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 notย 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. Theย 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.
Hi Shibashake!
Thank you for your wonderfully thorough website! My husband and I have a 1.5 year old female shiba inu named Koda. We absolutely love her and her personality. She is very friendly and excited to meet people, good with kids, and does not guard resources with people. We take her to the dog park very seldom now that we have a big yard for her but did notice that when she was at the dog park she would steal toys from other dogs and then taunt them with it and growl and fight when they came close. We would immediately leave the dog park when this happened but since we haven’t been in quite some time it hasn’t really been an issue.
About 3 weeks ago our sister-in-law and her husband got a Siberian Husky puppy, also a female named River, and we decided that it would be great for them to meet at our Easter dinner. The pup, River, and her owners came over the day before so we could do introductions and things did not go at all as planned. The dogs met in our front yard and played very well together except when one of them had a “toy”. Koda, our shiba, would get very mean and growl and steal the toy, even if the toy was a pine cone or stick laying in the yard. River is very relaxed at only 11 weeks and could’ve cared less. We weren’t really sure what to do so we just said “no” which really didn’t do anything at all. After a while it was time to go into the house and Koda guarded the front door like the a CIA agent protecting the president. She did not want River inside. When River came inside Koda followed her everywhere and would perform what I call the drive by side swipe and bite move. Things got worse when River picked up a toy or when her owners gave her food. Koda would go nuts if River went anywhere near anything she perceived as hers even if it actually belonged to River.
Eventually we started putting Koda in the backroom when she was mean or starting biting or growling but we’re not really sure that worked. We are supposed to watch River for a week in about two weeks and now are feeling completely overwhelmed and uncertain what to do. There’s so much information online that’s helpful but there’s SO much information we don’t know how to integrate it and where to start. We are also planning on getting a new puppy (a shikoku) in the next 9 months and now are worried that Koda is the kind of dog that can’t have another dog in the house. Could you give us a place to start or some advice? We’d appreciate anything.
Thank you!
Becky
Hello Becky,
LOL! That is too funny!
When I first brought my Sibe puppy home, Shiba Sephy was not impressed. He did not like puppy being in his backyard and he did not like puppy coming up to him and bugging him. I was worried for the first few days because Shania got along with puppy right away, but Sephy didn’t seem to.
After about 1 week though, Sephy started to accept puppy into his pack, and now after over 1 month he is actually very good with puppy. He lets puppy smell his butt, and he tolerates puppy biting him and jumping all over him even when he is resting.
Often, puppy uses Sephy as her chew toy! ๐
Shibas are bred to be guard dogs so they don’t trust as easily as Siberians. The legendary Shiba-aloofness does not help either.
Here are some of the things I did with puppy and Shiba that helped –
1. I try to always set Shiba up for success. I removed all high priority items – bully sticks, new toys, etc. In this way he is less likely to protect items.
2. Whenever Shiba is next to puppy, I make it into a positive and rewarding experience. Often, I will be doing simple obedience commands with puppy and Shiba will sometimes come over to get in on the food action. When he does this, I get him to do commands as well and make sure to reward him well. Very soon, Shiba was coming over for most obedience sessions.
3. I supervise carefully when they are together and prevent any kind of stealing. I make sure to prevent puppy from coming close to Shiba when he is chewing on his toys or busy. This teaches the dogs that I am the one that keeps the peace and they don’t have to do it themselves.
4. I prevent puppy from smelling Shiba Sephy’s butt because I know he does not like new dogs doing that.
5. Shiba and puppy are both on drag leads so that I can control them more easily if need be. Constant management and supervision are very important especially in the initial stage.
In general, I try to step in and stop any conflicts before they occur so that I keep Shiba and puppy time together positive and safe. I try to be fair and puppy has to follow the same rules as the other dogs.
Here is an article I wrote about getting and managing a second dog –
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
Good luck! Let us know how it goes with River.
So, Kiba has had two puppy classes so far. His puppy classmates are a little mixed breed with long hair and a french bull dog. All three are about the same age and size.
Class one – Kiba was a little shy with the other puppies during play time, but by the end of the class was playing like crazy. No growling or had biting, but lots of wrestling and nipping. He was obedience champion!
Class two – Kiba joined right in playing. Then the long haired dog nipped him hard. He squealed (Shiba drama, it wasn’t a bad bite – no skin broke and he didn’t limp or have on going pain). He then proceeded to act offended the whole class, ignored the long haired dog entirely (previously his favored playmate), refused any obedience commands (apparently I had broken faith by allowing him to be nipped), and would not eat treats. After an hour long pout it was time to go home at which point he perked up and was happy again.
So, good news, no dog aggression yet. Bad news, like all Shibas he is a DRAMA QUEEN!
Our trainer has never dealt with a Shiba before so his desire to be chased, pouting talent, and bad recall (he stops 3 feet away, sits, and won’t come no matter what) are kind of baffling her. ๐
LOL! That sounds like a Shiba!
Sephy is very good at sulking too. Every time I give him a time-out, he acts like I have severely wronged him and put him through some sort of torture.
The first class we went to actually had another Shiba puppy who was actually very well behaved. Sephy liked him most. Whenever he was around, Sephy would only play with him and totally ignore all the other puppies. ๐
How are subsequent classes? What are they teaching in class? Anything that works really well with Shibas?
Maria – My shiba does the same thing. He’ll lick the couch or his dog bed until it looks like he piddled on it. I just assumed it was because my kids spill things sometimes and he was enjoying the left overs… but it’s interesting that yours does it too. ๐
Hey Shiba
so Kali has started this odd behavior latley. When she is laying down (either on the couch or in bed) she starts licking whichever she is on in the same spot. she’s not licking herself she’s licking the couch or the bed. I am constantly finding huge wet spots after she’s gets up. Just wondering if this was something you’ve seen or if I should be worried… it’s more annoying then anything… (and kinda gross)
Hello Maria,
That is interesting. Sephy usually does the licking carpet thing as an extension of his grooming exercise. He will lick his feet or butt and then clean up the surrounding areas as well. He is very obsessive about cleaning, so frequently he over-cleans.
When he first started doing this, we thought he had problems with his anal glands. We brought him to the vet to get it expressed/expelled, but the vet said his glands was normal and not really full. Every year when he goes for his check-up we make sure to ask the vet to do this, just to be safe.
I think Shibas just love themselves so much they have to lick up their own scent. How is that for narcissism??! ๐
My shiba is 8 months old. little attention whore. He needs to be in the same room as me all the time. constantly begging me to take him for a walk. he loves to be loved and rubbed. and hes great with all dogs too. me and my gf had ALOT of free time to train him. but recently hes been really disobedient. starting digging and not listening to my commands. i think its because we moved in with roommates who have another puppy, and she doesnt listen at all.. he figures she doesnt why should i? the only thing i hate about my dog Dag… hes a darter. he assumes tunnelvision when he sees something. last time i had him off the lease, he chased a train… but anyways i love my Dag wouldnt trade him for a million bucks. i love his little face expressions and his personality. i would love to get another one…
I have a 1 1/2 year old shiba named Anouk. Your site has been a huge help in getting her to be a fairly obedient pup (THANK YOU). The only big problem is that when we play – usually fetch – she can get way overexcited. She gets mouthy and uses her paws and nose to jump up on you. I’ve had a LOT of painful bruises on my nose ๐ when I say no and turn away, it only makes her jump on me more for attention and I don’t think she understands that she’s done anything bad. Do you have any suggestions on how to deal with this behavior or, even better, avoid it in the first place? While she doesn’t seem to be resource guarding or obsessive over the toy, she seems very obsessive over the play.
