They are also infinitely curious and want to put everything that they see in their little mouths. This can make puppy obedience training something of a challenge.

When it comes to puppy training, we want to get our puppy to repeat good behaviors, and stop bad behaviors. The more a puppy practices a behavior, the more likely she will repeat it. Therefore, by encouraging good behaviors, we ensure that she will have a good repertoire of people friendly actions to draw upon when she grows up.

Here, we deal with the 3 primary elements of puppy obedience training –

• How to communicate consistently and effectively with a puppy.
• How to encourage good puppy behaviors.
• How to discourage bad puppy behaviors.

How I Trained My Husky Puppy

1. How to Communicate with Puppy

How to Communicate with Puppy

The first two words I teach my puppy are “Yes” and “No”.

“Yes” is used to mark a desirable behavior and “No” is used to mark an undesirable behavior.

Yes is usually followed by a positive consequence (e.g. a food reward, affection, toys), and No is usually followed by a negative consequence (e.g. withdrawal of attention, timeout).

In fact, we do not need to use the words “Yes” and “No”, and can pick whatever mark-words we want. The best mark-words are unique, and do not frequently come up in normal conversation. This helps to prevent confusion with our dogs.

For my dogs, I use Ack-Ack as a no-mark and Good-Boy or Good-Girl as a yes-mark.

• When my puppy does something good, I say “Good-Girl” and present her with a small treat reward.
• When my puppy does something bad, I say “Ack-Ack” and redirect her into doing something positive.

Consistency is very important while communicating with our dogs. We want to stick to the same yes-mark and no-mark.

In addition, we also want to establish very consistent rules and a fixed routine. This helps our puppy understand what is expected of her, as well as what she can expect from us.

Consistency is very important while communicating with our dogs.

Puppy schedule includes the ever important sleeping time.

One of the first things that I do with a new puppy, is set up a fixed routine. My puppy schedule includes playing time, training time, walking time, feeding time, and the ever important sleeping time. I try to keep the schedule consistent, so that each of these activities happen at around the same time every day.

Keeping a fixed schedule is good for me, and good for Puppy. It allows me to be more efficient about getting things done, and it sets aside some me-time while Puppy is sleeping and resting in her crate.

It also helps get a puppy accustomed to a new environment, without being overly stressed. In the beginning, everything is new, foreign, and possibly scary for a new dog. A fixed schedule helps to reduce stress, increase trust, and quickly integrates her into the existing family rhythm.

Similarly, a consistent set of rules will help to avoid confusion, and hasten the puppy learning process.

A fixed schedule helps puppy get accustomed to a new environment without being overly stressed.

2. How to Encourage Good Behaviors

Puppy obedience training and even adult dog training is centered around two key areas-

• How to encourage and get puppy to repeat good behaviors.
• How to discourage and get puppy to stop bad behaviors.

It is important to recognize though that what we see as good and bad behaviors may not coincide with what our dog considers to be good and bad behaviors.

Dogs, even puppies, think for themselves and have needs of their own.

Therefore, we want to use our newly established communication system to teach our puppy what is good and bad for us. In addition, we must also motivate our dog so that she actually cares about our human values, which very likely, make little or no sense to her.

Puppy Obedience 2 – How to Encourage Good Behaviors

When our dog finishes doing a Sit we say “Good-Girl!” and then present our dog with a reward.

We encourage good behaviors by using the yes-mark, as soon as our dog finishes doing something good.

For example, when our puppy finishes doing a Sit we say “Good-Girl!” and then present her with a reward. The yes-mark is very helpful in training because it allows us to immediately mark the behavior that we want to reward.

To effectively train our puppy, we want to clearly indicate which action she is being rewarded for. If we wait too long, she will have moved on to something else, and we may inadvertently reward the wrong behavior.

Therefore, quickly use the yes-mark as soon as our dog finishes a good behavior. Then, we can take more time to present Puppy with her reward.

To effectively train our puppy, we want to clearly indicate which action she is being rewarded for.

3. How to Stop Bad Behaviors

When it comes to stopping bad dog behaviors most of us think of applying a physical punishment, for example spanking the dog, jabbing the dog with our fingers, or giving the dog a collar correction.

These techniques apply pain to the dog, at which point the dog may stop her current behavior in order to avoid further pain and stress.

