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 got a Shiba two days ago and she is very difficult. She hides anywhere she can find. She won’t eat unless I am holding her or she is sitting close beside me. I just got her to drink water for the first time today. She has not had any accidents in the house and that is good. I am however, concerned that she is so skiddish. She doesn’t come when called. She runs from me when I approach her. Will she snap out of this?
She will eventually snap out of it. In order to get my Shiba to listen when I call him to come, I have treats sometimes and reward him with a small bit when he listens. The important thing is to always reward them for coming on command, then as they do it without you waiting on them, lessen the times you reward them with treats and instead use “Good boy! /girl” and scratching their favorite spots and even playtime. I initially used treats, then good pats, toys, and randomized it based on whenever I had treats ready or not. He eventually got the memo, and always comes to me when I call, even when he’s in trouble.
As for the eating, if you have treats and you reward her for eating without you being next to her (slowly move farther away each time she is successfully eating and reward it with good pats/playtime) she should realize that eating by herself is okay and do it without you being in the room at all. I use crunchy peanut butter on his bone, and he loves that so when he’s especially good he gets that reward. Remember your tone of voice and volume level is important to a Shiba, as they’re sensitive to temperament. Talk quietly but sweetly when she’s eating next to you while petting a bit, move farther and saying “Its okay you’re okay” softly, repeat this process until she gets the idea and you don’t have to be in the room. She’ll probably come to you after she’s finished eating looking for rewards and that’s a good time to play with her.
Be patient! Shibas are independent and stubborn, so you’ve gotta be even more stubborn. Do not give in to her when she exhibits undesirable behaviors.
Best of luck!
My Shibu is now five. And he’s great! He still has agressive tactics toward Some dogs, when walking.. we don’t take him to dog parks. But he has never dug, tried to escape.. in fact..he darts away from the gate…so we don’t worry about him trying to get Past us. When a puzzle, we had to work hard to trait…we had a young grandson, who he would try to Herd” and nipp…we Would Snack him..and eventually, he got better. But you must really watch around chindren. Now, he likes to be with us whatever room we’re in. Just lays nearby…if we engage him in play, he usually plays. When we arrive in the room..home..or others cine..he brings a toy to play…but like their nature… throw a ball? No…frisbee, no..only if He Wants to!!
Say come? Sometimes…but only if he wants. If we Insist..and call him many times..then he usually will.. eventually…but OMG…not until he stares you down, looks away…but we persevere..which is key… Then he will.. reluctantly.
He is very affectionate. Loves us…shows it..but they are not cuddly lap dogs. He loves getting up on the sofa..but he prefers tsit straight up…regally ..to be petted.. Continuously! Pushing our had over his head.. Forever!! Until we Insist he lay down. Then he will. But try to get him on your lap to cuddle? He’s Very Stiff..but will lay down eventually. You do need lots of love, patience and time. But then..if you’re lucky… You have a wonderful, loyal companion!
I give her treats and praise when she answers my call.. once my puppy scared herself by running off while the retractable leash still attached.. called her in a soothing tone a couple times, showed/explained to her ( in a gentle manner) what the sound was.. then waited by the car so she has sometime to process and calm down.. she came out to me soon after..
Not sure if it helps..
She will with enough effort l. You should leave her alone till she is use to you
Congratulations Nick. When a dog enters a new home, he will generally be pretty well-behaved for the first 2-4 weeks. May be shorter for a Shiba. This goes for puppies, as well as older adopted dogs. People call this the “honeymoon period”. You are right that Rado was taking the time to fimiliarize himself to his new surroundings and routine. Now that he is comfortable, he is going to act more his Shiba-self which is the mouthy and rowdy part.
1. Re mouthy: Shibas tend to be very mouthy – even taking into account the teething. Therefore it is very important to teach them bite-inhibition. If there was only one thing I could teach my Shiba – that would be it. This really saved me later on when my Shiba graduated to more crazy behaviors like leash-biting and humping. I was able to control those behaviors with very little damage to myself because he had good bite inhibition.
This article has some of the techniques that helped me control my Shiba’s mouthiness:
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
2. Re: what is right and what is wrong: As you mentioned it is very important to set up house rules for the Shiba. If you don’t the Shiba will do whatever he wants. Some of my house rules include no biting on people, no going onto furniture, no humping (people or dogs or anything else), and no resource guarding. Be very consistent with enforcing those rules – i.e. no getting on furniture means no getting on furniture all of the time. I found it very useful to put a drag-lead on my Shiba so that I can more easily control him when his misbehaved and stop him from running away from me and initiating a fun game of chase. Establish two important words – a mark (Yes, or Good) and a non-mark (No, Bad). When he does something desirable, mark him (Yes) and reward him with a tasty treat. When he does something undesirable, non-mark him (No) and stop him from doing it. If he persists, then do a short time-out which works really well with my Shiba. I highly recommend only using reward (positive reinforcement) techniques with a Shiba, as they do not respond well to traditional aversive techniques like leash jerks, alpha rolls, etc.
More here on living with a new Shiba
3. Re Training classes: I did about 5 group classes with my Shiba and about 4 different private training courses with different trainers. My Shiba was also my first, so the classes really helped me. I highly recommend group classes, in particular those that allow the puppies to play together (e.g. SIRIUS puppy class). My Shiba started puppy class at about 11 weeks old. This will be a good start in socializing your Shiba to other dogs. Shibas can get intolerant of other dogs and sometimes people if not properly socialized. Make sure that the class checks for shots etc. to ensure that all the other puppies there are properly vaccinated. Many of the SPCAs, daycare or dog training centers here also organize free puppy playgroups during the weekends and this is a good way to expose your Shiba to new dogs, new people, and new situations. Just be careful to find a place with good facilities, and that have people supervising the playgroups and checking for proper vaccination records.
