Molly, Snickers and Mashi Learning Rally
I’ve done my share of breed education, both online and at special events such as Pet Expo and Meet the Breeds, and, yes, I do tell people Shibas "can be difficult to train," "aren’t recommended for first time dog owners," are "too smart for traditional dog training methods," and that they "bore easily."” All of this is true of most primitive breeds.
Is Snick An Exception to the Rule?
All of the above can be true of the Shiba Inu… But then people look at Snickers and what is he doing? He’s by my side, working the crowd, giving high fives, getting mobbed by children, having his ears pulled, speaking for treats, and merrily kissing faces. And what’s that hanging on his ID collar? A Delta Society Pet Partner ID tag!
It’s true. Snickers is a certified good dog. He’s a doll. He seems to understand almost everything I say. We go on therapy visits together, mostly with children. He will sit, spin, speak, high five and give kisses on command to amuse kids. But, he also pulls on leash more often than not and can NOT be trusted off leash outside securely fenced areas. He’ll steal a treat bag, jump on the kitchen table, or rummage through the garbage in a heartbeat if he thinks for a second that I’m not watching.
I take him with me when I go out for coffee and he sits at my feet while I read or work on my laptop. He adores most everyone who stops to say hello and most of them say what a well behaved dog he is. On the other hand, if he doesn’t like you, he’ll turn his back to you and no amount of my telling him “say hello” will make a difference.
Nope, he’s no exception to the rule. He was a terror as a puppy and still tests my patience from time to time.
So, how DO you train a Shiba Inu?
You think of it as a partnership. And you bring cheese. 
Beyond those two important pointers, here are a few others that I think help with intelligent, independent breeds like Shibas.
- Mix it up. Don’t train repetitively. Work on one thing for a little while and then do something else. Don’t pattern train though! If you go in the same order all the time, that’s just as boring as doing the same thing over and over.
- Make it worth it for your Shiba. Reward often with whatever makes your Shiba happy – praise, treats, zoomies, play time. Hint: bring cheese
- Make it fun for both of you! If you’re enjoying yourself, your Shiba will be more likely enjoy it also.
- SOCIALIZE your Shiba well. No matter how much obedience training you do with your Shiba, if they aren’t well socialized, no one will ever know it but you.
- Check out Behavior Shaping which is a what "clicker training" is all about. This is absolutely the most fun way I’ve discovered to teach Snickers anything because it makes him THINK. We both enjoy it!
In summary, "training" the independent, primitive breed dog is about communicating – forming a bond – and making it challenging, fun and worth the dog’s while (otherwise, he’ll find more fun things to do). And don’t forget the cheese!
Feel free to share any training tips that have worked for you in the comments!
Great article! Although, I have to somewhat disagree with saying Shibas are hard or difficult to train. I think it’s the owners that are difficult to train! I’ve learned from experience. Shibas are highly intelligent and do learn quickly. But, yes, they get bored quickly. That is why, in puppy class, I could get Sushi to perform perfectly 3 time in a row, while everyone else was struggling with their puppy. Even though, the trainer wanted us to continue until the next step, I would stop. It was obvious Sushi was thinking “why do I need to do this again, I just did it!”.
I learned with Sushi, the key to teaching him anything, is to make it a big game. That involves cheese, of course, or a really stinky treat (Wellness Well Bites are a God send, unless I leave one in my pocket, pee-u!!). Lots and lots of silliness and praise, but he responds to it so well.
Sushi is 7 yrs old, but I still teach him things. He is learning the “touch” command these days. I try to come up with different games to play with him, too. He enjoys it and so do I.
BTW – Snickers is an awesome role model!
Bonnie & Sushi
Awww, thank you.
Yes, you are right. “Can be difficult to train” really just means the traditional, repetitive training methods don’t work well. When I talk to people at events, I always go on to explain that once the PERSON learns how Shibas think/work/learn, then the training isn’t difficult… it’s fun!