However, such pain based techniques are risky. If they are not executed with exactly the right force, timing, and redirection, they may cause more behavioral issues down the road; even aggression. It is especially risky to apply such techniques to puppies because of their young minds, and still developing bodies.

How then can we stop bad puppy behavior?

The best way to stop bad puppy behavior is through the control of resources.

I have found that the best way to stop bad behavior is through the control of resources. *We* naturally control everything that a puppy wants, including food, toys, freedom, affection, and play.

To encourage good behaviors, we motivate our puppy by giving her something that she wants.

To discourage bad behaviors, we motivate our puppy by taking away something that she values, for example her freedom, or our attention and affection.

Note – This does not mean that we should tease our puppy and take away food while she is eating, or forcibly remove a toy that she is playing with. Doing so can encourage food aggression or resource guarding behavior.

What works best is to withhold something that my puppy wants, but does not yet have. Another possibility is to take away a privilege, such as withdrawing my attention or restricting her freedom.

*We* naturally control everything that a puppy wants, including food, toys, freedom, affection, and play.

When my puppy bites at my hands, I give her a no-mark (Ack-ack) and then redirect her to do something else, for example, chew on a toy. If Puppy redirects, I give her a yes-mark (Good-Girl), and reward her with something that she really wants, such as a yummy treat.

If Puppy ignores the no-mark and continues to bite at me, I withdraw my attention by standing up, folding up my arms, and turning away from her. In this way, she loses a valued play-mate, and no longer gets to engage in something fun.

If Puppy escalates her behavior and starts to jump on me or bite my clothes, I take away an even more important privilege; her freedom. I do this by calmly saying Timeout, and then taking my puppy to a boring but safe timeout area.

Puppies often bite at us to initiate play or to get our attention. We can effectively stop puppy biting by teaching her the following-

• Biting = No attention and no play,
• No biting = Attention, play, and treats.

Biting on a stick instead of on hands gets puppy a nice tummy rub.

How to Train a Puppy

To stop bad behavior, I have found that it is important to –

• Start by redirecting Puppy into doing something positive. In this way, we turn a negative situation into a positive one. We not only get our dog to do what we want, but also teach her that following our commands, is the fastest way to get to her heart’s desires.
• Make the punishment suit the crime. I always start small and give my puppy many opportunities to choose a path for success. If she continues or escalates her bad behavior, then I slowly escalate her punishment.
• Stay calm at all times. Puppies have high energy and are easily distracted. If we get angry or frustrated, we will only inject more bad energy into an already volatile situation. This will likely cause our puppy to lose focus, become more hyper, and behave in an even more erratic fashion. If we want our dog to be calm, we must stay calm ourselves.
• Set Puppy up for success. Carefully manage our puppy and only expose her to situations that we think she can handle. For example, start by introducing her to new objects that are not moving, then slowly move on to moving objects, then objects that move and make noise, and so on. Start small and slowly move up to bigger things. The more successful a puppy is, the more confident she will become, and the more balanced she will be when she grows up.

How to Train a Puppy

Goal of Puppy Obedience

The goal of puppy obedience is to learn how to communicate with our puppy, and teach her how to live well and harmoniously with us.

Obedience training can also help to protect our puppy from inadvertently harming herself and others, or from engaging in activities that may be detrimental to her health (e.g. over-eating, walking on glass).

Obedience training is *not* for acting out our anger, or venting our frustrations when our puppy poops on our furniture, eats poop, and spreads garbage all over our expensive designer couch.

We are not perfect, and Puppy is not perfect. In the initial stages, mistakes will be made, some of which may lead to chewed up designer shoes, scratched kitchen cabinets, and stained carpets. However, this is all part of the learning process.

Puppies, and indeed all dogs do not perform bad behaviors just to piss us off, make us angry, or exact revenge.

The goal of puppy obedience is to learn how to communicate with our puppy, and teach her how to live well and harmoniously with us.

Puppies Acting Badly

Puppies or dogs act badly because …

• They do not know that something is bad because we did not teach them properly.
• They were stressed and started chewing, digging, or even pooping in order to relieve that stress (displacement behaviors).
• They felt threatened and thought it was necessary to protect themselves, or their belongings.

The key to puppy obedience training is in learning to see things from our dog’s point of view.

Once we understand what motivates our puppy, we can prevent undesirable actions and encourage desirable ones.

