Are Shibas a “Childfree Breed”?

I am childfree, which means I neither have nor want children.  I am quite happy with the idea of having Shibas and other dogs instead.  I can tell you that my “puppycrap” meets or exceeds the amount of my friends’ “kindercrap” strewn about the floor.  Tierce even has annoying toys!  Such as the stuffed toy vampire that he enjoys running around with, that says “I vant to suck your blood!” in classic Bela Lugosi style.

I have always maintained that a Shiba can do just fine with kids, provided the kids are trained to respect the dog’s boundaries and the dog is trained to respect and obey the kids.  This alone would probably make a Shiba better for families with slightly older kids, but there must be some families out there who have had Shibas around infants and toddlers without problems.

Despite the above, in my online travels, it has occurred to me that more than a few of the Shiba people I have encountered over the years don’t have kids or seem to have plans to have any.  Now, this isn’t the result of careful study and data gathered through personal questions; this is just my impression!

Do the childfree, childless and empty nesters gravitate to the Shiba more than families?

13 Comments

  1. In my case the two are purely coincidence. I was planning to have kids when I got my shiba, and the fact that I won’t be having kids after all has nothing to do with her whatsoever.

  2. Interesting, I do have a step daughter, but I my self have no kids and we are not sure that we ever want kids, but I know I want another shiba! Perhaps you are onto something. I feel that I will be perfectly content with my shibas. I thought it was because I have a stepdaughter and she must have used up my maternal instincts but… I’m not so sure.

  3. I’m childfree, and unfortunately dogless at the moment, due to circumstances beyond my control. However, I would love a Shiba one day. They are fantastically cute, and they seem friendly and easy to train.

    I think I’m as bad about animals as most women are about kids. I’ve already named my first future dog and chosen his collar. What women who want kids get when they look at babies – I get that for dogs!

  4. My older brother bought a shiba inu and my mom didnt want it at all, but now my mom, dad, and us three kids love our little Hiro. i dont think that it is good for shibas to be around little kids because of the sharp teeth. but with older kids(like us) shibas can be a great source of compassion

  5. Me and Tonka are the only ones in our house but My girlfriend has 4 kids, but not young either. 19, (2) 16 and 14.

  6. Child-free although constantly working with children- I am surrounded by kids 8 hours a day and enjoy coming home to a house where not only does anyone call my name, but they don’t come when I call them either.

    Life is good that way.

  7. I’ve had Jiro for 2 years but I’ve always known I’ve never wanted kids. My husband originally wanted kids but he has changed his mind all of this was well before we ever talked of marriage. We’re young still but know kids aren’t for us and are perfectly happy having shibas the rest of our lives. Yuki-san joined our family about 10 months after Jiro and we couldn’t be happier, the four of us. The inu are more spoiled than most kids.

    I think you are right, I’ve noticed this in many shiba meetups as well. If they do have kids they are older. Although I do know Vi who blogs http://lokitheshiba.blogspot.com/ just had her first kid. It’s very informative on how to socialize inu with babies, etc.

  8. well… I love my shibas, my muttly pup & what dog rescue brings to my life. but i also cannot deny that i want children eventually. i think my male shiba would prefer we didn’t, but we’ll cross that bridge if we are meant to.

    so – yes and know. right now its great with just shibas and no kids, but i never intended for the situation to remain as such.

    • Hi, everyone!
      I’ve been catching up on my blogs and noted that Vi of Misadventures of a Shiba Inu has just had a baby, so congratulations to her. She’s chronicling her adventures with Shibas and parenthood right now, so her blog should be a great resource for the Shiba parent who hopes to become a human parent some day. 🙂

  9. I think my situation falls like Jen’s. I love just being me, Jeff, and Koji, but we do want to have kids. Also other dogs, most likely other more “difficult” (read: primitive) breeds, which are in our comfort zone having either grown up with them or just flat out understanding them.

    Sometimes, I feel like we’re the outcasts or on the edge of the Shiba community with our want for kids. I mean, we’re young and it just seems like that’s where our lives will lead. Not that either side of the coin is the wrong side. 😉 But as for right this moment, I like just having a dog and my nieces.

  10. hmmm… I’ve always been a spitz breed person but lived dogfree for 15 years before getting Snickers. I had absolutely no interest in having kids, EVER. I mean NONE whatsoever at all. My daughter happened though and she was actually the reason I ended up with Snickers. Now I have three Shibas and one daughter. Snick adores kids. Visiting a classroom full of kids is one of his favorite things to do. I know lots of Shiba people in my meetup group with kids as well.

  11. My boyfriend and I are older, (he has none and I have 2 grown and gone), but as much as I love my kids, our two Shibas are more fun than I ever remember my kids being (sorry, guys). But, we are young enough that people say “well, you could still…” AAARGH! Our two demonspawn are kids enough and, don’t want cars, expensive cxothing, ect. Although, there was the $800 dollare vet vist when Basho got stung by a bee & was screaming so loud I thought he was mortally wounded!

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