Touch is definitely fun and makes it easy to teach all sorts of other things. I’m currently “teaching Snickers to read” (for R.E.A.D.) and I taught him in about 60 seconds to point at the text in a book when I say “read the book.” I started by telling him to “touch,” rewarded him a few times and then changed the command. Easy!
Snick is about to be 7 as well!
I am DESPERATE to learn how to train Saki… my one 20 month old Shiba (female…. not spayed). Do you think spaying her will help with any of her aggression toward other dogs? she seems to especially hate shibas… haha. I totally agree that if they are not well socialized than all goes out the window (training) once you make that entrance to the park. I have several friends who are willing to have a doggy play date but im sure that Saki will ruin it the first second we are there. How can we work on, specifically, socializing her?
please help! also, would obedience classes help at all since they follow the traditional guidelines?
Hello Lydia,
It isn’t guaranteed that spaying would help with her dog aggression, but anything that changes the hormones in the body could potentially change behavior. Unless you plan to breed her, you should plan to spay her anyway. The last thing you need is accidental puppies and all of the vet bills and worries that comes with that!
Obedience classes (taught by a good trainer, using positive reinforcement NOT AVERSIVES) can be a fantastic help is socializing her if you take her regularly. It’s a great way to spend controlled time around other dogs while Saki learns to focus on you instead of being distracted by the other dogs. Once she learns to turn her attention to you even when other dogs are around, you’ll be on your way to having voice control in places like dog parks.
The key for attending obedience classes is to find a trainer who understands dogs are individuals. Shibas bore easily. Too much repetition turns them off. When Snick and I were in training classes, I would do other things with him as other class members took their turns with whatever we were learning.
Another good tip I’ve learned along the way is that walking dogs on leash together helps them get to know each other and learn to get along. Then you can turn them loose in neutral territory to get to know each other off leash. If you have friends with dogs that are good communicators and tend to get along with other dogs, try this with one of them, then another one, then a couple of them together, etc, until Saki is more comfortable with other dogs around. Socialization with other dogs takes patience, like I mentioned in another post, traveling the path to peace in the pack requires patience and baby steps.
Please let me know how it goes with Saki!
Jenna
A great book to read that can help guide you to helping your pups become better social with other dogs is “Fight!: A Practical Guide to the Treatment of Dog-dog Aggression” by Jean Donaldson. It explains the whys and hows of dog-dog aggression and gives several methods to help modify her opinion of other dogs.
Go to the dog park (without her) and make friends with people who have dogs with mellow and easy going personalities. Se if they will be willing to do a “walking date” to help your pups get better used to dogs. If you can’t get some dogs to work with, you can also see if there is a trainer that is willing to let you sit in a class with her and work on such techniques as mentioned here and in the book I mentioned.
Take it slow and try not to get frustrated, things like this takes time. The best thing you can do now is controlled exposure and making sure every time is a positive experience for her. Make sure she doesn’t go beyond her threshold, when gets to the point where she doesn’t take treat call it a day.
Let me preface this by saying, I am not a whiz bang trainer and my Shiba was the very first dog I ever owned, so we learned together through trial and error. The good part of never having a dog before was that I didn’t have any preformed ideas of how a dog should be. I also have owned cats all my life, so I was pretty familiar with the Shiba “‘tude.” Although, I will say that my cats are better trained than Tikka ever will be! I even tried to use my cats as an example to teach Tikka recall once. Tikka totally sabotaged that attempt by blocking the cats from coming to me, lol!
I found that there are two stages to training for a Shiba. The “baby” stage where their brains are still growing and maturing and they are learning to bond with you. For Tikka this lasted until her third birthday. Then, the adult stage where training seems to be much (by this I mean a little) easier. During the baby stage, know that even if they are not responding or “minding” like you want them to, they are still learning the behavior and they will spring it on you when you least expect it! I worked endlessly with Tikka for three years on recall. She never ONCE came to me when I called her (other than in training mode when we were in the living room and I had treats!). I eventually gave up. Whatever, its not worth the frustration. Then, sometime after her fourth birthday, she started coming to me when I called! Not all the time, of course, but I would say regularly. I’m hoping that by her 10th birthday, she will deign to come every time.