Dogs spend a lot of time observing us, understanding what makes us tick, and making us happy. The least that we can do, is try to return the favor.

The key to puppy obedience training is to learn how to see things from our dog’s point of view.

When we got back to the house, we took her straight out to the backyard where she quickly went to do her business.

Good Girl!

Those were the first words she learned, and they continue to be her favorite words.

A Puppy’s First Words - Good Girl!

Good Girl!

Good Girl is puppy Lara’s favorite words.

Good Girl is puppy Lara’s favorite words because after Good Girl comes a yummy food reward.

Good Girl is commonly referred to as a mark. In this case, we condition our dog to associate Good Girl with something positive by tying it to a food reward. Every time puppy hears Good Girl, she knows that she has done something desirable and is about to be rewarded for her good behavior. In this way, we can accurately time-mark a good behavior because it is easy and quick to say Good Girl.

Together with a mark for good behavior, there is also a no-mark for bad behaviors, e.g. No, or Ack-ack. Just as a mark is usually followed by a reward, a no-mark is usually followed by a punishment.

Most people associate punishment with physical punishment, but the most effective dog training techniques are NOT based on physical punishment. Instead, they are based on the control of resources.

By controlling what our dogs desire most (e.g., her freedoms, our attention and affection, her food, her toys) we can very effectively encourage good behaviors as well as discourage bad behaviors.

By controlling what our dogs desire most we can very effectively encourage good behaviors as well as discourage bad behaviors.

For example when puppy Lara displays an undesirable behavior, e.g. biting on furniture, I no-mark her, Ack-Ack and follow that up by redirecting her onto an acceptable toy to bite on. As a result, she knows what not to do, but at the same time I also give her alternative ways of redirecting her energy.

If she does not listen and keeps biting at the furniture then she loses access to furniture, i.e., I lead her away and get her to do something else. If she continues to try to bite on furniture, or decides to bite on me instead, then she loses all of her freedom and goes into a boring, low-stimulus, time-out area.

Redirecting behavior is much more effective than just saying no.

Some things that I have observed while training my dogs –

• Redirecting behavior is much more effective than just saying no. By redirecting behavior we tell our dogs what not to do, but we also tell them what to do instead.
• Controlling a dog’s resources is much more effective and less risky than physical punishment. By controlling a dog’s resources, we teach our dog that the best way to get what she wants is to do what we want. Cooperation always brings better results than physical force.
• Set puppy up for success. Start small and only escalate the punishment if puppy escalates her bad behavior. The more puppy succeeds, the more confident she will get, and the more she learns that doing what you say, gets her the most rewards!

No need to use a bite when a Shiba-Scream is sufficient.
~~[ Shiba Inu Sephy ]

Cooperation always brings better results than physical force.

Nose and Sit

Soon after Good Girl, puppy Lara learned her next word – Nose.

Nose is a hand-targeting exercise and it is very simple to learn and very useful.

I put some kibble in my hand and hold it a short distance away from puppy. Puppy will naturally want the food, so she will poke her nose at my hand. As soon as she does that, I say Good Girl, and give her a food reward.

Some puppies may mouth on your hand. I usually just ignore that behavior and wait for the nose touch. As soon as I feel a nose touch with no mouthing, I quickly mark that behavior (Good Girl) and reward that behavior.

Husky Puppy Lara is very good at learning new words.

Sit is great for getting puppy to calm down, to work for her food, to not jump, to not chew on furniture, etc.

After Nose, comes Sit. Sit is one of my favorite words because it is great for getting puppy to calm down, to work for her food, to not jump, to not chew on furniture, etc.

To train a Sit I put some kibble in my hand and make sure that puppy knows it is there. Then I slowly raise my hand slightly over the puppy’s head. Puppy will naturally want to follow the treat with her head; the head goes up and the rump goes down. As soon as that happens, I say Good Girl and reward puppy. At this point I don’t even say the word “Sit” yet.

Once puppy does a Sit consistently (based on the hand gesture), then I start to associate the word “Sit” with the behavior.

Some puppies may step back instead of sit down. When that happens I usually just repeat the hand gesture and then wait for the behavior. If that still doesn’t work, then I move on to do something else. A bit later, I give Sit training another try.

Everybody working for their supper.

