I was channel surfing the other day and stumbled upon a Dogs 101 episode with Shiba Inus. They characterized Shiba Inus as “one of the most difficult breeds to train”.
- Why is a Shiba Inu difficult to train?
- What makes a Shiba Inu more difficult to train than other dog breeds?
Of course a Shiba is stubborn and strong-willed, but then so are many other breeds, including the Siberian Husky. Why then are Shibas more challenging to train than other strong-willed breeds?
1. A Shiba Will Do What a Shiba Wants
A Shiba Inu will only respond to activities that makes sense to him, and not necessarily to you. The good news is a Shiba is not shy about letting you know what he likes, and what he wants!
Shiba owners usually listen carefully to their dogs, and personalize training methods to suit individual preferences and temperaments.
Shibas also think for themselves, and are very motivated to come up with alternate ways to reach their goals. As a result, training a Shiba Inu is often counter-intuitive, and traditional dog training methods may not work well.
Shiba owners must be creative and flexible.
A Shiba may follow commands if they make sense to him. Other times, he will do something else that ROCKS!
Some people may reason that since Shiba Inus are independent thinkers, they would respond better to aversive training techniques, such as collar corrections or alpha rolls.
This is false.
Shiba Inus are also extremely strong-willed and stubborn. They will fight back if they feel threatened. I started with aversive training techniques, and my Shiba Sephy fought me every step of the way. The more a dog practices fighting back, the more likely he will repeat that behavior and develop aggression issues down the road. Sephy was surely heading that way, which was why I started looking into alternative training methods.
Aversive techniques also made Sephy lose trust in me.
2. A Shiba Inu Will Not Surrender Even When All Is Lost
All dogs think for themselves. They have their own needs, which may not always coincide with ours.
Strong-willed dogs are not afraid to push their own agenda, even if it puts them in conflict with us and other dogs.
However, even strong-willed breeds like the Siberian Husky will give up the ghost when they see that the effort and time involved, is not worth the end result.
On the other hand, Shiba Inus have a very …
singular state of mind.
~~[ Geoge ]
Once a Shiba starts to focus on something, he may quickly become obsessed. When in that singular state of mind, it is difficult to distract Shiba and get him to do something else.
When Sephy gets into that obsessive state, he will not give up no matter what. Even if things look hopeless, he will not surrender. The more I try to force him to comply, the more he will dig in his paws and not budge.
For Shiba Inu Sephy, giving-up is simply not an option.
It seems that any kind of concession will deal such a grievous blow to his Shiba pride that he is willing to do whatever it takes to protect it. Sephy is willing to endure pain, not eating, not going for his walks, not getting affection or attention, losing his freedom, and much more; when his Shiba Honor is on the line.
This great quote from the I am Shiba blog sums it up very well
I Am Shiba. Seppuku will not be enough.
The best way of getting Sephy to do something is not to make it into a challenge or a fight. If Sephy does not want me to brush his teeth, he does not get his usual melted cheese and chicken meal. I will simply go back to my tasks, and when I am free, I try again. By then, he is usually hungry and in a different state of mind.
3. A Shiba Inu Has the Heart of a Rebel
Shiba Inus are often characterized as independent, aloof, and more like a cat.
I think that Shibas are independent minded, but they actually want and enjoy a fair bit of human attention; perhaps more so than many other dog breeds.
Unlike other dogs however, Shibas are not necessarily looking for positive attention. With Sephy, any type of attention will do; as long as it is big, all-eyes-on-Shiba, high quality attention.
Negative human attention is easier to obtain, more intense, and usually lasts for a longer duration.
As such, this is the type of attention that Shiba Sephy usually strives for, not unlike an online troll. If he is able to get my goat, he will. If he is able to get my goat and start a fun chasing game, that is even better!
If I tell Sephy not to do something, he will definitely try to do it the first chance he gets. He is sneaky and will do it when my back is turned. However, if I am not home, he spends most of his time sleeping because he does not have an audience.
The “game” is only fun when there is a real danger of being caught, and the possibility of escape. An audience is also necessary to see his God-like Shiba-ness.
I have since learned that one of the best ways to deal with Shiba-hijinks is to stay above the fray and ignore my attention-seeking Shiba. Sephy does not like being ignored. He will go to great lengths to get the attention of those that seem disinterested in him – even if it means following commands!
What to you think?
- Are Shiba Inus one of the most difficult breeds to train?
- What makes a Shiba Inu difficult to train?