Hope this helps. Please feel free to post me more questions if you have any. I love my Shiba very much but he was a very wild thing initially. Like fine wine, they get better and better with age. 🙂
Hi. I just got a male shiba, Rado, couple weeks ago, who is now about 10 weeks old, and he can be really affectionate and loves to be with us. but now that hes been here in his new home hes been starting to act up and get more and more mouthy and rowdy. part of me says its because hes gotten more comfortable here and that hes probably teething (thus the elevated biting, which isnt ever all too hard or painful), but i also feel that hes beginning to think he can do what he wants most of the time. what are some things i can do to help make sure he learns whats right and whats not? and what kind of knowledge/experience do you have as far as training classes go? would it be worth it to to get him into some or would it be a waste of time…? this is my first shiba ive owned and anything that can help me raise him the right way would be really helpful.
[RVilleneuve] I think so too. It is commonly their dapper good looks that get them into trouble though, because they are easy to fall in love with, but difficult to live with 🙂 Sounds like most men.
[natralrednj] Thanks for sharing your lovely Shiba story with us. Your Teddie definitely sounds like a major sweetie. You also brought up an important point about the Shiba – they don’t bark much. Mine only barks to alert us when there are strange things going on outside. Another big positive of Shibas – extremely easy to potty train. I should definitely add the good points into the article too. Thanks!
I got my Shiba as a rescue dog. She was 7 at the time. She is the best dog who ever owned me. She was raised with 3 other dogs, smallest of the bunch. She loves everyone, humans and other dogs alike. When I got her I didn’t know what to expect. She turned out to be a lady. She cleans our cat and herself for hours at a time. She will be 12 this year and still plays like a puppy. In the 4 years I have had her she has barked 7 times. She does the Shiba scream but it comes out like garbled talk. I hope you all enjoy your Shibas as much as I have enjoy Teddie.
I had a Shiba/Lab mix and he was soo difficult! They are truly one of the most beautiful breeds, so I’m glad you have found a way to make it work.
“the only pups he socialized well with were the pit bull puppies, and he terrorized the rest” – lol that is exactly like my Shiba. In puppy class he played really well with the other Shiba that was there but he was a bit too much for most of the other dogs.
The sad thing is that he is really a sweetie because he acted really well when we got a second dog (a tripod) and was extremely gentle with her when she was a puppy. He is very gentle with her even now, and lets her steal his toys and food.
I have tried many things to improve his social skills, but he just gets excited too quickly and loses control. He does best in a one-on-one setting where there is not too much stimulus. I also did one-on-one dog play sessions with him at the SPCA in the hopes that a more mature dog may teach him some social skills. However, he would try so hard to get the older dog to play, that they would give in and start playing with him, and be tolerant of his craziness. With less tolerant dogs, unpleasantness would ensue really quickly.
Thanks for your comments, and further stories! My Shibas are Toby (5 yr old male) and Jezebel (Bel, 3 yr old). I did have a blog of Toby’s exploits, but I’m in the process of redoing it, so right now it is not up. Toby looks just like your baby, though! Bel is a red sesame, and a little more foxy looking than most Shibas.
But early dominance, yes. The first day I got him, he attacked a GSD pup twice his size over his first bit of chicken (I feed my dogs the BARF diet). Toby bit the vet on his vet check at 7 weeks when she tried to examine him, and they recommended early neutering, and did say are you sure you want this dog? He didn’t do at all well in the puppy class–like yours, the only pups he socialized well with were the pit bull puppies, and he terrorized the rest. (It wasn’t a great class for Shibas–they asked me to leave finally because I couldn’t get him to stop threatening the other dogs–sometimes they counted his stare as threatening. I mean, damn, he was only 12 weeks old, and I came to the class to learn how to get him calmer. The class was run by an Akita person, so I thought they’d be more helpful, but weren’t).
For the person above who said she didn’t learn anything from the stories, well, she’s just lucky to have an atypical Shiba…And what I have noted is that females in particular tend to get more aggressive as they hit physical maturity, so just because the girl is calm now, doesn’t mean she will continue to be. My shibas got along ok, but problems started when Bel was about 2.5 and becoming more mature….
Oh, and they are drama queens! you should here Toby cry when he is outside and wants to come in….:)
[Jenny] lol – “Really only shaking from when he gets all riled up when we try to coax him to stand or walk.” How did the vet exam go today? Hope your little guy is feeling better.
[MSW599] Awesome that you are doing so much with her. And socializing her early will make a big difference later on. I was thinking of doing agility with my Shiba too, but he is so dog focused that I was afraid he would disrupt the class. I was thinking of getting some agility equipment and doing some with him at home, but the good stuff is so expensive. Let me know how agility class goes.
I have a 6 month old female Shiba who is a complete joy. She tries to the dominant one in the household, but by being firm with her she is learning just fine. She is my first dog in ages and I’m so glad we chose her. We’ve just started obedience classes and am working our way toward agility classes. I’ve also enrolled her in doggy daycare and try to send her at least once a week. I also have three days a week off and try to spend play time with her. She is an absolute joy!