Useful Puppy Words

Other useful puppy words include –

• Leave-It – Great for preventing food guarding and resource guarding problems down the road.
• Down
• Stay – Very useful for teaching a puppy door manners and to control excitement.
• Side – In addition to a Down, puppy has to lay fully on her left or right side. This command is very useful for grooming including teeth cleaning, and nail grinding.
• Paw, Spin, Shake, Crawl – This adds variety to our training sessions and is also a lot of fun.

Hand-Shake, Spin, and Crawl adds variety to our training sessions and is also fun.

What Are Your Puppy’s First Words?

What are some of your puppy’s favorite first words? Let us know in the comments section below.

What Are Your Puppy's Favorite First Words?

The little puppy is very curious and will get into trouble every chance he gets.

To save ourselves a lot of pain and to save our puppy from stress, we want set up a fixed schedule which includes crate time, play time, walk time, as well as handling and grooming time.

1. Set up a schedule and carefully supervise our puppy.

When our puppy is out and about in a non-dog-proof area, we need to supervise him closely. Close supervision will give us the opportunity to teach puppy right from wrong, without too much damage to our furniture and belongings.

If I do not have the time, I usually crate puppy or put puppy on a tie-down.

If I do not have the time,

• I usually crate puppy, when he is home alone, or
• I put puppy on a tie-down, when I am home but unable to fully supervise.

If you are concerned about crating your puppy, here is what the Humane Society of the United States and the American Dog Trainer’s Network have to say about dogs and crates.

When I am away for a long period of time (> 3 hours), I put puppy in a long-term enclosure. This can be a secure puppy pen or a safe room (e.g. kitchen). I make sure there is nothing in the enclosure that my puppy can destroy. I also put in some bedding, a water bowl, puppy pads, and safe chew toys.

As a general rule, the longest time to crate a puppy is (age of dog in months) hours. For example, an 8 week old puppy can be kept a maximum of (2 month old) = 2 hours in a crate. Note that this is just a general guideline for the maximum crate time.

Most puppies need to go outside more frequently than that, for exercise and potty training. I take my puppy outside as soon as he wakes up, and right after any kind of vigorous play. In the beginning, Husky puppy Shania needed to potty after about 10-15 minutes of play. Here is a more detailed table of maximum crate time.

At night, I crate my dogs in the bedroom. Sleeping together helps with the bonding process, and shows them that they are part of the pack.

When I am away for a long period of time (> 3 hours) I put puppy in a long-term enclosure.

2. Keep a drag-lead on our puppy

2. Keep a drag-lead on our puppy.

I put a drag-lead on my puppy when he is roaming freely in the house.

This will help us control our ball of energy without resorting to chasing games. When my puppy tries to run away, all I need to do is step on the drag-lead.

I use a regular, thick (1 inch wide), flat collar or harness and not an aversive collar (choke chain, prong collar). I make sure to cut off the loop on the leash, so that it does not catch on anything around the house. I start with a longer (6 feet), light leash, and then shorten it depending on my puppy’s behavior. I only do this while I am around to properly supervise my puppy.

Once he matures and is better behaved, I switch to a leash tab or remove the drag-lead altogether.

It is best to use a secure 6 foot leash during puppy leash training and not the flexi-leash. The 6 foot leash gives us better control of our puppy, and is necessary to keep him safe when he decides to go chasing after dogs, cats, or squirrels.

3. Start with reward obedience training

3. Start with reward obedience training.

Shiba Inu Sephy sits and waits patiently to be let into the house.

It is most effective and least risky to start our puppy with reward obedience training. I started out with aversive techniques, and it made my Shiba puppy develop additional behavioral issues, including aggression. In fact, my aversive based dog trainer said that it was inappropriate use pain based techniques, such as leash jerks and alpha rolls, on dogs that are younger than 6 months old.

Today, I prefer to use reward training because it is more effective at motivating my dogs, stopping undesirable behaviors, and building a strong bond.

With reward training, we establish ourselves as the pack leader by controlling our dog’s resources through the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program. This simply means that my puppy has to do something for me, for example a Sit, before he gets any resource (e.g. food, toys, affection, freedom) in return. Any bullying will be ignored, or will result in the removal of that resource.

Many people make the mistake of equating pack leadership with the use of aversive training. Aversive dog trainers say that difficult, strong-willed, dominant dogs require stronger, punishment based methods in order to show him who is boss.