- Which dog breeds, do you think, are more difficult to train than a Shiba?
Many thanks to Kblover & Wally, Brett & Ziva, Andrea & Kiba, Zuko’s Mom & Zuko, Geoge & Rusty, as well as Jess & Zeus, for sharing their Shiba Inu stories and many dog experiences. I made many changes to the article above based on their comments.
So how exactly do you train a Shiba Inu
Using positive reinforcement with a small portion of a treat works best. Continue to work on the training goal even though your shiba will be frustrated. At the first sign, even a small or imperfect sign, such as moving the paw ever so slightly upwards, on a shake command, reward your shiba. They will pick it up if you keep up the process. My shiba knows the basic sit, lay stay, and advanced commands like go pee, go poo poo, speak, whisper, sit up (on hind legs), go find (a household member by name), where is (your ball, your towel, etc.). Praise them whenever they bark at a person coming to the house and no one will ever be able to get near your home without at least a growl…Mochi has a very protective stance and will climb on the couch and bark louder as a person gets close.
When the get in their growling fits, at least for my shiba, I get in close provide a loose hug, gently petting at the same time and saying “it’s okay”. This will get him to calm down and speak back.
Truly, the most amazing breed I’ve had in all my life! Hope this helps.
With love and persistence. You have to be the boss when you are training it. But when your having fun, let him be whomever he want’s to be. Very good dogs. And i think somewhat easy to train. I’ve had labs all the time and it takes them 5 years to settle down. This dog 1 year. After that first year it knew where his person would be so he stayed home.
My shiba is my second dog as an adult, my first one was a Siberian who died of old age.
I have to say my Husky was vastly more unmanageable than my shiba is. But as quirky as my husky was my shiba is waaayyyyy quirkier.
She’ll just decide that socks are scary for a month. Or that sleeping on me is ok, then sleeping on the back of the couch is ok – like a cat.
This quirkiness is amazing and it makes me love her more – if I wanted a personality free dog I’d get a lab. Haha!
And for those who complain about their shibas, look do your work. It is that simple. Set a schedule, set rules, set time for positive training, and your dog will be yours. I’m serious; my shiba chewed a shoelace and a 20$ in her 4 years, that’s it!
As with my husky, I just make sure there is always something better to chew: like soup bones or toys.
You are the human; don’t blame your dog.
I agree with you 100%. I think you need to love your dog and make them love you back. Our Shiba never chews our shoes. She did at some point chewed my makeup brushes (looked like a pencil to her, probably). But I yelled at her and make sure she knew it was wrong. Shiba needs very clear message on what can be and cannot be done, then she follows. We hit her nose once when she chewed an electrical wire (which can be life threatening if that wire is actively in use), but that is it.
I also think you need to make them know you love them with your whole heart. Then the yelling and “no”‘s become just a way to say NO, not dislike or hate. I hug my dog every day, kissed her good night, walk her, train her.
She is my first dog and like my first love. I will always love her.
I have a apartment and I want to buy a shiba inu is it good for the shiba inu
Ours chewed everything… horrible breed. Get another breed if you’re looking for a real dog… get a Shiba if your looking to become a member of “never again club”.
In my option “no”. Shibas are high energy dogs and need to run around and get a ton of exercise! They NEED room to run and open up! I have two shibas ATM and I can tell you from experience they are very energetic dogs. I walk them, play ball, tuggie games etc and they still have more energy to burn. These are not lapdogs. A good rule of thumb is a quote I thought I read here “a tired Shiba is a happy Shiba!” I couldn’t agree more.
Please, can you help me. My shiba puppy is now 14 weeks old. I have taken her everywhere. She overlikes human..she really wants to go to them and when she cannot, she pulls on the leash and looks all the way until she can ‘t see them anymore. But when I played with her, she stopped playing and walked around me. Than I knew what she was doing! She was observing me and looked at me as if I was a pray. I remembered last week; playing and than she bit me from behind in my upperarm! Her teeth were in my arm! Now she was doing it again! Ofcourse I told her that this behaviour was nòt good at all! What can I do? She really observed me like a wolf! (Please, forgive me for bad English, I am from Holland).
shibas are more wild than shepards but not as loyal and it will telll you when it doesnt like someting my shebas walks off leash never run to far she does not attack no one very loveable lovespeople2mu
my shiba is 12 yrs old and still acts like a pup she is huge for female as big as most males looks like afox mix with cayote eccept curly tail doesnt care about dogs onlypeople petmepetmeallday♥.
