Socializing Your Shiba Inu

As soon as your Shiba is fully immunized, take him or her out to meet the unwashed masses. It is extremely important that your Shiba learn fast that people are good things. DeathtoSquirrels will still be a good watchdog if you convince him that everyone is his friend. Life will be a lot easier if Screamlikewhistle graciously accepts a proffered hand instead of shying away.

Take your Shiba everywhere that you can, especially noisy places full of chaos (an outdoor shopping mall is good as are playgrounds). A Shiba of any age will quickly draw legions of adoring worshippers. Teach them to reverence properly. Give them treats to feed the High One and train the High One to grace the ground with his bottom when accepting an offering. This is especially important with young children, which a sturdy Shiba can knock over or nip trying to get at a morsel of sausage.

Speaking of children, don’t allow kids to just run up to pet the dog. Make them ask their parents or caregivers first. Then guide them through polite introductions.

Never allow children to overwhelm your puppy or you run the risk of the puppy becoming shy around them. Also, don’t let young/strange children pick up your puppy – they may not know how to pick up or hold a puppy and might drop it. Don’t listen to what they or their parents say; your Shiba is not a toy for them to play with.

An excellent idea (originating from an email from Bonnie and Sushi of the Toronto Shiba Inu Meetup Group) is joining or forming a group of Shiba people. Not only is this an excellent way to socialize your new puppy, you have a support group of people who know what you’re going through!

7 Comments

  1. Hi
    Love your website. I have a 16wk old male shiba that is a dominant little brat. I am getting lots of useful tips from this website and would love it if there was a shiba owner support group located in the Albany, NY area.

  2. Hello, My Wife and I have a 3 yr. old Shiba (Suki). She is very dominant and aggressive. We are trying to introduce her to a 1 1/2 yr old female Shiba who seems to be very mellow. The first meeting at our house went a little rough. Our Shiba kept going after the younger dog. But her tail seemed to be wagging and her heckles didn’t seem to be raised. Our Shiba was very vocal. We are going to try meeting at a park, neutral ground. We are hoping to adopt the youmger Shiba. Also our Shiba is Spayde and the younger Shiba (Nala) is not. I also think that Nala may have been in heat. Any tips would be welcome.

  3. Do the meeting (again) at the Park.

    If Nala is still in season–don’t take her to the dog park. Most parks have rules about females in season.

    See how the meeting at the Park goes.

    Sometimes females don’t get along, regardless of the situation. My brother has female Shibas and a male Shiba. He has to do rotations because the female Shibas won’t play together.

    Suggestions–anyone else???

  4. I have two cats and am planning on a Shiba at the beginning of next summer. Do you think they will get along ok??

  5. We just got a Shiba in October and we already had three cats- the pup was about 4 months old when we got her and she wants to play very badly with our cats. The boldest of the cat gets involved in chase games throughout the house. Basically the dog has been fine adjusting to the cats.

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