The Good, the Bad, and the Weird

Many people fall in love with the ‘Shiba look’ but are not equipped to handle his larger than life personality.

The Good

1. A Shiba Inu is a dog that is more like a cat


They are independent and very clean.

They are extremely easy to potty train and like having their humans around in the general vicinity. However, they are aloof like cats, and do not need or want human affection much of the time.

2. A Shiba Inu is a good watch dog

A Shiba Inu is not a noisy dog. However, when there are strange people or strange noises around the house he will bark to alert you.

Shibas have great memory and will alert you to anything out of place around the house and even in a familiar neighborhood.

3. A Shiba Inu is graceful, agile, and high energy

They can leap tall fences in a single bound and can scale walls like Spiderman. If properly directed, his super powers can be used for good. However, when left on his own, the Shiba will likely turn towards the Dark Side.

It is a great hiking buddy and is always up for a new challenge. They can easily learn and conquer an agility course but will only do it, if you make it worth his while.

4. A Shiba Inu is a doggy Einstein

A Shiba Inu can learn many dog obedience commands and he can learn them very quickly. They also thinks that he is much smarter than you, and will only obey you when it suits him.

It can quickly figure out complex interactive dog toys and puzzles. A Shiba will challenge you and keep you sharp and on your toes!

5. A Shiba Inu has a larger than life personality

A Shiba Inu may be small in body, but he has a enormous personality. If a Shiba were a person, he would either be an extremely successful egomaniac or in prison!




The Bad


1. A Shiba Inu is bold, strong willed, and stubborn

The Shiba Inu has a “Never give up, Never surrender” attitude. Which will not back down from a challenge and will often fight back when he perceives a threat. Because of this, many owners face aggression issues with their Shiba including food aggression, dog to dog aggression, and people aggression.

To successfully live with a Shiba Inu, you must be extremely patient and have a good sense of humor.

Turn a Shiba’s annoying habits against him.

For example, a Shiba gets bored easily. If you ignore him and give him nothing to react to, he will quickly lose interest, and move on to something else.

Shibas can be very competitive. If they see another dog getting praise and rewards, they will want to strut their stuff and show that they are better.

Work with a Shiba’s innate personality and use it motivate him in the right direction. Passive resistance and reward obedience training work best.

2. A Shiba Inu has a sly, roughish intelligence

A Shiba Inu is super intelligent. He will most often use his brain power to “push your buttons” and get what he wants.

Beware the Shiba look – it is one of their most powerful weapons and will use it to great effect if they senses any weakness in you. Before you know it, your Shiba will have gotten you trained to fetch, stay, and rub tummy.

Remember that a Shiba Inu will do whatever he wants if he can get away with it. If he can’t get away with it, he will figure out another way to get away with it. When he gets caught with his nose in the cookie jar, he will give you the innocent “What did I do?” look and then come over and lick your hand. Once you turn away, he is back in the cookie jar!

3. A Shiba Inu is like the Hulk

He is capable of great feats of agility but if untrained, he will use it to destroy and cause great havoc in the household.

If bored and lonely, he will escape by jumping over or burrowing under your fence. He can squeeze through small holes, bite through leashes, and achieve amazing great escapes that will make Houdini proud.

If not properly supervised, a Shiba will pull down items from counters and shred them to pieces. He may even eat some of those pieces.

A Shiba Inu, especially a young Shiba Inu has a lot of energy. It takes a lot to keep him occupied and away from trouble. Getting him a dog playmate can help. Another alternative is to put him in dog daycare or to employ the services of a dog walker.

4. A Shiba Inu is a Drama Queen

Woe be to you if your Shiba gets hurt or even just thinks that they are hurt. Woe be to you, woe be to your vet, and woe be to anyone who tries to help. They are extremely touchy when in this state, and may snap and bite at anyone who comes near them.

5. A Shiba Inu is a great singer

A Shiba Inu does not bark much but he has a wide range of vocal styling.

The most well known is the "Shiba-scream", which is a high pitched, loud scream that will make your blood curdle. Your neighbors will think you are torturing your poor little dog.

A Shiba Inu will quickly learn to use his Shiba-scream against you if you let him. Do not get embarrassed, and do not give him a reaction during a Shiba-scream. Just ignore him and go about your business and he will stop. Remember that he can sense your inner energy, not just your outward appearance.

6. A Shiba Inu knows he is dog royalty

A Shiba Inu does not like being touched or handled. Cutting nails, bathing, or a vet examination, is never fun for any breed of dog, but with a Shiba it can be total hell.

