Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have a 4 month old Shiba Inu pup that we have had for a month now and she seems to be in a constant state of fear except for when we are sitting on the couch with her or when she is laying by my feet when im on the computer. It has become a constant struggle to get her on a leash to take her out to potty, and to catch her to go into her crate at night, when she eats, when we leave, etc, etc. She wont even take treats from us because she is scared of us which has made training almost impossible. We have never hit her, we dont yell at her, and we dont chase her around to get her on the leash or get her in the crate because it seems like that would just make her more scared. We really cannot think of any reason why she should be so terrified of us. We have been patient with her, tried to comfort her and make her comfortable but nothing seems to help. She also never wants to play unless she has to go potty, then she flings a toy in the air. I tried to do some research and a few sites said that the being skittish can be caused by bad breeding. Does anyone second this idea or does anyone have any advice?? We love her so much and dont want to give up on her!

My first question would be where did you get her and how did she spend those first 3 months of her life. Assuming she was with her mom for the first two months, where did she spend that other month? Do you have any information about that? Could she have been badly mistreated? Or, perhaps she was a puppy mill baby and those first two months weren't so good either.

I do hope you can find a solution to this. It sounds very sad for all of you.
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

Reguardless of what caused it - you now need tofocus all your energy and all her energy on fixing it!

I am going to assume that you have gone over all the factors of your household - loud noises - other animals - a certain room (my dogs hate linoleum) the reactio nsay a man with a hat on has etc. etc. and have reasonably eliminated a household trigger.

So I'd say start slow, start over infact. Like this is the first time you met her and all you know is she is scared to death. I'd suggest simply sitting in the middle of the living room on the floor and toss high value treats - cheese or cut up hot dog. Don't even worry about tossing them in her direction - just litter the room with them. Praise her, in a high pitched happy but not very loud voice. Just do this for a few days - or as long as it takes (even if it is weeks) to look to you to give her another piece - let her initiate the interaction - and then move on to hand feeding her.

I would hand feed her all her meals - litterally food in your fist going to her mouth slowly calmly with lots of positive reinforcement.

I would put something of yours that smells like you - a tee shirt or something soft in her crate with er with a peanut butter stuffed kong to keep her busy and your smell to keep her strong.

Make her enviornment calm and safe - don't push into doing things or being triggered. Do not set her up to fail set up all treat games, walks etc. to be at her pace, and be good times only. Try not to comfort her too much when she is scared - as it reinforces the fearfull behavior as a way to get attention.

Do you have a special walk place - a state park - a beach a dog run where she is especially happy - if not make one. When she gets there she gets yummy treats, when she is walking head up and happy yummy treats - on and on and on, until she has a happy special place to relax and feel safe. This saved one of our dogs. She went from so scared and withdrawn to racing aroud the car, doing her stampy giddy happy dance to get to "her place."

Be patient, take things are her pace, ignore bad or scared behavior and praise and treat good behavior. With time and trust she'll come around - a month is not a very long time. Even the worst bred dog can be trained and conditioned with patience and support - genes might be part of it - but any dog can become a better dog.
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Alicia,Owned by 2 Shibas, Niko and Avari, 3 cats, Miss Kitty, Mr. Grobbles and Al E. Cat and 2 beautiful daughters, Gwen and Penelope

Great reply, Lisha! I'm feeling very concerned with this being the 4th of July weekend. Fireworks are upsetting to many dogs and seems it would especially bad for one who is already frightened. If you are near anyplace that is likely to set off a display, perhaps you can drive her to a quieter area. May be too late to shop now, but Rescue Remedy....4 drops on a treat, or even in her water, may help.
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

YES! I meant to mention rescue remedy - or another form of calming pills. Springtime inc. makes a stay calm remedy that is mostly camomile and a few other herb that works pretty well too!
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Alicia,Owned by 2 Shibas, Niko and Avari, 3 cats, Miss Kitty, Mr. Grobbles and Al E. Cat and 2 beautiful daughters, Gwen and Penelope

Lisha gave you a great reply, I just want to echo a couple things:

Be sure you are not reinforcing any fearful or anxious behavior in your attempts to calm or soothe. Petting or cooing or really any of that sort of attention while she is exhibiting fearful behavior is only going to make matters worse. The best thing to do is ignore those behaviors and just present yourself in a calm way, let her come to you and reward with something positive when that happens.

I would not focus too much on her past, rather just work on creating a calm environment. Reward her only when she is acting calm and comfortable, and use those calm moments as opportunities for short amounts of leash time, and work your way up to walks.

Positive reinforcement works best, and I am a believer in Cesar Milan's techniques for more problematic behaviors.