This is not true.

One of my dogs (a Shiba Inu) is extremely strong willed, and can be quite difficult, but he responds much better to reward training.

Be careful of advertisements for 10 minute puppy obedience training programs and the like. There are no miracle cures in puppy training.

Pack leadership is most effectively attained through reward training.

4. Bite inhibition training

Puppy biting is common because puppies are naturally curious, and want to examine everything with their mouths.

The good news is puppies do not have the jaw strength of an adult dog, and will not do much damage to us when biting. Because of this, puppy-hood is a good time for bite inhibition, or soft mouth training.

One of the best ways to train a dog to have a soft mouth is through hand-feeding.

I hand-feed my puppy at least some of his kibble every day. If he bites too hard when getting his food, I do a sharp ouch or yelp and ignore him for a few seconds. Then, I retry the exercise. If he takes food from me gently, I praise him and continue feeding without any breaks.

We can also combine hand-feeding with obedience commands, and dog grooming sessions. Hand-feeding also helps with food aggression issues, so I continue with it even through adulthood.

Ian Dunbar’s book After You Get Your Puppy, gives a good overview of bite inhibition, and how to best train our puppy to have a soft mouth.

A puppy, and ultimately an adult dog who has a soft mouth is a great asset. Because my Shiba Inu has good bite inhibition, we were able to solve many of his behavior problems, which would have been difficult to deal with if he were biting at full strength.

Because my Shiba Inu has good bite inhibition, we were able to solve many of his problems which would have been difficult to deal with if he was biting at full strength.

5. Practice calm and assertive energy

This is something that is always emphasized by Cesar Millan (the Dog Whisperer) and it is extremely important; especially for a hyperactive puppy.

If we interact with a dog using nervous, submissive, fearful, or otherwise weak (non-assertive) energy, the dog will sense that and start acting out even more.

Anger, impatience, frustration, and all other non-calm energies will only excite our puppy, and cause him to exhibit even more extreme behaviors.

In order to achieve calm, assertive energy, we must first overcome whatever fears we may feel toward our dog, and become his pack leader. This is much easier to do if we have achieved good bite inhibition.

6. A busy puppy is a good puppy

6. A busy puppy is a good puppy.

Make sure to always have control of a puppy's play-time.

Puppies have a lot of energy, and will get into trouble if we do not keep them busy.

I make my puppy work for ALL of his food. Instead of presenting everything to him in a silver bowl, I use his daily kibble and treats for obedience sessions, bite inhibition training, handling, and grooming. If there is food left over, I put it in interactive food toys.

I also schedule play time with my puppy. Some games that my dogs like include flirt pole, the water hose game, and sometimes soccer.

When I start with a new game, I make it fun by handing out lots of treats for effort. Once my puppy understands the game, I switch to only treating his more stellar performances.

Make sure to always have control of a puppy’s play-time. This means that we own all the toys, and we decide when to start and stop the games. Play-time can be very useful in training our puppy to calm down, and to pay attention to us even when he is excited.

I also schedule two or three short obedience training sessions (10-15 minutes) with my puppy every day. This helps to establish me as the leader, gives my puppy some mental exercise, and provides a good bonding experience.

Other good ways to exercise our puppy (after full vaccination) include neighborhood walks, walks in the park, dog playgroups, and dog sports.

I schedule two or three short (10-15 minutes) obedience training sessions with my puppy every day.

7. We are not alone

The most important thing to remember while bringing up a difficult puppy is that we are not alone!

Our puppy journey will be filled with a lot of joy, but there will also be challenges and pit-falls. Sometimes, we may feel discouraged by our puppy’s behavior, or with his performance in dog obedience class.

We are not alone!

There are many support groups out there where we may post our questions. I also find it helpful to visit these groups when I feel discouraged, or when I feel like my puppy is some mutant strain of devil dog.

Do not think that you are a bad dog owner or trainer when your puppy behaves badly. Many other dog owners are facing the exact same problems. Also remember that with proper rules and training, our puppy’s behavior will improve with time.

7. We are not alone.

Bite inhibition basically means training your dog to have a soft mouth.

When they are puppies, dogs automatically learn this lesson from their mother and their litter-mates. When a puppy bites down too hard on a litter-mate, he will get a yelp and play stops while the hurt party licks his wounds.