He wants his subjects close enough to serve him but not too close as to sully his royal person.

7. A Shiba Inu pretends not to understand ‘Obedience’

"Obedience? What’s that?"

Shibas Inus think that you should be obedient to them and not the other way around. If you want a Shiba to do something for you, you had better make him a good offer.

A Shiba Inu can be a good citizen at home, but he must be properly managed. Shibas are strong willed, independent, and bred to hunt. Aversive training does not work well on them. Shiba owners need to be creative and flexible when interacting with their dog.

A Shiba Inu is not to be trusted off-leash unless in a fully enclosed area.

8. A Shiba Inu has nasty, wicked teeth

For a small dog, a Shiba Inu has very large teeth, and he is not afraid to use them.

Shiba Inus are a primitive breed and they lose control more easily than other more domesticated dog breeds.




Source: 
Your Purebred Puppy. Shiba Inu Temperament What's Good About 'Em, What's Bad About 'Em. Retrieved http://www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/shibainu.html

The Shiba Inu Traits

Though he is conveniently sized, easy to groom, clean and quiet indoors, and not a nuisance underfoot, the Shiba Inu is not an easy-to-live-with lapdog, but a bold, high-spirited, "big dog" in a compact body. This breed is very challenging to raise. The dog must always be kept on-leash, for he has a high prey drive and quick reflexes and will pursue anything that moves. He can outrun and out dodge any human. Your fences must be secure; indeed, if the Shiba Inu is ever outdoors when unsupervised, he really should have a covered run if you want to be sure of finding him in the yard where you left him. Otherwise, his agile jumping, climbing, or digging skills may send him over or under an ordinary fence. And once he is lose, he is gone. You must stay one step ahead of the Shiba Inu, for he is both dominant and clever. The dog often tries to manipulate through intimidation and when displeased by something can emit a loud scream which may catch you totally unprepared. With his marked stubborn streak and mischievous sense of humor, the Shiba Inu does best with owners who are firm, confident, and consistent.Shibas are possessive of their toys and food; it is said that if they could utter one word, it would be "Mine!"

The meaning of Shiba Inu

The name is still in question, since it has different meanings. "Inu" is the Japanese word for dog, but the origin of "Shiba" is less clear. The "Shiba" means "brushwood" in Japanese and it refers to a type of tree or leaves that turn red in the fall. This leads to some to believe that the Shiba Inu  was name after this because the dogs were used to hunt in the wild or the Shiba Inu most common color is red, similar to the leaves in the fall. However, in old Nagano dialect, the word "Shiba" also means "small", this might be a reference to the dog's small size. Which the Shiba Inu is sometimes  translated as "Little Brushwood Dog".

The Shiba Inu History

Hello, my name is Christopher, I'm a student of UTD. I will be blogging about the Shiba Inu, since I have one and thinking of getting another one. The Shiba Inu was bred to hunt and flush small animals, such as birds and rabbits. Despite efforts to preserve the breed, the Shiba nearly became extinct during World War II. All the dogs were bred from the only three surviving of the Shiba Inu bloodlines, these bloodlines were the Shinshu Shiba from Nagano Prefecture, the Mino Shiba from Gifu Prefecture, and the San'in Shiba from Shimane Prefectures. The Shinshu Shibas possessed a solid undercoat, with dense layer of guard-hairs, and were small and red in color. The Mino Shibas tended to have thick, prick ears, and possessed a sickle tail, rather than the common curled tail found on most modern Shibas. The San'in Shibas were larger than most modern shibas, and tended to be black, without the common tan and white accents found on modern black-and-tan shibas. When the study of Japanese dogs was formalized in the early and mid-20th century, these three were combined into one overall breed, the Shiba Inu. The first Japanese breed standard for the Shiba, the Nippo Standard, was published in 1934. In December 1936, the Shiba Inu was recognized as a Natural Monument of Japan through the Cultural Properties Act, largely due to the efforts of Nihon Ken Hozonkai (Nippo), the Association for the Preservation of the Japanese Dog.
In 1954, an armed service family brought the first Shiba Inu to the USA. In 1979, the first recorded litter was born in the United States. The Shiba was recognized by the American Kennel Club in 1992 and added to the AKC (Non-Sporting Group) in 1993. It is now primarily kept as a pet both in Japan and abroad.

Source: 
Kennel saijoto Shiba's. History of the Shiba. Retrieved 
http://www.saijoto.dk/english/diverse/history.htm