he would go in. Then I would treat him again while he is inside the crate. Then he can come out again, and I just repeat. Once he is comfortable with going in and out, and sees the crate as a positive thing, I close the door just for an instant (1 second). Then I open the door and he can come out again.
Then I slowly work on training him to stay in the crate for longer and longer periods of time. This process is called desensitization, and it worked well with Sephy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/how-to-calm-a-fearful-reactive-dog#crate
Hello! Your website is so helpful… Our little Shiba is almost a year and half old. She generally is very playful and sweet. We experienced some food aggression when she was younger, especially with big treats – rawhides and anything else that she could not chew and eat immediately. After eliminating those and being more bossy with her meal time, she was doing really well. However, last week she woke up and immediately threw up. She didn’t feel well the rest of the day – not eating and very lethargic and snuggly – which is not her usual daytime nap routine. Around 11 p.m. I tried to hand feed her, which we have done occasionally since she was a puppy. She stopped eating and for a moment I thought she might throw up but to my surprise she lunged at me instead! She ended up biting my lip and I ended up with stitches. Right after she bit me, she immediately started kissing my feet and rolled over on her back when my husband rushed into the room. It’s like she knew she did a really bad thing… Any advice on what to do now? I’ve contacted a professional trainer but thought a fellow Shiba owner might have some Shiba-specific ideas… Thanks!
Hello Emily,
It sounds like it may be health related. Sephy is a lot more intolerant when he is not feeling well. He also feels a lot more vulnerable, so sometimes he responds with aggression. Is she eating better now? Has she still been vomiting?
My dogs also got sick over Christmas. It was a dietary thing, but they started vomiting, getting diarrhea, getting lethargic, and losing their appetite. I took Shania to the vet, and also packaged up samples of all the things we feed her. I also brought in a sample of their stool. The vet gave her some anti-nausea medication and injections, and also gave her some fluids. They also gave us medication to help replenish her large-intestine bacteria. We also started feeding the dogs a very bland diet – e.g. boiled chicken.
Both Shania and Lara got better after about two days. Sephy is still not totally well. I think he takes longer to recover from these digestive things. I make sure he gets a lot of quiet time to rest, and also that he doesn’t drink too much at one time. Drinking too much can also cause vomiting. When Sephy is hurt or not feeling well, he is also very sensitive to what I am feeling. If I feel afraid or stressed out, he gets that way as well and starts using aggression to keep people away. While in this state, it is more about fear and vulnerability with Sephy, and not about dominance or who is boss.
Another thing with Shiba Sephy is that he can get antsy when we do things that are outside his routine and comfort zone. For example, we trained him with the collar when he was a puppy and he was fine with that. Then, there was a whole time where we just left the collar on and therefore didn’t have to put it on him. After a while, he got unaccustomed to the “collar putting on” process, and we had to repeat desensitizing him to “putting on his collar”. It could be a similar thing with the hand-feeding.
Now we take off his collar and only put it on before his walks. So it is something that we do every day and has become part of his routine.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes with your Shiba girl.