Nowadays, though there is information about every breed of dogs existing on the whole world, there are so many breeds that it may be almost impossible for people trying to find the right dog for a pet to learn about all of them. The result is that many families will choose their pets from the few more well known breeds, many other really nice breeds of dogs remaining overlooked. The Shiba inu dogs are from such a rare breed.

The dogs of the shiba inu breed are the smallest of the 6 original and distinct breeds of dogs from Japan. It is also one of the oldest dog breeds in existence today. These dogs resemble with the Akita dogs, but they are much smaller. Standing at only 13 ½ to 16 ½ inches high and weighing between 17 and 23 pounds this is a little dog with a bigger than life personality. Their double coats make them resemble to a Husky too, mainly because of their undercoat which is soft, thick and colored usually in cream, buff or gray. The outer coat is stiff and straight and may be 1 ½ in length. The colors of their overcoats are often red, black, tan or black tipped (sesame). There are also white coated Shiba inus but, these are not considered a good color for the show ring and so breeders of show dogs do not intentionally breed for this color.

The face of the shiba inu is extremely fox like with the male’s features being noticeably more masculine than the features of the females. The red coated Shiba inu dogs resemble so much to a fox that there were cases when hunters mistook them as wild animals and shot them. Their long tails curl as a circle high on their backs.

About their Personality

These playful little dogs are lovely pets, almost naturally house trained as they like to keep themselves very clean. They are extremely intelligent little dogs with a huge streak of independence, which many people compare to that of a cat. It is this independent nature that make training the Shiba inu a challenge to people who have never owned dogs before. These dogs will bond with the person in charge of their early socialization, will consider him or her their intellectual equal and will be extremely loyal to that person.

You should also know that a chain link fence around your back yard won’t be able to stop them, as they love to play, are very agile and make excellent climbers. The dogs of the Shiba inu breed are excellent jumpers and if you have a tall fence around your back yard they will use anything like a foothold to jump over and escape.

Because of their high energy level they need to be walked on a leash at least a couple of times a day and do well with a lot of playtime. These dogs will play a lot and run for hours inside the house and from this habit of theirs a contest between owners occurred in Japan, the loser of this game called Shiba 500 being the first owner who gets dizzy watching how a Shiba inu dog runs around a coffee table or a chair.

These dogs are clean freaks, and will often groom themselves much like a cat. As they don’t like dirt areas anywhere near them, they are also easy to house break.

They will make excellent pets for all the active persons who want to share their life with a small dog companion.

The shiba inu dogs are the smallest from Japan. This breed is also one of the oldest known breeds today. The shiba inu dogs are very much resembling to a fox.