Owning a Shiba Inu | FAQ
Shiba Inus are fox-like hunting dogs that originate from Japan, and have recently been made famous by the following photo floating around social media pages:
In my entire adult life, I have never owned a dog before, but knew that I had to have one. (And no, I never considered those devilish little felines people try to pass off as pets). Austin and I currently live in an apartment, so we needed a smaller dog that was very independent. With every Google search for "apartment friendly dogs", shibas were on the list. But don't let their size fool you; they are like big dogs stuck in a little body! Bing, to our entertainment, has a habit of overestimating his size when he instigates play-fights with the huge hounds at the dog park. At home he can sleep for hours, then suddenly wake up and start running nonstop laps around the living room. He lets out about one bark per week (he usually barks at a wall, which makes me think our apartment may have some supernatural visitors...). And he is always smiling!
Fair warning, though. We were told that shibas shed only twice a year, which was a huge plus! To our dismay, we have learned that they do indeed shed twice a year...the first six months and the second. It's nonstop, so beware.
Additionally, Bing is an expert escape artist. We purchased a large play pen to put him in whenever we had to leave the house. One day I came home to Bing waiting for me at the entryway. I called for Austin, assuming he was home. No answer. I turned the corner to see the door of the pen wide open. Initially, I thought I had simply not closed the door all the way, but then it happened twice more. Austin created a makeshift lock to put on the pen to ensure its security. The next week, we walked in the house after grocery shopping. Again, I turned the corner...and the pen was where it always was, door closed and locked, but completely empty. I dropped my bags and began rushing about the house, only to find Bing sleeping under the couch. Needless to say, we've resorted to crating him when we're gone for short periods of time. I'm sure you're wondering why we don't just let him roam the house while we're gone, but we soon learned that the warnings were true: Never trust a shiba, no matter how trained he is. He gets bored quickly, and once decided it would be fun to chew the baseboards.
But there are far more pros than cons: he gets along brilliantly with other dogs and children, is not territorial, and is extremely intelligent. Although sometimes he is too smart--if he realizes you don't have any treats, he may just walk away and find something more worth his time. With treats, however, I have been able to teach him some awesome tricks in no time at all! I think a big contributor to his pleasant temperament is the fact that we began using conditioning techniques immediately when we got him at eight weeks, and enrolled him in a puppy training class once he was fully vaccinated. He was exposed to other dogs and people from a young age, and now wants to play with everyone.
If you are planning to get a dog, make sure you do your research first. Make sure you have enough time, money, and resources to give your pup everything he needs! Scout out your local dog parks, research training courses, and have a vet lined up. Prepare for potty training (I'm having terrible flashbacks--it helps to have a partner/roommate purely for moral support during this stressful time! You will clean up a lot of pee. You might cry. You may have to sit outside with the dog for an hour in the middle of the night waiting for him to pee in the grass. But you will also shout in excitement and jump for joy when he finally does pee outside!). With all that said, here is a collection of my favorite Bing photos:
