Shiba Inu

The Shiba Inu is the oldest breed of the many Japanese dogs including the Akita Inu. The comparison between a Shiba Inu puppy and a Australian Dingo puppy will soon reveal this strong possibility. The Shiba Inu starts disappearing in last days of World War 2 in Japan.

Fortunately, the Nippon Preservation Society found a few of our Shiba Inu breed still in existence in the mountain regions. Next the Shiba Inu was brought back from the brink of extinction by a careful breeding program. Today there are more than 80,000 Shiba Inus in Japan and thousands more through out the world. The nick name of Shiba Inu is "little brushwood dog".



The Shiba Inu is a compact, small, agile furry dog that looks like a miniature Akita Inu. They have a pointed face, triangular prick ears and broad forehead. The eyes are dark and small. The teeth of Shiba Inu should form a scissors bite with dark nose. The tail is thick and carried either in a ring or with a sickle curve and strong curling over the back.

The plush double coat accepts all colors most often comes in red, or black with tan markings or red with a little black overlay. The neck is sturdy, thick and of moderate length. The fore chest is well developed and chest depth is one-half or slightly less than the total height from withers to ground. Shiba Inu eyes are triangular in shape, deep, and upward slanting toward the outside base of the ear with black iris and eye rims.

Sesame, Red, Black & Tan, and Cream, Urajiro means combination of cream to white required on sides of muzzle, inside ears, cheeks, under jaw and upper throat, around vent, inside legs and ventral tai.

The height of Shiba Inu dog is 14.5 - 16.5 inches and the bitch height is 13.5 – 15.5 inches.

The expected weight of Shiba Inu male dog is 20 - 30 lbs and the bitch weight is 15 - 25 lbs.

A healthy Shiba Inu dog has 12-15 years.



The Shiba Inu is intelligent, agile, alert, playful and energetic. and makes a good alarm dog at times. This breed can be prone to barking. Generally this dog is healthy and hardy breed. The Shiba inu does okay within apartment life if sufficiently exercised and moderately active indoors and also do well with atleast average-sized yard. They can be able to live in both cold and heat environments because they have waterproof coat.

Shiba Inu as a Pet

As a family pet the Shiba Inu is charming, lively, friendly, sensitive and very unaffectionate. This breed is independent while demanding attention from his master. They are good with children and makes a good companionship. These dogs should not be allowed to keep around small animals but do well with cats. This dog is somewhat wary of strangers, but warms up quickly.