Hello Carrie,
I know what you mean. Sephy would get pretty crazy as well when he was young. The thing that works best with him is to have frequent play breaks. This prevents him from getting too amped-up and he doesn’t get to the stage where he loses control.
I also have very strict rules with Sephy during play. For example, he can get very excited while playing with the flirt pole. So I make sure he does a sit every time before we start. We only start when I say so. When I say Leave-It, he has to drop the flirt toy and not try to protect it. Also, he is only allowed to bite at the toy and not at the flirt string.
If he doesn’t follow any of these rules, I stop play, which for him is pretty horrible because he loves his play sessions. If he starts jumping and biting at me, I put him in time-out. I don’t have too many time-out offenses, but biting at me is definitely one of them. Sephy is actually quite good with excitement-biting now. Even when he is amped-up, he catches himself and licks my hand instead of biting.
With proper rules, play time can actually be a good training opportunity to get Shiba to listen to us even when he is excited. The key is to stop before Shiba he loses control and is no longer able to listen to us.
Here is an article based on my dog play experiences with Sephy.
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-play-fun-games-to-play-with-your-dog-or-puppy
Here is an article on puppy biting –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-biting-how-to-stop-puppy-biting
Most Shibas aren’t particularly affectionate. My puppy, Kiba, is actually pretty friendly for a Shiba which means that he likes to sleep on the couch or near our feet when he’s tired. ๐ The rest of the time, he’s off doing other things and only comes to us if he needs his kibble ball refilled or wants to play a brief game of fetch. He might request the occasional belly rub, but then he’s on his way.
Shibas aren’t lap dogs and most of them don’t “slow down” until 7 years old or older. And even then, there’s a good chance he’d rather nap on his bed than in your lap.
Shibas love their people, but on their terms. They’re really more cat like about the whole thing.
hmmm… not sure what the URL is, but I’m pretty sure if you search Maria C Zucca, I should be the only one. ๐ hope all is well with the new pupper!!!
Help, Help. Help,
I am a responsible dog owner, who has raised already 3 dogs (1 chihuahua and 2 mini pinschers). I bought a shiba 1 month ago, he is still 3 months old. What a bad surprise so far! I was looking for an affectionate dog that will love me back. This dog only loves himself! He does not care that my wife and I are around him. He just wants to do his own thing. He will not stay next to us. He is always looking for something to do or to play on his own. Will he stay like this? Will he get better once he gets older? If not, I will give him up now rather than later since he is still young and can still adapt easily to a new family. Affection is a trait I value a lot in dogs. Please help!! Will he become affectionate later on?
Hello Rida,
Shibas tend to be rather aloof dogs. My adult Shiba likes being by himself most of the time. He will ask for affection sometimes, but based on his own Godly Shiba schedule. ๐
As Andrea says, a Shiba Inu is a dog that is more like a cat.
Here is an article I wrote on the Shiba Inu Personality.
I love your shiba stories. I have a one year old and he is really very delightful. Really a very, very nicely behaved shiba all things considered. He does love the dog park, but I know exactly what you mean by “an extreme style of play”. He doesn’t really fit with the dogs his size, but sometimes entices too much pack,chase mentality in the big dog park. Luckily, he does seem to be pretty good at zeroing in on which dogs play/wrestle/chase like he does. Tug of war with park toys is totally off limits, he will start a fight over a toy. Overall, he is sweet and not destructive at home…I was a little afraid of the breed given all I had read, but he is not a difficult dog for me.
Hello Tricia,
That sounds very much like Shiba Sephy. He loves chasing games so he his standard mode of operation is to get a ball and try to entice other dogs to chase after him. One time he initiated a chase game with a beautiful Afghan Hound who totally creamed him in terms of speed. Poor Sephy. ๐
What is your Shiba’s name?
Maria – She might also be one of the other Japanese breeds. Several of them have personality traits similar to the Shiba, but are larger (40-50 lbs or more). Some still have the foxy coloring, but others are black or white or mottled.
Yes the water thing is weird. She doesn’t like to swim either. I don’t know for sure that she’s mixed with lab, but she’s mixed with something. She bigger than your typical Shiba (about 50 pounds) and her features are a lot “softer” than a pure.
The only place I have pics of her online is FB… you can look me up there or I can e-mail a couple to you if you’d prefer (unless there’s a way to upload them here.)
I’m really enjoying reading of your adventures in puppy parenting!
Hello Maria,
What is your FB URL? I tried looking for your but there are too many hits. Thanks!
Hello Shibashake!!
I just found your website and just wanted to say hello. I have a 5 year old Shiba/lab mix (I think, I rescued her when she was 1.5 years). I immedietly thought she must be Shiba because of the way she looks, but after reading all your behavior stuff there is no doubt that my baby is predominatly Shiba… everything you say is right on. For example I had had her about a week when I came home from the dog park one day in a FL DOWNPOUR!!! I was trying to get to my door quick, so I cut tried to cut across the little bit of lawn. Well Kali wasn’t having any of getting her feet wet, and she planted and started backing up… she ended up slipping out of her collar and taking off. The first of many Shiba chases!!!!
Anyway, it’s good to know others out there understand my pain (and pleasure). She is the first dog I have ever owned, and is just great!!
Hahaha – that definitely sounds like a Shiba! Sephy has also slipped out of his collar a couple of times by backing up. I now use the Premier no-slip martingale collar and it is great for preventing collar escapes. It is interesting that she favors her Shiba side so much, since Labs tend to like water.
Big HUGS to Kali. Do you have any pictures for her up on the web? Would love to see her.
We’re having a barking issue with Kiba.
I have a home office and sometimes I need to work from it. We have it blocked off with a baby gate so Kiba can’t get in and maul stuff, but so we don’t have to close the door which causes the room to get very warm.
If I’m in the office and Kiba wants me to play with him, he comes to the door and barks and howls. We’ve tried anti-marking and time out to get him to stop, but as soon as we let him out of time out, he’s back at the baby gate, barking and howling.
It’s like he doesn’t connect what he’s doing with the time outs at all.
I’d like to note, that when he does this, he’s not alone in the house. My husband has been in the livingroom, with treats and toys, willing to play. Kiba just won’t go play with him, he wants me to come out.
Any ideas?
Several possibilities –
1. Try putting up a curtain so he can’t see you.
2. Have a play or walk training session in the backyard so that he is not there when you first go into your office.
3. Have your husband start feeding and training him more. This will help to create a stronger bond and set him up as another go-to person for Kiba.
4. Keep repeating the non-mark and time-outs, and try lengthening the time-outs of subsequent sessions. I usually have a very short initial time-out for Sephy, but if he keeps repeating, I start leaving him in there for longer and longer.
5. Have your husband do the time-outs etc., and you just totally ignore him. No talking, no eye-contact. With Sephy, he will sometimes start with his Shiba moves just to get a reaction from me – even if it is a negative reaction. The worst thing for him is to be ignored.
With Sephy, it took a whole lot of repetitions before he gave up. Shibas are extremely stubborn. ๐
Also I have noticed that Sephy is extremely effective at sensing my feelings. If I get upset at something that he does, it is also a response, and he knows he can start using it to get what he wants. Once I was able to be Zen about his vocalizations, he stopped doing it. For example, he will sometimes whine a lot when he wants to come in or go out of the house into the backyard. I just ignore it – totally.