Based on my own experience, the human needs to understand his/her own limitations first. One needs patience and humilty to train a Shiba. Two traits I am sorely lacking. One also needs to learn respect for intelligence and the will of another creature. Shibas are nothing if not willful. Once you understand yourself, then you can work to understand your Shiba, first to decide what is most important in training (e.g., simple obedience, CGC, agility, etc., and second to decide on the appropriate training methods that will make you both happy (puppy classes, personal trainer, clicker trainining, etc.). In my case, I decided on “survival training,” those things that I felt were required that would save my dog’s life and my sanity. Sit, down, stay. I taught her not to rush the door. I taught her “easy” for when she is around children and smaller dogs that would not appreciate her prey drive. I didn’t teach her not to pull on the leash, I just bought a harness with the clip at her chest that made it impossible to pull. She taught herself on that one.
I agree with everything Jenna has said about training, especially about avoiding aversive methods. In puppy class, the trainer would “pop” Tikka’s leash when she was ignoring him. That just made her even less willing to trust the trainer or do what he wanted. She would simply turn her head away and he would disappear from her world. With everyone looking on, this humiliated the trainer and after the third class, he asked us to leave and get an individual trainer.
Finally, I have found that Tikka is incredibly intelligent, keenly in tune with my body language and tone of voice. For the most part, I don’t really “train” her. I just talk to her and she seems to understand what I want from her. Shibas have a great heart and a boundless spirit. Those qualities can be easily damaged forever if you don’t understand the nature of a Shiba. Training and socialization is essential, but it must be done in a way that understands, respects and works with their traits and qualities, not against them. Living with a primitive breed can be challenging. They will make you question your own sanity and self-worth. When you feel angry and frustrated with a Shiba, its time to take an inner look at yourself and ask what it is that the Shiba is reflecting back at you. You also need a sense of humor and the ability to laugh at yourself. Shibas are special, that’s for sure. Enjoy the experience of training and the bond you are building with your Shiba. When it gets frustrating, just stop. It’s not the end of the world if your dog doesn’t learn to “shake” or “play dead.”
Thanks for the input on your different expirences, my wife and i just took Bruiser (8 week old male shiba) home a few days ago and he is something else. I can see the stubbornness in him when we leash him to go outside. Just a question, i feel like when we go outside to pee, he takes it as play time and is very distracted and doesnt pee even if we are outside for about 30 minutes. I give the command go pee and he decides to gets his head stuck in fence, chew on trees, everything but pee. He has basically slept threw the night since the second day home. I am just wondering if their is anything i can do to break this habit, or will he just go when he needs to go? I can say he might have a little more energy during the morning times due to just waking up and not having play time yet. Any advice or insight would be greatly helpful thanks!
Hello Shane.
First off, I want to mention that Shiba puppies need to spend a LOT of time outdoors getting their exercise; my philosophy is “better behavior through exhaustion!”
It’s more than likely that your boy will pee when he needs to and, if you spend enough time outdoors with him, he’ll have plenty of opportunity to do so. It sounds like he already knows not to pee indoors and he doesn’t need to go during the night, so that’s great!
On the other hand, I realize that sometimes you’re in a hurry and you really do need them to get it over with for whatever reason. Work on assigning a couple places as “pee spots” where he’ll automatically go. Take him to one of those places when you KNOW he needs to go and don’t leave that spot until he goes. No playtime or running around until he pees. Then, when he does pee, reward him with treats and lots of playtime. If he is food motivated, a treat after he pees or poops outside will help him learn really quickly that that is what you want.
