First dog?
Why people say
skip the Shiba
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Why do so many people tell first-time owners to skip the Shiba Inu? It looks like a plush toy, and it's small: a male weighs about ten kilos. Yet one American Shiba rescue puts it bluntly: not recommended for first-time owners.
The first trouble new owners hit: it won't come back. Unclip it in the park, it spots a bird and bolts, and no amount of shouting helps. It's not spite. Its ancestors worked the mountains of Japan, chasing birds and small game for hunters.
Once something runs, all it can think about is the chase. It also hates being handled. Hold it tight, trim its nails, give it a bath, and some Shibas let out a piercing shriek. Owners call it the Shiba scream.
And when the seasons change, the fur comes out in clumps. These troubles share one root. A small experiment makes it plain. First, teach a dog a trick: a treat under a clear box, nudge the box off, eat.
Six tries, six wins. On the seventh, the box is quietly fixed to the board. Now what? Most dogs push a few times, then turn and look at the person nearby. That look means: I can't do this, can you help?
Shibas, Akitas and Huskies are much slower to look back. They're called ancient breeds. Their genes sit closer to the wolf, farther from breeds made later. Other dogs look back within ten-odd seconds. These take thirty on average.
In a whole minute they gaze at a person for just over four seconds. Other dogs, three to four times as long. They want the treat just as much. They push the box as hard as anyone. They're just not used to asking for help.
Think of a ball game. A Labrador is a team player: stuck, it checks the coach on the sideline. A Shiba is a solo player, fighting it out alone, rarely glancing at the sideline. That coach is you. Training a dog relies on exactly that glance back.
You call, it looks, and the lesson lands. A Shiba gives that look less, and that's where the recall and the handling trouble start. So the Shiba isn't stubborn. It just doesn't ask you. Each group had only about twenty dogs, and every Shiba is different. Some are real cuddlers.
If you've fallen for one, get help from an experienced Shiba owner, keep it leashed outside, and handle its paws every day from puppyhood. Not looking back doesn't mean it doesn't love you. So the day it gets stuck and turns to look at you, that look is worth a lot.
When your dog can't open something, does it turn to you first?
In one line
A Shiba isn't stubborn. It just doesn't ask you. When something is hard, it handles it alone and rarely looks back.
Training a dog relies on exactly that glance back at you. That's why recall and handling get hard.
Three troubles
new owners hit first
It looks like a plush toy, and a male weighs about ten kilos. Yet one American Shiba rescue says it plainly: not for first-time owners.
The recall problem comes from its past: its ancestors chased birds and small game for hunters in Japan's mountains. Once something runs, all it thinks about is the chase.
A box that
won't open
Shibas, Akitas, Huskies
look back much later
They're called ancient breeds: their genes sit closer to the wolf, farther from breeds made later.
They want the treat just as much and push the box as hard as anyone. They just aren't used to asking for help.
Huskies are in this group too; see can a Husky be trained.
Team player
vs. solo player
That coach is you. You call, it looks, and the lesson lands. A Shiba gives that look less, and that's where the recall and handling trouble start.
More on how dogs think: what is my dog thinking.
Love one anyway?
Start like this
Each group had only about twenty dogs, so the evidence is thin. And every Shiba is different; some are real cuddlers.
isn't not loving you.
Quick check
Faced with a box it can't open, what sets a Shiba apart from other dogs?
A Shiba is a solo player: it pushes the box just as hard, it just rarely glances at the coach on the sideline, which is you.