He has learned that I don’t care if he whines and he only gets let in when I am ready. Nowadays he knocks on the door once with his paw and waits there. Sometimes he gets impatient and knocks a few times for which he mostly just gets ignored. Sometimes I tell him to stop doing it – but only once. This lets him know that I have heard him, but I am not ready at the moment.
Make sure never to give Shiba anything when he is whining, even something like eye-contact. If you do, he will likely do it even more and with even more GUSTO!
Good luck! Let us know how it goes.
Hi Colleen,
Reading about other folks’ challenges with their dogs is always interesting. (My Fred is a big handful.) Every time on this site that I see the name Reptar, I have to confess I get a huge belly laugh. Where did this name come from? Makes me think of a huge leathery semi-dynosaur/canine mix. I’m sure your dog is the love of your life, as mine is, but pray tell how this name came about. ~Kim
Tell Shania thanks, it helped! A week and 2 days without a problem! Reptar has had the house to himself for approx 7 hours a day and all evidence has pointed to him hanging out on the couch or the bay window (tons of dog hair on the blanket on the couch)! I shouldn’t jinx myself however, I am very proud of him. Although the new house, the adjustments, coupled with the new freedom is going to straight to his head. He has even more of a big dog attitude. We’re going to be doing lots of work and keeping his mind and little body plenty busy.
As for his crate, as we’re adjusting to the new place, I’ll try some supervised crate sessions. His nose and mouth are still heeling and very tender so we’re going very slowly as a even a locked door right now causes anxiety and tension.
Things are good. Same state, new city. Not too far from where I was but a just a new place. Slowly getting settled as this thing with Reptar seems to have taken over a bit. I think we’re both having some separation anxiety. haha. Guess the “apple doesnt fall too far from the tree” after all.
So, we’ve had Kiba for over a week now and he’s still super mellow. He’s comfortable from what I can tell (isn’t nervous around us or guests), but he only gets hyper for about 1-2 hours a day and sleeps or cuddles the rest of the time.
Of course, when we let him out in the back yard, he becomes jet powered pup and runs around like a mad thing. I love that he pounces like a kitten when he plays!
Thanks! I guess only time will tell if he’s ill. I guess it takes 4-14 days for symptoms to appear. ๐ I hope he is not sick.
I don’t remember puppies having this many things to be scared about when I was younger. ๐
I may have done a bad thing!
I brought Kiba with me to work today so he wouldn’t be in the house alone (and he is too little for doggy day care). I took him to a grassy place across the street to potty and discovered poop from other dogs! I’d already let him down and now I’m scare he may get parvo. He’s already been very calm (at least when he’s not in his crate at night!) so I’m worried he’s sick. ๐
He was vet checked when we got him and has had his first vaccines…
What should I do?
-Andrea
Hi Andrea,
I had a similar experience when Sephy was young. I was out walking with him when he was 3/4 immunized and we met a friendly dog from an equally friendly neighbor, and I let Sephy meet the dog, smell his butt, etc. Later I got really worried about parvo. It turned out that Sephy was ok; it was just limited exposure, for a very limited time, and in a clean neighborhood, so the risk of infection was very low. However, for a while there, I began to look at everything through “parvo lenses”. ๐
Try not to worry too much. Just make sure he is still eating well, pooping well, and not showing any clear signs of sickness (e.g. vomiting). Also, no harm giving your vet a call and see what the nurse says. In the beginning I called up my vet a fair amount. ๐
Hugs to Kiba.
Friday I got home from work to find Reptar was not able to escape from his crate thanks to the zip ties, however I also found quite a large amount of blood on the floor and in his crate. He tried to escape the crate and tore up his nose. Poor little boy. We decided to compromise on some terms. He will go in his crate in the morning when I leave but I promised I wouldn’t lock the door and he promised he would be a good boy. Today’s the first full day of our compromise. We did some test runs this weekend and things seemed to be OK. Wish us luck!
Good luck! Shania promises to send lots of positive vibes and virtual licks to Reptar. ๐
Let us know how it goes.
Kiba came home yesterday so we’ve gotten through the first day and night.
Couple of questions – Did you have a hard time getting Sephy to eat when he first came home? Kiba’s turned up his nose at food and just drank some water today.
When to Shiba’s start getting hyper? So far, he’s been a very low key puppy.
The funniest “Shiba” thing so far has been – He wants to sit with us on the couch, but is too little to jump up on his own. And he doesn’t want us to pick him up. So he walks over and whines to get up. We go to pick him up and he dodges away. So far, I’ve just moved a bit quicker and hauled him up, at which point he cuddles and falls straight asleep. ๐
Reptar and I have recently moved and are adjusting well, for the most part. He now strong dislikes being in his crate. Well, he goes in there voluntarily and happily but when I am gone at work for the day, he escapes. I have came home to the front panel ripped down, metal broken out of the eyehooks that are keeping the crate together, the bottom metal bars lifted up making a 3in gap that Reptar has squeezed out of. I’m at a loss for what to do with him. I eventually would love for him to have the house to himself when I am away at work, however I want to do this on my terms, not his.
He hasn’t destroyed anything in the house yet when he’s gotten out of the crate and spent the day roaming free. I never know what I’m going to come home too. We’ll see what today brings. I have used zip ties and duct tape to try to repair the (2nd) crate.
He’s never really had a problem being in his crate while I’m at work until about a week into the new move. I’ve spent time with him exercising him, and back to basics on crate training – Leaving him for little bits of time here and there before he’s alone all day. I’m stumped! Any advice?
Also, I’ve uploaded some new pictures. https://picasaweb.google.com/CRose0130/Winter2011
Hi Colleen,
I had a lot of fun looking at Reptar’s recent photos. Your captions gave me a nice pick-me-up on a Monday morning. ๐
I liked the fort one and the ones with the red dinosaur riding on Reptar’s back – LOL! He is such a cutie!
In terms of busting out of his crate, it sounds like it could be separation anxiety. He may be unsure of the recent changes.
Some possibilities –
1. Leave him something Shiba-proof that really smells like you in his crate.
2. Record your voice and have it play on a timer. There are also interactive toys that can play your voice back.
3. Have a neighbor or dog walker look in on him in the middle of the day and take him on a short walk. When Sephy was young I got a dog walker to do group dog walking with him. It could help relieve stress and break up his day.
Where in the house does Reptar spend his time when he gets out of his crate?
If there is a favorite room that he likes to go to, perhaps that could be his intermediate enclosure. The worry I have with the crate is that he may hurt his teeth and mouth while trying to break out.
Then perhaps during weekends or at night, he can still have some supervised crate time.
How are things with you? Did you move to a new city/state?
Hi All,
We have a 2 yr old Shiba named Nikka. She joined us at 8 weeks old. At the time we had 2 grown German Shepards. The shepards thought she was a squirrel that they chased daily in our backyard. We crated her for about 3-4 weeks. Let her out only w/ supervision. The shepards had muzzles for 2 weeks. Removed muzzles w/etreme supervision. All 3 eventually loved each other. Nikka preferred sleeping in the crate up to 4-5 mos.
The Nikka was a biter. When she played rough biting, we corrected her by squeezing her jaw w/thumb and middle fingers. Saying don’t bite. The screams were horrid! She does not bite us, even in play. She still is a screamer.
The human touch is very important. We held her and touched, petted, prouded her entire body. Touching her paws, tail, tummy inside of her thigh etc. We did this for 5 min. 3-4 times a day. We still do this often. Nikka is the big fan of cuddling w/the both of us.