Good luck!
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My crew includes Shiba and Hoshi the Shiba Inus; Aurora, Seneca, Murtle, Rainbow, Sunshine,Raindrop, Diggy, Gimlet, and Luna the Leopard Geckos and José the Rosy Boa.
Shiba's Dogster Page
www.dogster.com/?154312
Hoshi's Dogster Page
www.dogster.com/?197019

Thanks for all the advice! I finally broke down and called the breeder and she told me that Shiba Inus just dont like to be crated up in small areas...has anyone else found this to be true? Im really begining to question if this breeder was the best one to choose or not. Anywho, we started putting her in the kitchen when we leave rather then in the crate and she has improved a lot. She follows me around everywhere! She still kind of catches on when we are leaving and she runs a little bit and still isnt thrilled about being put in the kitchen, but she reacts a lot better to it then when we were putting her in the crate. Im still uneasy about not crate training her though. Does anyone else crate their shiba without issues?

Both my Shiba's - who are both rescues love their crate. THey know the command "crate up" and enjoy quiet time and often sleep in their crates.

If your dog has seperation anxiety or doesn't like her crate I think it is just her not a breed trait.

Glad things are improving
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Alicia,Owned by 2 Shibas, Niko and Avari, 3 cats, Miss Kitty, Mr. Grobbles and Al E. Cat and 2 beautiful daughters, Gwen and Penelope

Our boy has never objected to his crate, even though he almost never goes into it to just "hang out". We use it only when we are leaving the house and then we say "Do you want to go in your house?" He immediately runs right in. Actually, there is no longer any need to confine him when we are gone (he's 4 now) but we think he might be very uncomfortable with being left alone and not in his crate! Our philosphy is pretty much don't fix what's not broken!

It's cosy and soft in there and a nice place to be when you're not home.
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Anne, Bill, and Murphy

My Beni was a rescue, so I'm not sure about his previous experiences, but here is what I went through. When Beni first came into our lives my husband was adamant about having him in the crate. Since I went to work after him it was my job to crate Beni - it was a nightmare! Beni would run away from me, scream, and lock himself into a "no move" position. He would be so wound up when I got home - his energy was unbelievable! When he started upsetting his food and water bowl, and tearing up his pad I decided ( on my own) to put him to the test and see how he would do without being crated. I was scared to death thinking that A) my house was in shambles, or worse B) Beni had hurt himself when I wasn't there to supervise him. To make a long story not any longer Beni has not been crated since. So, in regards to your precious pup I think that just like people and their unique likes and dislikes, it all depends on the dog.

Enjoy each other!

Patty, Beni, and Kari

My two, Hoshi and Shiba are opposites in this regard. I got both of them at about a year old. Shiba had not been crated by her previous owner. I wasn't really aware of the benefits of crating so I didn't really try. We did enclose her in one room during the day though. It didn't take long before she started playing games and not wanting to go into the room. I struggled with a sort of "terrible twos" phase but Shiba was so hard nosed about not being enclosed, eventually she earned the right to have run of the house. She has never been destructive from day one. Now that she is older (almost 9), sometimes she likes to be enclosed with Hoshi, other times she wants free reign. I give her the option, and she has never abused it. Of course this is very rare. Shiba is indeed a special case.

Hoshi on the other hand is a retired show dog and was accustomed to the "kennel" from show life. He never "hung out" in the kennel on his own but would always comply when I told him to go there. Over time I have been able to use the term "kennel" to mean different things. I honestly felt a little bad for him being in a small space all day, so for a while his "kennel" was the laundry room, then when we moved it was the sunroom. Then we moved again, now it's the bedroom. He does have a little separation anxiety, especially when we go out at a time that is not part of the normal routine. He gets into a lot of things so whatever is his "kennel" at the time, gets "Hoshi-proofed" before we leave.

It's funny how Hoshi grew up with confinement yet has the anxiety/destruction issues, whereas Shiba has really never been confined and has never destroyed anything. Even with Hoshi, we have experimented with simply leaving the house without the usual clues that we are going anywhere, and Hoshi behaves well without being confined. He's not consistent in that case but I find it interesting that the less of a production we make of leaving the house, the better behaved he can be when we're gone. Going to his Kennel is part of the production.

In any case, don't get discouraged. Shiba Inus are a complicated breed with very individualized personalities. Eventually you'll get to know your dogs personal quirks and find a way to deal with them. It doesn't always go by the book. Obedience training definitely helps because it's always helpful to have commands and structure that your dog understands, but sometimes you have to be more creative in how you implement those things.

Good luck!! Shiba Inus are special and when you finally get a rhythm of communication going, the rewards are totally worth it!
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My crew includes Shiba and Hoshi the Shiba Inus; Aurora, Seneca, Murtle, Rainbow, Sunshine,Raindrop, Diggy, Gimlet, and Luna the Leopard Geckos and José the Rosy Boa.
Shiba's Dogster Page
www.dogster.com/?154312
Hoshi's Dogster Page
www.dogster.com/?197019