Through this process, puppies learn to control the force of their bites because they know that biting too hard will cause play to stop.

Dog bite inhibition.

Dogs use their mouth to interact and play, not just to attack.

The mouthier a dog is, the more important to teach him bite inhibition.

It is important to continue this lesson throughout a dog’s life. The mouthier a dog is, the more important to teach him bite inhibition.

My Shiba Inu is an extremely mouthy dog, and I am extremely thankful that I taught him bite inhibition from a young age.

Later on, he really started acting out and doing leash biting, humping my leg, and biting on my hands and arms. Throughout all this, he never broke skin.

Bite inhibition, made it possible for us to re-train him and re-train ourselves with very little wear and tear on both dog and humans.

When excited, dogs may mouth on people, not to hurt them, but to interact with them.

Bite inhibition is important even for normally even-tempered, social dogs.

Dogs use their mouth to interact, not just to attack.

When excited, dogs may mouth on people, not to hurt them, but to interact with them. This may cause accidental bites if the dog does not have good bite inhibition training.

Dogs may also bite as a reflex when they are startled, for example, when you accidentally step on their tail or wake them up from a deep sleep. A dog with bite inhibition may scratch your arm, but an untrained dog will cause deep puncture wounds.

The best time to teach dogs bite inhibition is when they are young. Puppies may have sharp teeth, but they have not developed the jaw strength of an adult dog yet, so they cannot inflict the same type of damage that an adult dog can.

The best time to teach dogs bite inhibition is when they are young.

Hand-feeding is a great way for teaching bite inhibition to my dogs.

I have found that hand-feeding is a fun and good way for teaching bite inhibition to my dogs.

Hand-feed your dog at least some of his kibble every day. If he bites too hard when getting his food, do a sharp ouch or yelp and ignore him for a few seconds then start hand-feeding him again. When your dog takes food from you gently, praise him and keep feeding him.

First, make it easy for your dog to get at the food without biting you, then slowly make it more difficult by covering the food partially with your fingers. You can also combine hand-feeding with training and handling sessions.

Hand-feeding also helps to prevent food aggression and resource guarding issues, so it is good to continue this practice throughout your dog’s life.

I first learned about bite inhibition from Ian Dunbar’s book After You Get Your Puppy. He has more in his book on bite inhibition and puppy socialization.

Although it is easier and safer to teach dogs bite inhibition when they are young, it is never too late to teach them to have a soft mouth.

Bite inhibition will significantly enhance your relationship with your dog because a dog with a soft mouth is easier to trust, easier to handle, and a joy to spend time with.

Note – If your dog is already food aggressive or resource aggressive, it is best to consult a professional trainer. Do not perform bite inhibition exercises on such dogs as they may bite anybody or anything that comes near their food.

A dog with a soft mouth is easier to trust, easier to handle, and a joy to spend time with.

Indeed Shiba Inus are not for the faint-hearted, and they are not recommended for first-time dog owners.

Shiba Inu Training Secrets.

Despite this warning, my heart was already set on a Shiba Inu puppy. I had a lot of free time then, so I thought I would be able to handle one little dog. After all, how difficult can a small puppy be?

Little did I know, a Shiba Inu can be a major pain in the ass!

Even dog veterans have problems with their first Shiba. In fact, many experienced trainers were unable to handle my Shiba Sephy.

Here are the Shiba Inu training secrets that helped me turn my devil dog into a model citizen. Well, maybe not a model citizen, but a fun citizen that I truly enjoy living with.

Do not be fooled - A Shiba Inu can be a major pain in the ass.

1. There are No Miracle Cures

When I first got Shiba Sephy, he was a big challenge.

Some of his favorite daily activities include biting my hands, running crazily around the house, biting on curtains, vicious leash biting, jumping on me and others, humping my leg, and much more.

I was desperate to get him under control, and did a lot of research online and off-line. I read a lot of online articles and bulletin boards. I called local dog trainers, watched all the dog training shows on television, and read a lot of dog training books.

During this time, I found something that looked like a miracle … a 10 minute Shiba online training program. According to this advertisement, there were some special “Shiba words” that will magically turn a Shiba into a Lassie. Yeah right!

Luckily, I did not succumb to my desperation, and did not buy this product.