Whenever we caught her chewing we held her and told her “NO”. We came home to rugs, sofas and anything she was able to get at chewed. Nyla bones helped. She quit at around 1 1/4 yrs. She will grab things left on the floor or in the bathroom can. We can tell when she has something in her mouth that is foreign. It takes the both of us to catch her and remove it from the BACK of her throat. De-sheeba the house!
Unfortunatley both of our Shepards have passed. We brought a 5 mos. Shepard home. The introduction is slow. Leashed on mutual grounds. Then the backyard and int. of home. All still leashed. It was 2 hours before we unleashed them together. Nikka is very dominant. Growls and attacking the new pup. When she does this we put her in another room for 5 min. This has helped. We are only on our 2nd day. We are confident that they will bond. Time, patience and stay calm.
Nikka is a stunning sable/blonde/black in color dog. A little pistol.
Hahaha! It is so like a Shiba to try and dominate a GSD.
Thanks for sharing Nikka’s story with us.
Thanks for the quick response!
We’ve used this day care before (we used to have a lab/border collie mix), and they do groups based on size and temperament. I’ve already talked to the day care about Shiba “challenges”. ๐
We’ll be doing training with the same folks who run the day care, so Kiba will be interacting with them a lot. They do positive behavior training (we’ve been in their classes before) and are doing breed research as well so we can make sure he gets trained appropriately.
We had to rehome our previous dog because my son was attacked by a neighbor’s dog that was the same size and looked a lot like him. My son knew, mentally, that our doggy wasn’t viscous and wouldn’t hurt him, but he couldn’t control the gut “panic” reaction whenever our doggy came near. He’s comfortable with small/medium dogs, just not big ones (ours was around 60 lbs). The nicest, gentlest big dogs make him terrified because he feels defenseless around them.
Part of this exercise for us was finding a local breeder where my son could meet Shibas and see if the size and breed traits were an issue for him. He’s done great with our puppy’s parents (no fear reaction, loves playing with them), so we feel confident in moving forward.
I have a question about doggy day care.
We have to be out during the day for work so I’m planning to put our Shiba in day care. Do you know if most Shiba’s are okay with it if they start young or are they more like Sephy and get upset by it?
I can’t come home during the day (we live an hour away from our work), so I was hoping doggy day care would be a good way to keep our puppy from being lonely. I could hire a dog walker, but that would be less time unconfined than all day care.
Hello Andrea,
I think Sephy is unique in this regard. He got used to being home with me most of the day when he was young, so that became his routine and his preference.
Look for a daycare that splits the dogs into smaller play groups, and that do a good job at matching the dog to the group. Also a good daycare center will interview a new dog in the beginning to see if he fits into their current groups.
Yeah I agree. I only did group dog walking after the daycare thing did not work out for Sephy.
The pictures are here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dillard_family/sets/72157625822366547/
I have a few more on my phone of the whole litter that I haven’t uploaded yet.
I was really surprised yesterday, we were playing with some of the adults (two unaltered males) and they weren’t aggressive at all, even without the breeder introducing us to them. They were also getting along with each other. I think our breeder has Shiba magic.
Hi Andrea,
Your Shiba puppy is too adorable! I got Sephy at 10 weeks old so I only got a very little bit of his cute little fur-ball stage. The next time I get a Shiba, I am definitely going to be more on the ball.
Also love your other pictures. You have a beautiful family. Shiba should fit right in. ๐
Thanks so much for the link.
Hi there!
It’s been a week now since I have brought home my Shiba Inu Puppy (just over 10 weeks).
I have had dogs in the past, but they have always been a poodle base. A complete 180ห personality from my little Shiba, Kami.
Kami is definitely a pain in the ass but I love her. Her problem right now is the BITING!!!!!! and separation anxiety when we leave her in her crate to go out. (We are crate training her – first time having to do that with a pup, but I think it’s well worth it).
I love the site/articles. There’s some very helpful tips in here – and i can relate to every single one of your frustrations and joys of owning a Shiba!
Thanks for the help!
Thanks Liz. Training a Shiba is a big exercise in patience. At the end though, I think my Shiba really taught me a lot of good life lessons. ๐
Thanks for the links! I’ve been reading a lot on your site. It’s a great resource and I appreciate that you point out that even a few mistakes won’t ruin your dog if you’re patient about fixing them. ๐
Since our breeder is close, we’re planning to visit the puppy fairly regularly to get him used to us as much as possible before he even comes home. I’m hoping to take pictures this weekend!
I’ve heard mixed reviews about Shiba’s and children (mine are 7 and 3), so here’s hoping. I’m planning on bringing kids to training classes (we already have these lined up with a trainer we’ve worked with before), and having them help hand feed. The boys are used to our cats, so I don’t think we’ll have too much of an issue with not hugging/picking up the puppy. The cats don’t like it, so we’ll just emphasize the “shibas are like cats” point of view. ๐
You are so well prepared! Lucky Shiba puppy. ๐
Please post a link to the pictures when you have the time. I love looking at Shiba puppies.
Hello,
My family is getting a Shiba puppy in February. Do you have any pointers on things we should start doing right away or dog gear we should have?
I’ve been doing a lot of breed research, but I admit I’m a little nervous as these dogs seem quite tricky!
I think the one thing I have going for me is that I’ve parented very stubborn/mischievous toddlers and your descriptions of Sephy frequently remind me of them!
We have met the parents of our puppy and they are very calm and well behaved, so I’m optimistic for our little boy’s personality (he’s only 4 weeks old right now though, so it’s hard to tell much).
Thank you for putting together such a great site and sharing your experiences.
-Andrea
Hello Andrea,
Congratulations on your soon-to-be new family addition!
Sounds like you are already doing all the right things. I wish I was more on the ball before I got Sephy – it would have saved the both of us a lot of heartache.
Here is an article on new puppy supplies. It the beginning, Sephy missed his litter mates a lot, so getting the smelly-blanket from the breeder or a favorite toy will help with the transition.
Also get some kibble from the breeder or ask her what kibble the puppy is used to. Then you can slowly transition puppy over to the kibble of your choice.
In terms of early things to do, here are some things that made a big difference with Sephy –
1. Bite inhibition exercises. This helped a lot when Sephy went through his difficult phase.
2. NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program. This teaches Shiba from the start that the best way to get what Shiba wants is to do what you want.
3. Handling exercises. Shibas tend to be very sensitive to handling. I made a lot of mistakes in this area early on because I would physically force Sephy to endure grooming and handling. This did not turn out well for either of us. What worked well is to make handling rewarding and fun.
This article on puppy obedience training may also be helpful.
Also take lots of puppy pictures. They grow up very quickly! ๐
I forgot how much fun it is to train a Shiba. Reptar has been taking advantage of a new living arrangements in which he is alpha over 1 person in the household making it a little more difficult to keep things under control. I’ve gone back to basic obedience (he still knows I am alpha over him but thinks since he is alpha over another, he can try to be alpha with me). While were re-working on our basic commands of sit and down stays, and “watch” I’ve started to try to teach him drop it. He can’t quite get drop it so we’ve started with give. He loves tug of war so learning give is quite the accomplishment. Reptar learned “give” in 1 day and while it will take much more time to “enforce” this new command without exchanging a treat, it’s so wonderful to know my dog is actually smarter than he leads on. Oh Shiba! I think I definitely got lucky with him, we’ve had our share of bad experiences but overall, he’s such a sweet boy and loves to cuddle which is rare for a Shiba. So I’ve been told. I’m still waiting for him to find his independence. He’s like a toddler that will not leave moms side willingly. Constantly needing to know where I am and what I’m doing and of course demanding attention. Reptar sends hugs to Sephy and Shania!
