HELP! My Shiba-Inu is really shy!
Nadene Lynn Mills
I bought a Shiba from a pet store when she was three months old.
I read the literature on her breed, so knew them to be outgoing, but she
was shy. I figureed that it was because I was new and there was a lot of
people around. She is now four years old and she still doesn't even
totally trust me! She always follows me around the house, but it's more
so that I don't get out of her line of sight than any kind of loyalty.
Around others she is totally distrustful, to the point of running in
front of cars to get away from a person casually walking at us while out
on a walk (I never let her off her leash while outside).
I have taken her to the vet (who recommended drugs which I tried
briefly, but stopped because they didn't work and I don't like giving
her unnecessary drugs), and I've tried obediance classes (which did work
to some extent).
Any and all comments are welcome, I love her dearly, but she's
getting on my nervers being so skiddish!
'`
Thanks, 'o o`
Nadene o /\ o
(__)
Elaine Gallegos
Nadene Lynn Mills <mil...@vccsouth-26.its.rpi.edu> wrote:
: I bought a Shiba from a pet store when she was three months old.
Your dog has a temperament flaw. She was most likely very poorly bred,
and purchased from a puppy mill for resale to petshops. Don't buy dogs
from petshops. The quality has a reputation of being poor, and you support
the existance of inhumane puppy mills.
: I read the literature on her breed, so knew them to be outgoing, but she
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Elaine Gallegos
sat...@primenet.com
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Lori Rizzo
In article <526h94$4...@vccsouth-26.its.rpi.edu> mil...@vccsouth-26.its.rpi.edu (Nadene Lynn Mills) writes:
>From: mil...@vccsouth-26.its.rpi.edu (Nadene Lynn Mills)
>Subject: HELP! My Shiba-Inu is really shy!
>Date: 23 Sep 1996 13:27:00 -0400
> I bought a Shiba from a pet store when she was three months old.
>I read the literature on her breed, so knew them to be outgoing, but she
>was shy. I figureed that it was because I was new and there was a lot of
>people around. She is now four years old and she still doesn't even
>totally trust me! She always follows me around the house, but it's more
>so that I don't get out of her line of sight than any kind of loyalty.
>Around others she is totally distrustful, to the point of running in
>front of cars to get away from a person casually walking at us while out
>on a walk (I never let her off her leash while outside).
>>>>>>>>>>>
Nadene,
What you have is a problem I've seen in several Shibas -- many are shy
or standoffish -- and do not accept others into personal space easily. They
will avoid contact if pushed. Do not "push" her into accepting people by
forcing her to interact. Keep her on least at all times and simply tell
people to ignore her. Slowly desensitise her to people (see below).
Work on teaching her obedience exercises using nonphysical methods (luring
with food, etc.). Try building a "work ethic" -- simply put her daily kibble
in a bowl on a chair, and have her do something (sit, down, allow you to touch
her, etc.) for handfuls of food. If she chooses not to participate, pick up
the food and try again in 30 min. Start with something easy for her to
guarantee success.
You have to make yourself valuable enough in her eyes to have her accept you.
Look for other things besides food (maybe toys, etc.) that you can use as a
basis for interaction. Don't solicit attention from her -- make her solicit
attention from you. Her "attention quota" may be only 5 min of petting a day
-- you will have to accept this to a certain degree. These dogs are fairly
independent in general and will not solicit attention like a lab! So where
you read "confidence", I would put "independent" (two totally different
things).
For strangers, keep special treats in a jar by the door. Everytime someone
walks into the house, have them nonchalantly throw her a treat. No other
interaction. When she begins to show more trust, perhaps they can say "hi"
and throw the treat. When she accepts that without backing off, perhap they
can give her the treat (this may be months later...or not at all, dep on her
problem).
At least a start.
Lori Rizzo
lar...@bihs.net
Arjan Kroonen
mil...@vccsouth-26.its.rpi.edu (Nadene Lynn Mills) wrote:
>Around others she is totally distrustful, to the point of running in
>front of cars to get away from a person casually walking at us while out
>on a walk (I never let her off her leash while outside).
I don't know if this will work with four-year-olds but it worked on
our puppy.
She was also very afraid of strangers. This was because she came from
a house where they didn't have many visitors. Because of this she
didn't meet many strangers to get used to it.
What we did was this: just a shock therapy (not electrical but
emotional).
We to her to one of these sales (called flea-market or something I
guess, it's like a HUGE garage-sale). And just walked around there for
an hour.
She learned that people don't mean any harm. Nice thing was that there
were some very quiet Sheperd-dogs there (eversince she just _loves_
German-sheperd-dogs) to play with for a while.
Now she still doesn't like people wanting to pat her when we're
outside but now we can take her to crowded places without her freaking
out.
Problem with a four-year-old is that it may be a bit late for this. .
Maybe anyone else got some ideas on that?
Good luck.
Arjan
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Try new things
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JLAbramson
It is my understanding that Shibas's tend to be aloof, somewhat like the
Basenji. I have known several (admittedly never owning one) who although
friendly enough seemed insecure. This insecurity manifested itself in ways
similar to what you describe. The obedience classes did help, so why not
continue them? I don't know what book you read that describes them as
outgoing, but all the adults I have seen were just the opposite -
affectionate on their terms, when they want it. Funny, sounds just like a
Basenji or a darn cat! :)
Char Raddatz
There aren't a lot of problems that socialization doesn't help. In this
case, I would go slow and be gentle, but get him out there.
--
Char Raddatz
Rockville, MD
Elizabeth (Beth) A. Collins
jlabr...@aol.com (JLAbramson) wrote:
As a Shiba owner I can assure you that a great many of Shibas are very
friendly outgoing dogs but it does tend to be on there own terms.
Ours goes nuts for kids but tends to be more reserved with adults. He
likes every one he meets, espeically if they give him a pet, but he
finds kids much more interesting. There are a few out there that can
be very, if not extremely shy, llike the orginal poster mentioned. So
far of the three extremes I've seen all came from a pet store. I
don't know if its a poor line in the puppy mill or poor
socializing--probably both.