Be careful that you don’t only pay attention to when he pees if you’re in a rush. You need to be consistent and reward him every time. And DON’T rush back inside as soon as he pees or you will just teach him that peeing means going in and that will basically teach him NOT to pee until HE is ready to go in. Withhold what he wants (playtime) until after he pees and then give him treats and lots of playtime as a reward for peeing.
Hi Jenna
I have a 7 month old Shiba called Navajo who is adorable, of course, but naughty too and bitey. She’s more or less finished with the teething which we hoped would stop her chewing everything in sight including us, but she’s still at it. She seems to start biting and then gets into a frenzy and won’t stop until I put her in her crate. Is there any advice you might have to try and stop her biting. I’ve tried substituting my feet, toes, arms, hands with her chew toys but this doesn’t seem to work. She’s fine when not in biting mood and everyone tells us that it will stop – but when and is there any advice you can offer. I’m also trying to train her in the park – and as everyone says here she gets distracted by anything and everything and I don’t feel i could let her off lead for even a few seconds. Thanks.
Ruth,
I’m so sorry… I must have missed the notification for your comment. I just read this today. The situation with your pup has probably changed some in the weeks since you commented here. I hope the changes have been for the better!! My first and foremost advice would be… MORE EXERCISE!!! A tired Shiba is a good Shiba and they especially need a lot of exercise at that age. When Snick was young, we spent an average of three hours a day outside. If we didn’t, he was bouncing off the walls (when he wasn’t chewing holes in them) and he didn’t listen to much of anything.
Regarding all the distractions of training in the park, I recommend that you start somewhere with NO distractions and work your way up. When you are training somewhere with distractions, do it after a nice long walk… remember, a tired Shiba is a good Shiba!! Honestly, though, regarding the off leash work, I don’t do that anywhere. It just isn’t worth the risk. I use training leads (30 feet is great). The dogs can drag them around and move as if they aren’t leashed, but I have the security of knowing I can catch them if they take off.
Oh, and don’t forget the cheese.
Jenna
Hi there well I am new dog trianier. I have gotten my certifcation through Animal Behavoiral College. I have recently have a new client that has 7 month Shiba Inu. I am doing private lessons with this dog. Kieko is his name. He is very scared. He peed rate as I was approaching him. He hide behind the owner, I have explain to her dont let him do. I also explained to her when he is scared of someone new dont react. She tend to praise him when he is been submissive-fearful. When I believe tell him that is okay to act like this when a stranger comes. I so happy that I read Cheese. Cuz that is the only treat that I could get his attetion. She wants me to be able to treat him all the basics he already knows sit. So I am trying to teach him come. But I feels its impossibale. He is finally warming up to me after hour session with him. I did get a trail wag good bye. So I am wondering if you could give me any pionts. She had said he is socizaled which I dont really believe he is. He does love love other dogs. And acts totally different when he is with other dogs. But he scared of wrappers wind and every and anything. I know some of it is the breed any suggestions. Thanks you so much!!!
Hi Holly. Shibas are not usually so afraid and skittish. Part of the Shiba personality is a spirited boldness. They usually have strong personalities and very little fear. Sounds like this boy didn’t get fully socialized with his mom and litter before being separated. Was he a pet store pup?
He CAN potentially overcome his fears. He’ll need a lot of socialization and support. At 7 months of age though, he could still be at the end of his second fear period. I wouldn’t push him or expose him to anything new and scary for a few more weeks when he’ll likely be more confident. Then, using distractions (and CHEESE) when he is near something scary will help him. Also, letting strangers (obviously, strangers to him, but not to you) give him cheese and praise when he’s calm will help enormously.
Here’s a post I wrote about teaching Shibas to come when called, which may help you out. His owner is going to need to work on this with him every day of his life though, so make sure you are training HER as well as training Kieko.