LOL – yeah I don’t think Shibas ever stop testing their boundaries. Every once in a while Sephy will try something just to see if he can get away with it.
As for smarts, Shibas are definitely up at the top. Dogs that follow commands are smart; but I think the ones that manipulate their humans to follow their commands are much smarter. ๐
Yeah Sephy is not a big cuddler but he is much better than he was. I wonder if I didn’t make so many mistakes in the beginning whether he would be better today. Maybe one day I will get another Shiba and see. ๐
I think Shibas are strange – they like to act very aloof but they are not as independent as they would like us to think. Shania is very affectionate, but in most ways she is a lot more independent than Sephy. She likes staying outside and finds fun activities to do on her own. Sephy wants to stay inside most of the time and gets a lot more stressed when home alone. Sometimes, he also tries to get Shania to come in because he wants everyone to be in close proximity.
Oh Shiba! ๐
Hello there!
We had purchased a Shiba, Buddy, back in August and have taken him to a puppy obedience class and have been trying to work with him on his training. We are first time dog owners and Buddy has definitely been a major challange for us. Since the end of Buddy’s puppy class, half/most of what he learned has gone in one ear and out the other (ex. come when called, drop it and down). He doesn’t listen to the come when called so in turn he’s started playing the chase game. He he’s always jumping up on us where ever we are and every once in a while he will start biting at our hands, legs, feet or arm (which ever happens to probably be the closest). We’ve kinda hit a wall on what to do to correct this behavior with Buddy.
Please help.
Yeah definitely sounds like the legendary Shiba independence and stubbornness.
Shiba Sephy is much better now but he still only does things on his own schedule. He is quite a character. ๐
Some of the things that helped me control Sephy when he was younger –
1. Drag-lead – This is very useful. Whenever Sephy started to misbehave, I would non-mark him (Ack, Ack). If he does not listen and continues with his craziness, I say time-out and use the lead to take him to time-out. The lead is also extremely useful to stop chasing games. If he starts to run away I just step on the lead and take him directly to time-out. Make sure to only use the drag-lead when you are around to supervise and only use a flat soft collar (not an aversive collar).
2. NILIF – Follow the NILIF program consistently. This will help Shiba learn that the only way he gets anything that he wants is by first doing what you want.
3. Time-out – Time-outs work really well with Sephy. He really likes his freedom so putting him in a dark room with nothing to do is a big downer for a Shiba. After some repetitions, he quickly learned to stop behaviors that got him into the Time-out room.
This article contains more of the things I did with Sephy when he was a puppy –
http://shibashake.com/dog/puppy-obedience-training
I was also a first time dog owner when I got Sephy and he was a big pain in the ass. At the time, I thought he would never get better and would be a Holy Terror all his life. But he actually got a lot better in his own Shiba way. He is still stubborn and can sometimes be a pain in the ass, but most of the time he is actually fun to hang out with! Things will get much better with Buddy as well. ๐
Hi Shibashake,
When Hiro is outside on the patio, he just waits for us and looks down at the pathway. Makes us sad when we come home and we see him there just waiting. He gets really excited when he does and runs to the front door.
Weโre going to take him to doggie daycare 2-3 times a week. Thanks for the information on thatโฆ
Today was his first day alone and I setup two webcams that I can watch from my cell phone. He was howling for a while but seemed to have calmed down somewhat. He spends most of his time on the patio looking out for us. ๐ Guess this is what they call โtough loveโ.
Thanks again,
Roger
I think once he gets used to the routine he will be good. Sephy is also like that when we leave at unexpected times. When he is alone according to schedule, he just curls up and sleeps in one of his favorite corners.
Hugs to Hiro.
Hello there!
We are about to receive an 11 week old Shiba Inu from a breeder. We live with 7 other people and 2 of the couples have dogs. One a Boston Terrier and the other a Pitbull. They are both about 6 months old, and we’re scared that our new Shiba might get hurt playing with these dogs. They play very rough.
Another question that comes to mind is 11 weeks too late to train and bond? I’ve read so much on Shiba’s, and I want to make sure that we still have plenty of time to do both. than you for taking the time to read our questions. Have a nice day!
Hello Caity and Ben,
When I got my second dog, I found that it was very important to supervise the dogs whenever they are playing. They can get excited very quickly, and then suddenly play may turn into something else. The key is to step in and get them to calm down before play gets too intense.
When play starts to get intense, I usually call my Siberian to me (she has much better recall), reward her, get her to do some commands, and once she is more calm, they can go back to playing. Sometimes, Shiba will come over too, so I do commands with both of them. In this way, play interruptions are also fun and rewarding for the dogs.
Here are some of my experiences in dealing with multiple dogs in a single household –
http://shibashake.com/dog/second-dog-introducing-a-second-dog
11 weeks should be very fine. I got my Shiba at 10 weeks old but didn’t really start to bond with him until much later because I made many mistakes in the beginning. But even with all the early mistakes, we are now quite close and Shiba Sephy is no longer a terror that flaps in the night. ๐
Since you are doing so much research now, you should be way ahead of us.
First of all, thank you so much for sharing your information. I refer to your site often for my Shiba puppy.
We are about to leave our 6 month old Shiba for the first time alone for 8 hours as my wife returns back to work. We’re a little worried about him since this will be the longest we’ve left him along. He’s been along for 4 hours before and did OK. He has free range of the living room and the patio via a doggie door. We noticed that he runs to the patio when we leave and remains there for the most part until we return. Is this a sign of separation anxiety? For the most part, he has been really goodโฆonly destroyed the molding on the front door. Any suggestion on how to ease his time alone? He has a lot of toys and treats to keep him busy, but I donโt think he plays or eats them when we are away.
Thanks and Happy New Year!!
– Roger
Hello Roger,
Biting at the front door sounds like separation anxiety. I am not sure about the running to the patio. What does he do on the patio? Maybe it is his safe spot.
Shiba Sephy is also like that and gets very anxious whenever his pack (people or dogs) are not around. The thing that has worked best with Sephy is to get him used to a new schedule very slowly. For example, Sephy would get really stressed in the beginning when I took my other dog out for a walk. So I started with very short walks, and then very slowly lengthened them.
One possibility is to get a pet sitter or neighbor to come over in the middle of the day and keep him company for a short while. Another possibility is to do group dog walks with a dog walker. I enrolled Sephy in group walking when he was younger to socialize him to other dogs, new environments, and new people. It is also a great exercise routine, and when Sephy got home he is ready to just lie down next to me and sleep.
However, how this works out will also depend on Shiba’s temperament and how good the dog walker is. Sephy, for example, is very stubborn and the dog walker could not handle him. The dog walker was also using aversive techniques on him which Sephy really didn’t enjoy at all. Ultimately, the walks gave him and the dog walker more stress than anything else so we stopped doing that.
Another possibility is to put him in daycare some of the time. A good daycare center can also help the dog exercise and socialize. Some things to look out for when finding a daycare center –
1. Clean with good ventilation during the summer and heating if necessary during the winter.
2. Frequent play sessions with other dogs. Most centers will group dogs by size, energy level, and temperament.
3. Play sessions should always be supervised and not be too large.
4. Try and find a center that uses similar training methods as you do.
5. Make sure the people at the center are qualified and can handle emergencies.
Here is an article on separation anxiety and my experiences with Shiba Sephy.