The fact is, there are NO “miracle cures” for training a Shiba Inu.

The secret of Shiba training, is simply to exercise extreme patience, and find humor in our Shiba’s antics. Use reward obedience training, and always be firm but fair.

A Shiba will probably never be a Lassie, or perfect dog. However, if you are looking for a dog with a big personality, who will always make you laugh with his sneaky and roguish ways, then the Shiba Inu is for you.

A Shiba Inu will never be a model citizen but he will most surely make you laugh and smile.

2. Use Passive Resistance

2. Use Passive Resistance.

Shiba Inus get bored easily and do not like being ignored.

The best way to deal with Shiba Inu misbehavior is through passive resistance.

Shibas get bored easily and do not like being ignored. They really enjoy their freedom, and also like being close to their human pack. We can control a Shiba best by controlling these most desired resources: our attention, and his freedom.

If we actively try to stop our Shiba either through physical punishment (e.g. alpha rolls, leash jerk) or active restraint, he will fight back. This encourages him to practice rough play, and biting on people.

If we back away, or become fearful of our Shiba, he will learn that he “wins” by showing dog aggression.

If we over-correct our Shiba by exerting too much physical force, or by correcting him too frequently, we will lose his trust, and it is difficult to regain a Shiba Inu’s trust.

What works best with a Shiba is NOT to engage in a physical competition, but rather to engage in a mental one.

There are certain resources that Sephy really enjoys including walks, treats, toys, and his freedom.

When I want to take him on his walk, I go to the door with his lead, and call him to me. Initially, he would dally and not really want to come, because he wants to go walking on his own schedule. I count to three. If he does not come, I leave and go about my own business.

After a short time, Sephy will amble over, and pester me to take him on his walk. This is done through begging, and whining. I ignore all this bad dog behavior. When I have a break in my schedule again, I repeat the above exercise.

A Shiba will quickly learn that to get the resources that he wants most (e.g. go on walks), he has to do it according to our rules, and our schedule. It is important to practice the Nothing in Life is Free (NILIF) program with a Shiba.

Set a Shiba Inu up for success, so that we can reward him frequently, and keep him interested in doing what we want.

Another Shiba favorite is to steal something he is not supposed to, and then run away with it, thereby engaging a fun chase game.

A Shiba Inu is very agile, and it will be difficult for us to catch him. I always try to keep an eye out for my sneaky Shiba, and stop him before he steals an object. I also put a drag lead on him, so that I can easily catch him by stepping on the lead.

Note: Use a regular flat collar with the drag lead, and not an aversive collar. Aversive collars such as prong collars or choke chains, should only be used during supervised training sessions. Cut the loop on the drag-lead, so that it does not catch on anything in the house.

Only give our Shiba Inu attention when he refrains from bad Shiba behaviors.

3. Rules, Rules, Rules

3. Rules, Rules, Rules.

No biting on people. Shiba Inu Sephy is redirected onto a toy.

Shiba Inus are naturally dominant. If we do not provide them with rules, that we consistently enforce, they will take over the house.

It is best to enforce those rules as early as possible. This ensures that Shiba does not develop any bad habits later on, that will be more difficult to break.

Some of Shiba Sephy’s rules:

1. No Biting

The most important rule that I place on Sephy, is no biting on people. Shiba Inus are a very mouthy breed. Their instinct is to use their mouth in a wide variety of situations, including when they are excited, frustrated, and fearful.

They also have large teeth, and can accidentally hurt children and seniors. If Sephy starts biting on me or on others, I no-mark the behavior (Ack, ack). If he continues, I put him on a time-out.

It is also important to teach a Shiba bite inhibition. In this way, when he loses control of himself and does bite, he will not cause much harm.

No food aggression.

No rough play with people.

2. No Food Aggression or Resource Guarding

Prevent our Shiba Inu from guarding resources. Shibas have a don’t back down, don’t surrender attitude. Therefore, the best way to teach them not to guard resources, is to use reward training techniques.

Show them that people and other dogs coming near them, while they are eating or playing with their toys, is a good thing. Prevent stealing, and practice exchanging objects. This teaches them that giving up something, does not mean it is gone forever.

If we use physical force to grab a toy away from our Shiba, he will likely become more possessive over his objects. He will also lose trust in us, and may use aggression to protect himself, and his belongings.