Just got shiba inu puppy socializing him constantly. Lots of socializing with other dogs people, cats etc
Hi, I read the tips for training recall. My shiba (Akira) is nearly 18 months and up to around 3 months ago we had trained a really strong recall, the emergency recall and the usual recall. However, in the past few months she has decided not to come after all – is she testing the boundaries (adolescent years?) and she’s also ignoring the cheese – which she bounded over for before. Does this mean I should upgrade treats? Thanks!
Hi Jessica. You don’t necessarily need to upgrade the treats. That could get you stuck in a cycle of constantly having to upgrade to renew the behavior. At some point, you run out of upgrades!
When you stop getting results with any trained behavior, you need to back up a couple steps and retrain it. That’s one of the reasons to test trained behaviors on the regular basis. They don’t stick if you don’t practice and sometimes, even if you do practice! Don’t forget how easily a Shiba can get bored. Make sure you have LOTS of trained behaviors to work on – not just recall, because that would be boring. Also, try a “jackpot” reward every now and then. Sometimes, randomly, when I call one of my dogs and they came running straight for me from a distance, I reward them with a huge jackpot of treats and/or a really special treat the moment they get to me. It helps reinforce that exciting feeling of “when I run to mom, great things happen!”
I have a question. We just got a 6 week old shiba puppy this past weekend. He cries and barks every time he wants to go potty, and we rush him outside. It’s fantastic. He basically self potty trained. We’ve only had 1 accident in the house so far, which I think is great. The only problem we are having is that he needs to potty 2-4 times every night. So we get up and take him out in the freezing cold so he can pee. Is it better to keep getting up every time he needs to pee, or is it better to put a puppy pad in his bed so that he can pee on that? I was worried using a puppy pad might be taking a step backwards. Also every time we leave him in the kennel he screams and screams. He screamed for 2 hours last night. I keep caving and letting him sleep in a blanket filled laundry basket next to our bed. I hate to let him cry like that, but I also don’t want to teach him that if he cries then I’ll cave and give him what he wants. Not sure the best way to potty train a dog that already knows it’s supposed to go outside but has a tiny baby bladder.
Hi Kim, six weeks is really younger than a puppy should be separated from his mother and litter mates. You’re not going to be spoiling him by “caving” and letting him sleep in your room at night. Honestly, in my opinion, for him to grow up well-adjusted you SHOULD let him sleep near you. He’s too young to have to learn to be alone for such long periods of time. You can teach him that later when he’s old enough to handle it. In a few weeks (pups mature quickly), when he’s more able to handle it and more confident about his new home, you can start leaving him in the crate for short periods of time (preferably around nap time). Gradually increase the time he spends in his crate and he’ll get used to it. Give him a treat when you put him in there as well, so something good always happens when he goes in the crate!
Re: paper training and going outdoors, when I brought Snick home from his breeder he was 9 weeks old. It was a really bad winter and there was a snowstorm shortly after we got him. It was honestly TOO cold for potty training on the icy sidewalks of NYC, so I broke down used puppy pads for about a month. When the weather got better, it was very easy to transition him to going outside instead of on the paper. I left the paper down for him for awhile, just in case, but as soon as I started taking him outside often enough, he stopped using the paper on his own.
This is an excellent article on crate training from the ASPCA.
Hi there. I have a shiba named Noah. He’s quite the character. He is very independent and I find that difficult when I try to play with him. What are some good games to tire him out so we can both enjoy ourselves?
Marissa, my suggestion would be tricks training. Take long walks together – Shibas love to explore the world – and then make a game out of teaching him tricks. Walks exercise and tire the body so he’s more able to pay attention to you. Learning tricks exercises the mind and strengthens the bond between you as you accomplish shared goals.
Marissa, We love playing hid and seek you will need an assistant however for this game. First have your assistant take your dog in another room and then you hide in plain sight an call the dog your friend gives the command seek. Give the dog a treat for finding you. Then try it again but if you had been in the dining room for instance this time you would move to the kitchen, After a few times your dog will actually start searching for you when you play and you can make it more and more difficult to find you, Our Shibas love this game and are very good at it. We find that it is good for the mind and body.