Here is an article on dog daycare centers.
Hope this helps. ๐ Let us know how it goes.
I find all of your comments interesting however not all Shibas are alike. I recently had to have my 15 year old Shiba put to sleep. It has been devastating for our family. I would agree they can be very stubborn but as a puppy our Shiba could not have been any easier. She had very few accidents in the house basically training herself. She never chewed things and could be trusted to have free roam of the house for very long periods of time. She could never be trusted off leash so we got invisible fence so we didn’t have to worry about the kids opening the doors and she had lots of freedom in our large yard. Our issue with our Shiba was anxiety. She did not adjust well to any situation outside of her normal home and as much as we loved her that would be our reason to not get another one(as well as the endless shedding). She was never aggressive toward a person or another animal. Her dish was full all the time and she only ate when she was hungry and always saved some in case we forgot to feed her! She was our first and only dog and was not a difficult dog to own but will be very difficult to replace.
Hello Anonymous,
Thank you for sharing your Shiba’s story with us. She sounds like a very awesome girl!
My Shiba is also an anxious little dude. He really likes his routine, and anything out of the ordinary really stresses him out. He is very silly though. He is always doing all these weird Shiba moves that makes everyone laugh. Last night he tried to roll onto his back and expose his tummy for rubbing, but he couldn’t quite do it properly and kept falling back onto his side. ๐
Big hugs to you. It is always difficult losing a loved one, but they are always with us, in our minds and in our hearts. Would love to see your Shiba, so please send us a link to some pictures when you can.
I am an experienced dog owner (American Eskimos and Schipperkes) and have the opportunity to purchase two Shibas; since Iโve not owned Shibas before I have questions. 1) Should I get one male and one female or will two male Shiba puppies get along? 2) I can get two four-month old or two eight week old puppies as I am not certain if the four-month olds would have set behaviors after being outside with their litter-mates all this time. Which would be more beneficial as far as training ease?
Hello Donna,
Probably one male and one female. Males are more likely to compete with another male. Shiba females can be very dominant though, so rules and supervision are still important especially when they are young.
Everything else being equal, I would go for the 8 week puppy. Puppies absorb and learn a lot during that period, so you can really make a big difference. Still though, the most important thing when it comes to puppies is the breeder.
I got my Shiba when he was 10 weeks old from a new and not very experienced breeder. He was already very sensitive to handling and his mouth was all over us when we put a collar on him. He also mouthed on the breeder’s husband when he tried to help. Then he was really unhappy, stressed out and whining all the way home in the car. It took us a long while to desensitize him to collar handling and car rides.
On the other hand I got my Siberian from an experienced breeder. She was awesome with collars and cars right away. The breeder had already trained all of her puppies and socialized them to people, other dogs, cars, collars, and much more.
Post us some pictures when you get your little fur-balls. Happy Thanksgiving! ๐
I have a 14 month old female Shiba. She is an excellent dog when it comes to personality and friedlyness; however when it comes to obedience she has very little. She has spent most of her time in the laundry room; however there is a gate us that leads to the kitchen so she can see the family when we are in there. I cannot let her run around the house because she will eat anything and everything. I would like her to become part of the family, but do not know how to go about training her to stop chewing things that are not bones. Any suggestions?
Page (Sakura)
Hello Page,
Sephy was like that as well. As a puppy, his favorite activities were biting the curtains, chewing on books, and running around with the t.v. controller in his mouth. He totally drove me nuts. ๐
Most of the time, Sephy would be with me in the kitchen behind a gate. I would set aside a couple of hours every day for special Sephy supervision sessions. During this time, I let him out and about so that I can catch him in the act and correct him. Every time he goes near the curtains or books I would non-mark him (Ack, Ack, or No) and body block him away from the area. Sometimes I will give him the “go to your mat” command. If he persists, then he goes into time-out.
It was not possible to multi-task Sephy supervision with something else because he seemed to know exactly when I would be engaged in something else and would choose exactly those times to start his Shiba moves. ๐
Some other things that helped with his behavior –
1. A lot of exercise. The more engaged Sephy was with doing walks and play, the less likely he would start chewing on curtains to get attention.
2. Obedience exercises every day.
3. Following the NILIF (Nothing in Life is Free) program.
4. Putting a drag lead and flat collar on him at all times so that he can’t start a game of chase when I go over to put him in time-out.
5. A very fixed schedule. This really helped with my own sanity as well. I set up an exact schedule for play-time, walks, obedience time, supervised outside time, and most important of all, sleep time which is rest time for me. ๐
Oh finally, giving Sephy some off-lead play-time with other dogs really helped a lot. We were able to set up several play sessions for him with friendly dogs at a nearby SPCA. This was when Sephy burned the most energy; running around and wrestling with other dogs.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes with your Shiba.
I’m in need of some help with my 12 month old Female Shiba Inu. My wife and i have brought her to training classes and she has done great. We all graduated from class. The trainer even said that our shiba is the most friendly shiba she has met out of the last dozen or so. The only problem is that she has grown be more obedient to me the male or dominant one in the pack. With my wife she has turned very aggressive (growling, barking, showing her teeth) to her the second i leave the house, and as soon i return to the house she is back to being an angel. I think she is trying to take over the pack and by doing that she is being aggressive to my wife. I need some advise as to how my wife should handle this situation. I told my wife to put her on her back and hold her there until she calms down. That doesnt seem to be working. Any other tips out there?
Hello Justin,
My Shiba acted in a similar way towards me at the beginning. It happened because when I tried to stop him from biting at some books, he redirected his frustration onto me and started mouthing my hand. This made me back away and become afraid of him. Then it just went downhill from there because his behavior got worse, I became more fearful and on and on it went.
Shibas are very sensitive to the emotions of the dogs and people around them. I think that when they sense fear, they get stressed out themselves and may use aggression to protect themselves from possible threats. It is not so much that my Shiba wanted to take over the pack, but rather that he sensed unbalanced energy from me and got affected by it himself.
Also, I was inadvertently rewarding my Shiba’s aggression because of my fear. Every time Shiba shows me teeth, I would get afraid and back away, and Shiba got to do whatever he wants. This rewards his aggression and the next time I try to stop him, he will just keep using aggression because it works and he keeps getting rewarded for it.
To stop this cycle, I had to get rid of my fear and get my Shiba to follow house rules. The best way I found to properly manage my Shiba is by strictly controlling his resources – including his food, toys, affection, and freedom. Shibas tend to value their freedom a lot, so by controlling his freedom I was able to gain better control of his actions. The more successes we had, the more confident I became, and Shiba’s behavior improved significantly.
Here are a couple of articles about what I did with Shiba Sephy –
Pack Leader to an Aggressive Dog
Are You Afraid of Your Dog?
Hi
I have a 2 year old Shiba male, last year he want on a digging rampage, I re-seed the yard and all summer he did no digging, however 2 weeks ago he started back digging holes again, my husband is so angry at him I am afraid that I might have to put him up sale.
Please help.
My Siberian used to do this as well. She was actually digging for gophers and such in our lawn. Now, I have a dig area where there is no-grass and a no-dig area where there is grass. This way, she gets to enjoy her digging but just not on the grass.
To stop her from digging on grass I would only let her out when I was around to supervise her. Then when I notice her digging, I non-mark her (No or Ack-Ack) and body block her away from the area. If she does not listen, she loses her freedom to roam outside and has to come back into the house. She quickly learned where she could dig and where she should not dig.