The light to medium bites are called snipping. I trained my male to “no bite”. As you know, they are very smart dogs. You have to show them you are alpha NOT them. Once I put my foot down hard verbally (not hitting ever), he fell into place. I still have to work with him, but he always gets better. Sometimes the females are actually more tough than the males.
I’ve had my shiba since he was 2 months old. He is 5 now. My biggest complaint is that he is stubborn and will not listen. As soon as the front door opens he try’s to get out. When he does, he will run as far as he can. It’s hard to get him back. It’s a pain when friends open and he runs off. They feel bad. I live close to a highway also. We have been lucky so far. He will run right into the highway. This may be the reason I have to give him up for adoption. Tried 2 trainers. One said no hope. Other said he needs 6 months of training at $80 a week an guaranties
My shiba is like that, but we won’t give up on him. We’re thinking about getting a baby gate installed and sort. He’s exactly what this article described. Shiba is always be shiba. So hard to deal with, but we can’t live without him. 🙂
Get a baby gate installed by your front door
Official obedience class is absolutely necessary!
Sounds a lot like Thailand Ridgebackdog! If Injust switch the breed names – this would be same story like I had wirh my bou Kao 🙂 very instinctive, primitive, independent, untrusring, cautious..
Your articles are very nice, well structured, clear and really informative (i’ve read many! Not all like that). What’s still missing (everywhere iver the www) the info like – what to do dueing and adter actuall incident – growl, teerhing, bite. I do handle the controll (learned instinctivelly by myself) the agression incidents, yet would be great to know what are the best ways, whats the best to do after and what mistakes not ro do, which might influence agression repetition or amth like that…
Hreat to read though!
My dog is a mix shiba dingo. He is gorgeous and strong willed. But he was crudely knocked over by a Turkish driver and left for dead took his right leg out. But he runs well even with a manly foot
I Have a shiba inu and he is sooooo hard to be around sometimes. We sent him off to trainning
I don’t feel like I ran in to any more trouble training my Shiba Inu, Pola, than I would’ve had she been any other breed! Just consistent training and rewards of lots of treats, love, and attention! The only thing she can’t do is be off leash near roads. She’ll stay in-sight of me, so trails, fields, or anywhere far from roads is fine! But she WILL chase squirrels and rabbits at all costs and absolutely would chase them across the road!
I definitely agree with the obsessiveness, though! Man, once she’s interested in something there no breaking her attention without something she’s even more interested in (like a piece of lunch meat). … She goes to me parent’s house a lot to play with their dogs, and one day she saw them hide her favorite squeaky toy in a cabinet. Now, when she’s bored, even when that toy isn’t in there, she’ll just sit and stare at it that cabinet!
And she doesn’t like dog parks at all. Once in a great, great while she’ll find a dog she wants to play with (usually a puppy… She loves puppies), but most of the time she’ll only play with me and stay close to me the whole time! She loves other dogs when she meets them one-on-one, but I think the dog park is just too much for her, so I don’t even take her anymore! I do off-leash hikes instead!
Ah! And I know a lot of people say that Shibas aren’t particularly cuddly, loving dogs… But Pola DOES cuddle fairly often (not, like every day, but often enough)! And, I suppose it’s loving, but sometimes she’ll just stare at me… Like, sit on the opposite sofa as me and just stare at me for extended periods of time. When I notice her I’ll start laughing and she’ll cock her head to the side once it twice and then continue staring!
… And she’ll sleep with her head bent all the way back over her back somehow! I freaking love that dog!
… Sorry… I’ve been out of town for a couple weeks on work, so I’m missing her right now… Can’t wait to get back home!
My Shiba Inu is so affectionate loves to cuddle be held and gives kisses. I have never had a problem training her she never went to the bathroom in the house. I couldn’t ask for a more loving pet. I can put a coat on her, wash her paws. and brush her teeth. She loves the car.
I think people have a hard time partly cuz a Shiba isn’t just a dog. They are little people. Mine is very interested in toddler toys. Like the basketball net thing so the ball rolls out the bottom or some of the toys where the large buttons make noise or talk for toddlers. Supper bouncing balls, while supervised. I just make sure he’s entertained and hardly any trouble.
O and attach a little kids plastic stroller to a harness, so he pulls it when walking somewhere and I have his water and a cpl of toys and bones that he has in there and we stop to play, then go home. Works really well to help get that every out.
You spelled seppuku wrong
Thanks for the correction!