That sounds like fun! Thanks for the suggestion. I have to try that with my dogs. You could also combine that with teaching “stay.” For example, I could play this game with Snickers without a partner, because he will sit/stay or down/stay while I leave the room. Using a partner to keep a dog that doesn’t know “stay” in place while you hide would help them learn what “stay” means.
Hi there.
I have a 7month old shiba named Keira. At home she does anything I ask. At school or anywhere outside her yard, I can’t even get her to look at me. I’ve tried every possible yummy treat. ( on or not on an empty stomach) and yet I haven’t found any reinforcer that is more rewarding than what she can smell or see out doors. We’ve tried toys also, nothing! I don’t expect to have a her doing tricks and I wouldn’t even care if she didn’t get past class one. However, my inability to get her attention is proving to be dangerous. Near main roads etc. I would never let her off leash but to have her sit or slow down or even just to look at me before crossing a road or approaching ( heeling would be ideal but even a look I’d settle for) would make me feel far more confident. I’ve asked trainers and they tell me to find a better treat or toy ( have tried to no avail ) and the idea of getting her to walk loosely on a Leash by stopping every time she pulls has not been successful either, in fact she is rewarded by being able to sniff the ground we stop on. Any advice would be fantastic. Very glad I found this website.
Hi L’shae, how is it going with Kiera? Maybe the best defense against this problem is to desensitize her to the distractions by spending lots and lots and LOTS of time outdoors! The more time she spends outside, the less “shiny and new” it will all seem.
I also suggest that on each venture outside, you give her plenty of time to explore and play and just be a dog before asking her to pay attention and do any training. Then mix it up – give her play time, stop for a bit of training, more exploring, more training, etc.
As for the loose leash walking, maybe you can practice that somewhere that is totally boring? Like back and forth on the same stretch of sidewalk or road or hallway?
Time will help as well… as she matures, it will be easier for her to focus.
Hi Jenna, thank you very much for your reply. I ended up seeing an animal behaviourist. A few things she told me. Change from collar to a walking harness, the pulling on collars makes our furbabies more aroused? And this one killed me the most: make Keira work for all treats, no special hand outs ( I love going to the store and getting her a chew or something special) no more food in her bowl, have a kong wobbler handy and feed her when she pays attention to me.
So the lead has worked wonders, I can get a sit now at a crossing after about 2minutes. ( she lets out a frustrated cry and then sits) and walking is far more enjoyable!! I’m still giving Keira special treats but am trying to cut down. Im just happy about our progress! It’s shedding season for her at the moment, the furballs are flying!
Thank you for your reply Jenna.
That’s GREAT. I’m so glad you and Kiera are making progress!
I don’t see the logical in “train a Shiba” … is that possible? :b
ha! i haz mom trained real well if she thinks she haz trained ME! RT @nycgadgetgirl How To Train A Shiba Inu: http://t.co/iZkGXpj1
@nycgadgetgirl nice post
@nycgadgetgirl 4 years later, we still train everyday! Loki says hey! #shibainu http://t.co/u3xbgmIm
“You think of it as a partnership. And you bring cheese.” http://t.co/iR6ptg6r
Snick, we both know, you trained your mum!
iz so true Mali Ki. iz so true!!!
Hi, I have been thinking about getting a shiba for months now and I even found a breeder to buy from, but after reading all these stories it makes me a little nervous. I’ve owned other dogs before and never had too many problems with training, but every time I start to feel confident about owning one I read another story about how hard they are to train. It makes me worry that I can’t do it. Do you have any advice for me or training tips that will make socializing and training easier? And what is the best way to potty train a puppy? Also how do you get them to sleep through the night? Sorry for so many questions.
Hi Whitney! Don’t be sorry about so many questions. It’s great to ask questions and be prepared before you get your puppy!