Now, I don’t even need to supervise her when she is outside and she doesn’t dig on the grass.
Also try increasing his exercise and walks. The more things he is engaged in during the day, the less likely he will be to devise his own activities.
Another possibility is to bury some chicken wire in the areas where he likes to dig. Dogs don’t like digging on chicken wire because it is uncomfortable on their nails. Make sure to cut away all of the sharp edges on the chicken wire so that the dog does not get hurt.
Hello,
We have a 5 month old Shiba Inu named Bruin. He is constantly nipping and is very mouthy. Is there a way to stop that behavior?
Thank you!
Hi Grace,
Yeah Sephy was very mouthy as well. I think it is another one of those charming Shiba breed traits. ๐
Here are some things that helped with Sephy –
1. Bite inhibition training.
2. Redirection. Most of the time, Sephy was play-biting with his mouth. However, he is easily excitable and can go from 0 to 60 mph in about 1 second. When that happens, I calm him down by getting him to do various obedience commands for food rewards. This redirects him into some other activity to release his energy and away from biting on me. For this to work, I had to catch him early, before he gets so excited that he is no longer listening to me.
3. Stop play and ignore. Sometimes, if puppy gets too over the top, I stop play and ignore him. Shibas are very stubborn and determined though so they will likely continue to pester you. This will work better if you play with Shiba inside a pen. If puppy plays too rough, just leave the pen and close the door. This shows puppy that if he gets too rough, he doesn’t get to play with you.
4. Time-out. There were also times where Sephy was biting me out of frustration or because I stopped him from doing something that he really wanted to do. In this case, I found that time-outs were the most effective for him because he really liked his freedom.
Love your site. I am bringing home a 6 week old male Shiba puppy next Friday. I am reading a book by Dr. Ian Dunbar and plan on raising “Koji” with his methods.
(I just put down my rescue Jindo dog after 15 years – who I loved dearly, but he had trust issues with strangers and I want to do what I can with this puppy to make him more friendly)
Unfortunately, I have a couple of trips planned from a long time ago – if I don’t get this puppy I may have to wait over a year or more -I live on an island with only one real breeder – we can not import dogs because of strict quarantine laws..
My question is, if I’m doing dunbars crate, chew toy. socialization, bite inhibition training, do you think it will mess everything up if he has two separate one week breaks with a sitter who may not be as vigilant as I?
one trip at 8 weeks, one at 12…? The book makes it sound dire if you aren’t super vigilant///your experience??
Mahalo & Aloha-
Koji’s new mom…
LOL yeah – I also found Dunbar’s book to be a bit ‘too alarmist’. However, his techniques worked well – except for the restraint technique which did not suit Sephy.
In my experience, the first few months in a puppy’s life is important although I certainly did not fulfill all of Dunbar’s extensive socialization goals. I enrolled Sephy in SIRIUS puppy class I think at around 12 weeks and I also introduced him to the people in the neighborhood. Sephy really enjoyed puppy class and playing with the other puppies. The SPCA or humane society is also a great resource for dog-to-dog socialization. Sometimes they may even organize puppy play sessions.
The most important thing in my opinion is bite inhibition training – which I think the sitter can do with Koji. It will also make it easier if the sitter follows your rules etc. so that there is consistency throughout. But even if not – you just need to re-establish them when you get back. Sephy really needs structure and routine or he gets stressed and unhappy.
I was very clueless in the beginning and made very many mistakes including using aversive techniques, but Sephy and I have bounced back from that. In general, I have learned to get dog training information from multiple sources and use what I think is best for Sephy and Shania. You may also enjoy Karen Pryor and Patricia McConnell.
Don’t Shoot the Dog!: The New Art of Teaching and Training
The Other End of the Leash: Why We Do What We Do Around Dogs
My most favorite dog book is Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs by Suzanne Clothier. It is not a dog training book but more of a dog relationship book. However, it really changed how I thought about Sephy and significantly helped to improve my relationship with Sephy.
Hope this helps. Let us know how it goes with Koji!
I bought Shiba Inu puppy in May (she was born in February), and have been socializing her with other dogs on a regular basis. I bring her to the dog park, and most of my family has dogs, so when she is at other houses, she is around dogs. She had been doing fine with other dogs, lots of tail wagging and play bowing, but this past weekend when I was home, she started barking and charging my parents’ dog and now she is acting aggressively towards most of the dogs she comes in contact with. I am starting to get worried, and not sure how to handle her when she charges and snaps at other dogs. Do you have any suggestions or insight?
Hmmmm … with cases of aggression it helps a lot to identify the aggression triggers – e.g. does it only happen with certain dogs? (large dogs, small dogs, dominant dogs, fearful dogs, nervous dogs) Does it only happen when they come close to her? smell her butt?
Also make sure that she is physically healthy. Sometimes, when dogs have body pains, they may feel more vulnerable and start showing aggression to protect themselves.
In my experience with Sephy – I tried to identify the aggression triggers and then carefully managed him so that he does not keep practicing aggressive behaviors. The more they practice it – the more likely it will become a habit. I also stopped taking him to the dog park because he was showing the most aggression there due to the unstructured setting that exists in many dog parks. Sephy was picking up bad habits from the other dogs, and getting overly stimulated.
Here are some of my experiences with Sephy and dog parks –
http://shibashake.com/dog/enclosed-dog-parks-good-or-bad
Instead, I started doing one-on-one play sessions with other dogs that are friendly and balanced. We visited the SPCA and played with the balanced dogs there – one on one and under supervision.
I also did distance desensitization exercises with him and other dogs. Here are some of my experiences with Sephy and other dogs –
http://shibashake.com/dog/dog-to-dog-aggression
In general, it is best to set Shiba up for success and only expose her to situations with other dogs that she can handle and be successful in. Getting a trainer to observe her behavior and identify the aggression triggers can also be very helpful.
Let us know how it goes.
Thank you! ๐ She’s certainly a star, there are some awful pictures of her here:
http://www.irishrats.co.uk/otherpets.htm
I don’t know how else to post them here! Is there a forum? ๐ I will certainly make use of this site, there’s so much to read and so many great ideas and tips! ๐
xx
Hi!
This is a very useful website, with much to think on ๐ I have recently acquired a lovely Shiba girl, Portia, and she is proving a bit of a handful. She’s 7 now (a retired breeding girl) and she does exhibit a lot of the behaviour above, most notably stealing and she never comes when called. I’m trying to work on her, so any advice is much appreciated. The breeder I got her from is wonderful, and has been so helpful, however the more people who give advice, the more things we have to try with her! She’s a joy to be with, but is certainly a challenge!
xx
Congratulations on getting a Shiba!
Heh – yeah those are Shiba favorites. Sephy’s favorite game is the catch-me-if-you-can game. He loves playing this with other dogs as well.
In terms of stealing, I try to properly manage Sephy’s environment so that if he does steal – he doesn’t get away with it. Otherwise, I just leave him be and he loses interest very quickly when nobody chases him – lol.
In terms of coming when called, Sephy will come when it suits him, and in his own time ๐ When I have something really good he will definitely come whether I call him or not – but otherwise, he is doing his own thing. As a result, I rarely let him go off-leash.
He loves other dogs though. I used to go to the park with a neighbor who has a Golden with good recall. Sephy really loved sticking to the Golden – so in those cases he got to go off-leash. ๐
Hugs to Portia. She must be a very beautiful girl – so share some pictures with us.