3. No Rough Play

I do not play rough with Sephy. He gets to wrestle with my other dogs, but no wrestling is allowed with humans.

I also do not play any dominance games with him, for example, no Tug-of-War. The few times that I did play Tug with Shiba Sephy, he followed very strict rules during the game. However, when I took him out for walks, he would start playing tug with the leash (leash biting).

Shiba Inu Sephy only does rough play with other dogs.

4. Socialize Our Shiba Inu

4. Socialize Our Shiba Inu.

Socialize our young Shiba Inu to many sights, sounds, and smells.

Shiba Inus have an extreme play style that many dogs may not like.

Shiba Inus can get aggressive to unfamiliar things including objects, dogs, people, and environments.

They are also naturally stubborn, and may become aggressive when forced to do things that they do not like.

Socialize our young Shiba to many sights, sounds, and smells, and he will be ready to handle new things as a confident, and well-balanced adult. Make sure that new experiences are always positive, and at worst, neutral.

Some things to consider while socializing our Shiba Inu:

1. Shiba Inus have an extreme play style, that many dogs may not like.

When he was young, I used to take Sephy to enclosed dog parks. During this time, his favorite play partners were larger dogs, and young Pit Bulls. Shibas like doing wrestling and rough play, which can easily overwhelm other small dogs.

Choose our Shiba’s play-mates carefully, so that a fun time can be had by all.

Shiba Inus dislike handling.

2. Shiba Inus dislike handling.

Socialize a Shiba to touching and grooming, as early as possible. Pair the touch and groom sessions with very good treats, so that he will associate handling with positive experiences.

Do not use physical force to do any grooming. This will make it into an unpleasant experience, and our Shiba will fight us every step of the way.

Instead, groom gently, and make it short, fun, and rewarding.

3. Shiba Inus do not generally like people petting them from above.

Petting from above can be seen as a dominance move by dogs, and Shibas may see this as a threat.

We can slowly desensitize our Shiba to this move, by pairing head petting with good food rewards. At the same time, instruct people to approach from under our dog’s head, and scratch his chest.

Shiba Inus do not generally like people petting them from above.

5. Control Our Own Energy

An important thing to remember while interacting with our Shiba, is to control our own energy.

Shiba Inus are especially sensitive to the energy of their owners, and the people around them.

When I first got puppy Sephy, he was extremely mouthy. In particular, he would resort to biting when I stopped him from doing something unacceptable.

This made me become afraid of him.

The more afraid I became, the worse Sephy behaved. As soon as I got fearful, he would start to hump my leg, grab my clothes, jump on me, or bite my hands, arms, and legs.

5. Control Our Own Energy.

Anger and frustration will also elicit extreme Shiba Inu behaviors.

Anger and frustration will also elicit extreme Shiba behaviors.

In the early days, I had a dog walker take Sephy out for group walks at the park. When the walker tried to stop Sephy from doing something disruptive, he would object, and try out one of his Shiba moves, including alligator rolls, leash biting, hand biting, and of course the Shiba scream.

The dog walker naturally got embarrassed when Sephy screamed like he was about to die. There were other people around, and some of them thought that she was mistreating the poor dog. Sephy easily sensed her embarrassment and frustration. From then on, the Shiba scream was his favorite weapon to use against her.

With a Shiba Inu, it is important to stay calm at all times.

Once I was able to control my fear and remain calm, things improved significantly with my Shiba Inu.

With a Shiba Inu, it is important to stay calm at all times.

If we lose our cool, Shiba will sense it and continue to use this weakness against us.

The best way to handle a misbehaving Shiba, is to stay calm, and remove him to a quiet, lower stimulus area, as soon as possible. If he continues with his bad behavior, he gets his freedoms revoked with a time-out. Remember that fear, anger, frustration, and other extreme emotions will only make the problem worse.

Once I was able to control my fear and remain calm, things improved significantly with my Shiba.

Sephy will never be a model-citizen, but nowadays, he is actually very fun to be with. He is goofy, he is funny, and he usually stays out of serious trouble.

Shibas can be a big challenge to live with, but they are well worth the effort. They have a great personality, and they are always up to something that will make us laugh.

I love my Shiba Inu.

He is one of my best buddies, and whenever I see him, I just have to smile.

Gotta love a Shiba Inu!