The whole point of the post above is that Shibas aren’t really hard to train, they just can’t usually be successfully trained by the standard methods. Shibas are very independent thinkers. "Training" a Shiba Inu is more about forming a partnership with them, learning to communicate and making it worth their while. That facts that you are (1) thinking ahead and doing your research and (2) have had other dogs are both in your favor. You’re likely to be successful as a Shiba-owned-human if what you really want is a dog who is your partner and friend instead of “just a dog.”
As far as general advice and training tips other than what is in the post and comments above, I highly recommend (1) reading the book Bones Would Rain from the Sky: Deepening Our Relationships with Dogs by Suzanne Clothier and (2) joining the Shiba Inu Forum.
For socializing, my best is advice is do it, do it, do it and then do it some more! I was lucky… Snickers spent the first five years of his life living just off Times Square in NYC. Every walk was an adventure in socialization. I even let the homeless people pet him when they asked. The result? Absolutely NOTHING phases Snickers (except houseflies, but that’s a different story)!
For potty training, if you crate train (WHICH I ABSOLUTELY RECOMMEND) Shibas practically house train themselves.
Lastly, sleeping through the night takes a little adjustment time. Snickers came home at 9 weeks. I lived in a NYC apartment, so letting him “cry it out” was not an option. (I don’t really like that philosophy anyway.) My daughter and I took turns sleeping in the floor by his crate for the first week or so. During that time, we established a strict routine. I said the exact same words in the exact same way when I put him in his crate each night. I gave him the same treat. I covered the crate with a dark sheet and then one of us slept next to him with our fingers sticking through the crate so he knew we were there. We didn’t talk to him if he cried, but we did wiggle our fingers to remind him we were there. After about a week, we did everything EXACTLY the same, EXCEPT no fingers in the crate. After a few more days, we did everything EXACTLY the same, EXCEPT we didn’t sleep on the floor. (His crate was near my bed, so he could still hear me breathing.) That was it. He learned we were going to be there all night – that he wasn’t alone – but he got no reinforcement or encouragement to make a fuss, so he learned to sleep through the night.
On Socializing I completely agree with Jenna. I tell my puppy buyers and anyone else getting a shiba that socializing is a lifelong commitment when you have a shiba in your life. I say that they should meet 1 new person a day until age 6 months and then one per week for the rest of their life. I also say that when their puppy is 6 months old and cannot possibly be more social that they socialize xome more and when the are 2 and totally socialized yep you guessed it socialize some more. I have 4 year old dogs who are super social and we still take them out sometimes just for socialization. We have been known to go to Casinos(we live in Reno) and walk the dogs on the gaming floor to meet people.
Whitney,
You should be able to get an idea of what your dog will be like by observing the parents of the pup. The mother should be onsite. House training a shiba is the easiest thing you will ever do. Since they are very clean they figure out right away that those things need to be done outside. Most Shiba puppies if properly raised will be well on their way to being house trained when they go home at 8 weeks of age. Talk to your breeder about if house training is started. At 8 weeks it has been my experience that they need to go out every 90 minutes or so….set a timer. Give a treat as soon as they do their business outside. Stalk that puppy and help it be successful. As for training behaviors you need to make it fun so that the Shiba thinks that doing the behavior is his or her idea. Have fun with your new friend.
“Stalk that puppy…”
LOL. Love that advice!
Thank you both for the great advice! I guess I’ll just have to hat with my breeder some more.
thank you!
All this training!!!! I have been looking for a Shiba and we just got Apollo 24 Dec. He is every thing you could ever ask for, If you love life! Shibas do smile, it will take 2 hours to catch them if they get off the leash, and they have a truly defined personality. LOL as I speak my seven month old just stood beside me and peed. Apollo has 5000 sounds just isn’t good and barking to go out.
“You can own a ceramic dog, you must share your life with a Shiba”
Russ