We have recently adopted a male shiba inu mix. He is beautiful and so well behaved all day, until we try to go to bed. We have 2 cats who already run this house and they have the upstairs, and he has downstairs. He however is not pleased with the arrangement of us leaving and going upstairs for bed. We didnt originally want to use a crate, we tried a gate, we have a very small kitchen area where we would have liked to keep him with his belongings at night, well he jumped that. So we moved it and he knocked it over, he whines alot but the first 4 nights calmed down and went to sleep, well last night he got so worked up, he jumped the gate, ate the carpet on the stairs and then dug the carpet outside of our bedroom door, needless to say we ended up all sleeping together in the spare bedroom. Today our neighbors gave us a crate to try. he opened the door in 30 seconds, then he actually took the crate apart, he got the top off of it! He is currently downstairs protesting as I type. What do I do? I am most concerned for him hurting himself, he just gets so worked up! Please help!!
Yeah I had very similar experiences with Sephy. What worked out for him ultimately is to have his crate in our bedroom. That way, he gets to be with us (he wants to make sure everyone is ok) but he is contained so he can’t get into trouble. Since his crate is right there, it will also be much easier to stop break-outs and other Shiba hijinks. However, I think he will be very happy to be with everyone and will probably just settle down.
I have also tried putting Sephy on a lead and tying the lead around the bedpost. I usually only do this after vet visits or when he is sick, then he really does not like being in his crate.
Hi, I was wondering! I just bought a male shiba at three months old and he is already humping one of our other dogs. Is this just part of their nature or is he just on some extreme testosterone booster? By the way his name is Isaac; awesome little guy!
Sephy was like that too. We used to take him to the SPCA to socialize with the dogs there and he tried to hump every one of them. Nowadays, he will stop with just a verbal warning, but initially, I stepped in and stopped play whenever he tried to hump.
Congratulations on your new pup! Shibas are pretty awesome dogs but they do tend to have an attitude and their stubbornness is off the charts. ๐ Share some pictures of Isaac with us when you can.
do you suggest neutering male puppies? does it greatly affect their temperment?
Hello Crystalia,
Based on what I have read, neutering is a good thing to do. Shiba Sephy is neutered and Siberian Shania is spayed.
A dog that is not neutered will feel a biological need to mate. When that need does not get fulfilled, he may get frustrated. If that frustrated energy does not get properly channeled it may get released as aggression or some other destructive behavior.
Neutering can also improve health and make is easier for the dog to get along with other dogs.
This is not to say that neutering will get rid of all aggression or behavior issues; it is just another contributing factor.
In terms of whether neutering changes a dog’s personality, all the information I have read says that it does not. One thing that may help is to ask your breeder or other breeders about it. Breeders probably have the most experience with this issue given that they have both neutered and un-neutered dogs.
Based on conversations with my Sibe breeder, she spays her females as soon as she has finished showing them and after about one or two litters. According to her, the dogs still keep their awesome personality.
We just got our shiba yoshi a week ago today and are head over heels for him. He is the most curious and unique dog I have ever met. So far we’ve had our ups and down with his training. He learned his name and how to sit after two days. He follows us around without a lead on. We take him to the bathroom inthe backyard, which is unfenced. He stays by our side (my boyfriend, pitbull malta and I) and doesn’t try to venture off into other yards or toward the street. He has made a few mistakes in the house suprisingly. I bring him outside every few hours but it seems that he holds more in his bladder than any other dog I’ve ever owned.
He is starting to catch on to our teaching him not to chew on anything other than his toys.
We were having trouble trying to walk him on a lead until I started walking him on a choke rope. Today he finally caught on and stopped trying to be so persistent.
The one thing that is giving us the most trouble is crate training him. He doesn’t want to be in his crate at night and just cries and cried for hours on end. I’m hoping that with repitition we will be able to get over this.
He doesn’t seem to be that hyper after he has been up for an hour or so. Just becomes lazy or curious and spends a good portion on the day sleeping in the sun under the window.
he is a bit of a challenge at times but that’s what I wanted.
Congratulations on your new Shiba puppy! Yoshi sounds like a really awesome Shiba.
“He doesnโt want to be in his crate at night and just cries and cried for hours on end. Iโm hoping that with repitition we will be able to get over this. ”
Yeah Sephy was like this too. Moving the crate into our bedroom helped a lot. He mainly just wanted to be with everyone and make sure everyone is ok. I also give him a frozen Kong to work on. Just put some wet dog food into a Bubble Kong and then freeze it.
Big hugs to Yoshi!
I have to laugh when I read some of most of this, especially a certain someone up there whom “seems” to have had an easy time with his shiba. I had NO idea what I was getting into. I actually got him from a very well-kept pet store in Fort Myers Florida, who either knew nothing about the breed, or didn’t want me to know! Napoleon (fitting, don’t you think???) is 3 months old, and I am determined to win this battle. You know which battle I’m talking about. It’s like training a dang cat.
I’m getting ready for work tonight, so will definately be coming back to read all of this later. I feel so much better.
I’m sure my neighbors have gotten a show watching me chase him round and round in my back yard.. ughhh! I of course learned since then that this does not work. later
LOL – Napoleon – that is apropos.
Yeah I know what you mean. I got Shiba Sephy from a local breeder who had AKC papers etc., but all she wanted to do was make the sale. She didn’t care whom she sold her puppies to. It is really sad, but at the time I didn’t know better. There should be stronger laws that protect people and especially the dogs from these puppy sellers who treat puppies like a sack of shoes are just in it to make a buck.
Haha – I had a great battle with Sephy. The first few months were the hardest but after over 1 year things really improved significantly. After Sephy turned 3+ he got even more mellow – by Shiba standards. He still tries to push his boundaries now and then, but only in amusing rather than frustrating ways ๐
Definitely tell us more stories about Napoleon. It would be really funny to put him in a Napoleon outfit! But then, I think he might not like it much. Sephy really hates wearing any type of clothing.
Hugs to the little guy and share a picture link with us when you have the time.
Hi Luke,
How is Shiba doing?
Yeah Shibas can be pretty stubborn when they don’t want to go something and often when they are stressed, they will shut down and not respond to anything at all.
My Siberian was like that with loud noises, especially with the garbage truck. When the truck came she would get really afraid, go into a panic, and want to run home at high speeds.
What worked best for her is to expose her to the things slowly. Every garbage day I would do obedience exercises with her inside the house so that she is focused on me and getting rewarded for doing work. Then we slowly moved closer and closer to the door. Then we did exercises with the door open, etc.
One thing you can try is to use puppy pads for now. Only bring it out during potty time and place it close to the door. Then make it into a fun game where you combine commands with the “Find-it” game. In the “Find-it” game, throw a very good treat – only a very small piece (my Shiba loves cheese) – some distance away from Shiba and say Find-it. He will likely go get it, at which point praise him well for being so clever and keep going. After he is into the game, start throwing the cheese closer and closer to the door, and let him go on the pad if he wants. The pad is just a temporary thing so that we can keep sessions short and fun and have been be successful.
Once he is comfortable with that, you can move the pad outside the door and repeat. Then keep moving the pad closer and closer to the outside together with playing the “Find-it” game.
This way, going outside becomes a fun and positive experience rather than something that he is afraid of.
Re: dog park – yeah I stopped taking my Shiba to the dog park after a very short time. He was starting to pick up bad behaviors etc. What worked well for Sephy are smaller dog play groups – just one or two other dogs in a more structured setting.
What is Shiba’s name btw?